Learned of the Indiegogo crowd-funded foldable bicycle helmet a few weeks ago (click here to read my first article). Checking back in on Newton-Rider today, I read their recently released progress report. I worked for Bell Helmets, Troy Lee Designs and JT Racing and have a good deal of experience developing helmets so I’d like to pass along some insights.
The update starts off with “our team has been actively addressing various challenges, one of which revolves around the gap width of the pads for the spacer. Initially set at 14mm, we made a strategic decision some time ago to reduce it by 2mm.” Folks, that is not a minor adjustment. Whatever testing or certification performed is worthless. This design change requires a restart for certification. That’s not good news. And it doesn’t sound like this redesign is their only challenge.
Next, and I find this insulting to investors, the company claims “there are no changes to the H1/24 target manufacturing start.” Great, but what is that date? Newton-Rider failed to actually publish that date, but rest assured, they claim it hasn’t changed. They did claim, “We expect to post an update next week on progress made for the final helmet.” Wait, that was from November 2021 update.
Newton-Rider now posts their updates every 60 days, so I’ll check back in March but it is hard for me to believe that the March update will announce the shipping of this helmet. If you are riding around without a helmet (because you are waiting for you Newton-Rider), I beg you to go to a bicycle shop and buy a helmet now.
