Crowdfunding Monday – Cirrus: A airbag equipped cycling jacket

It’s time for a new category: Crowdfunding Monday! Every Monday YellowCrank will feature a cycling related product that can be supported on either one of the crowdfunding sites.The necessary disclaimer upfront: While I do look critically at the campaign, the value of the product and the likeliness of the campaign to succeed, I neither endorse the product nor cannot give any guarantee as to the campaigns success. That means, if you opt to fund a product, in the worst case you lose your investment. There have been spectacular failures in the cycling category, such as the SpeedX superbike. That said, the product I am introducing today has a high chance of coming to fruition and meeting most expectations (it’s already oversubscribed, uses proven technology, and is backed by a company with experience in the field of cycling wear). It is the Cirrus Jacket, a cycling jacket with an integrated airbag.
As opposed to the Hoevding airbag (that was also a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign and now has over 50,000 units sold), the Cirrus Jacket protects not the head but four other critical areas: The chest, the abdomen, the Neck, and the back. That is important, as according to the campaign, 40% of injuries in a severe accident involve the Thorax and 25% the Spine.
The company making the airbag is Helite, who are pioneers in airbag vests for horse riding, motorcycling, and cycling, and they provide their proven technology. The company behind the jacket is Urban Circus, which specializes in high-viz and waterproof cycling jackets.
The Cirrus jacket is waterproof and windproof and has highly reflective details and zippers below the armpit for added ventilation.
In case of an accident, the jacket inflates within 0.08 seconds and protects the cyclist before impact occurs. Accident detection is done via sensors in the jacket and on the bicycle. As opposed to the Hoevding airbag, the airbag in the Cirrus jacket is reusable. Below Images are from their campaign page and their website. If you are interested, please check out their campaign, which provides more details on features and specs. If high-viz urban cycling jackets are your thing, then also pay a visit to Urban Circus at https://urban-circus.fr/en

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