The Specialized Tactic MIPS is the most protective helmet according to research from Imperial College London, which used new oblique impact tests to rank 30 of the most popular models around. The Tactic comes out on top and offers better protection from side impacts than cycling helmets from other brands tested.

Before we get too excited though, there were few other mountain bike-specific helmets on test, meaning the Tactic MIPS was mostly up against roadie helmets. These naturally prioritise low weight and aerodynamics over extended protection, meaning you shouldn’t go out and bin your Troy Lee A3 just yet – it’s still one of the best mountain bike helmets out there, and my personal favourite.

The Troy Lee A3 hasn’t yet been tested by Imperial, it’s highly rated by us and Virginia Tech too, so don’t toss it away just yet

All the helmets tested also passed minimum safety requirements including the EN 1078 standard, which ensures they offer a good level of protection.

Imperial researchers used a combination of data from major retailers, a survey of more than a thousand cyclists, and its own in-lab testing to determine which helmets were safest. It then ranked them based on their risk level, averaging linear and rotational risks.

The Specialized Tactic 4 is a great helmet for design and comfort, and now you can rest assured it’s one of the safest out there too

What’s wrong with the EU and UK testing protocols?

Imperial College says its research is needed because European and UK safety standards do not let riders distinguish between the safest helmets, and those which merely pass the test. Its solution is called the Helmet Impact Protection Effectiveness Rating (Hiper) project, with its own “test protocol and rating system that assesses both linear and rotational risks, determining the risk of skull fracture and focal injuries as well as the risk of diffuse brain injuries.”

This is great news for riders because current EU and UK standards only require that helmets be tested for linear impacts. This is not how most head impacts happen in the real world, where glancing blows or rotational impacts are most likely to cause concussion or brain injury. One study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that the risk of head injury from a crash is 10-15%, and that concussion occurs in 90% of those head injuries. Hiper and other independent testing bodies like Virginia Tech in the US can help riders identify those helmets that are better at protecting your head from these dangerous impacts.

Hiper uses angled anvils to recreate real-world impacts and test helmets for their protection against oblique hits

Hiper testing is better, it’s claimed

Hiper uses a series of drop tests, targeting different areas of the helmet. From interpreting studies looking at 1,200 impacts and rider surveys it says most impacts occur not dead on, but 30° to 60° to the opposing object, ie a tree or the trail itself. Hiper used a 45° impact angle.

That’s not all Hiper’s doing differently too, it reckons its crash test dummy heads are better representations of the human head than those used in other testing, focussing on getting the head shape right, the mass, mass location and its mass moments of inertia bang on. It also wants to get the coefficient of friction between the head surface and the helmet accurately defined, basically figuring out which helmets are slippy and slow down impact force, and which don’t budge.

Getting the speed right is important too, Hiper says, with most crashes occurring around 5-8m/s, or 12-18 mph and the Hiper method using 6.5m/s as a benchmark. Hiper uses flat impacts only for its testing too, not the curved anvils the standard tests use, because it reckons 80% of impacts happen on flat surfaces.

Hiper’s also interested in just how grippy the impact surfaces are when in contact with your helmet, something that can be really variable in mountain biking, as we’re all well aware now it’s slippy and rainy out there. Hiper seems more fixated on road crashes, but to its credit uses a very abrasive surface to its test anvils, the idea being to cause lots of rotation to the helmet and err on the side of caution.

Kineticore, Wavecel, MIPS and many more are there to minimise rotational impacts to your head

Will better testing make things safer for mountain bikers?

Helmets technology has moved on rapidly in recent years, perhaps because riders and brands have become increasingly aware of the dangers of head injury and understanding of concussion. New tech like impact-detecting HIT+ sensors, and helmet construction techniques including MIPS, Wavecel and Kineticore are looking to better protect riders from increasingly gnarly trails too, while head coverage seems to increase with every new helmet.

The piece left in the puzzle is to show which of these technologies really do better prevent injuries. That’s where the likes of Hyper and Virginia Tech come in, both have promised to continue testing and build their research by adding models. The future is bright for helmet safety.

Head to hiperhelmets.org for a full list of helmets, and the Hiper testing protocols.