Airbags for cyclists have long been mooted as a hypothetical safety solution. But, Aerobag is one of the first serious attempts to bring impact protection into the pro peloton without fundamentally changing how riders dress, move or race.<\/p>\n
How does Aerobag work?
\n![\"Aerobag](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Aerobag-airbag-for-cyclists-3.jpg\")
Sensors control the system. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n
Aerobag uses electronic sensors and software to detect a crash and trigger inflation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all fired by an algorithm,\u201d explains Quinton van Loggerenberg, Aerobag international business development manager. \u201cThere are XYZ sensors, inertia sensors, impact sensors, and there are magnetic fields to give you a fixed zero \u2013 the system is very clever\u201d<\/p>\n
He explains that cycling kit needs to be lightly modified to accommodate the system: \u201cThat\u2019s only because we need to control where the tubes go so that the inflation happens in the right place\u201d<\/p>\n
In practice, this means adding small, elastic loops that hold the sleeved tubes in the right place.<\/p>\n
![\"Aerobag](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Aerobag-airbag-for-cyclists-4.jpg\")
The small elastic loops on the braces hold the system in place. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n
Van Loggerenberg was keen to stress that Aerobag is sold as a standalone system rather than being permanently built into one item: \u201cYou get an airbag system, and then you can have your bib shorts and your jacket or whatever:\u00a0<\/p>\n
While he feels the system is \u201csmall enough and light enough,\u201d Van Loggerenberg concedes it\u2019s \u201cnot quite cheap enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to keep it around the sort of \u20ac750 to \u20ac800,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty expensive. There\u2019s a lot of technology involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van Loggerenberg said the idea for Aerobag came after a young Belgian rider.<\/p>\n
\u201c[When] Bjorg Lambrecht crashed and died, we decided that there had to be a better way of sending riders down the road,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t send them down the road in [just] Lycra at 70km\/h.\u201d<\/p>\n
Team Picnic PostNL to use the tech
\n![\"Aerobag](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Aerobag-airbag-for-cyclists-2.jpg\")
Team Picnic PostNL will use the system this season. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n
Team Picnic PostNL has already announced it will use Aerobag, with Van Loggerenberg saying \u201canother major WorldTour team\u201d will soon announce it\u2019s using the system.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As Picnic PostNL\u2019s clothing sponsor, Nalini is producing the initial integrated kit and is working with Aerobag on wider availability.<\/p>\n
\u201cNalini has made these for Picnic PostNL and is the early adopter for us,\u201d van Loggerenberg said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNalini has committed to working with us for the coming season for more general availability to the public,\u201d he continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Aerobag](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Aerobag-airbag-for-cyclists-5.jpg\")
TPU tubes provide the impact protection. Jack Luke \/ Our Media<\/p>\n
Van Loggerenbergsaid Aerobag is already in contact with cycling\u2019s governing body, the UCI, over adopting the system.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are already in discussion with the UCI through a number of projects, and the UCI have been broadly supportive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He feels confident the UCI will welcome the system, citing Belgian employment law, which mandates that an employee \u2013 in this case, a sponsored rider \u2013 has a right to use safety equipment if they request it.<\/p>\n
As for the effectiveness of the system, he concludes by saying: \u201cThe reason you can\u2019t buy a car without an airbag is because [they] just work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aerobag is a wearable airbag designed for professional cyclists, which will be used by WorldTour team Picnic PostNL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":418129,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-418128","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418128\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}