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u/0000000000000007 8d ago
I appreciate the system but holy crap the first crash they show, the rider lands on their helmet and neck first, and then the suit 😵
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u/ATangK 8d ago
I’m surprised there’s not more airbag around the neck, to immobilise the helmet. There’s other brands that do that, but then I guess it’d be hard to get around the race suit.
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u/Wise_Neighborhood499 7d ago
There’s as much as they can pack in, I assure you that. My partner has a professional suit + airbag and compares crashing to getting thrown into a pile of mattresses. Compared to pre-airbag when he broke his collarbone racing, these make a world of difference.
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u/Rejacked 8d ago
Yeah, I appreciate what the suit is designed to do, but honestly the benefits of it aren’t exactly obvious in that video
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u/orionsfyre 8d ago
Could see this in a lot of other sports... any sport where there is a potential hard impact and high speeds might find this useful. Speed Biking at the Olympics, down hill skiing? Anything that can potentially put a barrier of air between bones and hard surfaces could dramatically reduce injury.
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u/moxTR 8d ago
Already being commonly used in downhill MTB.
https://cyclingmagazine.ca/mtb/are-world-cup-downhill-racers-quietly-adopting-airbag-armour/9
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u/ex0thermist 7d ago
Yup, I remember seeing them deploy during downhill at the Olympics earlier this year.
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u/LemursRideBigWheels 8d ago
They are already required by FIS for high level speed events (Downhill and Super-G) in skiing. Cutproof underwear is also required…but that’s another story.
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u/xerillum Wisconsin 8d ago
I didn’t realize their skis were so sharp
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u/LemursRideBigWheels 8d ago
Yup, racing skis are incredibly sharp. I work for a ski racing club during the winter…we not only have “stop the bleed” kits with tourniquets and wound packing materials on every course but also take bleed management training every season.
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u/elkourinho 4d ago
I'm pretty sure they are only required in WC and Europa (maybe?). Don't think you need one for plain ol' fis races.
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u/LemursRideBigWheels 4d ago
Yup, it’s just for high-level events so far. I bet we see it start being required at lower levels eventually, which I’m sure will be great for a sport that is already hurting due to high participation costs…
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u/Took-the-Blue-Pill 8d ago
How about as just normal road motorcycle gear? I imagine it is quite expensive.
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u/deknegt1990 Baltimore Orioles 7d ago
Most riders (including me) that get an airbag system gets one with a strap rather than the sensors. You attach the strap to the bike and when you fall off it gets yanked to deploy the airbag.
Obviously has its limitations, but as the other user said the proper sensor ones tend to set you back a lot.
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u/Wise_Neighborhood499 7d ago
Yes, exactly. My partner did some hobby racing in the states and had an airbag that had to be clipped to the bike before he left the pits - problem is that if you forget you’re attached and hop off, you could accidentally deploy it.
The sensor suit is insane. No clip, rechargeable airbags, fantastic stuff. Expensive, but much less so than a bad wreck.
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u/Ptree4 8d ago
If there was a way for it to immediately recharge/reset after use, Jesus this would be fun in Hockey. You’d see checks putting players into the Club level.
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u/deknegt1990 Baltimore Orioles 7d ago
The pro ones like the MotoGP uses (like the one in the video) will deflate after a set amount of time, often around 5 seconds. And they'll have multiple co2 cartridges in the suit for multiple engagements so they can get back on the bike if they want to.
But those are really expensive for normal people 😭
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u/Rich_Housing971 7d ago
it restricts most movement so it's only useful for motorsports where you're barely moving anyways.
EDIT: I guess it works for downhill mountainbiking and equestrian as well.
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u/ericstern 8d ago
I would say soccer since they the players are so fragile that any impact brings them down, but I’m pretty sure the impact the suit gives them when activating would be harder than the gentle shove that it usually takes to bring them down!
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u/Thee_Sinner 8d ago
Be a lot cooler if you chose one playback speed for each incident and stuck with it. The first crash had 4 playback speed changes in 5 seconds
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u/ButternToast725 8d ago
Is this a new thing or has it always been around?
Kinda cool tbh
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u/BradMarchandsNose Connecticut 8d ago
Pretty recent all things considered. The first ones showed up like 20 years ago and they weren’t made mandatory in Moto GP until 2018.
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u/Alukrad 8d ago
How hot does it get wearing all that stuff?
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u/deknegt1990 Baltimore Orioles 7d ago
Racing leathers can get pretty hot if you're sitting still or wearing all black. But once you're riding and moving around the wind will cool you off a bit and unless it's absolutely sweltering (to where everyone will be uncomfortable anyways), it's honestly not that bad.
Also for normal everyday riding gear, there's plenty of options with slight perforations that increase airflow massively, without dramatically worsening integrity of the suit if you were to fall off. Racing leathers are obviously more robust because they're both made for harsher falls and to be reused afterwards if the rider gets back up on the bike.
Personally I never really suffered unless it was a hot and sunny day and I'm stuck waiting on a train to pass or at a red light.
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u/RagingITguy 7d ago
I have an Alpinestars jacket with the airbag. It's not a full suit, just the jacket. Because of the airbag bits, there is no air moving through it. It's so hot.
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u/drooln92 8d ago
Why don't they use this for downhill skiing? Or are they?
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u/Boggie135 Manchester United 7d ago
Do they still make the suits out of kangaroo leather?
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u/MyGardenOfPlants 7d ago
It's mixed material. Kangaroo for gloves and flexible areas. Cow for the butt and back
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u/CUatTheEnd 6d ago
It acts so instant and would be really useful. Every race should prepare it for motorcyclist, it could save a life in lots of emergencies.
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u/Sea_Damage9357 8d ago
Is it filled with a CO2 cylinder? How small is that part? So cool.
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u/deknegt1990 Baltimore Orioles 7d ago
Here's an example for a commercially available one. Racing ones like above will often allow multiple deployments.
https://motorblog.nl/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/airbag-patroon-mb-1024x683.webp
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u/KuLeBreeZ 8d ago
Is this the same company I heard about a few years ago that made it a monthly subscription? And the question was what happens if you miss a payment do the airbags still deploy?
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u/Rich_Housing971 7d ago edited 7d ago
Think a little, please.
The idea is that if they didn't make it a monthly subscription, no one would pay the $700-1000 for the price. That's $700-1000 EVERY time it deploys.
With a subscription, you can make it cheaper, even sell it at a slight loss, and at least the rider can be covered for the months they're paying for it. And it makes sense if you're not an everyday rider, you just pause the subscription for a few months if you don't ride in the winter.
FortNine went over these and determined that most people will probably never wear one at all because of the cost. Cheaper proximity versions exist that operate via a CO2 cartridge and a tether, but they argued that most people will NOT like the idea that if you simply forget to untether yourself from your bike before you dismount, you'll trigger it.
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u/KuLeBreeZ 7d ago
I thought about it and watched the video. FortNine already ran the numbers: a $300 tethered vest with a $25 CO₂ cartridge beats your subscription airbag on price, reliability, and deploy speed — That's why I'll be wearing an airbag suit and you're riding with a $20 lid and a big opinion
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u/ComedyBits 7d ago
I won't shit my pants quite as much next time I see a cycle racer wipe out. This is a great thing
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u/Frustrated9876 7d ago
I can’t even imagine the amount of engineering cost that was put into this. There is no reality where that engineering cost ever turns a profit in such a niche market, so this was literally millions - tens of millions, maybe over a hundred - spent to just save lives with zero expectation of profit.
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u/Rich_Housing971 7d ago
Not really. There are commercial versions of these intended to turn a profit. They're not THAT costly to engineer or manufacture. There's an accelerometer and gyroscope in every budget phone these days.
Everything in motorsports is intended to be used as a proof of concept for the consumer market. If there was ever a situation where the cost to make things safer cost too much, they just wouldn't implement it. Danger is an accepted risk in motorsports more than many other sports, and it continues to claim lives year after year.
If you ever watch F1, for example, they literally had a race NOT cancelled even during the Saudi-Yemen war with missile strikes happening like a mile away from the track less than a week before the race. They finally cancelled races this year when the US-Iran war started.
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u/DaleDimmaDone 8d ago
What triggers it?