Bern

FL-1 Pave Mips Helmet

Already renowned for its snow helmets, Bern crosses over to the two-wheel world and its unique design queues with its FL-1 Pave MIPS offering. Equally at home on the Tuesday Night Worlds ride and dodging rabbits on the bike path on your daily commute, Bern claims the styling is inspired by the leather hairnets of yore, offering plenty of ventilation with its 18 vents, a lightweight build, and unique looks. Unlike those helmets of old, the FL-1 stands a much better chance of protecting your head in the event of a crash.

The FL-1 Pave MIPS is available in 3 sizes and uses its BOA retention system to dial in the fit. BOA has pretty much cornered the cycling shoe market with its closures as the durability and micro-adjustments are second to none and those benefits are advantageous here as well. It's integrated into the liner and offers 360-degrees of adjustment. For extra resilience, Bern uses its In Mold technology to bond the polycarbonate outer shell to the EPS foam. Final details include a rear light mounting point for adding compatible Portland Design Works rear lights, helping to increase your visibility in low light.

This particular model adds MIPS, which is short for Multi-Directional Impact Protection System, that's consists of a thin liner on the inside of the helmet that looks exceptionally simple but serves a big purpose. That little liner is designed to move independently of the helmet's shell and may help diffuse the rotational forces caused by certain crashes.