As the old adage goes, there are three things in life that are certain: death, taxes and cycling safety products crowdfunding on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. The latest contender entering the ring to ensure point three is kept alive and well is London-based Cyclo Technology, who have launched a folding helmet made out of recycled ocean plastic.
WAYV launch safety harness and helmet headset on Kickstarter
Nine of the best cheap cycling helmets
Cyclo say their innovation is “a helmet made with recycled ocean plastic that fits in your bag and won’t cost the earth”. They also claim it’s the first genuinely packable helmet (Lid and Overade might have something to say about that), thanks to their unique ‘flipclip’ system that allows you to collapse the middle of the helmet and reattach when you need to use it. It should fit in any rucksack or work bag, and surpasses both the EU and US safety standards.
Cyclo claim it’s also the first helmet of any kind to be made from recycled ocean plastic, and they’ve built partnerships with the Plastic Oceans UK charity and a leading supplier of ocean plastic.
The idea for the helmet started when Cyclo founder Josh Cohen used a London hire bike, and ‘despite sticking to the cycle lanes’, felt unsafe without head protection. Co-founder Dom Cotton says: “Josh’s experience of riding in London highlighted a clear gap in the market. Helmets are really important but can be inconvenient, especially for urban riders. We’ve created something that will help more people to ride more often and protect themselves and our planet in the process.”
Cyclo’s Indiegogo campaign has already topped their initial crowdfunding target, and Super Earlybird prices for the helmet start from £25. Check out Cyclo on Indiegogo here.
-1024x680.jpg "“Clear anti-cyclist bias”: Lawsuit filed against Toronto police after cop doored cyclist… before ticketing rider over incident")
5 thoughts on “Cyclo, a foldable helmet made out of recycled ocean plastic, is crowdfunding on Indiegogo”
If a bicycle helmet, even the
If a bicycle helmet, even the very best, makes you feel safe in traffic I think you are probably deluded and have grossly over estimated their efficacy.
I’d be dubious about buying
I’d be dubious about buying any supposedly safety product from a company that makes no mention of testing on their web site, and three out of five people demonstrating it in their video are wearing it tilted too far back on their heads.
SpeedX – remember all the
SpeedX – remember all the inches of pixel space used up by people argueing and waxing lyrical about how brilliant SpeedX was – about how much it was going to change cycling – about how much of a dipstick you were if you didn’t invest into their brilliant bikes now….. you don’t see many SpeedX’s around do you…. well you could…. there’s a field in China with 800,000 of them rotting away and unknown numbers of people stupid enough to invest their money who never got a bike from a bankrupt (morally and financially I would argue) company with unfullfilled pledges and unpaid suppliers and no returned deposits.
I made the mistake of backing one thing on one of these please finance my idea schemes and when I eventually recieved it, nearly 2 years later, it lasted less than 2 weeks before water ingress turned it into a non functional brick… it was a waterproof rear light and it cost me nigh on £50 and those behind it refused to refund me. Its replacement cost me £9.99 off Amazon and it is 3 years old and still functions every morning I switch it on.
With a lot of products
With a lot of products seeking investment on kickstarter etc, it’s up to the investor to do their due dilligence the same as any company would when considering whether to invest in something, if the people seeking funding don’t provide the required information then it should be enough to put you off rather than just hoping to buy a shiny and interesting product.
Well good on them for doing
Well good on them for doing something practical with all the tonnes of ocean plastic, but I’m not sure the space saving is that revolutionary. You’ve still got the same length and width as you would with the top flipped. I realise it might make the difference for some people, but I doubt enough people to make it profitable.