Time trial helmets live or die on two numbers: drag reduction and how long you can actually wear the thing before cooking. The Aerohead Mips helmet was designed in the wind tunnel, tested on the track, and has been proven with record-breaking times at the Tour de France and Ironman World Championships. Giro's answer to the heat problem is a set of four wind-tunnel-shaped vents cut into the polycarbonate shell, paired with internal channeling that pulls air across your scalp rather than letting it stagnate. The result is a lid built for the riders who stay in the bars long enough for ventilation to actually matter.

The Aerohead MIPS version provides nearly 10% better cooling than the Aerohead Ultimate while still offering impressive aerodynamic gains, achieved through extensive testing to shape the four large Wind Tunnel vents and internal channels that efficiently move air through the helmet. If you're racing non-drafting triathlons or club TTs where the effort stretches past an hour, that cooling margin is what keeps the helmet honest in the back half of the race. The drag penalty is minimal, losing just a second over 40 km at 400 watts compared to the fully closed Ultimate version — a trade most age-groupers and long-course athletes will take every time.

The wrap-around eye shield is the other defining piece. It features a unique wrap-around design with Optics by ZEISS that offers an unblocked field of view and clarity, and a magnetic anchor attachment keeps the shield secure, yet it's easy to remove and store in the "flipped up" position, making for quick transitions to the bike. Swim-to-bike transitions are where magnetic shields earn their keep — no fumbling with clips, no fogging up before you've even clipped in. The shield flips up for warmup laps and snaps back down when you're ready to go aero.... Read More