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- Trek unveiled on Tuesday the Bontrager WaveCel, a new helmet that the company says represents the biggest breakthrough in bike concussion protection.
- Trek explains that a runner wearing a Bontrager helmet with WaveCel technology is up to 48 times less likely to suffer a concussion following common bike crashes compared to a standard foam helmet.
- Michael Bottlang, who co-developed the new technology, told Business Insider that the WaveCel was a complete overhaul of the bike helmet for 15 years.
- The WaveCel is initially offered in four models – suburban, ATV, road and road race – from $ 150 to $ 300. WaveCel is available exclusively in Bontrager headsets sold online and at Trek and Bontrager dealers.
- Business Insider has tried a WaveCel Bontrager, which could prove groundbreaking for the bike helmet industry considering the innovative safety benefits, overall quality and design.
- See the pictures of the new WaveCel headphones below and read a Q & A with the developer.
Good news, the bikers: there is on the market a new helmet not only elegant and lightweight, but also proven to protect against concussions much better than standard foam helmets.
That's according to Trek, who introduced Tuesday the Bontrager WaveCel headset, calling WaveCel "a major innovation in a category that has remained virtually unchanged for 30 years".
Bontrager, a Trek-owned brand, said WaveCel helmets are up to 48 times more effective than standard foam helmets in preventing concussions caused by common cycling accidents.
"Unlike a standard foam helmet, designed to protect against direct impacts, WaveCel explains how most bike accidents actually occur – cruelly, with twists, turns, and slanted impacts," said Trek.
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According to the Insurance Institute for Road Safety, in the majority of cyclist deaths, the most serious injuries are to the head. According to the institute, wearing a helmet would reduce the risk of head injuries by 50% and the risk of injury to the head, face and neck by 33%.
"The most advanced helmet technology ever designed"
WaveCel, a foldable cellular structure that covers the inside of a helmet, "works like a deformation zone that absorbs the force of an impact before it reaches your head "said Trek.
Trek explains how WaveCel works: "To protect your head and absorb the energy created by angular impact, WaveCel undergoes a three-step change in the structure of the material." First, the cells bend to reduce the initial friction forces, then the cells crumple like a car bumper at the moment of impact, and WaveCel slips to redirect energy away from your head. "
In a statement to Business Insider, Trek President John Burke said WaveCel is the most advanced headset technology ever designed.
"Every Bontrager WaveCel helmet has received five stars from the Virginia Tech Safety Assessment System," Trek said. "These are perfect brands on all helmets in the range."
You can watch the Trek video announcing WaveCel here:
First impressions
Business Insider has taken a look at a WaveCel Bontrager, although we do not yet have the time to use it. The outer shell is just as stylish as that of competing foam helmets, and the WaveCel is still in the same weight range as many comparable offers. The yellow-green WaveCel lining of our matte-black XXX model allows the helmet to stand out visually from the competition you find in your local bike shop and online (see photos below). It feels good on the head and safe. It has the "quality" we expect from Trek and Bontrager.
Trek pushes the envelope with his bikes and equipment for years and wins prizes left and right. As the only multi-billion dollar bicycle company, it invests real money in research and development, with WaveCel being the latest manifestation of this investment. If the safety claims are right, WaveCel should be another winner for Trek and Bontrager.
Come back for a complete review.
Q & A with Michael Bottlang, WaveCel co-developer
The new WaveCel helmet technology was developed by orthopedic surgeon Steve Madey and biomechanical engineer Michael Bottlang, a pioneer in breakthrough care in fracture, thoracic and pelvic injury and injury prevention. in the head. On the engineering side, Trek's Tony White led the production of Bontrager helmets. Business Insider has maintained with Bottlang and White. Here is what they had to say.
Daniel McMahon: Not so long ago, helmets using MIPS, the multi-directional impact protection system, achieved Virginia Tech's best safety scores. Now, WaveCel has won top honors. What is the difference between WaveCel and how does it improve MIPS?
Michael Bottlang: I really come from the world of research – we did not try to make a better helmet at first. But in 2004, I received a grant on brain damage and became really aware of the effective rotation forces on the brain and the need to better mitigate them. In 2004, we started testing helmet resistance for impacts, and of course, we tried sliding liners. We have discovered that they do certain things, but that there are certain limitations. We then spent about eleven more years researching how to overcome these limitations. It appeared that we needed a three-dimensional structure in order to be able, during the impact, to divert the force of the impact transversely to the head and to help initiate the sliding movement, to obtain essentially the rotational force of the brain. So it was not really simple.
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The slip-liner technology is in a way the first intuitive approach. But very often, in research, once we have done all the tests, we think that it should do great things, but then we learn that there are limits. And it really took detailed research to determine what we needed, and once we found out that we really needed a three-dimensional structure, we tried available honeycomb materials. in the trade we could find. But thanks to the research, we were able to find that it did not meet our needs because the typical bee nest is made for a structural panel – it does not like to fall back on itself . So we wanted the good performance of a linear impact honeycomb, but we also wanted to retreat. So it's something we had to develop, on the ground, a three-dimensional structure that has exactly what we wanted. And once we implemented that, we really overcame the main hurdle and unleashed the potential we know as WaveCel.
McMahon: Why would anyone buy another headset, even with MIPS technology, if WaveCel is up to 48 times safer than foam headphones?
Bottlang: I bought a MIPS helmet for my son for skiing because no other helmet technology was available. Today, I will give him a WaveCel headphone as soon as I can get one.
McMahon: How did you and Dr. Madey team with Trek and Bontrager? Could you describe the business relationship?
Bottlang: We had already made inventions – in the orthopedic space with metal implants – and we know that transferring technology from a research laboratory to a consumer product is a very difficult step if you want to do it as well as possible . So we looked at several companies, but then Tony [White] Trek visited us in response to an article describing our technology, and he saw the data. It was really a meeting between minds: Trek had the technical power to design a helmet that perfectly integrates our technology. This is not just a quick addition; it's a complete redesign of the headset to make WaveCel more efficient. I was literally blown away by the engineering resources of Trek. And it was a four year collaboration, to put that on the market, and it was fantastic.
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Tony White: A little over four years ago, I was asked to review the space reserved for helmets and to try to learn a lot about the causes of injuries to the helmets. head. I was very lucky that Trek gives me the time and space to learn more about the problem because it is exceptionally complicated. If you do not follow the state of the art, you may fall behind. In doing so, I went to conferences all over the world and spoke with many of the brightest minds about helmet safety. I have done a lot of research on patents. And, in doing so, I came across some of the NIH grants – the National Institutes of Health – that Michael and his team have received, which is an important indicator of the value of their activities. From there, I contacted his team and since then the relationship between us has been really fantastic and mutually beneficial, allowing us to criticize each other to create a better product.
McMahon: How long did it take to make the Bontrager WaveCel helmet from start to finish?
Bottlang: The search always takes a lot longer than expected. [laughter] And that's good, because we do a lot of testing. It was really 11 years of research, plus four years with Trek for product integration. And it's not that we've worked 11 years to get WaveCel running; It was 11 years of testing to find out what was working, what was not working, and to keep iterating until we got that big jump in performance we were looking for.
We have never been interested in a gradual adjustment to something. It was as if, if we could reduce the incidence of brain damage, it was worthwhile to spend all the time there. And of course, the National Institutes of Health have been extraordinary in helping this. They recognize the challenge of concussions and believe that with our strategy we can achieve our goal.
An Einstein saying summarizes, in my opinion, the challenge of engineering: to design a solution as simple as possible, but not simpler. And that's really where the 11 years come in. We really wanted to integrate it, that you do not have the negative aspects, but that we protect the brain as well as possible.
Note from the publisher. Eric Bjorling, spokesperson for Trek, told Business Insider: "Other manufacturers are free to discuss the potential of WaveCel outside of cycling.We believe that the technology has applications outside cycling in sports. climbing and riding. " Bottlang added: "WaveCel will be heading for snow and other sports – absolutely."
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