POC Helmets
About the Head
When entering the bike scene, we have made use of the experiences learned from our short but successful history in making revolutionizing ski helmets. The concepts that we have developed for ski helmets has been taken further and optimized to reach up to and beyond the demands of today’s bike users in the Downhill mountain bike, Dirt, Freeride and BM X disciplines. The aim has been to provide better head protection than ever before.
The concepts that we have developed for ski helmets has been taken further and optimized to reach up to and beyond the demands of today’s bike users in the Downhill Mountain Bike, Dirt, Freeride and BMX disciplines.
The safety requirements for ski and bike helmets are similar but bike helmets call for some additional requiremments when it comes to ventilation and comfort. A bike helmet should have full ventilation to let fresh air flow into the helmet as well as letting excess heat and moisture out. The challenge with ventilation is that open vents in the helmet leaves the user unprotected from sharp objects that may penetrate the vents. This is a serious risk, especially
for Downhill riders since they are likely to be exposed to branches, sharp rocks and other hazardous objects in a crash.
To overcome the challenge of providing penetration resistance, excellent ventilation and impact protection properties, we developed our patented concept with double overlapping shells (VDSAP).
POC´s double shell helmets Traditionally, there have been two different types of bike helmets on the market. First, there is the traditional hard shell helmet with a thick outer shell, covering a shock absorbing liner of EPS. The hard shell helmet provides good protection against penetration and makes a durable construction. But, the nature of the stiff outer shell also has drawbacks. On impact, the hard shell causes an abrupt stop of the head. This increases the risk of brain injuries. The hard shell may also bounce on the ground and thereby increase the risk of whiplash injuries.
The second type of traditional bike helmet is the “in-mold” type. These helmets have a thin shell of Poly-carbonate molded together with an EPS liner. The impact energy is very well absorbed with this construction as the thin shell allows the helmet to deconstruct on impact, creating lower energy levels for the brain to deal with and minimal bounce. The disadvantages are poor resistance to penetration and a less durable construction.
Our effort to combine the strengths of these two major concepts in ski helmets led to our patent pending “Aramid ballistic penetration barrier”: APB. By adding a layer of penetration-resistant aramid between the shell and the liner, the shell thickness could be reduced, leading to weight reduction and better energy absorption.
Transferring the APB concept into a fully ventilated system for bike users led to our revolutionary, patented Ventilated-Double-Shell-Anti-Penetration: VDSAP.
This construction was initially developed for the Receptor+ all season helmet. A helmet certified in Europe and the US for: biking, skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, and water sports. When developing the Cortex DH full face downhill helmet, it was an obvious choice to use the VDSAP concept.
VDSAP has two ventilated shells, placed offset, for maximum penetration resistance and channels in between the shells to ventilate heat, moisture, or water. The inner shell is an extremely thin layer of polycarbonate while the outer shell is made of Carbon fiber or injected plastic depending on model. The properties are amazing and these helmets represent a unique thinking in helmet design.
