Giro Cinder MIPS

The new Cinder MIPS from Giro shares a lot of technology and styling cues from its top end Synthe model, but considering it comes in at half the price it's certainly a helmet you should put on your 'must try' list. Especially when you take into account how comfortable the fit is.

The Synthe MIPS is an awesome helmet, but most of us probably can't lay down 250 quid on a brain box without wincing, so the Cinder is a very viable alternative.

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You get, as you'd no doubt expect, an expanded polystyrene shell with a polycarbonate shell. Nothing out of the ordinary here but an added bonus is the thermoplastic skeleton that'll keep the helmet together after that initial impact. In the past I've crashed a similar helmet and the skeletal structure certainly held it together, so that if I'd bounced from road to kerb for the secondary clout, my head was likely to have still been protected.

Over the past few months you might have seen the MIPS acronym being bandied about behind helmet names and wondered what it meant. Well, MIPS stands for Multi-Directional Impact Protection System, a standalone company that has developed an inner cradle to resist rotational forces of the head should you crash. See more here. It's not much to look at, being a thin piece of plastic inside the helmet, but the theory behind it is pretty sound.

If you look at the photo of the inside of the helmet you'll see the MIPS liner and the four yellow dots are elastomers. MIPS is basically a cradle for your head, and should you hit the deck the liner and elastomers let your head move in relation to the helmet, almost like a shock absorber.

It's a comfortable fit, as is the rest of the helmet. The Cinder uses Giro's Roc Loc 5 adjustment system, which allows you to tweak the fit at the rear of the head. It's not as advanced as some as it'll only synch things in at the rear rather than all the way around, but it does provide a comfortable fit. There is some up and down adjustment too, which Giro describes as single-handed – it's true, but you have to take the helmet off first, so that's a bit of a misnomer.

As far as ventilation goes, the Cinder gets 26 vents and they offer pretty good airflow. The Thermoformed skeleton takes up quite a bit of space but a solid structure certainly outweighs the slight offset to venting.

It's 90g heavier than my current favourite the Met Manta and it is noticeable, but when you compare it with similar MIPS helmets we've tested the Cinder sits somewhere in the middle. It's the same when it comes to value for money compared with other MIPS helmets we've looked at – it sits alongside the Smith Route, midway between the Bern FL-1 and the Bell Gage. The Giro scores well on aesthetics for me too.

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Overall, the Cinder is a great helmet that has some really classy looks, an impressive structure and a great fit. The only thing that strikes me as odd is that the MIPS version is £25 more expensive than the standard Cinder. How much can a small piece of plastic cost? That aside, when taking everything else into account I'd happily shell out for the Cinder.

Verdict

A smart looking and solid feeling road helmet that is just so comfortable to wear