Video: Scott’s New Taal and Lin helmets

Scott: 2012 Media Camp: Frigoulet, France

Scott Helmets: MIPS Technology

Scott will be introducing two new mountain bike helmets for 2013 -the Lin and the Taal. What makes these helmets stand apart from other helmets in the category is the introduction of something called Multi-Directional Impact System (MIPS), a new protection technology that mimics the way our body protects our brain from serious damage.

Scientists from the Royal Institute of Technology and Karolinska Institute in Stockholm studied how people fall and determined that in most cases, your head hits the ground on an angle causing rotational force. This rotational force can lead to violent trauma to the brain.

One way the body combats this is the presence of a layer of fluid between the brain and the skull called cerebrospinal fluid. This fluid allows your brain to rotate within your skull to protect your brain under impact. This was the inspiration behind MIPS, a thin low friction layer between the inner surface of the helmet and the head.

Scott was able to achieve a helmet that greatly reduces rotational impact to the brain. The MIPS technology is undetectable in the helmet and doesn’t effect fit, comfort, ventilation or gain a noticeable weight penalty.

We sat down with Scott helmet product manager John Thompson in France to discuss some of the benefits of the new helmet line and MIPS technology along with some of the challenges that face helmet design.