Bike Luminance is a Kickstarter project that aims to create a bike helmet with a motion reactive lighting system that will signal your turns with the tilt of your head. A prototype of the helmet has LED lighting that blinks to signal a right turn, left turn and stop, depending on how you incline your head while riding. Continue reading Bike Luminance Turns to Motion Reactive Helmet Lighting
Tag: bike helmet
Camera Helmet
We’ve seen a lot of helmet cameras but now we’ve seen the first truce camera helmet – as in a helmet designed specifically to be used with a helmet-mounted camera. Now the first thing to keep in mind is that many bicycle race organizations have banned the use of helmet-mounted cameras, and some cycling groups recommend mounting the camera somewhere besides a helmet as the gadget can actually cause head and neck injury in a crash.
But if you absolutely want or even NEED to have a helmet-mounted camera, then consider the AMARA CAM helmet from Kali Protectives. This brain bucket features a built-in mounting point that accepts a number of popular sport camcorders and even head lamps. The helmets are made of polycarbonate shell and EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam liner that should help keep the head protected nicely enough. Continue reading Camera Helmet
Consumer Reports Rates Bike Helmets
Consumer Reports just released its bike helmet buying guide where it rated helmets for safety in crashes by testing impact from several directions and types. You’ll have to buy the guide to get details on specific helmets, but Consumer Reports liked the Specialized Echelon and Bontrager Solstice Youth, which both earned top rankings. Two helmets that didn’t fare so well in testing were the Nutcase Street Sport 8 Ball and Bern Brighton Thin Shell EPS for women. Continue reading Consumer Reports Rates Bike Helmets
Lazer Sport Launches New Website, Contest
Lazer Sport, the makers of cycling helmets, eyewear and snow helmets, recently introduced a redesign of its site including all its new products for 2012. To celebrate, the company is holding the Love Lazer Official Helmeteer Contest. Continue reading Lazer Sport Launches New Website, Contest
Airhead Helps You Retain Stylish Hair, Can’t Do a Thing For Your Biking Skills
Helmet hair is the price one pays for the enjoyment of riding a bike. You know, that weird hairstyle created from hair being flattened, compressed, and shaped under a helmet, similar to hat hair. To help you avoid a bad hair day from wearing a helmet, Two Wheel Cool has created the AirHead, a removable, reusable in-helmet accessory ($25) that increases ventilation to reduce perspiration by creating space around your hair. It’s designed to fit any helmet, whether for motorcycling, biking, or snowboarding.
“Helmet hair is a condition caused by high humidity ironing of the hair under a compressive helmet,” according to Twowheelcool. “The Airhead increases air ventilation to reduce perspiration while creating air space for the hair. The Airhead is easy to fit, anti-static, anti-bacterial and non-allergenic. The new Airhead comes in many different colours and styles to suit your lifestyle.”
Now, if they can only do something about bedheads in the morning.
Two Wheel Cool Official Website
[Via Ubergizmo: AirHead helps prevent “helmet hair”]
Louis Garneau Intros Carve Helmet
Each year helmets get lighter, but they also get stronger. Technology lends itself to a higher degree of protection using lighter-weight materials. However, even when you’re going to get down and dirty off road you’ll still want to look good doing so. For 2012 Louis Garneau will release the Carve helmet, which will offer that higher degree of protection without sacrificing style. This new helmet promises to be lightweight, highly ventilated and totally geared toward mountain bikers.
Giro Makes Us All Lightheaded
If a helmet’s aim is to protect your head in a crash, it’s goal is to provide ventilation and be lightweight. Following the introduction of the Specialized Prevail at Interbike last fall, Giro just announced its Aeon performance road helmet. This one was introduced over the weekend at the Tour of Flanders. The Aeon weighs in at 222 grams (size medium), 28 percent lighter than comparable helmets such as the lonos and close in weight to the Prolight. Continue reading Giro Makes Us All Lightheaded
Helmet That Senses a Crash
There’s been a lot of attention given to head injuries on the football field and the development of better helmets that can prevent concussions and other injuries. But that’s on a field with other players, coaches, spectators and plenty of people who can dial 911. What happens if you’re biking alone and crash?
In the case of cyclist Leigh Fazzina, she posted messages to Twitter to get help after not getting a signal for voice. That’s just not always possible with a head injury. That’s why we’re looking forward to the release of SenseTech, a helmet-mounted sensor that connects to your phone via Bluetooth and contacts emergency services in the case of impact. “Ours is a device which would help the athlete and his (or her) family to be better informed on the level of impact they are taking, and which oens are of concern,” said Biju Thomas, designer of the SenseTech.
Still under development, the sensor’s designer is Biju Thomas, a team cook who has served meals to Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, among other pro cyclists.
The SenseTech is “a system of sensors embedded in the fused fabric (pad inserts), and a tiny sensor Bluetooth Relay, which transmits activity to a cell phone, which most every rider has in his pocket,” said Thomas.
SenseTech is currently in testing and will likely be released in the fall for use on the field and hopefully on the trail soon after that.
via [Medill Reports Chicago]
Specialized Revamps Prevail Helmet
First seen on the heads of riders in the Tour de France over the summer, Specialized’s new Prevail helmet is more adjustable, has larger vent holes, adds protection and sheds a few ounces over previous helmets. What more could you ask for in safety and protection? Specialized probably should have given the helmet a new name instead of continuing with the Prevail model since it has so many new features.
At 185 grams, you may forget you have on a helmet. And when you look at it, it looks as if there there are almost more airholes than helmet. The structure of the Prevail looks deceivingly thin. The helmet brags 29 air vents including three exhaust ports in the rear. Now, that thin structure. The Styrofoam framework is built around a core Kevlar matrix. This makes the helmet stronger without adding weight. Continue reading Specialized Revamps Prevail Helmet
Building a Better Bike Helmet, From Cardboard
One of the helmets shown at the London Cycle Show is constructed from corrugated cardboard. A grid framework of cardboard is pieced together, then covered with a shell. This is the concept design of recent graduate Anirundha Surabhi who earned an industrial design degree from London’s Royal College of Art.
Dubbed Kranium, the cardboard helmet weighs less than its polystyrene contemporaries, and is able to withstand more than one impact. The cardboard ribs flex and de-flex, then the remaining amount of energy is absorbed by the crumpling nature of the corrugated cardboard ribs. The Kranium helmet was tested against the British Standards at the Imperial College, and was found to absorb 4 times the amount of impact energy when compared to regular cycling helmets.
A shell for protection covers the corrugated ribs of the helmet. The cardboard is treated with an acrylic waterproofing agent, which protects against rain or inevitable sweat. Even with the acrylic treatment, the helmet is recyclable.
Initially, the helmet will have to be custom fit with head measurement instruments Kranium plans to distribute to stores. Helmets are expected to cost roughly £80 with replacement helmets made from original measurements to be a little less. Designer Surabhi hopes to make a cheaper, mass-produced version in fixed sizes that will be available in vending machines. If a cheaper, more widely available version becomes available this will be a boon for bike rentals, municipal bike share plans, and cyclists in third world countries.
Surabhi was awarded a grant from the James Dyson Fellowship for his design, and is currently in talks for angel funding.
Via [BikeBiz]