It’s always when you least expect it. You know, that little crash on a trail you’ve ridden a thousand times? The one that catches you out unexpectedly and immediately sends you to the dirt? None of us plan to crash, but every once in a while it happens. Now, ANGi is here to help.
One of the newest products from Specialized, ANGi is a smart crash sensor that attaches to your helmet. The small coin cell powered device weighs just 10g, and is equipped with impact and rotational sensors to detect when you might have been in a crash – or even just encountered enough rotational force to cause damage to your brain.
In the event of an incident, the sensor communicates with the Specialized Ride App which will notify your emergency contacts and send them your most recent GPS coordinates. Not in range of your cellular service? You can also set up the app to function based on ride time. If you plan to be out for say three hours, you can set the app for 3 or 4 hours, and if you’re not back in time to finish the ride on the app, it will then send a notification to your chosen contacts – even if you’re still not in cell range. You can also program the amount of time you have to disable the alarm after it detects a crash. This should help prevent any false alarms and worried family members.
If all of this sounds familiar, then you’re probably aware of a previous product called ICEdot. After pioneering the ICEdot system, Chris Zenthoefer landed a position with Specialized where he has been heading up a more advanced version of the system – ANGi. With Specialized behind the project, ANGi now has the benefit of a more powerful app and increased functionality of the system is already in the works. Currently, the Specialized Ride App is compatible with Strava so you can run Strava and all of its functionality through the Ride App. Future plans include ANT+ and Bluetooth connectivity to connect to GPS, powermeters, and more.
A number of Specialized helmets will be available with ANGi already installed, for an increase of about $25. That actually turns out to be a pretty good deal since all of the Specialized helmets are now available with MIPS, which alone usually increases a helmet’s price by $25.
ANGi devices will also be sold separately for $50, and both the equipped helmets and stand alone devices include a free year of the subscription based service ($30 value). ANGi equipped helmets each have their own Landing Pad for the device somewhere at the back of the helmet.
As mentioned, a big change for Specialized is that now every helmet in the line is standard or at least available with MIPS – there are still some less expensive helmets that will be available with or without the system. Whlie MIPS was available in a few select models previously, it was not widely available through the line. Specialized said that at the time, they felt that the data wasn’t there yet, but the Virginia Tech study helped convinced them that MIPS is indeed a safer helmet system. This led Specialized to start working with MIPS directly to improve what they saw as weaknesses of the system, while improving on the design as a whole.
That led to the new MIPS SL system which, for now, is a Specialized exclusive. Instead of relying on adding plastic liners to helmets that weren’t really designed for them, the SL system uses little grommets to capture the padding, and padding itself has different backing material to provide the low friction layer. This provides all of the benefits of MIPS, but in a system that is said to be lighter, more ventilated, and friendly to both the bald and those with a ton of hair. You’ll find MIPS SL on the new ANGi equipped Ambush and S-works Prevail II while models like the Propero III will be ANGi equipped but with the standard MIPS system.
The big takeaway here is that every 2019 Specialized helmet is now available with MIPS, and a number of those basically include the new ANGi smart sensor with only a $25 price increase – for MIPS and the ANGi combined. Don’t want to use ANGi? That’s fine too – the system is removable, leaving a shiny new MIPS equipped helmet underneath. Almost everything is available now at your local Specialized dealer.
