Catlike Mixino
The Catlike Mixino ($280) is a thriller mix of cool and distinctive and light. Introduced last year, it’s largely a beautiful and smart revision of their Whisper lid. Then again, that doesn’t reward the Miximo for all the advances and improvements.
First, you have the unique Catlike-style 39 vents so it’s highly doubtful you’ll never overheat. For comparison, the Whisper had a wide size range of vent holes, small in front and massive in back which gave that helmet a slightly disjointed visual look. The Mixino is more stylish with the front, side and back vents all closer in size. That’s not to say the venting isn’t just as excellent if not better — Catlike uses their Dual Flow system with the larger vents in back functioning as exhaust ports. There’s just better unity to the design than in the Whisper.
The openings around each vent are also more wind-sculpted than the Whisper and overall, the Mixino has a slightly lower profile — it doesn’t sit as high on your head. That’s a nice upgrade when it comes to appearances.
I’ve owned both the Whisper and the Mixino so that’s why I’m using the one to frame the other. In my book, the Miximo is a significant jump up. In the medium size, the Miximo weighs in at 240 grams — 60 grams lighter than the Whisper.
With all the noise around aero helmets — read Giro, then Specialized — I have to say that both those helmets are just plain ugly. Give me the graceful and aggressive carved lines of the Giro Aeron or the head-snapping unique design of the Catlike Mixino. I’ll happily give up a few hundreds of a second over a 50 mile ride to look far more stylish.
Mixino venting
Besides distinctive good looks, optimal venting and light weight, the Miximo has more comfort adjustments than any helmet I’ve ever seen. First, you have the simple, clean ratchet dial at the back. It works well and has a nice minimalist look without appearing too flimsy. Then, the two grey rubber rings mounted on the inside of the back ratchet system also adjust side to side so you can perfect fit behind your head.
What — still not 100% super comfortable? The grey pads over the blue side pieces come in three thicknesses and it you need to go really thin because you’re head is more rounded, those blue pieces even detach. Essentially, that gives you four widths for the helmet and that should cover a pretty wide range of melons. (Worth noting here is that the Miximo has a nice compact size — some helmets can look big on your head but the Mixino is svelte and race-lean.)
What, you’re still wanting to tweak your fit? The two plastic side arms or the retention system also offer two positions to optimize how high or low you’d like them in relation to your sunglass arms and ears and where you want the rear set-up to sit vertically.
It therefore goes without saying that my Mixino feels great on my head. Now, I have a Giro and a Specialized helmet that are also terrific but neither has this degree of fit dialing. So kudos to Catlike for really making sure everybody has great options. I’d find it hard to believe this helmet won’t be a pleasure to wear regardless of head shape.
The inside story
We’ve been testing out the Miximo for months and it is checking all the boxes. Very comfortable and stable on the head, as well-vented as any lid out there and everybody recognizes the one-of-a-kind looks. Given that most every helmet on the market steals design cues from Giro, the Catlike marks out its own territory.
As far as safety concerns, the Mixino passes all the usual standards which mean you’re in good shape unless a semi-truck or train hit you, in which case, you’re dead no matter what.
However, what is beneficial is that they use an In-Mold process where the inner and outer layers are molded together. It’s a technique that increases the crash resistance and helps to diffuse the energy impact. There’s also an aramid roll cage — aramid is a heat resistant synthetic fiber that’s quite strong and easy to manipulate in terms of shaping and fiber orientation. That gives us a vote of confidence on fast descents down winding mountain roads.
If you’re in the market for cool and distinctive with fool-proof fit adjustments, the Mixino is a great match. It comes in sizes Small, Medium, and Large and in the colors Black/green, Matte Black, Matte Carbon/red, White, White/blue, White/red, and White/green.
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[…] Catlike Mixino helmet […]
With the strap origins hidden behind the pads, they were often twisted without me knowing, so I’d have to take the helmet off, untwist them and put it back on again.