Abus are launching a new city helmet called the Kranium Ecolution that uses dual layer wood-cellulose fibre honeycomb board to provide the shock absoption. The German brand also have several innovative new locks on offer.
The Kranium Ecolution is a really interesting new urban helmet that started out as a project by London student Anirudha Rao. We first told you about the design last year although we didn’t have any information about the manufacture at the time.
Most helmets are essentially EPS (expanded polystyrene) with a shell around the outside. The Kranium Ecolution comes with an internal EPS layer but between that and the shell you get the wood-cellulose fibre in a honeycomb construction.
Why? Abus reckon it has significantly higher shock absorption than EPS. Plus, it’s a green option: they say it’s fully recyclable or made from recycled material.
It’s weatherproof and the wood-cellulose board is humidity resistant, and there’s padding inside that you can remove for washing.
The new helmet is likely to cost around £89.99 (subject to confirmation) and will be available from about February.
While we’re talking about helmets, this is a new Abus Cyclonaut lid. That textile cover comes from a UK mill and those removable leatherette ear pads have an opening for earphones. The normal version will be around £109.99 with the ear pad version coming in at £139.99.
The uGrip range of locks is new, all of the models coming with silicone covers to prevent damage to your bike’s paintwork. The uGrip Plus 501 lock looks like a meaty piece of work and that’s backed up by the Sold Secure Gold rating. It measures 225 x 95 x 13mm and is likely to cost somewhere between £79 and £89 when it becomes available in February or March.
The uGrip Chain 585 features a 5mm square chain and will probably cost £27.99 while the uGrip Cable 560 is an 8mm cable that’s 65cm long and it’ll probably be £17.99.
Finally, Abus are expanding their foldable steel lock lineup with the Bordo 6000 Ecolution. It’s 30% recycled fibre from wheat production and it’s fully recyclable. It should get a Sold Secure Bronze rating, although that has yet to be confirmed. The price will be around £79-£89 when it becomes available in the spring.
Mat has worked for loads of bike magazines over 20+ years, and been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. He's been road.cc technical editor for eight years, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a past winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer.