Biking is a great escape in these trying times. Flying down a mountain trail, feeling the wind in your hair and the tree trunk in your face... You are wearing a helmet, right? If you need to update to the latest helmet technology, Costco has a smoking deal for you.
We found the Freetown Lumiere MIPS helmet on sale for a ridiculously low $19.99, which qualifies as an impulse buy for a MIPS helmet. Once we got it home and got it on we were impressed with the fit and features of the Lumiere. MIPS stands for multi-directional impact protection system, and it's designed to alleviate the rotational force from impacts at an angle, which are the most common. If you're getting a new helmet, it really should include this technology, which is simple and adds almost no weight or bulk: it's really just a thin plastic inner liner that will allow the outer shell to slide a bit on impact.
The Lumiere has decent padding and a comfortable chin strap, as well as a dial adjustment for size. Ventilation is good, with large holes in all the right places. Freetown even throws in a nice in a nice integrated five-LED red light on the back, with bright solid and flashing modes. The helmet is sized for youth to adults and worked for everyone in our family. If you have a large head it might not size up enough, but if you normally wear a M/L or smaller the Lumiere is a great choice and a bargain to boot.