Trace Mips Helmet

What Our Gearhead® Experts Are Saying:

"The Trace MIPS sits at the top of Smith's road lineup and the full-surround Koroyd construction is what earns it that position — having Koroyd coverage across the entire helmet rather than in isolated zones gives me a meaningfully different level of confidence than most road helmets at this weight. The 18-vent intake and exhaust system keeps airflow consistent across both hard climbing efforts and fast descents, and the AirEvac integration is the most functional sunglass management system I've used in a road helmet — it solves the fogging problem on cold descents and the storage problem when the light fades, both in one clean design."

Road helmets tend to optimize for one variable at the expense of others — lightweight construction that compromises protection depth, aggressive ventilation that creates structural gaps, or protection coverage that adds bulk and heat retention. The Smith Trace MIPS Helmet is built to resolve those tradeoffs at the top of Smith's road lineup, applying the full range of Smith's protection and thermal management technology to a helmet designed for riders who spend serious time on the road across varying conditions and long efforts.

The protection architecture of the Trace centers on full-surround Koroyd coverage — a co-polymer welded tube structure that wraps the entire helmet shell rather than being applied in targeted zones. On impact, the Koroyd tubes collapse in a controlled manner to absorb and disperse energy across the full contact area, a behavior that outperforms traditional EPS foam in both energy management efficiency and consistency across impact angles. Full-surround coverage means that protection is not dependent on the specific location of the impact, which matters in the unpredictable geometry of real-world road crashes. MIPS adds a low-friction slip-plane layer between the helmet interior and the rider's head that allows the shell to rotate slightly on angled impact, reducing the rotational forces transmitted to the brain that are most associated with concussion. Together, Koroyd and MIPS create a layered protection system that addresses both direct and rotational impact mechanics simultaneously, at a claimed weight of 9.9 ounces in a medium — competitive for a helmet carrying this depth of protective technology.

Airflow is managed by an 18-vent system designed around a dedicated intake and exhaust architecture rather than passive port placement. Cool air enters through forward-facing intake vents and is channeled across the scalp through internal air channels before exiting through rear exhaust ports, creating a through-flow that keeps head temperature regulated during sustained climbing efforts and high-output road work. The AirEvac system integrates eyewear management directly into the ventilation architecture — directing airflow across the lens zone to prevent the fogging that occurs during cold descents when the temperature differential between the rider's face and the ambient air causes condensation to build on sunglass lenses. Integrated channels in the helmet securely retain glasses when they need to come off, a practical solution for rides that extend into lower light conditions or transition between varying environments. The VaporFit retention system provides tool-free fit adjustment that wraps the occipital region for a stable, precise hold across the full range of road riding positions. The Trace MIPS meets U.S. CPSC certification standards and carries a limited three-year helmet warranty.