GoKawiilPikio's Si Oblik helmet scores lowest-ever rating in Virginia Tech's STAR safety test
Vancouver startup Pikio has released the Si Oblik road cycling helmet, which uses a new internal safety system called Oblik. It scored 4.61 on Virginia Tech's STAR helmet-safety scale, where lower is better, beating the previous top performer, Canyon's Deflectr, which scored 6.82. Founder Daniel Abram says the design draws on 18 years of impact-protection research, including work at Simon Fraser University.
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Virginia Tech's STAR ratings have pushed helmet makers to test for rotational brain injury risk, not just the direct-impact standards still used by US regulators, and ratings have climbed sharply across the industry since 2018. A score this far below the previous leader suggests Pikio's Oblik system could reset expectations for what counts as a top-tier helmet, though real-world injury outcomes will take longer to confirm.
- Pikio's Si Oblik helmet scored 4.61 on Virginia Tech's STAR scale, the lowest (best) score recorded so far.
- The score beats the prior leader, Canyon's Deflectr, by about 32 percent.
- Virginia Tech's rotational-impact testing has driven broad improvements in helmet safety since 2018, independent of US regulatory standards.
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Published there as: “How This Tiny Startup Built the World’s Safest Bike Helmet”
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