The Micro-collapsible Ventete aH-1 Bicycle Helmet Wins The ISPO Award 2024

Modern mobility in the city is attracting more and more people to bicycles of all kinds: e-bikes or cargo bikes complement the comprehensive range of city bikes, trekking bikes, mountain bikes, or gravel bikes. This hustle and bustle in the bike lanes has also created new requirements in terms of safety and head protection. Not everyone likes to wear a helmet though, whether for reasons of style or because some helmets give you a hot head in summer. And there is an additional problem in the city: where to put it when you’re not cycling?

The team at UK-based start-up company Ventete have thought a lot about these new demands in urban cycling. The result of their 10-year design process is the Ventete aH-1, an inflatable and micro-collapsible bicycle helmet that also introduces a whole new futuristic aesthetic. At their jury meeting in the spring of 2024, the jury of the ISPO Awards decided to honor this innovative product with the popular prize.

Designed in the UK and crafted in Switzerland, the Ventete aH-1 is a groundbreaking bicycle helmet aimed at the spontaneous and evolving needs of urban transportation. With a focus on blending form, function, and contemporary design, the helmet collapses to just 3.5cm thick–about 12% of its full size–making it exceptionally portable and discreet. It can be easily inflated in less than 30 seconds using a USB-C powered pump, providing convenience unparalleled by traditional helmets.

Colin Herperger, CEO and co-founder of Ventete, explains: “Our team consists of a group of architects, artists, cyclists, and engineers with a central interest where culture is moving to and a particular interest in cycling. We started the project 10 years ago with the idea that it would be amazing to have a bicycle helmet that would fold down like a piece of origami and just fit in your pocket being easy to have with you when you’re on the go.”

Colin continues, “The majority of what we were doing at the beginning was prototyping and testing in-house to build the system from the ground up. Then came the move to scalable manufacturing. The process we’re using in the production is high-frequency welding, an amazing technology that is typically used for building enormous things like marine-scale buoys or very tiny things in the medical field. We’re super proud of the craftsmanship involved in making this helmet.”

Designed with safety in mind, the Ventete aH-1 meets stringent CE/UKCA safety standards such as EN 1078. Its design incorporates non-Newtonian RHEON impact pads to enhance protection against rotational impacts, a leading cause of traumatic brain injury in crashes. The helmet’s innovative structure includes 11 interconnected chambers, each reinforced with a polymer rib and lined with soft padding for durability and resistance to abrasion, puncture, and elongation.

In terms of comfort, the Ventete aH-1 has been rigorously tested by EMPA for thermal resistance and provides cooling efficiency nearly equivalent to wearing no helmet at all. This superior thermal performance addresses one of the main barriers to helmet use in urban environments: overheating.

The Ventete aH-1 is also designed to be gender-neutral and to accommodate a wide range of head sizes and hairstyles, making it suitable for professional environments where appearance is important. It offers urban commuters not just a safety device but a lifestyle accessory that promotes a safer, more stylish, and sustainable way to navigate city life, making it an ideal choice for the modern city dweller. The jury of the ISPO Award 2024 liked the innovative power of this product in all respects and awarded it the coveted prize. The Ventete aH-1 second public drop will be available on 5th September 2024.

• Abrasion and cut resistant and tearproof
• Built of high-tenacity nylon and engineering polymers
• Breathable and thermal regulating
• Market leading micro collapsibility for compact storage and transportation.
• Swiss made