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Giro Chronicle Mips helmet
In a sport packed with wild style and ‘does-it’work?’ tech it’s refreshing to see a helmet that ticks all the boxes and doesn’t look like something out of a NASA laboratory.
The Giro Chronicle MIPS trail helmet is sensibly priced and sensibly styled mountain bike helmet that Giro say is designed for “when your trail rides include technical descents and challenging climbs”.
Sounds like most bike rides, right?
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Features:
- MIPS impact absorption
- In-Mold construction
- Roc Loc 5 adjustment
- 3 position adjustable peak
- RRP £99.99
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The Chronicle takes inspiration from the pricier Giro Montaro and serves it up for around £50 less. At it’s retail price of £99 at least, the Chronicle is one of the least expensive helmets available with MIPS.
The Chronicle keeps the MIPS impact absorption technology of its big brother. It’s also built with an In-Mold construction, meaning the plastic outer is fused to the foam inner layer and the helmet can be lighter and use better air vents.
The shape of the helmet feels comfortable and confidence inspiring. The sides and rear of the helmet wrap right around your head, giving a solid and secure feel ‘locked in’ feeling.
The peak of the Chronicle is adjustable with three set positions. You can flip it up or down to suit your steezyness and push it right up to store your goggles when you’re spinning back up the fire road.
Adjustment is the classic Roc Loc 5 system. You spin the dial on the back and the helmet loosens or tightens with 38 ‘clicks’ of adjustment. It’s easily adjusted whilst riding and can be done one handed. There’s also three points of up-and-down adjustment to fine tune for your particular swede.
We’ve not ridden the Chronicle in hot, sweaty conditions yet (unfortunately!) but it feels well vented and Giro’s 14 ‘Windtunnel’ vents seem to do a good job.
The helmet is designed so that air flows in through the front of the helmet and then across your head and out the back, pushing hot air away from your head. The vent on the helmet’s peak is a nice touch, allowing air to keep flowing through it and into the front vents.
The weight and ‘feel’ of the Chronicle also deserves a mention. The Chronicle feels very light, very minimal and very unobtrusive. The padding is lightweight and thin whilst also feeling comfortable and spongy. That means it’s comfortable without soaking up loads of sweat on hot days.
The weight is also really good. Our medium test-lid weighs in at 347g which is lighter than almost all of the helmets in our most recent open face helmets Best Of.
What do we think so far?
Top marks for the Giro Chronicle, so far. It’s almost half the price of many similarly specced helmets (at retail price at least) and still packs in MIPS protection and plenty of build quality.
On the bike it feels light, comfortable and airy whilst still managing to feel safe, which is a nice balance to strike.
We also really like the style. It’s a helmet that looks good without showing off. If you prefer your kit a bit more understated, the Giro Chronicle Mips good well be for you.
Buy online: The Giro Chronicle Mips is £79.99 on Chain Reaction Cycles here
Find your local Giro Helmets dealer here.
