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Do we need indicators on bike helmets? Giro launches Ethos Mips helmets with integrated LED lights

Giro says that its new urban come commuter Ethos helmets are a "revelation in transportation"

Giro has unveiled two new helmets, the Ethos Mips (£239.99) and Ethos Mips Shield, both designed for commuting and urban riding with the latter gaining a visor. Both helmets feature white LED lights at the front, red at the rear and amber turn signals which are controllable via a handlebar remote.

2022 Giro Ethos Mips helmet

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Giro says that "riding has always been a revolutionary mode of transportation, and that’s true more than ever today. Whether riding an e-bike to the office, pedalling over to the grocery store, or shuttling the kids to school on a cargo bike, more and more riders are mixing it up in traffic and they need the added visibility and protection of the new Ethos Mips or Ethos Mips Shield."

2022 Giro Ethos Mips front light

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The helmets are designed to be sleek and compact while integrating USB-C rechargeable LED front, rear and indicator lights. The lights have four modes with a maximum run-time of 11 hours and a maximum output of 45 and 30 lumens front and rear, respectively.

2022 Giro Ethos Mips Light Settings

All of the lights are controlled via a handlebar-mounted controller, and should offer more than enough charge for the average commute to and from the office.

This isn't the first time we've seen a brand try and integrate turn signals onto riders and their bikes. Back in 2018 we reviewed the Blinkers blinker set, although the score it received wasn't exactly dazzling... 

2022 Giro Ethos Mips handlebar control

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Like many of our top-rated helmets, you'll find Mips inside to offer claimed rotational protection. Giro says that despite the added technology in both helmets, in-mould construction keeps the weight manageable. Giro doesn't publish a weight figure, but we'll try and find you one as soon as possible!

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Giro adds that "full hardbody coverage adds durability, and a Roc Loc City fit system plus quick-dry padding ensures comfort".

2022 Giro Ethos Mips padding

Moving on to the exterior of the helmet, the Ethos Mips features a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) soft rubber waterproof peak, while the Ethos Mips Shield includes a clear, moulded eye shield which is said to allow riders to continue using their existing eyewear. 

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The Ethos Mips (£239.99) is available in three colourways and sizes S (51-55cm), M (55-59cm), and L (59-63cm). The Ethos can already be found in authorised Giro retailers, although at the time of writing we can only see the non-shield version appearing on the UK website. 

2022 Giro Ethos Mips lifestyle

Will the Ethos fare better than numerous other cycling indicator things that have failed to impress us in the past, or is this category always one where cycling products go to die? We have an Ethos on its way in for review, so stay tuned...  

www.giro.co.uk

Would you consider paying extra for a "smart" helmet? Let us know in the comments section below...

Jamie has been riding bikes since a tender age but really caught the bug for racing and reviewing whilst studying towards a master's in Mechanical engineering at Swansea University. Having graduated, he decided he really quite liked working with bikes and is now a full-time addition to the road.cc team. When not writing about tech news or working on the Youtube channel, you can still find him racing local crits trying to cling on to his cat 2 licence...and missing every break going...

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18 comments

Avatar
Muddy Ford | 1 month ago
1 like

Rechargeable flashing armbands from Amazon for 6.99 work better. I have a Livall, the indicators were a novelty I used at the start and the bluetooth speaker is inaudible. The rear light is useful. But even being lit up like a JMJ concert makes no difference if the c@nt in the car doesn't care.

Avatar
IanGlasgow | 1 year ago
0 likes

I'd love a set of indicators for my urban commute - really useful for those difficult right turns where drivers wonder why you're ikn the middle of the road (as opposed to the middle of the lane which is normnal).

I've tried several different ones and all of them were varyngi degrees of awful. Poor battery life, unreliable, fragile, ugly.
A couple came close and with some development could be good but none were worth keeping so i returned them.
I'm still waiting for some I invested in on Kickstarter. Wonder if they'll ever turn up (or be any good if they do)?

Avatar
Oldblokey replied to IanGlasgow | 1 year ago
0 likes

I am told here in Oz, it is illegal to have lights on the helmet because the head could be facing in any direction. So if you turn to look at the traffic, where are you indicating and to whom?

 

 

 

Avatar
Sriracha | 1 year ago
4 likes

What's the point, Audi drivers don't know what indicators are anyway.

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eburtthebike | 1 year ago
0 likes

I knew I'd get another fb ad:  Safest helmet ever.

https://preorder.unit1gear.com/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=paid&utm_...

Avatar
OldRidgeback | 1 year ago
3 likes

I can remember Tomorrow's World a few decades ago when a kid made some flashing indicators for his bike. Well that was a success wasn't it.

Avatar
Oldfatgit | 1 year ago
5 likes

Waste of money.

Drivers don't see my meter or so long arm so they aren't going to pay attention to a blinking light on my helmet ... which they won't be looking at anyway.

Who do manufactures test these ideas on, and what planet are they from?

Avatar
I love my bike | 1 year ago
5 likes

Easy; Betteridge's law of headlines applies: i.e. no.

Avatar
eburtthebike | 1 year ago
4 likes

There seems to be a rash of these at the moment, with one company claiming that theirs is "the safest cycling helmet ever." whilst producing no evidence to support that claim, despite being asked several times.

Indicators on helmets is another of those wonderful ideas that look great on paper but are useless in practice, but people keep coming up with them.  Don't they bother consulting anyone who has the vaguest idea about cycling?

Avatar
Boopop | 1 year ago
10 likes

Courtroom, following a crash between a cyclist and driver:

Lawyer to cyclist: "Did you indicate?"
Cyclist: "Yes, with the indicators in my helmet."
Lawyer to cyclist: "Did you indicate, in the manner in which the highway code instructs cyclists to do so, with your arm and hand pointing in the direction you were going to turn?"
Cyclist:"...No."

Driver found not guilty, cyclist, assuming they're still alive, at fault.

Indicators for cyclists is such a dumb idea. When you're a vulnerable road user, you want to make sure any signal to other road users actually works (rather than fails on account of a dead battery, faulty hardware), and follows the Highway Code. Even if the Highway Code was updated (don't count on it), who wants to rely on a flashing light you can't even see to show which way you're going? Not me.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to Boopop | 1 year ago
3 likes

Boopop wrote:

Courtroom, following a crash between a cyclist and driver:

Lawyer to cyclist: "Did you indicate?"
Cyclist: "Yes, with the indicators in my helmet."
Lawyer to cyclist: "Did you indicate, in the manner in which the highway code instructs cyclists to do so, with your arm and hand pointing in the direction you were going to turn?"
Cyclist:"...No."

Driver found not guilty, cyclist, assuming they're still alive, at fault.

Well if the cyclist wasn't alive were they giving evidence via ouija board? 

Pisstaking aside, you're quite right. Absolute waste of time, money and energy.  

Avatar
chrisonabike | 1 year ago
8 likes

I must be getting old, I'm getting a sense of deja vu with these flash hats.

Also becoming a proper old grouch in that I see this and think "selling more plastic and foam isn't enough, they want to fit it with batteries and electronics too".

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peted76 | 1 year ago
9 likes

"WHAT DO WE NEED" 

"INDICATORS ON HELMETS"

"WHEN DO WE NEED THEM"

"NEVER!"

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OnYerBike | 1 year ago
2 likes

Suprised the Lumos helmet hasn't been mentioned (various models have been covered on Road.cc)

My two cents: I'm not convinced. Most of the time hand signals along with positioning etc "work" fine, by which I mean it's obvious to drivers what you want to do. Many drivers simply chose to ingore signals anyway, so I would still be wanting to check it's safe before moving across traffic, at which point turning your head would mean the indicator lights are no longer visible. It's very rare that I want to indicate but am unable to use hand signals, or that I think an indication has been missed due to not being visible (which would seem to be the scenarios this helmet is designed to address). 

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Hirsute | 1 year ago
2 likes

Illegal if this is the only light.

You need something that will stay in a fixed position for 99.9% of the time.

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Awavey | 1 year ago
6 likes

No we dont, and they're clearly useless anyway as theyve had to dim most of the footage to make them stand out.

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EddyBerckx | 1 year ago
1 like

Quite like the lights (there is another brand with cheaper versions than this though) but the indicators are useless if not staring straight ahead...and even then, they are probably not far enough apart to do much use

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Jimmy Ray Will | 1 year ago
3 likes

That's a no from me... I fear drivers will simply be distracted by the weird lights (they ar eunlikely to see them as indicators) and may miss more standard directional cues.

 

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