freckles

I saw this listed on a local biking blog I follow. Its thin, soft/squishy, foldable, lighweight and can be reused after impact. The material is soft and squishy and absorbs impact and unlike traditional helmets its reusable after an impact. What I don't like- no visor to provide some shade.

veganbikes

That sounds hilarious. I don't wear my helmet to crash and reuse it, it is a piece of safety equipment when it has done its job I would not want to rely upon it again. That is my brain I am more than happy to buy a new helmet when needed. Plus my brain is soft and squishy I don't know I want my helmet in that as well.

I also don't really see a need for a folding helmet unless I was doing L'Erocia so I could look like I was wearing the old "hair net" style helmets which I wouldn't want to do as they provided little to no protection.

Ehh but I guess they need some ideas on kickstarter.

frogman

It depends on how much you value protecting your brain in a crash.

Maelochs

If the helmet passes all the standard certifications for one crash, great. if it truly can pass the same tests repeatedly, fine.

Is it certified to the same minimum safety standards as standard helmets?

I have seen pictures and was not impressed ... but I cannot claim to be an expert. if the experts certify it ....

As for it folding up, I'd say commuters who might have trouble storing a helmet (they are bulky) might see some benefit. Other than that .... why? And if they really can provide the same protection as a "normal" helmet over and over ... why aren't they everywhere? Hard to imagine that folding helmets haven't caught on of they really can last for years and survive multiple crashes. I'd think that the World Tour peloton would be all over this helmet if it really was better, because it would be lighter and more convenient to transport.

If you come back with answers to the certification question, the discussion can continue. If it doesn't meet the minimum requirements ... meh.

Milton Keynes

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/n...ike-no-other#/

I watched the video which said that the helmet is only 16mm thick. I don't care what kind of "advanced non-Newtonian polymers" and "sophisticated internal structures" they use, that seems awfully thin to protect anyone's brain. For the rest of us non-metric folks, that's just over 1/2 inch thick.

Maelochs

"A polystyrene helmet is completely hard and works because, in the event of a serious and life threatening crash, it compresses and cracks open instead of your skull. This is good.

"However when you experience a medium hard crash, the impact force is not big enough to compress the very hard polystyrene and instead your head will take all the impact force leaving you with a concussion."

What complete BS. All the polystyrene shell does is keep the foam from tearing. The foam is what compresses. When I see this kind of slef-congratulatory ad copy, filled with outright lies, I steer clear of that product.

Maelochs

Whole the very term "Non-Newtonian" is complete nonsense, the basic tech seems to come from the body-armor industry---fluid-impregnated cloth which stiffens on impact---so that might be legit.

I hadn't heard that armor-makers had had that much success .... but the newton-Rider ---on other sites---claims to use this sort of tech.

I have to admit this might actually be a "breakthrough"--or is "disruption" the modern term?---in helmet design.

The important question is ... can I mount my Take-a-Look mirror on the Newton-Rider?

Maelochs

One issue I see---if the shell hardens on impact, it transmits, rather than absorbs, impact.

This site (https://newatlas.com/bicycles/newton-rider-bike-helmet/) says "And yes, the Newton-Rider reportedly does meet EN 1078 (Europe) and CPSC (US) safety standards." "Reportedly?" Not documented? Another site (https://www.autoevolution.com/news/n...le-150327.html) says "The Newton-Rider is compliant with EN 1078 (Europe) and CPSC (U.S.) safety standards, but is not yet certified because certification can only be obtained after mass-production."

That site also says the helmet weight about 460 grams--heavy for a bike helmet--- and will cost about $100, which is pretty reasonable for bike helmet.

Pretty sure MIPS technology is not compatible.

Apparently the helmet has no vents at all---and a one-size-fits-all plastic liner which makes one helmet fit any head (between 57 and 60 cm in diameter.) The ventilation question worries me---but the manufacturers play up how the helmet is actually designed for "Modern Urban Youth" who might ride an electric scooter from the subway to the job, or who might use a rent-a-bike--not so much for the guy riding three hours at a time ... who knows?

Milton Keynes

Sounds logical to me. But I'm still very skeptical that a 16mm thin helmet can offer much protection. Hardening without any sort of cushion doesn't sound like a good idea.


I didn't notice that, but yeah, wearing one on a 3 hour ride in the heat of summer doesn't sound pleasant. I sweat a lot even with my regular, vented helmet.

Trevtassie

The foam in bicycle helmets is expanded polystyrene or EPS.... having gone over the bars and landed on my head I can assure you a: it hurt and b: the foam cracked. The shell can be almost anything, it's only there to aid durability and to help the helmet slide on road surfaces. There are kids helmets that have fabric shells or even just stenciled polystryrene.

Maelochs

The foam will crack ... or crush ... it is the crushing of the foam which absorbs the shock---Not the hard shell.

As i said, the shell just holds the foam together. The Newtonian ad claimed that the polystyrene absorbed the shock---which is totally incorrect, and which you know from experience,.

The question with the Newtonian helmet is how fast the material hardens. For bullet-proof cloth it needs to harden extremely quickly, because it has to prevent penetration of a rifle round traveling at 2300 fps. A bullet-proof vest doesn't have to absorb all the shock---vests do have padding, but by and large, the vest needs to stop the projectile. Broken ribs are preferable to puctured lungs, and a big bruise on your chest is better than having your spine blown out through the flesh of your back .... at least, in my opinion.

A bike helmet is dealing with impact speeds between 20-90 fps (maybe 14-62 mph.) And a bike helmet is not designed to prevent penetration, which is generally not the issue, but rather to absorb impact---if the cloth hardens too fast, it will no t absorb the impact.

Anyway, the helmet is still in the prototype stage. How the final version will or will not work is still a mystery.

GlennR

Trevtassie

Dude, the foam is expanded polystyrene. When they talk about polystyrene, they are talking about the foam. It's hard and when you have an accident it dissipates energy by compressing and deforming. So the Newtownian blurb is entirely correct about how a conventional helmet functions. It's an expanded polystyrene tub your head goes in. It's hard and only deforms under heavy impact, which is not surprising given the test bike helmets have to undergo. It may have an outer cover made of higher density polytyrene, but equally it could be ABS or any other material that can be bonded to polystyrene.

As for how their effective their helmet is, who knows. I'm just pointing out that sledging them for their explanation of how a conventional helmet works is wrong.

Ogsarg

Most crashes involve some amount of sliding. I'd hate to see what happens to your nose when you go down with that foam cap. No thanks. I'll stick with the mushroom that is going to help keep my nose, ears, etc. off the pavement.

Maelochs

Well ... of course I was not Wrong in my misinterpretation of the ad text .... That would never happen ... but thanks to the two posters who offered a different interpretation.

Wanderer

The armor in my motorcycle clothes is the same technology, and it works very well.. My riding buddy had a hydroplane get off at 60 MPH and suffered zero consequences.

That material really does get harder, the harder it is hit, while still cushioning on the opposite side.

It's magic, I tell ya!

Germany_chris

I like it and I’ll probably get one once it’s off indigogo