OldTryGuy

Hope things work out.

Just doesn't work for me.

TromboneAl

Can you use it in conjunction with a regular helmet?

akohekohe

No. The helmet would interfere with the deployment of the airbag.

akohekohe

Here are two pictures of me wearing the Hövding (and the 50 Plus jersey).

countrytoad

I would love to get a Hovding. Can you suggest how one can be obtained within the U.S.? Thank you for the "Test Drive" description.

BlazingPedals

It looks... warm. Probably okay in Denmark. On RABBRAI? Not so much.

Gsa

You can order it from bike24. They are in Germany. FYI, they have branded Ortlieb back roller classic at a fantastic price - they will not sell them to you. They aren't allowed to sell them ouside the EU. They will remove them from your basket. However, my Hovding is being sent.

ahdguy

I really wanted one here in the US, so on a trip to the UK I brought one back with me. Not a great move as I got held at security for a long time with it... It even got taken out of sight to another room... So if you can get it shipped over via Mail I'd definately do that instead...

randallr

Thanks for your reviews, Akohekohe! I've thought these looked intriguing but thought the weight was a show stopper. Sounds like it's not, because it's not leveraged out on the end of one's neck like a regular helmet. Sounds promising, looking forward to hearing what Hovding does for your warranty claim.

irwin7638

They told me they have no intention to market them for sale outside the EU. They cite prohibitive taxes and tariffs as the problem discouraging them. The Hovding also has a size limitation; they will not protect a head larger than 60 CM and making a larger size will require a new design.

Marc

BadGrandma

I hope I'm doing this right-my first time replying to a forum. I need the Hovding helmet because I've had my 6th concussion. Akohekohe, how did you buy one?

slamby

Of course they want to market it in the US, but they're not yet able to because it still has to pass US equivalent for European CE-certification for safety gear. In europe this took two years, mainly because it's so radically different from regular helmets a new testing procedure had to be introduced. According to an article(1) They "[...will eventually introduce Hövding on the US market]". I read somewhere else their current priority was to expand in europe for now (or then, it's a pretty dated article by now)

1) In swedish Handelshinder stoppar svensk exportsuccé

slamby

Your guess is way off.

Folksam tested how helmets (including Hovding) handle rotational violence, and hövdig came out on top by a big margin. The report is in swedish and can be found at:

https://www.folksam.se/polopoly_fs/1...pport%20v2.pdf

In addition to straight impacts they tested for rotational impacts across three axises (as illustrated on p 5). The straight impact is meant to gauge the protection for skull fractures, but the rotational data was fed to a mathematical model of the head in order to calculate the resulting stretching that would occur in the brain (26% stretch correspond to a 50% risk of concussion). For each of the axises a picture of the best helmet (left) worst helmet (right) and hövding (below) was rendered to show the stretch distribution and severity.

JohnJ80

Interesting. I'm more than interested in any improvement in helmet safety and DAI reduction. Thanks for this.

The way the US has set up it's helmet standards in statute is stupid. It's essentially stopped helmet innovation in safety factors for two decades.

That said before I go with something like this, I want to see two things:

1. I really want to see a significant user base of this to the point where we start to see positive benefits in actual usage. It's such a radical spin on head protection and it's going to be trusting in software and reliability to a very significant extent. If this thing fails, the results will be pretty bad for the user.

2. I'm waiting for the innovation that makes it smaller and less invasive to wear. Wearing something like that around my neck would be really aggravating to me. Presuming that they work on getting the size and bulk down much like the inflatable life jacket guys did, then this has real promise.

The other concern that I have is that it doesn't protect from head hits that do not result from a collision or fall like if you hit a tree branch while riding.

J.

OldsCOOL

Not bad, grandma.

6 concussions....you are a kickboxer?

BlazingPedals

Hmm... a battery-operated helmet. More things to go wrong, and Murphy's Law applies.

MarinFan63

I know it off topic, but where can I get a 50 plus jersey like you?