Best Bike Helmet For Bike Touring

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This is a gear review about the Best Bike Helmets for Bike Touring, Bikepacking and Mountain Biking.

I remember long ago when we didn’t wear bike helmets at all, ever. But things have changed. We are much more educated about the risks or not wearing a helmet. If you were to get knocked over by a vehicle on the road, you could risk a severe head injury or worse.

A good quality bike helmet is THE most essential piece of safety gear. And when it’s for bike touring, it also has to be very comfortable to wear, lightweight, and reasonably priced. And if you are cycling in winter, there is also the option of using a winter bike helmet.

I’ve been checking out some of the best bike helmets on the market in 2023.

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Best Bike Helmet For Touring 2023

The Bike Helmet For Bike Touring in 2023 are:

• Specialized Tactic 4 MIPS
• Troy Lee Design A2 Decoy Mips
• Smith Engage MIPS
• GIRO Fixture MIPS
• Bontrager Solstice MIPS

The Specialized Tactic 4 helmet looks cool but will keep your head safe if you ever needed to use it when you fall. This is thanks to the MIPS Evolve technology (more on this in my buying guide a little later).

Another great feature of this helmet is just how well ventilated it is, which is perfect for long bike tours. It features 17 ventilation holes altogether, which cover almost the whole helmet.

It uses what’s called a computational fluid dynamic design to optimize the airflow through the helmet.

It reduces the sweat on your forehead by drawing airflow into the internal air channels, without compromising safety.

Like all helmets it has an adjustable fit system, to ensure that you get the most snug fit possible, and it has an integrated visor.

It’s available in a fairly wide range of colors and in three different sizes, namely small, medium, and large. And weighs around 13.9 oz / 395 grams and has a place to store your cycling sunglasses in the visor when you don’t need them.

Overall, this a comfortable helmet for bike touring, mountain biking, and bikepacking and worth the cost.

This is a great bicycle touring helmet that is so well ventilated that from some angles it looks more like a ventilation hole than a helmet!

In fact, with its 14 ventilation holes, it provides 25% more ventilation than the manufacturer’s previous model, with a combination of huge intake and exhaust ports.

And this factor, combined with its relatively low weight of 12.3 oz / 350 grams, makes it comfortable for long hours of bike touring.

It features cutting edge MIPS safety technology. (More on MIPS technology in my buying guide later.)

And it has become an industry first in that it features dual density EPP/EPS in the lining in order to handle both low speed and high speed impacts.

It offers an adjustable fit, and comes with an integrated visor.

There are 7 different color options to choose from to suit a variety of tastes. And it’s available in a wide range of sizes, starting from small, and going all the way up to XL/XXL. It comes backed by a lengthy, 3-year manufacturer warranty. 

Overall, this is a good lightweight bike helmet for bike touring, bikepacking or mountain biking.

Here’s another cool looking bike helmet, well worthy of a spot on the shortlist.

But more importantly, it’s very safe for the wearer, thanks to the MIPS Brain Protection System, which serves to reduce the rotational forces caused by angled knocks to the head.

And what makes it great for bike touring is the high level of ventilation to keep your head perfectly cool hour after hour.

There are 21 vents altogether expertly positioned around the helmet to make Smith’s VaporFit system, complete with AirEvac channels which promote breathability and airflow without your eye wear fogging up.

It’s available in a choice of 6 different color options, including some two and three tone ones. They all feature black adjustable straps under the chin and around your ears.

It’s also available in different sizes, namely small, medium, and large. And it weighs 12 oz / 340 grams.

Overall, this is another very comfortable, well ventilated bike helmet for bikepacking, touring and mountain biking. It is one of the best bicycle helmets when you take into account that it is a good balance between price, safety, choice of colors and comfort.

The first thing that struck me about this particular helmet (besides the super cool design) was the affordable price tag and the fact that it is a very lightweight helmet.

But despite the affordable price, it still comes with that all important MIPS technology to protect your head from impacts in any direction. (More on that in my buying guide a little later.)

And to ensure comfort for the wearer for several hours of cycling, it’s very highly ventilated with 18 wind tunnel ventilation holes. Well suited to bike touring and Bikepacking in warm weather.

It’s available in a choice of 13 different color options. It is one of the lightest bike helmets which weighs only 10.8 oz / 306 grams

It’s also available in two different sizes. The universal adult size is for heads measuring between 54 and 61 centimeters in circumference, and there’s also a universal extra large, for heads that measure between 58 and 65 centimeters. You simply adjust it to a nice, snug fit using the straps underneath

Overall, this is another very comfortable and affordable high quality lightweight bike helmet that is well ventilated and suited as a ventilated helmet for long distance cycling. With low cost, high quality and ultralight weight, this bike helmet almost took out the top spot in 2023.

This is another good-looking yet very safe bike helmet. What’s more, it just so happens to be available for well under $100.

But despite being so affordable, it features top-of-the-range helmet safety technology. More specifically, the MIPS Brain Protection System, which I’ll be discussing in my buying guide a little later one.

There are plenty of ventilation holes carefully positioned dotted all around the helmet to allow plenty of airflow. And there are both built-in and removable visor options.

It’s available in a choice of 6 different color options.

It’s available in two sizes, small/medium for heads measuring 51-58 cm, and medium/large for heads measuring 55-61 cm. It is a lightweight bike helmet which weighs only 11.8 oz / 334 grams.

This helmet also comes with a crash replacement guarantee, whereby you’re provided with a brand-new helmet if you crash with it within the first year of owning it. That is a rather unique style of warranty which I like.

Overall, this is a great cycling helmet that is comfortable and well-ventilated. I especially like the warranty replacement guarantee that they have.

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Buying Guide

As promised, here’s the buying guide. Let me walk you through some of the key things to consider when shopping for a helmet for bike touring, bikepacking or mountain biking. I want to advise that there are literally hundreds of quality bike helmets out there, I have narrowed the list down to just a few of the very best.

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Size and Fit

In order to be effective, your helmet needs to be the perfect size and fit, so this should be your first and foremost concern.

If you are buying your helmet online rather than in a store you won’t be able to try it on first, so it’s absolutely imperative that you measure the circumference of your head, and check it against the size chart on the product page. Simply get a tape measure and measure the circumference of your head. This will give you an idea of what size you may need.

Just an extra bit of advice. If you find yourself cycling in colder weather it may be a good idea to measure your head with a beanie or some other head warmer that you may use to keep your head warm. I got caught out with a very uncomfortable tight fitting helmet in the past when cycling in very cold weather with head gear. You have been warned.

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MIPS

MIPS stands for multi-directional Impact Protection Safety. And as the name suggests, it protects your head from impacts from any direction. This is important because you never know how you’re going to fall if there’s an accident.

For this reason, all the helmets in my shortlist feature MIPS technology.

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Ventilation

A good bike helmet will feature several ventilation holes spread right around the helmet to get air through and give an element of breathability to the helmet. It seems every helmet manufacturer wants to brag about how much better their ventilation system is. The truth is, all the helmets in this review are very good.

Helmet ventilation is especially important when bike touring because having a sweaty head for several hours might tempt you to take the helmet off, which is the last thing you should do.

And in case you were concerned, having ventilation holes in place does not make the helmet any less safe, secure or impact resistant.

All the helmets in this review are very well ventilated bike helmets.

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Lightweight

When bike touring, you’ll be wearing the helmet for many hours at a time, so the helmet needs to be both very solid and protective, yet at the same time sufficiently lightweight for best possible comfort.

I have an old neck injury. At times the weight of wearing a helmet all day would be enough to cause neck pain and headaches. A lightweight helmet can reduce neck pain and headaches. Specially when you find yourself cycling 6-8 hours per day.

You should reduce the risk of finding out that the helmet is so heavy that you get tempted to take it off altogether.

All the helmets in this review are lightweight cycling helmets.

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Aesthetic

So long as your helmet meets the right safety standards and will prevent head injury, there’s no reason why you can’t also prioritize the aesthetic of the helmet as well.

You could go for a bright, bold, shiny racer’s helmet so you can easily be spotted in a crowd, or you could go for something much more understated, perhaps with a matte finish. With so many options you should find a color or style to suit your personality!

in my opinion all the helmets in this review are cool looking helmets.

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Value for Money

In my view, you just can’t put a price on safety, especially when it comes to the highest-quality helmets in this review. You can expect to pay around $100 or more for a top-quality bike touring helmet.

But I totally get that most people have a budget to stick to, so I encourage you to check and compare prices as you go along if you need to, especially if you spot one you really like the look and sound of. 

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Conclusion

The Bike Helmet For Bike Touring, Mountain Biking, and Bikepacking in 2023 are:

• Specialized Tactic 4 MIPS
• Troy Lee Design A2 Decoy Mips
• Smith Engage MIPS
• GIRO Fixture MIPS
• Bontrager Solstice MIPS

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Frequently Asked Questions

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