This airbag-equipped culotte could be a reality in 2025

A few months ago, the former R&D chief of Bioracer revealed his intentions to create a functional culotte equipped with an airbag to improve cyclist safety through his startup SID Sport Innovation Design. A project that seems to be advancing steadily, so much so that it could already be available next year.

The revolution in cyclist safety is getting closer

After months of working to achieve a functional prototype of his airbag-equipped culotte project, Sam Ratajczak, founder of SID Sport Innovation Design, a startup that aims to make this product a reality, spoke to the well-known portal road.cc about the progress of the development of the culotte with airbag.

A development phase that has involved creating a prototype that they presented to the UCI to keep them informed of this development and thus avoid problems with the highest cycling body when authorizing its use.

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Sam Ratajczak has a perfectly laid out plan to gradually introduce his culotte with airbag into competitive cycling, starting with youth cycling in Belgium and continuing with track cycling, a discipline where falls are often really spectacular due to the high speed at which their events are contested.

In any case, the idea is to create a system that is adaptable to all types of culottes and not to manufacture them themselves. In fact, they are already in contact with Bioracer, the brand that Ratajczak was part of, so that they are the first to integrate this system, however, the idea is to offer it to any brand in a similar way to what MIPS does with the rotational impact protection system that many helmets on the market have.

The aerObag, the name they have given to this culotte with airbag, works with a series of sensors that determine when it should be activated. There is also the option for the cyclist to activate it themselves since, in many cases, the fall can be anticipated before it occurs.

The culotte will only offer protection in the area of the straps. Sam Ratajczak justified not covering other parts of the body such as shoulders or head because the idea is that, after activation, the system is able to retract to allow the cyclist to quickly get back on the bike since, let's not forget, this is a product designed with the protection of the cyclist in competition in mind.

Ratajczak also expressed enthusiasm for the rapid progress they have been making in recent weeks and, although it is difficult to talk about deadlines, he hopes that the project will materialize in 2025, while also trying to attract the interest of teams.