Folksam, a Swedish insurance company, has conducted an independent study into helmet safety and concluded that an airbag design is safer than a selection of traditional bicycle helmet designs.
The study was carried out with funding support from the Road Safety Trust in the UK and consisted of five physical tests. The testers used two shock absorption tests with straight perpendicular impacts and three oblique impact tests for the X, Y and Z axes. Computer simulations were then carried out to evaluate the risk for concussion.
The data was then combined and the helmets that performed better than the median in both the shock absorption test and the oblique impact test were given a 'Recommended' label. In total 8 out of the 27 helmets on test were given the label and all of them apart from the airbag helmet had some form of rotational impact protection - 6 MIPS and 1 Wavecel. The helmets that received the label are: Hövding 3, Biltema Cykelhjälm MIPS, Tec Quadriga MIPS, Scott Vivo Plus MIPS, Bell Super Air R MIPS, Bontrager Specter WaveCel, Occano MIPS and Specialized S-Works Prevail II/ ANGI MIPS.
The standout helmet was the Hövding 3 helmet that was released in September last year. It's worn as a collar around the neck and when it senses an impact it inflates an airbag around the wearer's head to protect them. A video of the helmet in action is below:
Yes, it definitely looks a bit goofy to us but going by the numbers of Folksam's study, it's significantly more protective than the other helmets in the test. The testers noted that "The Hövding 3 performed at least three times better than all the other conventional helmets" in the shock absorption test and it was also the best performing helmet in the other tests too. It's worth noting the airbag was pre-inflated to 0.56 bar and a larger anvil had to be used compared to the rest of the helmets due to fear of hitting the sharp edges of the anvil and affecting the results.
It's not the first time we've seen airbag technology with cyclists in mind as Helite also makes a protective vest that follows the same concept, as we
tested at Eurobike last year. It's worth saying that these products aren't designed for mountain bikers (in fact, Hövding warn against it) and we've no idea how they would cope with things like drops or jumps at this stage but Matt Wragg and Paul Aston have both previously spoken to Dainese (who pioneered MotoGP airbags) about the concept and they said that the technology would not work for mountain bikers given the sudden and unpredictable movements of the sport. However, Helite also make these vests for horse riders and skiers, so maybe they could crack the code.
Other things to note from the test was how much difference rotational impact protection can make on a helmet. There were two helmets test with MIPS and non-MIPS versions and both times the scores increased significantly with the addition of the technology - the Biltema Cykelhjälm went from -10% up to 37% and the Giro Caden from -37% to -13%.
The full test can be found
here.
.
Rant over, the idea is really good, but it needs to be integrated into a normal EPS helmet somehow. Just like airbag leathers for motorbikes still have rigid plates in them, You still need the solid protective gear to be truly effective. The ability to mount one of these like a collar on a full face helmet (or onto a neck brace) would be fantastic. I'd bet you could cut the number of concussions in DH significantly applying it like that.
I set up my crash alert on my GPS regularly. I've had a lot of close calls without crashes, but with sudden stops. would each of those require a rebuild?
Can you imagine, 20 minutes into your ride, you get a false alarm, it deploys and you need to end your ride because you have no helmet left.
Probably the most common type of cycling crash while commuting (which I'm assuming is this product's market segment) is being doored. If this company really was up to snuff - they'd show a video of their product and a rider getting doored. Otherwise, stop making cycling products. Cherry picking an impact to best suit your protective product seems irresponsible. The video they made in that particular scenario is worthless.
Literally
"It's worth noting the airbag was pre-inflated to 0.56 bar and a larger anvil had to be used compared to the rest of the helmets due to fear of hitting the sharp edges of the anvil and affecting the results."
So the test was altered.
May not work, but sure Danny Mac could do tricks on it!
Why don't we get pølse at Biltema?
None of this is to say that I oppose helmet use during spirited road rides, but if I'm rolling to a grocery store at 8mph on a city bike, it seems rather unnecessary.
man, I learn something new every day. People do this, and indeed, they are clowns.
Left the Netherlands 3+ years ago. Helmets are/were not the normal in the Netherlands. I still forget to wear a helmet when I rude to the shops here in Australia, but never when I am on the trails. Helmets combined with commuting/running errands is not in my system.
However, I do have some reservations regarding the use of this airbag within the MTB world. First of all, the test required that the Hövding airbag use a larger anvil than the other tested models. That alone kills any validity of results in my mind. The testers were concerned about the sharp edges of the anvil. Do they assume that this airbag would never encounter sharp edges in it's regular usage?
From a psychological side, I would be very cautious about using one of these on a mountain bike, at least you know with a traditional EPS foam helmet that it will always be there when you crash. I'd be paranoid that the airbag may not deploy when needed. Further, having it wrapped around your neck while on an MTB would likely limit the flexibility and movement required for riding. In addition, what happens if you are riding aggressively and the airbag senses that absorbing a big hit or such passes it's threshold for activation and inflates while you are still in control. I would shit a brick and likely crash due to the unexpected distraction of the airbag deploying.
I hate seeing the PB community seemingly bash on any idea that might be a a bit outside the box. I genuinely do like the idea and think it has merit. But I do certainly have reservations about its use within mountain biking
Would you survive a car crash with a block of EPS foam instead of am airbag? Probably not. Would you feel safe? Neither.
Now somebody needs to convert this hövding contraption into a useable product for bikers...
Classic example - coming in hot through a "chicane", hooking a tree with my handlebar, instant superman at top velocity head top first into tree across the trail followed by ragdolling into the bush. Made a huge dent in my Poc Trabec, and knocked me out for a couple of minutes. Looking at the helmet, I guess it had lost quite a lot of it's functionality after the first smash. I was lucky to not have any major secondary hits to the head.
I'll never wear a Bilkoma safety product. Just nope.
road.cc/content/news/171521-airbag-cycle-helmet-triggered-man-put-coat-was-being-used-incorrectly-says
Giro helmets performed poorly, while they were top of the crop in the american “independent” testing.
Asking for a friend.
1: you crash and it doesn't go off or
2: you're riding along and it suddenly deploys.
not sure what advantage is being portrayed here apart from being safer in a controlled and ideal environment.
Given that the whole concept depends on it reliably going off when you crash, I'm guessing they're working quite hard to make sure that never happens. Accidentally deployment would probably be more likely. Also, how cool would it be to in effect only "wear" a helmet when you're crashing? that would be amazing. One day this tech will be dialed and cover full body! Then we'll all hit Fest-sized jumps worry free. Don't know why we always have to be so cranky about people trying new things around here...
He wouldn't have even had a scratch on his head with a traditional helmet. These things are not proven enough to be considered a safe alternative to a proper helmet.
Why not trust the test labs run by people making the helmets in the first place. That's why I ride Bell/Giro. They don't have to trust "independent labs" they have their own. Then they send out for external testing.
Kali works very closely with specific labs as well. 6D as well for Moto.
"Even if you are as big as Bell and can have your own lab it is good to verify those results. Based on the different results we see at the different labs I think it is wise to test in multiple labs."
-Brad Waldron, Founder, Kali Protectives
Conflicts of interest would be one reason.
Yes, the debate is how accurate these surfaces are, not just with the labs I use, but in the testing circles in general.