Abus Targon Mips

The Abus Targon Mips has taken the convertible helmet formula and made it remarkably simple – the chin guard is the easiest to remove and install out of all of the convertible helmets I’ve tested. But while airflow is excellent and comfort is pretty good, it’s a heavy beast in open-face mode, and the sizing is a little off. It’s not the cheapest either.

Abus Targon Mips – Technical details

The Abus Targon is absolutely rammed full of features. Of course, it’s a convertible helmet, and it achieves that through the brand’s Speed Latch System. It may be the most straightforward system I’ve seen, as it uses a couple of lever-tabs combined with metal prongs to lock the chinguard in place.

There’s then the Zoom Rapid Fit adjustment system, which takes the form of a dial on the rear of the helmet which tightens and loosens a nylon-wrapped steel cable. It’s got a pretty neat trick up its sleeve, too: the dial can be pressed to instantly relieve a bit of tension to make removal easier.

Security doesn’t just rely on the dial; there are cheek pads at the chin guard that sit in rails, allowing them to be shifted fore and aft. They’re removable for washing.

The shell itself boasts extended lower-edge protection and benefits from in-mould construction, with the EPS foam bonded directly to the shell. Abus says this makes for a more durable connection between the outer shell and the foam.

The breakaway visor features a mount for an action camera or light, and you can fit goggles and glasses underneath. The stitched-in straps connect via a Fidlock buckle.

This lid has a Mips Air Node Pro system to mitigate rotational impact forces, but there’s a cheaper Targon without it for £270. The helmet meets EN 1078, CPSC and ASTM F1952 (DH) certifications.

There are four colours to choose from. I’ve got the Violet option, and while purple isn’t my colour, I’m quite a fan of what Abus has done here.

Abus Targon Mips – Performance

One thing’s for sure: the Targon is a great-looking helmet in both configurations. With the chin guard installed it looks like a well-sorted full facer, and without, it looks just as purposeful. It doesn’t look as if anything’s missing, if you know what I mean.

The sizing is a little unconventional, for lack of a better word. My 58cm dome usually fits a medium helmet with with no issues, but I found the medium Targon (55-58cm) incredibly narrow and uncomfortable, while fiddling with the chin guard was difficult. Moving up to the large solved all this, leaving me with just a very large shell.

Thanks to the movable cheek pads and Zoom dial at the rear, it’s very easy to achieve a solid fit with the Targon. There’s a bit of trial and error to adjusting the cheek pads, naturally, but they slide on internal rails, so finding the perfect spot is a doddle. Then, as the dial at the rear is so easily accessible, on-the-fly tweaks are child’s play.

Dealing with the chin guard is incredibly simple, and while there’s still a knack, I’ve yet to use a helmet that does its trick so easily. Simply pull on the tabs, locate the mounts, press back down, and you’re good to go.

Where many designs are such a faff to convert on a ride I’d run them in one configuration for the entire thing, the simplicity of the Targon’s system had me removing the guard for the climbs and clicking it back in for the descents. It’s truly convertible. The Targon absolutely nails it.

In either configuration, comfort is pretty on point thanks to the wide, stable cradle and the broad range of the Zoom adjuster. That stability is absolutely needed because the Targon is not a light helmet. It’s 1.04kg with the chin guard and 567g without, though it’s only really noticeable in open face mode, as then it’s around 250-300g more than a typical lid. In full-face mode the weight isn’t too dissimilar from regular full-facers, though, so it doesn’t feel odd.

Since the fit system does such a solid job of keeping the helmet from moving around, the extra grams don’t actually pose much of a problem when riding. However, I did find a bit of a pressure point on the forehead that impacted comfort – it was nothing severe, but noticeable, nonetheless.

Huge channels inside connect the three very large front vents to the plethora of vents at the rear, and the Targon’s airflow is up there with the best. Even at low speeds, air circulates unhindered, and if you do get sweaty, perspiration is guided around your eyes and any eyewear. That’s with or without the chin guard in place.

Abus Targon Mips – Verdict

There are a fair few convertible helmets on the market these days, but none that I’ve tested are as easy to use as the Targon. Of the others, a real favourite of mine is the MET Parachute MCR Mips. It’s lighter in both configurations and it’s slightly cheaper at £300, though its chin guard isn’t as easy to play with.

It’s similar to Leatt’s Helmet MTB Enduro 3.0. Though this one offers three configurations, which makes it a little bit more attractive, and I found its chin guard installation fairly easy, if not as straightforward as the Targon’s. As an open face it’s fairly weighty as well, but it’s cheaper at £250 and, while there’s no Mips, it features Leatt’s own rotational impact reduction system.

Although I had a few issues with the Targon, the pros outdo the cons. While weighty in its open face guise, it’s stable, comfortable and really well vented. But the helmet’s real ace in the hole is how easy it is to remove and replace the chin guard. It doesn’t get any easier than this.