Tested: Giant Rev Pro Mips Helmet

There once was a time when there were only two categories of mountain bike: downhill and cross-country. And really, those “downhill” bikes were just cross-country bikes with the seat dropped. That of course changed, and the number of subcategories that have since emerged to fill the gap are still multiplying. It took a while for our helmets to join that race to the middle, but you might say it’s gone too far. Today it seems like every brand’s flagship mountain lid is expected to serve at least part of the enduro spectrum. The helmets we used to call “normal” are living out their days on gravel, road and the odd XC race. But I kinda miss them. They’re so light and breezy. They don’t stick out too far beyond your brow, and don’t reach down to your neck. And they don’t have visors. I’ve never won this argument, but here goes: I think visors are more fashion than function. If your visor blocks the sun, it’ll also block the trail if you relax your head forward enough. XC helmets don’t bother with visors. That’s why, when the Giant RevX Pro just got updated, I climbed right in.

Photo Credit: Travis Engel

First, a warning. The Rev Pro Mips is expensive, and it doesn’t pack the level of tech seen on some similarly priced enduro lids. For its $250 price tag, you don’t get, for example, the NFC medical ID chip of the POC Tectal Race Spin, which also goes for $250. And you don’t get the remarkable Mips Spherical of the Giro Manifest, which goes for just $10 more. But the Rev Pro is by no means a low-tech helmet, which I’ll get to later. And at 298 grams, my large-sized test helmet is about 80 grams lighter than my already light Giro Manifest, and almost 100 grams lighter than my Tectal Race. That’s what happens in the XC world. You shed the grams that are otherwise meant for shred-readiness. And shedding 100 grams off what’s on top of your head will do way more than shaving it off what’s beneath your feet. It won’t just make you more efficient, it’ll make you more comfortable.