Best Road Bike Helmet for Cyclists on a Budget

Price: $84.95 

Weight: 298g

Vents: 21

Fit System: Roc Loc 5

Safety Tech: MIPS

What We Like: Premium Features at a Budget Price

What We Don’t: Doesn’t Vent or Fit Quite Like the Giro Synthe

Not so long ago, things like fancy retention systems and top of the line safety features were reserved for premium helmets that sported premium price tags. However, more and more of that high-end technology has trickled down, and now you can get a helmet that incorporates most, if not all, of the same features as some top of the line helmets for only a fraction of a price. There might be no better example of that than the Giro Foray MIPS road bike helmet, which is our top pick for the best road bike helmet for riders on a budget.

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See Our The Best Road Bike Helmets of 2021: Cycling Helmet Review!

Comfort, Fit, and Adjustability

The Giro Foray MIPS uses a Roc Loc 5 retention system, which is quite similar to the Roc Loc Air retention system that helped make the Giro Synthe, which was our top pick for the best overall road bike helmet of 2021. While the Giro Foray MIPS’ Roc Loc 5 system does attach to the temples in the front, it remains free floating and easily adjustable in the rear, with the circumferential adjustment coming from the dial and vertical adjustment from simply pushing up or pulling down on the harness. This makes for a highly adjustable helmet that is quite comfortable for most head shapes, if not quite as adjustable or comfortable as a helmet at three times its price point.

There is nothing terribly special about the Y shaped, adjustable ear straps, or the chin strap of the Giro Foray MIPS, but they both do their job. 

Weight

Weighing in just shy of 300g, the Giro Foray MIPS is not ultralight, but around 30g of its weight comes from the MIPS insert, which we are more than happy to carry around on our heads and hope that we never need it. After all, if the objective were simply to be as lightweight as possible, we would skip out on helmets altogether.

Ventilation

While the Giro Foray MIPS’ Roc Loc 5 retention system does not keep the helmet fully suspended away from your head quite like the Roc Loc Air system of the Giro Synthe, the helmet itself is modeled very closely on the Giro Synthe, and its 21 vents and five internal air channels make for a helmet that is well ventilated, if not quite on par with the helmets that promote the most airflow.

Safety Tech and Additional Features

The big kicker for the Giro Foray MIPS is that you get a helmet with an in-mold design and MIPS liner for less than $90. Throw in the Roc Loc 5 retention system and you have the same features that would have cost you over $200 only a few years ago.

Aerodynamics

As with its ventilation, the Giro Foray MIPS is modeled off of the Giro Synthe, which is about as aerodynamic as a road bike helmet can be without beginning to make sacrifices in other areas. If you put both helmets in a wind tunnel, the Synthe would likely come out ahead, but you would be hard pressed to tell a difference on the road.

The Bottom Line

The Giro Foray MIPS represents an incredible value in an industry where returns for your investment tend to become minuscule as you go higher up the price ladder. While those with unusual head shapes or sizes might find that the Roc Loc Air retention system justifies the price increase for the Giro Synthe, for everyone else the Giro Foray MIPS packs just about everything that made the Synthe our pick for best road bike helmet, but it does it at around a third of the price. For cyclists on a budget, you can’t beat the Giro Foray MIPS, and we named it our top pick for best budget road bike helmet of 2021.

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