The Poc Omne Beacon Mips Commute Bike Helmet is ‘inspired by a beacon beaming brightly,’ and has a bright orange rear with a built-in LED for maximum night-time and low-light visibility, along with Mips technology to maximise protection. Throw in good venting and Scandi styling and you’ve got a great all-round package, though it comes with quite a weighty price tag.
> Buy now: Poc Omne Beacon Mips Commute Bike Helmet for £169.99 from Sigma Sports
The helmet comes in three colours – navy, white and white matt – and in three sizes for heads from 50-61cm in circumference. The 360° adjustment system makes it easy to achieve a comfortable fit, and the slim profile helps to keep the weight down, our medium lid coming in at a reasonable 302g.
Mips has been around for a few years now, and is designed to protect your brain and reduce the chances of concussion by reducing rotational motion in the event of an angled impact.
Sizing and fitting
POC has a sizing guide on its website that should help you measure your head circumference correctly, and we’ve also got our own handy guide.
My head measures 58cm and our medium helmet is designed for heads from 54-59cm.
The helmet did sit a fraction high on my head, but I found it comfortable once I’d tightened the rear dial. I also had to move the cradle adjuster fully out to get it to sit correctly with my occipital lump.
To get the chin buckle done up I had to loosen the strap nearly to the end stop, which wasn’t a problem as everything was correctly done up. Though it did make wonder whether I’d try a large, designed for heads from 56-61cm, if I was in a shop.
The helmet was a perfect fit for my wife, who measures 57cm, and she found it extremely comfortable.
A final and welcome feature is that the Poc has an eyewear garage, the two outer front vents firmly securing straight-armed sunglasses.
Performance
I really enjoyed wearing this. I like its styling and colour, and appreciated the built-in light, but more importantly I found it comfortable and – though marketed as a commuter helmet – better vented than any other helmet I’ve worn.
The large forward-facing vents ensured that the airflow over the top of my head proved very welcome during those very hot mid-summer rides.
Quite surprisingly considering that, my head didn’t get especially wet when riding in torrential rain, presumably because of the panel behind the forward vents.
I’m normally a fan of white helmets because of the extra visibility I feel they offer, but the Poc’s bright orange rear was highly visible and second only to white in my observations. And the helmet is also available in white, of course.
Light and visibility
You switch on the LED by pressing its button for two seconds.
It has three modes: Vivid providing 32 lumens, with Steady and Blinking both giving 24-lumen outputs. Run times are 13, 16 and 32 hours respectively and it’s charged using a supplied USB-C cable.
Its IP55 rating means it’ll survive rain and low-pressure water rather than being waterproof, and though it doesn’t have a rubber cap, it survived a huge downpour..
In practice I achieved 15 hours in the Solid mode from a full charge, which is an hour less than claimed but still impressive – easily enough for a week’s commuting for most.
Charging from empty using a standard 5v 1amp USB power supply took one hour 50 mins, with the LEDs lighting up in sequence to show the charge level – one showing it’s a quarter full, four fully charged. I’d have liked something similar when switching the light off.
During daytime rides using the Vivid mode I found that while the light was bright enough to be seen in sunlight, the bright orange panel was also great at increasing visibility.
When going into a shade or through a tunnel, the light comes into its own, and at night all the modes worked well. I found it broadly matched my go-to helmet light, the Lazer Universal LED, in the two lower output modes, but the Lazer’s 40-lumen output outshone the Poc in the two brighter modes. But I’m a big fan of helmet LEDs and I think this is still a good one.
Value
This can be a difficult thing to define. After all, £220 is a lot of money.
The Specialized Align II costs just £45 – so you could kit out the family for the price of one of these. It also features Mips, albeit in a lower spec version.
The Spesh is around 70g heavier, sits a little bigger on your head and isn’t quite as well vented, but as with all Specialized helmets I’ve tried, it’s very comfortable.
Lara found the £90 Kask Sintesi light, comfortable and well priced, though it lacks a rear light.
We thought the Smith Dispatch Helmet was one of the best commuter lids around, and while it features a rear LED, we weren’t so keen on the £159 price.
For more options, check out our best cycling helmets buyer’s guide.
Conclusion
This is pretty expensive, but you are getting a well-designed lid with Mips – and one with a great style and finish. And speaking personally, I like Poc’s Scandinavian aesthetic. I found it comfortable, the rear light boosts its commuter credentials even if the term ‘commuter’ threw me a little in my deliberations. After all, what’s the difference between riding to work or tackling the gravel? Either way you still want protection and to look good. This feels like a great all-rounder to me, and if you’ve got the budget, then it’s worth considering.
> Buy now: Poc Omne Beacon Mips Commute Bike Helmet for £169.99 from Sigma Sports
Verdict
Good-looking, comfy, airy, excellent safety features and the LED is the cherry on the top… or the rear
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road.cc test report
Make and model: Poc Omne Beacon Mips Commute Bike Helmet
Size tested: Medium
Tell us what the product is for and who it’s aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Poc says: “Inspired by a beacon beaming brightly, the Omne Beacon Mips ensures you shine bright on every journey, keeping you seen every time you take to the streets.
“Featuring an integrated red light to the rear, the helmet makes it easier for others to see you as you cycle in low light, drawing attention to your presence as you travel across the city.
“The lightweight helmet features an EPS liner giving protection from a wide variety of impact forces, making the helmet ideal for everything from the daily commute to weekend club rides.
“The adjustable 360° fit system makes it easy to find a secure and comfortable fit, and the inclusion of the highly integrated and almost-invisible Mips Integra enhances rotational impact protection.”
I like the helmet’s style, I found it well vented and airy – and I appreciate a rear LED in any helmet designed for commuting. In fact, about the only downside is the price. It is pretty pricey, at least at its full RRP.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Colours: APATITE NAVY MATT, HYDROGEN WHITE, HYDROGEN WHITE MATT
Sizes: S/50-56, M/54-59. L/56-61
INTEGRATED LIGHT:
The helmet features an integrated light to help ensure others can easily see you in low light conditions. The light is operated manually and charges via a USB-C connection.
MIPS INTEGRA:
Mips Integra seamlessly and almost invisibly integrates rotational impact protection into the helmet.
EPS LINER:
A lightweight EPS liner gives optimized protection.
PC SHELL:
The PC shell enhances the structural integrity of the helmet.
ADJUSTABLE 360° FIT:
A 360° adjustment system makes it easy to find a secure, comfortable fit.
SLIM PROFILE:
The helmet’s slimmer profile helps keep weight down.
LED BRIGHTNESS:
Vivid mode: 32 Lumens Steady mode: 24 Lumens Blinking mode: 24 Lumens
LED LIFE FRAM A SINGLE CHARGE:
Vivid mode: 13 hrs Steady mode: 16 hrs Blinking mode: 32 hrs
The ventilation is the best I’ve ridden with.
It feels well made, and you get the impression that it’ll last for years.
The medium comes in at 302g. It’s not a bad weight, and feels fine when you’re wearing it. Of the other helmets I mention, the Kask comes in at 237g with the Specialized Align II weighing 369g, putting the Poc broadly in the middle.
Good adjustability from the cradle, rear dial and ear/chin straps, which allows you to achieve an accurate fit.
There’s no escaping it: £220 is a lot of money for a lid. And there’s a lot of competition out there making excellent products. But it’s not out of kilter for other helmets of this quality, and if you like the style, value Mips and are prepared to pay the price, it’s certainly one to think about.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
While it worked very well as a commuter helmet for rides to the station, it’s not one to pigeon-hole purely as an urban lid, as it performed just as well when I was riding country lanes.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The Scandi style – with the built-in rear light a big bonus.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The price is about the only downside.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
A helmet needs to primarily comfortable, fit properly and suit your aesthetic. Generally the more you pay the better the venting and the lighter the helmet.
The Specialized Align II helmet is £45 and while a little heavier and slightly bigger on the head, it is very comfortable.
The £90 Kask Sintesi is light, comfortable and well priced, though it doesn’t have the bonus of a rear LED.
More expensive still, though cheaper than the POC, is the £159 Smith Dispatch, and like the Poc it comes with an integrated light.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
This is a very good helmet. I found it airy and well vented, with Mips maximising the protection. It’s comfortable and has an integrated rear LED set in a high-visibility panel – that’s ticking an awful lot of boxes, with the price about the only negative.
About the tester
Age: 56 Height: 180cm Weight: 66kg
I usually ride: Condor Fratello 55cm My best bike is: Gios Evolution 55cm
I’ve been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Every week I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, touring, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, General road riding is most common
