Catlike Mixino Road Helmet

Without a doubt, the most recognisable helmet in the professional peloton is that worn by the guys in the Movistar team. With its distinctive Gaudi-esque vents and slightly bulbous shape, the Catlike Mixino looks like an object made by nature. It's superbly ventilated, fits well and few helmets weigh less.

The reason the helmet has this unique shape is thanks to its aramid skeleton, which sits underneath the 'foam' of the helmet. It's reinforced with graphene to enable it to have a significant number of vents (39 in total) and a very light weight (227g) without impacting on safety in the event of a crash.

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Fit is crucial with any helmet, and in the case of the Mixino it's done through the Catlike MPS eVo fitting system. This is essentially a regular looking dial at the rear of the helmet, two adjustable pads underneath this dial, and a pad on either side of the head. It's simple to create a fit that is both comfortable and firm enough to feel secure.

The straps are also easy to use, with dividers on each side and an easy-to-use clip. The only downside I found was that they would sometimes be twisted when you put the helmet on without you realising, as the base of the straps are hidden behind the pads; it just meant a quick adjustment to sort out, though.

The fit itself is very good, and having tried other helmets in a similar price range (the Lazer Z1, for instance) it is comparable, although for me the fit of the Z1 is slightly better.

The pads in the helmet are a nice touch, with two versions of different thicknesses provided, making it even more adjustable. They are good at soaking up sweat without becoming saturated too quickly and also didn't smell after a couple of sweaty rides. This is helped by the use of Outlast Padding, which Catlike claims helps to moderate the temperature of your head. I never found that my head particularly overheated when wearing the helmet, so it seemed to work.

As the number of vents may suggest, this helmet is designed with ventilation very much at the forefront, and it really excels. I can honestly say I have never used a better-ventilated helmet. Thanks to these 39 vents and, according to Catlike, the scientifically placed channels, you can genuinely feel the air passing over your head. This should keep you as cool as possible; testing it at around 20 degrees in southern Italy it was impressive, and I reckon I'd be happy to wear it in the hottest conditions.

Another added bonus of having this many vents is that finding a place to store glasses is incredibly easy, either at the back or front of the head.

The helmet comes in 12 varieties of colours and either matt or gloss finishes. I can't say I liked the colour I was reviewing particularly, but having seen other colours on the road that look great it's likely you will find something you like.

As well as helping to create the helmet's unique shape, the graphene-reinforced aramid skeleton also makes the helmet very light, coming in at 227g (220g claimed) on the road.cc Scales of Truth. This puts it lighter than the Lazer Z1 and Kask Protone and only a few grams heavier than the Giro Synthe. This, and the superb ventilation, actually had me reaching up a few times to check that I hadn't forgotten to put it on – which is really saying something.

I didn't test the impact protection of the helmet, but Catlike says it uses its Crash Energy Splitter system, which spreads the impact on a helmet across a wider area, meaning less impact on your head. Having seen some of the crashes that the Movistar team have walked away from while wearing this helmet, I assume it's a system that works well.

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The helmet has an RRP of £179.99, although it can be found for slightly less than that if you shop around. Compared with others, this is a fairly good price, with the Giro Synthe, POC Octal and Lazer Z1 all around £199.99 or more. The Assos Jingo and Kask Protone are around the same price.

All in all, the Mixino fares well among other helmets at this level and excels in ventilation and weight. The fit is good, with wide ranging adjustability, even if the straps can sometimes be a pain when putting it on. It is fairly priced compared with others with similar attributes, and it certainly has a unique look that will get you noticed on the road.

Verdict

A very good helmet, especially if you are looking for maximum ventilation