play_arrow

keyboard_arrow_right

skip_previous play_arrow skip_next
00:00 00:00
playlist_play chevron_left
volume_up
chevron_left
Go to album
  • Home
  • keyboard_arrow_right OutofBlog
  • keyboard_arrow_right Gear Talk
  • keyboard_arrow_right How to Buy Your Next Bike Helmet | Giro Eclipse

OutofBlog

How to Buy Your Next Bike Helmet | Giro Eclipse

Adam Jaber May 22, 2025

Background
share close

How to Buy Your Next Bike Helmet | Giro Eclipse

Talking about helmets is sort of a weird thing to me. The tech goes deep, the R&D goes deeper, but the reviews are even more important than anything else. You hear about safety ratings from esteemed research facilities like Virginia Tech, or in depth reviews from every media outlet in cycling, but what does any of it mean and how does one actually decide on what works for them?

Giro EclipseToday we’re going to dive into what things you should be paying attention to when buying a new helmet – using my Giro Eclipse as a baseline.

Criteria #1: FIT IS EVERYTHING

The heading says it all, fit is everything. All of this safety stuff means absolutely nothing if your helmet doesn’t fit right. MIPS (we’ll go into this in Criteria #2) is rendered useless if your helmet is too big. It’s not protecting you if it’s not set on your dome properly, end of story.

Fit is subjective to a point, so I won’t get too deep into what it means, but generally speaking, your helmet’s adjustment range ( Ex. 58cm-61cm) should be within the size that your head measures out to. Grab a tape measure, and wrap it around your head/forehead to get your starting point. Your local bike shop may do this for you as well. Once you know your size, grab a lid within range and start looking at the other things that matter. How deep is it? Do you have a cone head? Does your head look like a light bulb? These are things to consider because you want a helmet that fits your head shape, as well as size.

For me, the Eclipse is a great option because I have a large head, and I find that most road helmets leave my face looking very empty, like I got a bad haircut. This one sits lower, coming to about an inch over my eyebrows so I don’t look like a 70’s road biking enthusiast. I also happen to fit perfectly in between the adjustment range of this helmet – so it’s a win all around.

Criteria #2: “SAFETY”

The word “Safety” is a bad word to use in helmet marketing, because it’s risky. Say something is safe and someone get’s hurt doing something insane? You’re looking at a lawsuit, buddy.

For that reason, no one calls helmets “Safer” – they just make a point to call out all of the “Protection Features”. So what does it mean? What should we be looking for?

MIPS is one thing you’ve heard about a ton, and you probably should have it. That yellow sticker means a lot to people, and it’s done more for helmet sales than any other label, ever. MIPS is basically just a plastic liner that sits underneath your helmet’s liner, and is attached to the shell. It allows your helmet to rotate under impact, reducing the impact going directly to your noggin’.  It works, no doubt, and the thousands of extensive tests prove that. For that reason, get MIPS in your helmet, or something like it.

Giro has added an additional layer of tech to help reduce impact directly to the brain by creating a two piece shell that actually moves side to side. It’s called Spherical, and I literally didn’t know something like this existed until I did. I had probably read the “Spherical” label a thousand times, and didn’t think anything of it, but let me tell you, it’s real. The physical movement of the helmet is like what I thought MIPS was before I knew what MIPS was. Lucky for me, Giro has put both into this helmet.

In regards to the actual protection of the helmet itself, the best advice I can give you is that you need to get something that is appropriately shaped for the activity you want to do. If you’re looking for max “protection” buy a full face DH MIPS Spherical helmet, but riding that on the road would be absolutely insane. See what I mean?

Giro Mips Helmet

Giro Spherical Helmet

Criteria #3: SWAG

SWAG actually stands for ” So What Apple Got?” – isn’t that a cool totally fake fact?

But really, SWAG in a helmet means the sometimes intangible. How does it make you feel? Do you feel fast? Do you feel like a nerd? These are important questions to ask yourself because if you don’t like the way it makes you feel, you’re never going to wear it. I also tend to care about the way things look, way too much, so maybe this part is less important to you.

Within SWAG, I’d argue are other category specific criteria, like aerodynamics or coverage. For a road helmet like the Eclipse, aero is pretty important to some of us because it means you’re going to have to try less hard. Giro makes some really big claims when it comes to how Aero this thing is, placing it at the top of the heap amongst it’s competition. Some mountain bikers like the drop ear protection of something like a Fox Proframe, and others like myself, find it debilitating. So really, it’s about what you feel comfy in.

 

Overall:

All in all, your helmet is probably the second most important piece of cycling gear you own, other than a bike, so treat it that way when you buy one. Consider the criteria above and you’ll be in a good place to find your new favorite lid for the next few years. Remember, fit is everything and how you feel about the helmet overall really matters, so get one you really like.

We’re always happy to help guide you where we can, so please reach out if you have questions, especially on Giro stuff, because we love them.

 

More helmet reviews: https://outofpodcast.com/2023/04/27/review-sweet-bushwacker-2vi-helmet/

Rate it
Avatar
Author

Adam Jaber

list Archive

Previous episode

Post comments

This post currently has no comments.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *