If you have read Asphalt & Rubber long enough, then you surely must now our rabid affection for airbag equipped motorcycle gear. I’ve even gotten a little snobby about it.
To reiterate, airbags represent a new generation in safety equipment, and they dramatically reduce the injuries a rider can sustain during a crash or accident.
Right now though, airbag safety technology is limited to motorcycle jackets and racing suits, with protection only available on the torso.
What about south of the belt line though? Truthfully, the current state of airbag technology covers only half of our bodies, leaving out legs (and arms) exposed to harsh impacts.
This is where French upstart CX Air Dynamics hopes to disrupt the space, as they are working on an airbag-equipped set of pants.
Unlike the Tech-Air and D-Air systems, which use a variety of sensors and algorithms to decide when to deploy their airbags, the CX Air Dynamics system still uses a more primitive tether arrangement, which is reminiscent of earlier airbag systems before Alpinestars and Dainese came on the scene.
Still, the concept looks effective in its coverage of the rider’s legs, with ample air volume for padding when the system triggers.
The pants that CX Air Dynamics is showing right now are more of an over-pant style, but presumably the line could be made to incorporate a variety of styles for motorcyclists to choose from.
Currently be offered on the French KissKissBankBank crowdsourcing platform, CX Air Dynamics hopes to be making deliveries in March 2021.
“Hopes” is the operative word whenever dealing with crowdfounded projects, and I generally loath any company that relies on crowdsourcing for its funding, and today is no different.
There is hope though that the entry of CX Air Dynamics into the airbag safety space will push development of this technology for pant garments.
We have seen brands like Alpinestars and Dainese playing with leg airbags on their racing suits, but that concept has yet to make it into a standard grand prix racing suit, let alone into a customer-facing piece of merchandise.
There doesn’t seem to be anything inherently difficult in protecting a rider’s legs with airbags (at least, no more difficult than what is already required to protect a rider’s torso), which begs the question why we haven’t seen this technology sooner.
The more airbags, the merrier – we say. Good on the French for pushing this idea forward.
Source: CX Air Dynamics
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