BRANDS
Tell us about what led to the RLS technology being developed, and ultimately, how the brand was born. It began as an accident! At the time, we were selling custom- fit helmets with a removable shell. One cold morning on a group ride, a team member slipped on black ice, and when his helmet hit the ground, the removable shell released and shot across the tarmac road. Fortunately, he didn’t suffer a head injury, but it was the genesis for a new approach to helmet design. After five years of extensive lab testing, we evolved the concept to include small bearings to facilitate energy deflection and durable connectors designed to release only on impact, creating the Release Layer System.
How are you leveraging the technology to work with manufacturers and brands in the cycling helmet space?? From the outset, we carefully select partners who want the best brain protection for their helmets. We have a world-class design and engineering team that supports our partners through the development process to ensure they achieve RLS’s gold standard thresholds for rotational protection, which include well-known ratings like the Virginia Tech STAR rating and other test standards.
Why would a retailer that’s stocked and sold MIPS helmets for years be enticed to sell their customers the RLS tech? RLS helmets consistently outperform helmets with MIPS in independent rotational protection testing. Every RLS helmet is tested to guarantee it provides the maximum rotational protection for its given model. That standard isn’t applied to MIPS. A retailer stocking RLS can be confident they’re offering customers the leading protection against brain injury, not just a marginal improvement over a bare helmet.
Talk to us about the brands you’ve worked with so far. How did you approach Canyon and Hexr? Canyon’s DNA is to create best-in-class products based on independent ratings. Immediately, we were aligned as
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partners with a single mission of improving helmet protection and are proud to have launched at #1 on Virginia Tech’s STAR rating. We are excited to be launching with more leading cycling brands soon and see each partnership as an opportunity to build best-in-class products.
With success in the bicycle space, do you feel there are other industries you would be able to apply this technology to? And have you started looking into this? We are currently developing the technology for helmet segments outside of cycling and are motivated to leverage the Release Layer System to further reduce the risk of brain injuries. Currently, there are over 200 million helmets sold each year, so the potential for real safety improvement is significant.
If we could talk briefly about what the rest of 2026 and the future looks like for RLS, where would you like to see the brand get to? What’s the long-term goal with the company and the technology? This year is about establishing RLS as the leading helmet safety technology in all major helmet segments, which means a whole lot more testing and iterating! ●
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