2016 Pinkbike Awards - Gear Accessory of the Year Winner
Choosing the Gear Accessory of the Year Winner is, in some ways, the hardest task of all when it comes to the Pinkbike Awards. While the other categories see (mostly) apple to apple comparisons, the Gear Accessory group pits very different pieces of equipment against each other but not purely for innovation, style, or even value. Instead, it's all of those and also simply how the products get on with the task at hand. The 2016 nominees include Giro's Chronicle MIPS helmet, Dakine's Slayer kneepads, and the Resistance Strong pants from POC.
So, what came out on top?
Helmets have come a long way since the days of plonking a foam mushroom on your head, through the 'road bike helmet with a visor era,' basic mountain bike-specific helmets, and right up to today's lids. Refined, stylish, extended coverage, and with clever venting to prevent pointy things you might encounter on the trail entering your brain – unlike road helmets. They also feature comfortable fit systems that don't cut off the circulation to your eyes and brain stem while keeping the helmet in place through the rough. Also gaining popularity are systems that add rotational protection, like MIPS or Leatt's Turbine inserts.
The Giro Chronicle MIPS helmet did all of the above, went unnoticed while doing it, and checked out at a stellar price. All that prompted our choice to call it the 2016 Gear Accessory of the Year winner.
Here's an excerpt from Vernon Felton's Ridden and Rated article from earlier this year that sums up the Chronicle MIPS:
The Chronicle MIPS is a new helmet from Giro. While it looks a whole lot like the Montaro, the fit is a bit different - the Chronicle sits a bit lower on your head than the Montaro. It also forgoes the Montaro’s integrated camera mount and goggle grippers. Why, then, did I include it here? Because it costs a hundred friggin’ bucks! Damn. And, yes, it also includes a MIPS layer. Double damn. Moreover, the fit is excellent and ventilation is very good. The Giro Feature used to be one of the go-to options for more affordable helmets, but the Chronicle is better on every front. While the harness adjustments are nice and indexed, my sole complaint with the Chronicle is that the adjuster dial on its Roc Loc 5 harness is tiny and consequently harder to adjust with cold, gloved fingers than the larger dials on the Troy Lee, 6D, Specialized, etc. Otherwise? Outstanding.
Pinkbike’s Take:
 | The Giro Chronicle MIPS takes home the the trophy for Gear Accessory of the Year because it ticked all the necessary boxes of design, function, value, and protection. Moreover, it did its job on every occasion without fuss and went undetected atop our heads. - Paul Aston |
Author Info:
One thing I'd note too is that if you have a huge head, They make extra large sizes that are actually big. I have a fox flux as well but what fox considers an extra large must be measured in baby gap units.
I've got a pretty large head. My moto helmets are L to XL.
www.jensonusa.com/Cyber-Monday-2016/Bell-Stoker-Helmet-2015?cs=Matte%20Red%20Emblem
Any non-orthogonal impact should have a similar effect, a good portion of the energy can be dissipated by the free sliding/rotation of the helmet due to the MIPS system.
Same with the meninges and CSF surrounding your brain inside your skull. Those act like a built in MIPS system, and are clearly insufficient to protect our brains from hard impacts. The more the merrier I say!
Argument for baldies is a particularly failed one because I know two of them and they both fkng hate the thing for keeping the head hot and causing skin irritation.
Helmets slide a LOT on the head (especially on kids heads), and I can tell it from vast experience of crashing in open face lids. My 2,5 year old son took a bad looking hit into a pole. His well fastened, quality POCito helmet rotated on his head by at least 30 degrees.
The discussion is pointless though because it is a low cost, genuine added value item and in 5 years pretty much every single helmet will have it (or another system like that).
It's no different the Tom Hanks winning Best Actor for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994) Total Shit!
There's a zillion MiPS-equipped helmets out there for a good price(I've seen Bell Super 2's for $50).
WHY this one?