We’ve seen a few bicyclist airbags over the years, but Aerobag aims to take rider safety to the next level of performance with their ultralight, compact airbag system that will be incorporated into the straps of your favorite bib straps. The core idea is that pro road cyclists, especially, careen down mountain roads at incredibly high speeds, with EPS foam helmets the only real element of safety equipment protecting them in a crash. And while airbag technology redefined safety in automobiles since they became widespread in the 1990s, they’ve never really taken hold in cycling due mainly to their size, weight, and the complexity of correctly deploying them.
But the technology has progressed rapidly in the last few years, and this Aerobag looks like it could be the one to make airbags feasible for high-performance cycling…
Aerobag is a light, unobtrusive airbag for performance cyclists
The cycling airbag concept is straightforward, even if its practical execution is exceptionally complex.
A rapidly-inflating airbag could expand in an instant to protect the most vulnerable parts of a cyclist’s body beyond their head, like the neck, spine, and chest. Just like happens in your car in a crash, that cyclist airbag could cushion the rider in a severe impact, greatly reducing the chance of serious or fatal injuries.
The first trick is that the cyclist has to somehow wear a deflated airbag without impeding their ability to ride a bike, especially an issue at to top-tier of the sport. The other real issue is to get it to inflate every time there’s a real crash, but never go off accidentally when you are JRA – just riding along.
Existing cycling applications include the bulky EVOC Commuter AIR Pro, a big backpack with an airbag built in. Or there are the lighter, slimmer Mase Airding backpacks that dial it down to the size of a small hydration pack. Neither is suitable for high-intensity road cycling efforts, though.
Notable additions might be the head-only protection of Hövding airbag helmet, but that is a case-study in the failure to perform consistently enough for a consumer-level safety product. Or look to the teased Dainese D-Air DH airbag prototype incorporated into a wrap-around chest & back protector for gravity riders based on their motorcycle airbags, but they’ve yet to make it reliable even for the narrow focus of downhill racing.
How did a pro cyclist airbag project come about?
With the amount of hours and kilometers that professional cyclists ride and race, those high-speed crashes happen rather frequently. In fact, it was the fatal accident of Bjorg Lambrecht in 2019 that really sparked the development of the Aerobag project. Aerobag CEO & co-founder Bert Celis, who also had co-founded the cycling-specific BikeValley aero performance lab, worked with many pro teams to help them go faster. But he had also worked with Lambrecht in their wind tunnel just a few months before his accident. So his death felt very personal, spurring Celis to refocus his engineering expertise on rider safety instead of all-out speed. That was the impetus for the airbag project.
Having also worked through BikeValley on the Cold2Gold project with clothing maker BioRacer ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Celis also really appreciated the importance of rider comfort and thermoregulation in sport.
What makes the Aerobag airbag unique?
The 3 biggest differences between the Aerobag and previous cycling airbags seem to be: size, weight, and attachment system.
The Aerobag is much smaller than anything similar that we’ve seen yet, integrating into the straps of seemingly normal bibshorts, with just a small bulge on the mid-back that looks about the size of the smallest (maybe <1L?) hydration bladder we’ve seen. It is claimed to have only minimal. Interestingly, Aerobag describes it as “almost invisible while riding“, but it looks curiously like the small humpback bladders some riders tried to skirt UCI rules to improve their aerodynamic efficiency.
The other thing is it is claimed to weigh just 500g. That’s less than half the lightest weight cycling airbag we’ve held in our hands, making it lighter than having a water bottle in your jersey pocket. The trick to making it lighter really is that, the Aerobag does not need a backpack to carry it, leading to the final point.
The attachment system is just a series of mesh pouches integrated into the shoulder straps of existing cycling bib straps. Aerobag is working with several premium cycling kit makers, who will sew the necessary attachment points directly into their products, so you won’t have to ride Aerobag shorts. Instead, you’ll be able to ride your favorite bib shorts (and importantly, your fav chamois), just a model with the mesh pockets to slip an airbag into them. The idea of course, is to not try to reinvent premium bib shorts.
But also, this keeps the complete system lighter, ensures the best possible breathability, and for pros it will keep their clothing sponsors happy!
What happens when you crash?
Performance-wise, the latest big step in progress on the Aerobag airbag is smarter controls and sensor integration. Nine sensors monitor body movements at 200Hz (200 x per second) to detect a potential impact. Smart ‘AI-powered’ algorithms filter out regular movement from real crash indicators. And the high-power CO2 cartridge can then inflate the airbag within 100 milliseconds once it determines you are crashing.
Immediately after the impact, the airbag itself will deflate in a short period of time. And Aerobag assures that it is designed to be easily folded back into place, so the recently crashed rider can continue the race if they weren’t otherwise injured.
“A key enabler of Aerobag’s breakthrough is artificial intelligence. AI allows the system to accurately recognize crash scenarios in real time, something that has been refined for decades in the automotive industry but only recently became feasible for cycling due to advances in computing power, algorithms, and miniaturization.“
Aerobag: Coming soon, into your favorite bib shorts!
The first target market for this cyclist airbag is clearly professional road racing cyclists.
Aerobag has already worked with Nalini, clothing supplier to Team Picnic PostNL to integrate the first generation of their airbag tech. That means Picnic PostNL will most likely be the first pro cyclists to ride test the Aerobag airbag in training, scheduled already for Q2 in 2026. If everything keeps progressing according to plan – and they are now backed by Fundracer, ensuring much more operational capital – they may even be able to race in Aerobags in the 2027 season.
Regarding other clothing brands, Aerobag says they are already collaborating with “several other” premium cycling kit makers, and assure us that those will follow soon.
As for real-world consumer products, we’ve been told availability is “depending on the test results but possibly later this year” suggesting it’s not far off until we can cycle with an airbag, too. I already crash-tested a mountain bike helmet last summer. I’m not sure if I’m ready to crash-test an airbag!
