Dainese's two new helmets pack a variety of safety features into ultralight half shell and full face options.
Dainese says the Linea 01 MIPS is the lightest full face helmet on the market, weighing in at a claimed 570g (size M) while meeting the downhill certification standards. The helmet has 30 vents and doesn’t shy away from adding features.
The helmet includes technology we’re used to seeing – MIPS – with less familiar but still potentially life-saving features: a Recco chip and an NFC medical information storage system. Recco is a system that uses reflective chips built into clothing and gear that can be detected by search parties. The technology is ubiquitous in the ski industry but is still uncommon in bike gear. When not in use, a Recco chip adds essentially no weight and takes no maintenance, but having it does add a bit of passive safety.
The helmet’s NFC technology, designed by
Swedish startup twICEme, allows a user to load their medical and emergency contact information to the system’s app. Then, in an emergency, first responders can scan a chip in the user’s helmet to access the information.
The twICEme system has been used by POC since 2019, when the Scandinavian companies teamed up to bring the technology into bike helmets. Dainese will now join those ranks, offering the first full face helmet with an NFC chip.
Linea 01 details:Weight: 570g (size M)
Certifications: CPSC 1203, CE EN1078, ASTM F1952-DH, ASTM 2032-BMX, and AS/NZ 2063
Technologies: twICEme NFC, Recco, MIPS
Features: Fidlock magnetic closure, antimicrobial bamboo fiber liner, adjustable peak, 30 vents
Price: EUR 279.95 / $332 USD
dainese.com Linea 03 details:
Weight: 370g (size M)
Certifications: CPSC 1203, CE EN1078, and AS/NZ 2063
Technologies: twICEme NFC, Recco, MIPS (all optional, depending on model)
Features: Fidlock magnetic closure, antimocrobial bamboo fiber liner, adjustable peak, 18 vents, ponytail compatibility
Price: From EUR 149.95 / $178 USD to EUR 199.95 / $237
In addition to the Linea 01 full face, Dainese has launched the Linea 03 half shell at three different price points. The Linea 03 MIPS+ has all the features described above packed into an 18-vent, 370g half shell helmet. For those who aren’t interested in the bells and whistles, the Linea 03 MIPS offers the same helmet without the Recco or NFC features, and the Linea 03 Basic is the same design minus MIPS.
The Linea 01 will retail for EUR 279.95 ($332 USD). The half-shell options will start at EUR 149.95 ($178 USD) for the Linea 03 Basic, bumping up to EUR 179.95 ($213 USD) for the MIPS version and EUR 199.95 ($237 USD) for the top-end MIPS+ helmet.
The Linea 01 and 03 helmets will become available November 15.
120 Comments
Dainese: Hold my beer
A helicopter isn't required to use Recco, despite what all the *very cool* Recco marketing stuff portrays. A handheld Recco detector is about the size of a laptop, and you wave it around in a pattern to pick something up. You look ridiculous doing it. The device has to be lined up with the chip at the right angle to pick anything up, so it's absolutely an imprecise tool. Still, we used to practice with it on slow days and I got semi-decent at finding objects with Recco in a simulated avalanche path. It's nowhere near as efficient as the amazing beacons these days, but it's something, and at that point, any added chance of success is a good thing. (Though like you said, the odds of finding someone with it before it's too late are pretty low. But this is mountain biking! People are way less likely to be buried in avalanches! Yay!)
So yeah, considering it weighs next to nothing, doesn't cost much, and *can* help out in a really shitty situation, I see Recco as a "might as well" type of thing, as long as the gear with it is priced accordingly.
* Not a fact. Smiley face.
Ya, blame the individuals just trying to do their jobs.
Ah yes the tech industry, making a thing we allready have more expensive and harder to acesss.
I know they just call it a "Recco Reflector", but perhaps some clarity would be useful here.
It is a _radar_ reflector, not just a shiny visible-light-reflective bit that could likely not be visible to the eye in a crash. Those search parties also need to have and use a Recco Detector to take advantage.
Batlooking Visor...
Pressure suit and Lycra anyone?