POC Kortal Race MIPS Hydrogen White / Uranium Black

POC Kortal Race MIPS Helmet: Extended Ride Review

More days and more miles on the Kortal Race: still loving it.

Learn about some of my favorite details of the POC Kortal Race with MIPS Integra in the video below. In short, love the fit, the integration of the MIPS integra, protection in the right places and good ventilation for an enduro level helmet. Highly recommended!

What are some of the best features of the POC Kortal Race MIPS?

Fit

The Kortal Race fits a variety of head shapes. Sounds like cliche marketing eh? Well hang tight for a second…

Currently both my brother and I are wearing the Kortal Race. My brother has an intermediate oval head shape while I have a long oval head. How do I know this? We both rode Arai motorcycle helmets for a while and his intermediate oval helmets made my head want to explode. I would get crazy hot spots on my forehead. When I went to the Arai Signet X series (same manufacturer but different internal shape) I was fine and have used those for years.

The internal retention on the Kortal Race is mounted across the forward radius and then located with the rear “catch”. This accommodates a range of head length versus width sizes.

One of the most underused sizing options on enduro helmets is adjusting the rear catch’s vertical placement.

Adjusting this rear catch up or down will provide a notable difference on how the helmet “loads” and sits on your head. I like to set this just below the where my skull dips back towards my neck. I feel like this gives the helmet the best “catch”. Too high and it feels like it might pop off or is just weird. Too low and it’s uncomfortable. Adjusting this position generally results in a clear “ah-ha, this is it” moment.

Finally on fit: I want a helmet with the most coverage I can reasonably get. Enduro helmets generally have more protection in thickness, possibly a bit less ventilation and tend to sit down “lower” on the back of your head. Yes please to all of these. I recommend enduro level helmets to all of my family whether it’s my wife riding her beach cruiser or my dad and uncle cruising around on their street ebikes. If you’re going to wear a helmet wear a helmet that gives you the best chance if you need it right?

MIPS

For a while I was in the camp of “well I have hair, and hair rotates” and didn’t really gravitate to MIPS helmets. This was also about the time they first came out and the MIPS system was kind of slammed into standard helmet shells. And it tended to be uncomfortable for me.

The last three years or so I have only ridden MIPS helmets. First, I’ve gotten a little bit more aware of improving my odds wherever I can. But most importantly as MIPS progressed helmet manufacturers were designing helmets around the MIPS system which provided notable comfort improvements.

Learn more about the various technologies offered by POC in the quick video below. We’ll show the standard comfort inserts, POC’s SPIN as well as the MIPS Integra details.

Weight

Like I mentioned in the video I’m not counting ounces. Not on my riding kit (which includes at least a pocket camera for animal photography if not more for work content). Not on my bike (my opinion: enduro level bikes shouldn’t be dainty – I want to ride home not push). And not in my diet hahaha… Ok, self deprecation aside so if weight doesn’t matter most places why do I care with my helmet?

Well I’m shopping helmets based on protection. But, if I feel like a helmet has equal protection to a similar model I’m going to ride the lighter option. Reducing the weight sitting on my neck, or pulling my head through corners has notable comfort benefits.

Read the rest of the Kortal Race MIPS review here