Video: road.cc crash tests the Hövding 2.0 Airbag for urban cyclists

The knee would have been protected if it had been a full-body model but, sadly, Michelin have the patent on that.

I hadn't realised that cycling was so dangerous.

Missus, sis-in-law, mum-in-law all got them a couple of years back. 2 out of the 3 went off with no warning riding gently. Got refunds on both.

Waste of space if you ask me, a helmet wearer who doesn't think everyone should wear helmets.

It is somewhat interesting from an engineering point of view. However I am not sure at all it deploys in time if hitting/hitten by a vertical surface: cyclist vs wall, bus, truck.

Every video I see actually suggests quite the opposite.

I rode with a mark 1 ,which also had (an on/off tag). Sods law dictated that I was throw by a pothole in the dark a couple of days later (first on road dismount for 20 years). Bag deployed. Luckily I didn't hit myhead on anything, but if I had I'd much rather of been in this than any of my lids.  Although I could never get any response from Holdving I did buy another, mainly cause I like urban cycling without sweaty hair (a marginal hot neck is less irritating to me). Yes, I could 'go dutch', - stats don't lie, yet like many, habit has made me feel strangley vunerable without anything. Yes it would be better if roads were pothole free too, but judging by current trends that's not going to happen any time soon.  Doesn't suit extra urban drop bar riding though, for which is is not recommended.

I quite like my helmet

This is an ingenious solution to a very small problem, and is the wrong solution.  We shouldn't be armouring victims, we should be stopping the drivers killing us, and this is merely a distraction from real road safety measures.

Since all the long term, large scale, reliable evidence (cue someone claiming something about case control studies) shows that ordinary helmets have zero effect on the safety of cycling, eight times nothing is still nothing.  It's just more expensive.

And for those who don't want to sit through the seemingly interminable preamble, the action starts at 5:45

It's claimed to be 8X more effective than a polystyrene hat at preventing concussion and skull fractures. What does this actually mean?

Does it absorb 8X more energy than the polystyrene titfer, which only manages to absorb 7 Newtons? That would be 56 Newtons - an amount around the quantity typically imparted by a car if it hits you. Would that save your bonce, even if it doesn't save the rest of your body?

It also seems to offer protection against penetration, to a degree, as it doesn't have the spaces between the polystyrene bananas that a plastic helmet has. But how tough is the airbag? Will it resist a serious jab from a pointy thing on a tractor, for example?

It also seems to inflate around the neck in a fashion that presumably reduces the risk of whiplash and similar top-of-spine injuries....? It's peak might even save your face if you go over the bars and face-plant.

*****

Of course, the whole concept does ignore this inconvenient (to the manufacturers) fact: the risk of head injuries from cycling is low compared to the risk of head injuries from being in a car, being a pedestrian on a street or going up and down stairs to bed. Must we all now go through life with an expensive one-use inflatable collar in place?

Cugel

Isn't there a video out there in the interweb of one of these going off in a bank or post office or something...?  Hilarious 

"a gyroscope and a 2000 and something rule algorithm" had to watch the video to know what this meant: "a gyroscope, and a 2000 plus rule algorithm". Had no idea what "a 2000" was.

It did seem to work well and gives much more protection than a helmet. Might be annoying to wear when it's hot out, not perhaps a UK problem.

Just get Cavendish to test it !

Great for casual riding or commuting, really does seem to be a good idea!

Interestingly, this kind of helmet can get around the problem of making cycling look more dangerous as most people wouldn't realise that they are wearing a helmet with that design.

However, it's expensive and I'd be worried about it deploying and then being useless afterwards.

(Edit - just watched the video with sound and found out that it costs £99 for replacement after an incident or free if it deployed in the wrong circumstance).

Can't see BTBS in that.