POC Otocon Race MIPS

This is the tale of two Jackasses. Not Steve-O and Bam, nor Trevor and Deniz. Jackass One: a bike rider whom failed to lock the driver’s door of his car, and Jackass two: the opportunistic thief who noticed said unlocked door; rewarded with a free full face helmet and sunnies. D'oh.

Coincidentally, Uncle Dave ruined his calf and handed me the POC Otocon, a lightweight and extraordinarily breathable DH-rated full face helmet. A real-world test of the protective capability of the Otocon presented itself when I tumbled into a rock pile after grabbing too much brake through tricky compression. The helmet did its job perfectly, sacrificing itself and saving the side of my head. POC dispatched over an Otocon Race MIPS, showcasing MIPS slip-plane protection and a few other heightened safety features over the base Otocon. Luckily I've been able to keep the Otocon Race alive, let's see how the Scandinavian lid fares on the North Shore.

Features

The Otocon Race MIPS is POC's flagship enduro full face helmet, showcasing top-tier protection and POC's usual attention to detail in the tech department. The enduro full face category is growing rapidly, and while there are many options, the Otocon Race ranks at the top for its combination of clean lines, light weight, and rider protection.

MIPS Integra: POC introduced MIPS to the world in 2008, undergoing many revisions and arrives at the very unobtrusive iteration seen here. The sliding surface is a paper-thin smooth plastic layer bonded to the EPS foam, sandwiched between the one-piece inner liner/pad. Compared to the telltale yellow MIPS of days past, it is nearly invisible. It works in conjunction with the inner pad, a breathable textile woven over a thin silicone bladder (formerly POC's in house slip plane offering, SPIN, instituted between MIPS licensing agreements) furthering the slip-plane travel.

TwICEme NFC Medical ID: akin to a RFID, Near Field Communication holds emergency contact info via the twICEme app on a phone. An incapacitated rider wearing an Otocon Race could potentially be helped by a bystander who finds them - regardless of whether they have the app or not. The rescuer hovers a phone over the NFC symbol (picture a sideways wifi symbol) atop the helmet, emergency info then is displayed on their phone. I like the idea of twICEme, though I'd be surprised to learn of folks prioritising a scan of a downed rider, unless they were privy to how it works.

Breakaway Visor: the visor easily pops off in the event of an impact, heeding Wu Tang's advice to protect ya neck. It's easily reattached, slotting into attachment points instead of using screws (which usually break the visor during an impact).

Race Lock: POC's retention device, easily adjusted with the turn of a grippy thumbwheel integrated into the back of the helmet. I'll often open it fully to put the helmet on, then dial it to preferred tension.

Removable Cheek Pads: I suppose you could pull these out during a lengthy climb for better ventilation and less insulation, but they're tedious to reattach and I'd likely lose them - so they stayed in at all times.

Removable Grill: The mouth protector section of the helmet has a removable grill, which I took out immediately. I need all the ventilation I can get, so buh-bye, mud in the teeth be damned.

Fit

The Otocon Race is the most ventilated, lightweight full face helmet I've worn. The giant vents channel air nearly as well as my half shell (the very airy POC Kortal), minus the obvious chin piece and surrounding face protection. You can feel the air moving rapidly from the vented brow pad all the way through to the back of your head - to the degree that cold weather riding may necessitate wearing a buff or some type of thin helmet liner. During longer climbs, the Otocon Race reminds you it's still a full face, as sweat saturates the cheek pads. I removed the chin guard grill to allow for drinking from a water bottle, and more air flow.

A minor gripe of the silicone filled liner pad is that it's not as breathable as it's non-MIPS counterpart (found on the Otocon instead of the Otocon Race). After trashing the initial Otocon, I kept the inner pads as spares, and have tested them back to back, preferring the non-silicone/highly breathable pad.

The Otocon Race fits my head comfortably. It feels significantly less bulky than a Bell Super DH, with a claimed weight of 750g. The Race Lock retention device has three height settings, tension is adjusted via a ratcheting thumbwheel integrated into the back of the outer shell, allowing for on-the-fly adjustments.

Final Thoughts

The POC Otocon Race is a versatile full face helmet, suited for shuttle laps down the gnar or enduro races. With a MSRP of 420 USD, it's not cheap, though a more budget friendly option of the base Otocon is 310 USD. From their beginning, POC has sat at the forefront of brain protection, and we could always use more. The combination of amazing air flow, DH rated protection, light weight and clean aesthetic makes the Otocon Race a helmet I'll gladly pick up more often than full face lids of the past.

POC Otocon Race MIPS