Do not buy a Sweet Protection Trailblazer MIPS
It’s a good looking crash helmet isn’t it? I was hoping to write a review of the Trailblazer MIPS but my only conclusion is… do not buy.
I’ve never had to say that about a bike product before. And that’s speaking as someone who has wrestled with WTB ST i25 rim and tyres!
Am I being too harsh? Nope, not at all.
About the Trailblazer MIPS
When I first got the Sweet Protection Trailblazer MIPS I was very happy. It’s a good looking bike helmet, I really like the matt grey and gloss red finish and after a hard landing at Bike Park Wales I was keen to get something with MIPS built in.
The Trailblazer feels like something built to last and the fit is also good for my ovalised skull. The helmet even comes with different thickness pads for the side of the helmet, a detail I’ve not seen before to help tune your fit. I bought the small/medium size and found myself at the upper end of its adjustment range after the medium/large was too… large. But that was OK.
18 months later, the helmet pads – called ‘Comfort Pads by Sweet Protection’, a name which feels too disturbingly close to an incontinence product for actual comfort (just me?) – have now disintegrated.
Search for spares
I contacted the UK shop, but no dice. No Comfort Pads to be had.
Next I contacted Sweet Protection and have been told:
…our comfort pads are exclusively available for order through our own webshop…
And
…we have had to close off the UK-market for the time being… due to costs and challenges with customs regulations across non-EU countries…
I know, I know. That Brexshit dividend again.
But that’s that. I will make one last attempt to buy some ‘universal’ pads off eBay* but essentially I now have an expensive crash helmet that I can’t use. The thought of having to send that to landfill really annoys me as well!
Don’t buy Sweet Protection products
If you live in the UK I strongly suggest you steer clear of Sweet Protection products because they no longer supply UK customers with spares. With helmets in particular, that’s a problem because sooner or later you need to replace the helmet pads.
The reason I mention all this – quite apart from my own personal annoyance in this case – is you can still buy Sweet Protection products in the UK, including bike and snow crash helmets. You might be tempted to buy in good faith. Apart from the problem of spares, assume that warranty and repair work for any of their products (which also covers protective gear and clothing) is similarly affected.
So, regardless of the product quality, in the UK in 2024, don’t buy Sweet Protection products.
* if that eBay route works I’ll post an update
About the author
Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.
Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.
An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.
If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.
There are 8 comments on ‘Do not buy a Sweet Protection Trailblazer MIPS’
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Alexander Baines-Buffery says:
The name also sounds a bit contraceptive 🙂
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Posted on June 13, 2024 at 8:11 am
Matt says:
Lol! It’s certainly a weird name when ‘replacement helmet pads’ would have done the job just fine…
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Posted on June 13, 2024 at 8:39 am
Elliot says:
Shame. Particularly as Sweet Protection make some of the best performing helmets in the Virginia Tech tests.
I’ve had similar issues trying to get replacement pads. MET, for example, never in stock in this country and postage from europe is ridiculous.
I think the real scandal is companies supplying very expensive helmets with pads that fall apart in no time, often after the first wash. Not meaning to rude but they are taking the piss. I ended up with a 6 year old spare set of Kask pads in my MET helmet, still in perfect condition after all that time.
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Posted on June 13, 2024 at 12:37 pm
Matt says:
Agree Elliot, not impressed the pads are so poor when crash helmets cost so much (they obviously play on the ‘what price safety’ worry).
The Sweet Protection helmet is actually decent so I’m going to try to re-purpose some other pads. We’ll see.
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Posted on June 13, 2024 at 9:32 pm
Duncan Speight says:
Same with Rose bikes, I have a frame that I can’t get a mech hanger for… Brexshit strikes again!
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Posted on June 13, 2024 at 4:41 pm
Matt says:
I really like Rose bikes myself, such a shame they stopped UK trading too.
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Posted on June 13, 2024 at 9:28 pm
Gerard Cox says:
Wow stumbled across this doing pre purchase research.Glad I did and will be avoiding.
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Posted on June 13, 2024 at 8:11 pm
Matt says:
Glad to be of help. To be clear, the product is good, its just not well-supported for spares etc. I’m hoping some cheapy pads off eBay will work, but not as good as the proper ones I’m sure.
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Posted on June 13, 2024 at 9:26 pm