Downhill racing has always been dangerous of course, but as the sport progresses, so too does the speed and thus the risk associated with crashes. Modern bikes and the proliferation of lift-accessed riding will also expose amateur riders to the same dangers, outside of the racetracks. We’ve seen protection companies produce helmets that certify to increasingly higher standards, but so far, no brand has managed to really combine features like MTB-specific ventilation and low weight with actual moto-level safety certification – until now, that is.
When perusing the specs of the new Barocon Carbon, it seems like business as usual at first glance. Carbon shell, in-mold EPS, elaborate vents – we could be talking about plenty of helmets currently on the market. However, POC says that the way they have co-molded the carbon shell with the EPS liner makes it both lighter and stronger than a helmet made with more traditional methods, which has allowed them to hit new levels of safety certification while keeping the weight down to a very respectable 1040 grams (for a size medium). Constructing the helmet this way has also allowed POC to hit a new high in terms of pricing, and the Barocon’s $880 USD price tag is sure to raise some eyebrows.
Just like most DH helmets, the Barocon is certified to the usual EN 1078 / CPSC 1203 / AS/NZS 2063 / ASTM F1952 (DH) / ASTM F2032 (BMX) standards, but it doesn’t stop there. POC also certified the helmet to the DOT FMVSS 218 standard, which is an impact penetration test used for motorcycle helmets. And to go even further, the company says that their testing was “guided by the speed and thresholds of the European ECE motorcycle standard ECE R22.06” as well. To be clear, POC is not saying that the Barocon IS a motorcycle helmet, but this level of certification should certainly make you feel protected if you frequently find yourself going ever faster down mountainsides littered with rocks and lined by trees.
Somebody who knows a lot about going very fast down a mountain is Greg Minnaar – no further introduction needed, if you are reading this article you probably know who that is already. While Greg and the team he now manages are of course paid to use the gear that they use, they would also not willingly jeopardize the health and safety of anybody involved just for money, so their collective input during testing would have been very valuable during the development work. In Greg’s words:
"A lot of DH tracks have been around for many years, which gives us a clear reference point for how much faster riders are going today compared to ten or fifteen years ago. Everything has become more professional, from the riders and bikes to set up and training. Protection has had to progress with that. The team has been using the Barocon Carbon since the start of the season, and it has been great to see how quickly the riders have built trust and confidence in it.”
The Barocon goes on sale today, exclusively on POC.com at first and in retail later in the summer. We have one on the way as we type these lines, so we’ll be getting back to you with our impressions later in the summer as well.
Zygon Goggle
Together with the new helmet, POC is also launching a new goggle today. The Zygon looks like a descendant of POC’s previous goggles, with the addition of outriggers that typically help hold the goggle in place when paired with a bigger and/or thicker helmet. We’ve had great results with POC’s previous goggles in terms of clarity of vision, so we look forward to seeing what the outriggers can do for overall comfort and retention as well now.
Specifications
Barocon Carbon Helmet
- Carbon fiber shell in-molded with EPS Liner.
- Meets higher testing standards: EN 1078 / CPSC 1203 / AS/NZS 2063 / ASTM F1952, / ASTM F2032 / DOT (FMVSS 218). Testing has also been guided by the speed and thresholds of the European ECE motorcycle standard ECE R22.06 to provide even further levels of protection.
- Weight: 1040 grams (size Medium).
- Ventilation channels inspired by existing POC full-face and road helmets deliver unrestricted airflow for enhanced cooling. The use of an in-mold sandwich construction for the shell and liner creates a very robust helmet that can withstand the required penetration forces without affecting the airflow openings or design.
- The helmet peak is attached via magnets and designed to break away from the helmet in an impact, whether from the front or the side, helping reduce the forces transmitted to the head and neck in an accident. Once it comes off, it can simply be clicked back into place.
- Mips Evolve rotational impact protection.
- D-ring buckle.
- Adjustable padding and ear chambers - the helmet's fit can be fine-tuned with the extra padding. Extra space around the ears for better balance and comfort.
- MSRP: $880 USD / €800 EUR / £730 GBP
Zygon Goggle
- Outrigger frame.
- 45mm strap.
- Cylindrical lens and “Clarity by POC” technology.
- Triple-layer face foam.
- Removable ventilation lid.
- Coolmax fabric layer next to your skin helps keep you cool, even at race pace.
- MSRP: $150 USD / €130 EUR / £120 GBP
Does DOT certification mean it’s safer for your brain, or is it just mean it takes more force to crack the shell? Just like cars with crumple zones, a helmet that gives a little in the right way may be safer than a more rigid structure. I look forward to seeing Virginia Techs testing data.
I believe the ECE and EN certification suggests the helmet does well protecting from low speed impacts while DOT only looks at high speed protection. Getting ECE, EN, and DOT certification into one lid should be pretty safe
Looks really good, has a steep price though.
As far as I understand it, the DOT standard in question deals with penetrating impact forces, and so uses a smaller object to hit the helmet with during the testing. I guess the equivalent real-life scenario is "sharp rock edge, high speed". POC spoke about how this standard limits how wide you can make your vents for example (because they will specifically aim the anvils at the openings during this test), and they worked around it by giving the vents rounded edges to promote better air intake while still not exceeding the max vent size, which was hard to do with the in-mold construction. There's quite a lot to it, more than just "more impact speed", apparently.
To be clear, it's not ECE certified. They used the impact forces prescribed by ECE testing as "guidelines" when testing the helmet (to understand their test results and how they relate to such standards), but they did not commit to full ECE certification as that would likely have made it impossible to meet the weight and ventilation goals.
me over here in my poverty spec D4 Polyacrylite that I picked up for $250 bucks that weighs 1130g. I've debated the DOT vs DH certification a few times because of a few of my moto riding buddies will use mtb dh helmets for wood/trail riding up in big bear in the heat of the summer. I'm a bit paranoid and have only done it once and I have to admit, I felt pretty exposed but the 400g of less weight was really nice.
I will say that I fail to see the difference between what sort of incidents I would have while riding a moto through the wood at 20-30mph compared to a dh mtb. I realize that this is about engineering and testing to a standard... but still I think there is some logic/overlap between off road moto and dh.
I digress... no matter what, I certainly don't do enough days in a full face every year (7-10) to justify a 1k helmet. I usually splurge on helmets as I think that the weight really matters in terms of stress headaches and neck strain at the end of the day. I honestly couldn't justify the price delta of 600-700 to shed 100 grams (in the case of the TLD d4).
I got a D4 polyacrylite at the end of last season in Highland and I see no compelling reason to switch to a more expensive helmet either. Feature wise it is up there with the more expensive helmets, it is very comfortable, and the extra 100g does not bother me at all. I could get six of those D4s for the price of the Barocon then...
The price of the helmet is not important. It’s how it fits you and can you wear it for hours. Same for road motorcycles and off-road motorcycles too. Do you have a POC shaped head. ?? That helmet wins on looks alone. For DH I have a Leatt Gravity 8 because it is so comfortable.
funny how in POC's world there are no people with heads with more than 60cm circumference
Question regarding Virginia Tech testing: What "speed(s) of impact" does their test cover? I guess it could be quite influential in how a helmet performs. A helmet that works well in a 25 kph scenario could be overwhelmed (overw-helmet 😜) in a 40 kph scenario? Likewise, a helmet that handles a 40 kph imapct well might score relatively bad in a 25 kph test?
To the best of my knowledge, they test on a 45-degree plane at 14.5 to 14.9 mph (~ 6.5 meters per second) for low-speed crashes (said to represent the most common types of bike crashes). High-speed is tested at around 18.0 mph (~ 8.0 meters per second). They have sensors that detect both linear and rotational forces, and they drop each helmet at a number of different spots. Their "STAR" rating is the cumulative score of all the tests, it gives different weights to the different test values depending on how likely they are to occur.
Scandinavians generally have dolichocephalic heads
The Virginia Tech test protocol are the best thing we have right now, but no doubt there's room for improvement. Like you said, the VT Tech test protocol (and to my knowledge the test protocol for all safety certifications) only test for narrow velocity ranges, which means that a Moto helmet is great for running into a wall at 40 mph and an MTB helmet is better for tipping over from a dead stop, but we don't currently have a good formal way of answering how those same helmets would do in the reverse scenario. There are some helmet manufacturers like 6D who are explicitly working to address impacts at multiple different velocities, but even if they their goal out of the park, it still won't show up in Virginia Tech's single velocity test results.
Something that struck me when I was doing the Fox Rampage RS interview over the summer is how much of the safety side of things is unknown to the customer. Every manufacturer does their own internal testing, but those internal test results stay internal largely because of liability. Making specific safety claims leaves a manufacturer open to lawsuits.
i always wonder what brands actually do when they are not offering big sizes and sponsor a rider that is outside their sizing range
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