We’re still a bit suspicious of the jacket-mounted airbags that are starting to appear in prototype from most clothing manufacturers; preferring instead to place our trust in race-proven leather suits, expensive helmets and big back protectors. One reason we aren’t totally sold – yet – is their reliance on a cord connecting airbag mechanism to bike. Knowing us, we’d set it off the first time we stopped for gas.
The latest airbag is from RS Taichi, who’ve gone through great efforts to make the inflated bag easily removable. That’ll come in handy if your crash is the one that forced a race re-start, or if you accidentally set it off 20 miles into a daylong ride.