Jaw-dropping: POC makes head protection and goggles for cyclists that are actually stylish

Protect yourself from rotational impact injuries whilst also, ironically, turning heads with POC Spin helmets and Clarity goggles

Duncan Bell
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POC's gear is always 'on point' as today's modern young people say, and the way they combine safety with tech and even a wee bit of style has led to them being being handed more than 50 international safety, design and innovation awards.

We love their latest Tectal helmet and Ora goggles combo because the former helps protect against the most potentially ruinous head injuries, while the latter offers enhanced contrast and light, all while looking exceedingly cool.

Yes, obviously the particular combo we've chosen here is aimed at serious, downhill mountain bike but come on, you could wear the Tectal skid-lid in town – and even the Ora goggles too if you're bad-ass enough.

What's more important, however, is the underlying tech. POC SPIN (an acronym for Shearing Pad INside) is a new system that is being built into a number of POC helmets that adds protection from rotational stress on your head, which is an important part of your body.

POC CEO, Jonas Sjögren, explains: “Working with medical experts in POC Lab, we know that oblique impacts are common and can cause serious head injury due to a rotation of the helmet and head. SPIN pads are optimised to provide rotational impact protection based on their precise location inside the helmet. The objective is to minimise the effects of an oblique fall by allowing the helmet to move relative to the head." 

SPIN will integrated into helmets including the Tectal Race (main image) and also the brand new Coron Air, which is a more uncompromisingly-styled Enduro/downhill kind of helmet that you probably don't want to be wearing in town.

POC's Clarity lenses, by Carl Zeiss, are the latest in real-time image enhancement, "unique, highly tuned lenses which have light frequencies created for specific activities and environments (road, mtb, urban)"

The enhanced contrast and light mean wearers can see and react to potential dangers faster.

No pricing details for any of this gear so far but the non-SPIN version of Tectal was about £120.

Duncan Bell
Duncan Bell

Duncan is the former lifestyle editor of T3 and has been writing about tech for almost 15 years. He has covered everything from smartphones to headphones, TV to AC and air fryers to the movies of James Bond and obscure anime. His current brief is everything to do with the home and kitchen, which is good because he is an excellent cook, if he says so himself. He also covers cycling and ebikes – like over-using italics, this is another passion of his. In his long and varied lifestyle-tech career he is one of the few people to have been a fitness editor despite being unfit and a cars editor for not one but two websites, despite being unable to drive. He also has about 400 vacuum cleaners, and is possibly the UK's leading expert on cordless vacuum cleaners, despite being decidedly messy. A cricket fan for over 30 years, he also recently become T3's cricket editor, writing about how to stream obscure T20 tournaments, and turning out some typically no-nonsense opinions on the world's top teams and players.

Before T3, Duncan was a music and film reviewer, worked for a magazine about gambling that employed a surprisingly large number of convicted criminals, and then a magazine called Bizarre that was essentially like a cross between Reddit and DeviantArt, before the invention of the internet. There was also a lengthy period where he essentially wrote all of T3 magazine every month for about 3 years. 

A broadcaster, raconteur and public speaker, Duncan used to be on telly loads, but an unfortunate incident put a stop to that, so he now largely contents himself with telling people, "I used to be on the TV, you know."

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