BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Stop with the jokes about Stormtroopers already, the City helmet from Kali Protectives of California, launched at Eurobike, will also be available in red and black. An integral visor slides away when not required. The helmet will ship with “dark smoke” and “light smoke” lenses for the US market, with a clear visor available for the European market.
“This is a killer helmet for Germany and the Netherlands,” said Bryan Mason, Kali’s head of sales and marketing.
“We think it’s perfect as an e-bike helmet but it would suit anybody not doing long, athletic rides. It’s a helmet for the casual cyclist, perhaps in a suit or other smart gear.”
There are few vents in the 110 Euro helmet. The ear flaps for cold conditions are removable. Kali was co-founded by Brad Waldron, and is sharing stand duties at Eurobike with Mason. Waldron worked for Specialized for 12 years and prior to that was a composites engineer for Northrop Grumman (he worked on the F-18 fighter jet and the B-2 Stealth bomber).
Kali makes motocross and DH helmets and was successful when, three years ago, it branched out with the Maraka XC helmet. Road-specific helmets the Phenom and the Loka were introduced last year. Kali’s helmets feature composite struts as well as impact-absorbing technologies such as cone-shaped “crumple zones”. Dual-density liners feature a harder density of expanded polystyrene in-molded into the polycarbonate shell and a softer EPS next to your noggin. Mason claims this improves energy absorption in any impact. The two foams are joined via cones which helps spread the load even further.
Introducing the commuter helmet into the range was a “commitment to Kali being a full-line helmet manufacturer,” said Mason. Kali has been exhibiting at Eurobike via its German distributor since 2008. This was the first year the company has had its own booth. Kali is looking to appoint a distributor for the Netherlands.
