Leatt Plans to Enter the Helmet Game
 |
 (Clockwise) Leatt's Phil Davy explains the importance of isolating the brain from rotational impacts. A close up look at the pointed spear used in the DOT certification process. Leatt licensed Kali's in-molded dual-density EPS shell technology, which significantly reduces the physical size of the helmet. |
Leatt invited select members of the motorcycle and cycling press to the debut of its "redefined" helmet development program, where we were given a high-energy presentation of the South African protection firm's innovative full-face DPX Motocross and DBX Downhill lids - after which, we were then asked not to show pictures of either until a yet-to-be announced date later this Summer. Disappointed? Me too, but I'll spare you the Prom date fail joke and get straight to the images and information related to their development that Leatt's hyper-animated sales director Phil Davy gave us permission to share. It's well worth the look.
Armourgel
Leatt did not invent, nor formulate Armourgel, but they got very excited when they saw high-speed films depicting how only four millimeters of the stuff could prevent bullets and steel wedges from breaking actual shin bones harvested from human cadavers. Armourgel belongs to the family of visco-elastic polymers that are quite popular in the protection field, and this one is claimed to provide equal protection at only 25-percent of the thickness of its competitors. For those who aren't up to speed on the material, the polymer's locking molecules allow it to remain very flexible until it receives an impact, which then causes the visco-elastic structure to become hard and tough. Armourgel is used by Leatt as impact protection for its lightweight knee and elbow guards, on the back of its gloves, and also as the active elements in some of its chest and spine protection gear.
 |
| About the size of a quarter, Leatt's Turbine 360 buttons fulfil two critical duties. The energy absorbing material slows low-speed impacts well before the head contacts the EPS liner, while the spoked 'turbine' design allows the head to rotate slightly inside the helmet, should the rider receive a glancing blow. |
Turbine 360
Leatt's engineers figured out a way to use a visco-elastic material to form a circular energy displacing button. The Turbine 360 is designed to be placed between the riders's head and the EPS liner in a helmet. The Turbine's shape allows the rider's head to rotate slightly within the helmet liner and it also protects the brain from low-speed impacts, which have recently been targeted as the number one cause of concussions among off road moto riders and cyclists. In a second fancy video, scientists dropped heavy rubber balls on two different visco-elastic polymers. The ball stopped dead on Leatt's sample and bounced off of the un-named beta materal. The inside of Leatt's DPX and DBX helments use a number of Turbine 360 buttons, spaced roughly three inches apart, that are pinned into the EPS foam liner with plastic rivets. Only the padded liner stands between the buttons and the rider's head, so the Turbine buttons become the first point of contact after an impact. The side benefit that the buttons provide is that they can protect the rider from multiple low-speed impacts without damaging the helmet's EPS liner. Leatt claims that conventional EPS liner-type helmets are safe for only one significant impact and do not provide adequate slow-impact protection.
Rotational Impacts
I am barfing back information that we were given at the Leatt launch, but if it's true, then it explains why everyone who is in the helmet making business has been scrambling to adopt anti-rotational protection since the MIPS system was released a few years ago, and more recently, the debut of the 6D helment design. The statistics were that the average DH or moto helmet is designed to keep the force of a direct impact below 80 G and that direct impacts up to 140 G were survivable. Both hits will result in a concussion to some degree, but the key word is "survivable." That said; consider that a substantially smaller rotational event - only 40 G - can kill a person, and you may want to consider adding rotational protection to your next helmet purchase. Pesently, there are no official tests nor standards to suggest safe magnitudes for rotational impacts, so Leatt tests with its own apparatus and has established its own maximum impact-force standards.
In-molded V-foam Liner
Leatt's third line of defense against head injury is a special, two component, in-molded EPS liner that was developed by Kali Protectives. and used under license by Leatt. Leatt calls it V-Foam construction, and it utilizes a harder, outer layer of EPS foam that is molded directly into the rigid outer shell of the helmet and co-molded to a second, softer EPS layer which has a number of conical spikes which nest into it. The three elements: in-molding, dual-density EPS foam and the conical spikes, dramatically reduce the thickness necessary to mute impact force, so the helmet can be made much smaller and lighter weight - which is an additional benefit in the case of a whiplash or a rotational impact. Leatt's new helmets are 5 to 20-percent smaller in profile than its major competitors - 12-percent smaller than a TLD D3 lid - and reportedly, with equal or better protection. The Moto helmets pass DOT certification at lighter, non-DOT-certified European weights. The DBX DH version, while sharing the same shell and technology, is not DOT certified.
 |
| (Clockwise) Most of the cooling air enters the Leatt helmet through the high-pressure area above the goggles, where vents direct it to molded channels around the head. The red tab normally extends only ten millimeters from a seam in the cheek pads, When pulled, it extracts only the foam from within the pad. Leatt incorporates a drink-tube port in the lining near the chin guard. |
The Best of the Rest
The Leatt helmet's 11 large vents(16 in the DH model) use plastic reinforcements around their perimeters, so they can be made larger than we are used to seeing on a full face. The moto vents use a high-impact screen that reportedly passes the DOT pointed-plunger test, while the non-DOT DH version uses a simple bar to keep the bugs out. The shell is EVAC ready and the cheek pads feature an emergency removal tab that pulls the foam pads out from the fabric liner so that friction against the face will not hinder the process of getting a rider's helmet off safely. Finallly, the visor is mounted with break-away screws that have an Allen hex removal function to allow its owner to easily extract the broken studs from inside the helmet shell.
So, we apologise for feeding you a heck of a lot of information about a helmet that we are not allowed to show you, and to tell the truth, Leatt also left us wondering why they were too timid to allow us to release pictures of the very finished looking production prototypes that were on display at the event. Keep an eye out for the new helmet at Glen Helen speedway if you ride Motocross in Southern California, and we'll keep the pressure on Leatt for an earlier release date of the DH version. In the meantime, the projected weight for the carbon DPX 6.5 is 1190 grams and for the fiberglass/Dyneema shell version, 1250 grams. The DH helmets are not yet finalized, but they will use the next size smaller shells and thus will come in at slightly lighter weights. Prices will range from $599 to $399 USD.
The SP-1 brace hydration pack holds half a liter of water and features
a quick disconnect hose so you can mount the hands-free bite valve
permanently in your helmet's chin guard. MSRP: $79 USD.
More New Kit From Leatt
Leatt also showed a number of products, both new and improved, at the launch that should interest AM and DH riders. Leatt's naming protocols have changed to a numerical system, with 6.5 as its top-line offering and 4.5 as its more affordable model. Most of the items which were shown were moto-products, but among them were a few tidbits that caught my attention.
For gravity riders and hard core enduro racers, Leatt has a low-profile hydration pack with a spine protecting insert between the bladder and the rider. If you want to add a chest protector to ride your moto, it can be attached to the crossed straps of the hydration pack.
Not new, but worth mention is a compact, half-liter water pack that straps onto the rear support of the Leatt neck brace and feeds, hands free, through the chin protector to the mouth.
Leatt used its new Armourgel to construct enduro-inspired lightweight elbow and knee protectors that look promising. And, for dads who envied their kid's Fusion one-piece upper-body protection kits, Leatt now makes one for adults. The chest and spine protection vest incorporates a Leatt neck device, which makes the system easy to put on or remove.
The DH neck brace has been modified with a new curve to allow more mobilty and has thinner padding. All 5.5 and 6.5 neck braces use a new 30-second adjustment system that solves the hassles of dialing in the original models.
DBX 6.5 Neck Protection
 |
| Leatt's latest DBX 6.5 neck protector is carbon fiber, and is the same item as its carbon fiber GPX moto protector, but with thinner padding. |
 |
| The new DBX neck protection device has been recurved to add mobility to the head (left). A new, lever operated adjustment system has dropped the time required to fit the neck protector from fuss-and-a-half o'clock, to only thirty seconds. |
Hydra 4.5 Spine Protector/ Hydration Pack
 |
| The Hydra 4.5 hydration pack (and its sister, the GPX 3.0 hydration cargo pack) have a number of thin layers of Armourgel material to protect the spine, and a special sectioned hydration bladder that keeps the profile of the pack slim when full. Hook-and-loop straps on the cheest straps are used to attach a chest protector is necessary. The four-way X buckle incorporates a GoPro mount. |
Airflex Knees and Elbows
 |
| Airflex Knees and Elbows are minimized by bonding Armourgel pads to lightweight, two-way stretch fabric sleeves. Leatt says that the production versions will feature black pads. MSRP is $79 USD. |
Airflex Lite Gloves
 |
| For those who want the lightest feeling glove and still have substantial rock and plant strike protection, Leatt bonds Armourgel pads to a remarkably thin palm material. It ain't cheap, but it reportedly passes CE standards, with an MSRP of only $69USD. |
Fusion Upper Body Protection for Adults
 |
| The very popular child's Fusion upper body armor and neck protector system has been modified to give more room between the helmet and the neck platform. This year, Leatt adds an adult-sized version. The adult model articulates at the center of the chest protector so that the helmet stays on plane with the neck brace platform. While both are intended to be moto protection items, the youth version could be a prudent investment to ensure that your wee offspring survive their first couple of years at the bike park. |
Leatt
Author Info:
Member since Mar 23, 2011
Must Read This Week
Sign Up for the Pinkbike Newsletter - All the Biggest, Most Interesting Stories in your Inbox
PB Newsletter Signup
I do anyway.
I wouldn't be able to afford replacing a tld d3. That's why I buy cheaper helmets THAT ARE STILL STRONG ENOUGH. You can buy a bell transfer 9 for around 160 euros. It is strong, rigid and I know it would do a good job in a crash. (do not buy a helmet for less than 150 euros !!! urge down'o matic, 661 comp.... they are as flimsy as hell and will not do as good a job as a tld or my bell for example
But when you crash at a race because you are pushing the limit, and are thrown around like a rag doll, you can't control your crash... or when you do a big jump and it doesn't go too well, or when it's steep and you smash into a tree... You can't do a thing.
Your crashes are obviously slow speed crashes, and aren't the bad ones I was talking about. You obviously aren't on the same level as the other guys answering your comments (not being mean or anything). You can control a crash up to a certain point... but some are just not possible to control, you would be a fool not to admit that.
-second comment was for @mtbguy87 who seems to be talking a lot of rubbish
@mtbguy87 can you stop saying we are "anal hurt." It's just rude and makes you look thick and vulgar.
If you don't realise you are talking rubbish, there is nothing anyone can do for you. Maybe you have been racing since you were five but judging by the things you have said, I bet you are as slow as f***. Fast guys don't talk about how fast they are. And also don't talk shit.
Also people who use other peoples younger age as an insult or a way to say they don't know anything are always idiots who are just trying to find a reason to justify they are right.
But those comments where he (Mtbguy47) got 40+ neg props, they are the ones he talked rubbish in.
I think they have a good product the only worry is if it can compare with ventilation and comfort too. These might sound trivial but for most they will look at the helmets and see the D3 and dissident pass protection standards than look at the weight and ventilation along with comfort and choose based on the over all package.
It sounds like they offer more on the protection front but if the ventilation is bad and the comfort is bad people will shy away from them. Many riders will be happy with the current standard of helmet and look for ventilation and weight. If everyone was focused on best protection they would all wear body armor and neck braces, many don't.
I just hope they come out with this helmet been competitive and comparable in all areas, not just in protection. This way people wont shy away from them and more riders will have a better protected head.
I really hope these become a big player, concussions are still a bit factor in riding and reducing those is always a good thing.
If not, I'm sticking to the TLD pinstripe D3s.
While lattes own back protection had the best neck brace interaction, I found the padded to be way too big an flat.
So a oval shaped head inside a oval ridged helmet shell could be considered interlocking shapes.
Kinda same reason why oval ball bearing are hard to find and would not rotate no matter how much balls, Grease or turbines you pack into it...
Anyone a logical explanation for that phenomenon or can we move that straight into the Marketing-BS bin?
If my head where to rotates inside the helmet on those turbine wheels it would just hit the inside of the helmet later but does not reduce the energy transferred.
Also is I have a soft lining inside the harder EPS (on a lot of high end helmets different harnesses of what ever foams they use) so the deformation of all these materials would gradually take out energy of the impact while they are deforming (and breaking).
On the other side what confuses me more, if those little turbine wheels would really help to rotate the helmet around my head they would have to be the primary contact points to my skull which on the other hand means if i have a impact (as far as this is possible) I would have a little plastic wheel price my skull because i have all the forces concentrated on just a little area and not spread out through out the helmet.
I am not saying that with a well designed helmet you can't reduce rotational forces from an impact but for me those little turbine-wheels are looking like a big pile of marketing BS to me.
Next time you roll away from a crash unscathed, spare a thought for the guys who donated their bodies to science, only to have their shin bones harvested and shot at by mountain bikers!
Those knee pads/sleeves look great. Hopefully they have the special sauce on both sides of knees too.
Im going to go ride now
Helmets neck braces should be chosen on application not f******g budget, if ya cant pay don't play muppets!
Id like a decent look at all elevations of that helmet especially the rear, neck braces always in, Ive had some good crashes in my gen 2 post braking my neck and I can tell ya Ive walked away without pain or stiffness Id get in injuries pre neck brace times, days where Id still be semi concussed or take a week to come right, its not a silver bullet nothing is, but ime it has definitely upped the safety game, justify whatever bullshit you want if you haven't lived it and you are ignorant enough to ignore it, don't cry foul when shit happens to you cause it will, injury is indiscriminate of skill or rider!
Ill be updating my Leatt brace as soon as these are available and seriously look at updating my benchmark D3 when the Helmet version is available if it feels legit, I have allot of years Helmet knowledge from Moto to DH, so look forward to seeing and reading more, arm and knee pads look good too.
Give us more guys.
By saying "You deserve a brain injury" I think you need to have a look at whether you are a true mountain biker or not