Headkayse is the latest cycling innovation to launch on crowdfunding site Indiegogo. Described as ‘a game changer in cycling helmets’ the Headkayse is foldable and aimed predominantly at commuters and cycle hire users. It also uses an innovative material, Enkayse, in its construction, which is claimed to be able to withstand multiple impacts without loss of performance, compared to the EPS used in more traditional cycling helmets.
HeadKayse is currently seeking £60,000 in crowdfunding for production on Indiegogo, with the campaign closing on December 20. If it meets its target, Headkayse will retail at £90 with a universal fit that adjusts and moulds in-use to every head shape and size from kids to adults. The fold system allows the user to reduce the size of the helmet to 50% of its original size, taking up just 2.5 litres of bag space.
Technical Director of Headkayse, George Fox, comments: ‘For the last 40 years, cycle helmets have been made from expanded polystyrene which is effectively thousands of small rigid air bubbles, which under a particular level of impact break compress to dampen the eventual impact with objects, providing sacrificial protection. EPS is stiff, brittle and permanently damaged on even small impacts – as recommended by the manufacturer the helmet should be replaced. But what if materials could provide protection without the sacrificial degradation – a multi-hit helmet? That’s what we have created, with a new material, Enkayse that achieves the very highest standards with repeatability and is foldable to boot.’
With the winter months edge closer, adidas launches its FW15 adistar belgements collection of apparel, built to perform in the worst conditions whilst embodying all that adistar is renowned for: aerodynamic race fit, industry-leading innovation, and sleek designs.
Designed to stand up to all-day rides in cold weather, the adistar belgements FW15 range includes a unique fabric composition for tough winter conditions. There are also a host of technical modernisations including Primaloft insulation to the jackets and DWR coating and finishes to all jackets and jerseys, which protect from water spray and snow, and ensure the outer surfaces are quick drying and easily packable.
The FW15 range includes the adistar belgements jacket (male £140, female £135), jerseys – which are ‘jet fighter wing inspired’ – at £95, bibtights at £150 and adidas netz.werk base layers priced at £35. All are available now at adidascycling.com
Take a look at the new apparel as it was put through its paces by the Berlin based team, 8 Bar, below:
Epic TV – the online action and adventure sports channel – is hosting the world’s first large scale, international drone film festival on Thursday October 15. The Rise of the Drones Film Festival features the best of the 86 incredible films submitted with 28 different sports categories (including plenty of bike action) from 20 different countries from France to the US to Bali.
Taking place at Forge Bar in London (map here) from 6.30 to 10pm the event is free to attend but tickets must be pre-booked to guarantee access at eventbrite.co.uk
Further details of all things Epic TV at epictv.com and to whet your appetite here’s a look at our favourite so far…
The Near Miss Project – a pioneering study researching cycling incidents that don’t result in injuries: ‘near misses’ – is returning for a second year and is calling on cyclists from across the United Kingdom to be involved.
Registration for the study, which takes place between Monday October 19 and Sunday November 1 is open now. Participants will be asked to complete an online diary for one day over a two-week period, sharing experiences from their cycle trips on that day and whether they have had any near miss experiences. Cyclists wishing to sign up to take part in the Near Miss Project’s second study can find out more information and register interest on nearmiss.bike
Study lead and Senior Lecturer in Transport at the University of Westminster, Dr Rachel Aldred, commented ‘The Near Miss Project was the first to generate per-mile near miss rates for cyclists in the UK. The second year will take this forward, asking whether things have changed, and gathering more data that will allow us to drill down into different incident types and how they affect people. Increasingly organisations such as TfL are seeing near misses as very important both for improving cycling experience, and for helping to reduce injury risk.’
A new addition to this year’s Near Miss research is the inclusion of a question exploring participants’ cycling experience – and whether they are new or returning cyclists, or have been cycling for a year or more. This addition is in response to suggestions that this might make a difference to near miss rates.
Organising partner, Blaze, creators of the Laserlight, an innovation that helps increase cyclists visibility by projecting a bike symbol ahead of them, was instrumental in the facilitation of this study. Blaze Founder & CEO, Emily Brooke said: ‘We are so pleased that the Near Miss Project is back for a second year. Data collection from cyclists is imperative to helping people better understand how to make cycling safer, for everyone. The 2014 study attracted 1,500 people and this year we want to get at least 2,000 signed up from all over the United Kingdom. We urge everyone to get involved and help achieve our overall aim of helping to making the roads safer for cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.’
Further details of the Near Miss Project at nearmiss.bike
With the clocks about to change (October 25), but with nights already drawing in it can be difficult to judge when bike lights are needed. But thanks to the good people at Blaze there’s a simple solution at doineedmybikelight.com
The micro-site features a simple journey calculator, which allows visitors to input their morning and evening commute start times and journey duration to quickly gage when lights are required. It’s a neat solution and one that can stop you from getting caught out with the ever-shortening days.
Blaze produce the Laserlight, an innovative product that helps to improve cyclist’s visibility over and above any other bike light on the market, with studies showing that it increases cyclist visibility to 96% compared to just 74% for normal LED bike lights. By projecting an image of a bike ahead of the rider, the Laserlight tackles the biggest risk to urban cyclists –vehicles turning in front of their path when travelling straight ahead – which is the cause of 79% of cycling accidents. Further details at blaze.cc
Wahoo Fitness have unveiled the ELEMNT, a GPS-enabled cycling computer designed to ‘transform the way people experience and interact with their ride data.’ By streamlining the user experience and simplifying the setup process, the ELEMNT allows riders to put the focus back on their ride, providing a seamless connection between the rider and their data.
Designed by cyclists, for cyclists, the ELEMNT packs ANT+, Bluetooth Smart, and WiFi connectivity that allows riders to easily view key ride metrics, navigate a route, track fellow riders’ locations in real-time as well as receive en-route call, text and email notifications—all on it’s large-format, high-contrast DayBright display. Changing the way riders interpret real-time data, the ELEMNT’s innovative QuickLook LED indicators provide visual indicators for critical alerts and data. Fully programmable, the indicators can be set to display metrics such as speed, heart rate, power, turn-by-turn navigation cues and more.
The ELEMNT companion app, available on both iOS and android platforms, automates the ELEMNT pairing and manages the configuration process for fast, frustration-free setup and personalisation.
The ELEMNT, available later this year, will retail at of £279.99
Le Tour One Day Ahead, which aimed to raise £1m for Cure Leukaemia, was an epic charity ride that took place over the summer covering the full 3,344km Tour de France 2015 route. Former-GB triathlete Helen Russell (Gold medallist – 2011 ITU World Sprint Duathlon) was amongst the plucky few who took part and here, in the second of a three-part series, she shares her experience with Cyclo…
At breakfast the team were introduced to our guest cyclist for the next two days – Lance Armstrong. Most of us, including myself, had met him before at our training camp in Aspen and it was good to see him again. As we arrived at the stage start we were met by a melee of press and fans.
I was worried about what speed Lance would set but he was very kind and set a reasonable pace out of Muret to our lunch stop where once again we were met with the world’s media. I found the afternoon harder as there were three categorised climbs and as we eventually rode into the town of Rodez, where there was a final kick of a 400meter rise at a 9.6% gradient.
The following day started again with a press entourage for company and an immediate Category 4 climb of the Cote de Ponte de Salars and the Col de Vernhette. We were joined by the women’s team Donnons des Elle who are also cycling the whole of the TdF route to raise the profile of women’s cycling and advocate for a women’s Tour de France.
This was one of my favourite moments of the Le Tour One Day Ahead so far as it was a real honour to cycle with them and share experiences of, and visions for, women’s cycling. Another highlight of the day was in the afternoon where a young boy in an Astana team jersey joined our peloton and was welcomed at the front by Lance where he gave his all to stay with our group. Lance pretended to be really blowing hard and struggling to stay with the boy and it was such a cute moment.
It seems that most stages this year have a nasty end and this day’s finish was up a 3kilometre lung-busting climb at an average of 10%! After battling through the press to get onto the team bus we said our goodbyes to Lance who gave a moving farewell speech and wished us luck for the rest of the challenge…
Of course Lance is a controversial figure but his presence on Le Tour One Day Ahead undoubtedly raised the profile of our challenge with media reports being broadcast worldwide. This attention has translated into more money for the charity Cure Leukaemia, which is what is important. At the end of the day this challenge isn’t about cycling it’s about raising money to fund research nurses and clinical trials. Some of the patients we met at the Centre for Clinical Excellence knew very little about Lance Armstrong, but what they did know was that more money was needed to fund the pioneering work of the Centre. I was actually surprised at the positive response Lance received along the route with the vast majority of people cheering and applauding him as we passed.
After the excitement of the last two days, stages 15 and 16 were more peaceful and almost mirror-images of each other in terms of their profile. Stage 15 through the Rhone Valley had two large descents whilst stage 16 was a day of long and steady climbing into Gap, the gateway into the Alps. The final descent of the day was down the Col de Mense, where in 2003 Lance Armstrong had to cut across a field after Joseba Beloki came off and Armstrong was forced off the road! Luckily I managed to stay upright all the way down the descent into Gap and am enjoying my rest day, before tackling four brutal days of climbing in the Alps.
Part Three of Helen’s Le Tour One Day Ahead feature will be published on Cyclo soon – follow us on Twitter for all the latest news, plus feature and review alerts. You can read Part One of her report here. Helen’s efforts in Le Tour One Day were supported by SportsCover Direct.
Further details of Le Tour One Day Ahead at beforethetour.com and, most importantly, you can help add to Helen’s incredible fundraising total for Cure Leukaemia by donating at JustGiving.
The Near Miss Project, which studied cycling incidents that did not result in injuries, but ‘profoundly influences people’s experience and behaviours’ has published its findings. Analysing the daily cycling experiences of 1,500 people across the UK between October 20 and November 2, 2014 the Near Miss Project details nearly 4,000 incidents, confirming that: ‘regular cyclists incur a ‘very scary incident’ at least once a week; an average of 60 per annum.’
Setting out why near misses are important, giving results from the study that show the scale of the problem, and how it affects different groups of cyclists, the research was funded by Creative Exchange and Blaze and led by the Westminster University with Goldsmiths College and The Bike Show working as collaborators.
You can read the full findings of the Near Miss Project here.
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Headkayse is the latest cycling innovation to launch on crowdfunding site Indiegogo. Described as ‘a game changer in cycling helmets’ the Headkayse is foldable and aimed predominantly at commuters and cycle hire users. It also uses an innovative material, Enkayse, in its construction, which is claimed to be able to withstand multiple impacts without loss of performance, compared to the EPS used in more traditional cycling helmets.
