Fox Launches New Flux Helmet - Bike Connection Winter 2018

Feb 8, 2018 at 5:43
by Paul Aston  
The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux


The previous Flux model has been Fox's stalwart in the mountain bike helmet sector and is their best selling bike product of all time. The original version launched in 2006 and was arguably one of the first helmets specifically designed for MTB trail riding rather than rebranding XC racing lids that were lifted from the road market.

The new Flux features an updated look, Varizorb multi-density EPS, a flexible visor, and a 300º retention system. There are two models to choose from, the €95 Flux and the €145 Flux MIPS, which believe it or not, includes MIPS as well as a magnetic Fidlock Snap buckle.

Flux Details:

• Intended use: trail / all-mountain
• Mips protection
• Varizorb EPS foam
• X-Static antibacterial liner
• 300º retention system
• Adjustable visor
• 14 Big Bore vents
• XS/S, S/M, L/XL
• MSRP: Flux MIPS €145, Flux €95
• Available Feb '18
• foxracing.com


The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux


Construction and Features

The Flux's base is constructed from Varizorb EPS foam that is injection molded from two sides with internal pyramids that help to dissipate impact energy. A structural internal cage is molded into the foam which helps with overall strength and better energy dissipation.

The visor can be adjusted to suit your tastes and is made from thin and very flexible plastic, this should help to prevent adding any rotational leverage in a crash and breaking under impact.


The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux
The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux
This plastic cage was inspired by the ProFrame helmet which has a plastic frame running from the chin bar through the EPS foam, into the main shell. It adds strength to the overall construction.


The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux
The Varizorb foam is injected from two sides and the pyramids are said to help dissipate energy in an impact.


The retention system works around 300º of the head to fit most head types and shapes. This system also has adjustment to raise and lower the retainer location at the back of the head and near the temples to further adjust the fit.

A Fidlock Snap magnetic buckle is used on the higher-tier MIPS version. These buckles are great and are being found on more and more helmets – it allows the rider to easily close the buckle using one hand even when riding along.

The liner can be removed and washed but is made from antibacterial X-Static material that should keep your head and helmet smelling fresh.


The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux

The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux
The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux

The Bike Connection 2018 - Fox Flux


There are a total of fourteen 'Big Bore' vents that are combined with long channels which run internally along the length of the shell, connecting the vents and helping to keep the air flowing over your head.

The Flux should be available in your nearest Fox dealer from today onwards. Expect a full review in the coming months after we put the Flux to the test. Stay tuned for more new products from Bike Connection Winter, currently taking place in Massa Marittima, Italy.

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96 Comments
  • 229 2
 Can you stop modelling helmets on a guy with 3 inches of man bun?
  • 119 0
 Its a bronytail.
  • 62 1
 He looks about as excited as we are
  • 42 1
 Seriously. What the flux is going on here?
  • 54 2
 HairMIPS™ is all the rage.
  • 7 0
 he just knew his advanced Endo specific brony tail would not be received well with the pb viewers.
  • 4 0
 What a bocker
  • 6 0
 I wish we could purchase up-votes for like a buck each. I’d throw couple at this comment.
  • 2 1
 "no bueno" is spanish for no man buns!
  • 2 0
 @b0cephus: LOL!
  • 7 2
 Can Fox just make a good looking helmet! WTF The OG Flux was the best one
  • 2 0
 its so you know it fits unisex
  • 4 1
 is that what we call a guy with a man bun? Unisex?
  • 2 1
 damn this is ugly...
  • 70 1
 When you want a visor, but you don't really want a visor to serve its' purpose.
  • 23 3
 When roadies want to try mountain biking but they have to bring some roadiness with them in case their friends see.
  • 7 2
 it looks like the old 90s Giro helmets I had one, they were awful looking
  • 39 2
 Just bad adjusting or does the helmet sit that high?
  • 8 0
 The original flux was good for me because it sat low and fit my tall, narrow head perfectly. It was always the best fit for anyone with a narrower noggin. I have a fivehead, not a forehead, and other helmets like Giro or Bell look like a weird mushroom cap sitting oddly high on top. I hope it still fits the same, but looks more like the other helmets in these pics. Gotta go try this new one on, hopefully I'm wrong.
  • 10 1
 This is the Euro model with the Manbunpocket feature.
  • 1 0
 @JustinVP: really? I always thought the flux was a wide fitting helmet
  • 5 1
 @DJ-24: thought the man bun originated in the America coffee culture lounges.
  • 1 1
 Maybe it's the man-bun or maybe not...maybe, he just has a cone-head. www.pinterest.com/pin/120471358753556829
  • 29 0
 What! No water bottle mount!!
  • 4 0
 Flux with Boost will have a water bottle mount...
  • 22 3
 Too many snag points, sharp pointy out edges....catch one of those and your twisting . Piss pot or motorbike style are the safest shape of lids as they will slide or bounce off with less chance of catching and twisting- smooth and round with few holes. Why spend truck loads of cash on mips to reduce rotational stress and not design the same elements into the whole helmet..?
  • 5 0
 Was going to say the same thing. The point on the end just makes it less safe. Also the visor's only purpose is to catch on shit. It also seems to ride pretty high, but it might just be that stanky man-bun.
  • 1 0
 Beat me to it
  • 20 6
 It looks like Donald Trump's comb-over.
  • 4 3
 LOL!!!
  • 8 17
flag Beez177 (Feb 8, 2018 at 14:14) (Below Threshold)
 Or Hillary Clinton's bush!
  • 4 13
flag jrocksdh (Feb 8, 2018 at 15:09) (Below Threshold)
 I need one like Obama's afro back when he was doin coke!
  • 15 1
 Looks ridiculous!!
  • 10 0
 If that was to sit any higher on his head I'm sure he'd be picking up radio signals. But in all seriousness, have Fox reverted to the infamous 1980's 'boxy' styling by Volvo?
  • 8 0
 It looks like it sits quite high on the head rather than coming round the ears covering more of the forehead and back of the head
  • 7 0
 Seems more suited to the gravel, hipster, not a MTBer not a roadie crowd
  • 5 1
 Oh you guys thought their other half shell helmet looked bad? Nah they are loaded with bad surprises.
  • 6 1
 Yeah, and I thought their Meta looked awful! They've outdone themselves!
  • 4 0
 @ScandiumRider: Have you seen the Fox Ranger?
  • 1 0
 @dingus: how can a brand like fox think that looks good
  • 2 1
 I figure it must have been designed on 'Bring your child to work day'.
  • 1 0
 If you squint and kinda shave off the pointy bits, plus give it a visor that might actually WORK as a visor, and make it lower MUCH lower! It might barely pass for a half way wearable lid.
Alternatively you could do as I did when first seeing it, complete the squint, and go all in and just shut your eyes, take a deep breath and say to yourself "good lord ..NO!"
Methinks a designer at fox may need a bit of a slap upside the head, without the aid of this or any other helmet.
  • 1 0
 Nope charmiller your not, had the very same thought, thought here's another removable chin guard along the lines of an NFL helmet, or baseball helmet
To be honest if fox had gone that way, it might (and its a mighty big might) improved the look, if nothing else it would have helped the owner of such a fugly lid hide behind it
  • 2 1
 Honestly I don't buy helmets based off look primarily. I want to know the features...I like the features of this, but need to see one super critical thing not included. Where is a picture of the inside of the helmet where your head sits? I like to know how the removable pads are connected/designed/shaped on the forehead. I am sweaty. The last flux I had would collect sweat off half my head and concentrate it in the forehead padding. It would then release it on my glasses during the first big jarring motion(ie on the fun parts after the climb). And then I would have to ride with effed glasses or stop(killing my flow and strava time JK) and clean them off. It really became one of my mandatory requirements of helmet padding. If they have too big of a pad on the forehead, or it all connects to the forehead pad, it is a no go for me....and I cannot see an image of the inside. So, I will pass...until I see proof they changed it....
  • 1 0
 I'm a, "MORE VENTS!" kind of guy. Hate wearing things on my head, even my baseball cap which I, "like the idea" of wearing, only can stay on my head for like twenty minutes maximum. Always hated helmets since I was a child, and mine was bought from some school campaign, and was generally floppy, and annoying, and half broken most of the time I had it. I need a force field for my head.
  • 3 0
 Helmet seems to sit too high on the head. is that called an open face helmet?
  • 3 0
 Looks a lot like my Kali Interceptor. And yes @arrowheadrush i agree, can we stop with the man buns...
  • 2 0
 Design looks pretty grim and fussy to me. And €50 for a MIPS liner is a ripoff, my Scott Stego cost an extra £20 over the non-MIPS version and that was two years ago.
  • 2 0
 you get more features with the mips version
  • 1 0
 @zyx8910: If you're happy to pay £30 for a magnetic strap, I've got a bridge to sell you.
  • 1 0
 I don't think I've ever given as much thought to a piece of mtb gear as these posts. Time for a new helmet? "Hey LBS, I need a helmet. Ok try this. Fits great, thanks LBS!" Go ride.

NVM, I lying out my... This things fugly.
  • 3 0
 Mushroom head, which I could post a Mario bros mushroom right here !!! lol
  • 6 2
 Sux
  • 1 1
 what the fox
  • 3 0
 Better than the duck helmet they tried to sell us.
  • 3 0
 WTF! these comments are funny as fk
  • 3 0
 Old flux is not bad, this one looks cheap and butt.
  • 1 0
 Looks like it's lacking on side and back coverage! Definitely not a fan of the pointy fin on the back, but the visor might be alright depending on how far it rotates down.
  • 1 0
 So this helmet has no forehead coverage or the guy modeling has a frankenstein forehead. Plus, when is Fox going to get Proframes back in stock is the real question.
  • 3 0
 Guessing this will be 50% off by Halloween.
  • 2 0
 How do you design/develop something like the Proframe and then this?
  • 3 1
 It looks like it would just slide off the top your head.
  • 1 3
 Magnetic buckle seems like a bad idea to me. If it's as easy to unbuckle as they make it seem, how secure will it be in the case of an impact? €145 seems steep to me, prolly be around $200 CAD?

Picked up a Giro Chronicle in MIPS for $125 from my LBS not long ago, I have no trouble buckling/unbuckling with a single gloved hand while riding...
  • 6 0
 I have that mag buckle on my snowboard helmet that I'm wearing for my second season now. Let me assure you if there was an issue with the buckle, I would have encountered it with one of my many tomahawks lol.
  • 6 0
 The magnetic buckles are the bomb imo, one day of riding and youll be used to it, flicks undone with one hand with gloves on easy, got it on the proframe and it held in on a big crash i had a while back
  • 1 0
 FidLock is the real deal. Have it on my Oakley snow helmet and have zero issues.
  • 2 0
 You have to slide it in a specific way to remove it (on the sides). If you just pull on it, it won't unlock.
Don't worry, there is few tests on straps/buckle to pass the certification.

Cheers
  • 3 1
 So much better than the metah disaster.
  • 1 1
 Fox Mtb please sort out your colour palettes. Sad to say but as a long long time customer I have to speak.
The colours used for the Winter season are hideous. :$
  • 1 0
 Am I the only one that thought they were introducing a wire face mask to protect from getting hit by a pitch?
  • 1 0
 looks like the front of the helmet should come down further on his forehead
  • 1 0
 The og flux is a friggin sick helmet but this looks more like the metah had gross offspring with the flux.
  • 4 3
 But is it Ebike specific ????
  • 3 1
 Meh. I'll keep my A2.
  • 1 0
 i ll keep my A1! looking to buy an A1 with MIPS this year!
  • 4 2
 Fugly....
  • 2 2
 Seriously. Their last helmet was alright looking but it had a HUUUUUGE visor. So this time they put a tiny little visor on it and and think... yeah that'll do. No dude. It's still ugly as hell. And strangely enough... the last time I held a pro frame in my hands it was split in half. No thanks.
  • 1 0
 What's the weight, without the mun?
  • 1 0
 Remember that video stop the knot?
  • 1 0
 I call mine a samurai knot.
  • 1 0
 Are these JensonUSA sepecific models?
  • 1 0
 Is “Varizorb” licensed from Kali? Serious question...
  • 1 0
 This helmet look like a bucket full of poostank.
  • 10 11
 I’m a fan, anyone else?
  • 5 0
 .... Anyone...?
Hellllllooooooo....?
  • 3 1
 not me
  • 3 5
 Cause most people hit the top of their heads upon impact! Yeah, no...stick with suspension!
  • 6 0
 Ahhhh, it's it a different Fox that make suspension...?
  • 1 0
 Same family, different brother...
  • 2 0
 @millsr4: Completely different companies.
  • 1 0
 @onemanarmy: Yes now they are different companies but originally they were basically one and started by brothers...

"The early history of Fox Racing and Fox Racing Shox were intertwined. Fox Racing Shox is a brand of offroad racing suspension components founded by Geoff Fox's brother, Bob Fox."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Racing
  • 2 0
 @millsr4: That's well known.

But the companies have zero relation and haven't for a long long time.
  • 1 0
 @onemanarmy: I would have to say that from what @drivereight commented, it may not be common knowledge to some like it is to us... Wink
  • 1 0
 @millsr4: No joke. Just read the hate comments on some of the Facebook posts and half the people don't know which FOX they're talking crap about. LOL!







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