Minerva-AS is redefining rider protection with its new Mase Compact AirRide. Lightweight, reusable, and smartly controlled by onboard sensors, the system brings advanced airbag safety to road and gravel cyclists without compromising comfort.
The Mase Compact AirRide from Minerva-AS is the company’s latest development in the sphere of rider airbag systems. The backpack-style AirRide features the company’s protective airbag technology plus a bit of storage space for ride essentials, but the Compact AirRide, which is aimed at road and gravel riders, is designed to be as light and compact as possible, with a weight of less than 1kg.
The airbag is deployed by a microcontroller, which uses a variety of sensors to check for anomalous movement that would indicate a crash; it scans your ride 300 times a second. When a crash is detected, the bag deploys in just 150 milliseconds and protects your face, upper back, collarbone, shoulders and upper body against injury. The airbag doesn’t cover your head, as it’s designed to be used in conjunction with a helmet.
One key feature of the AirRide is that it’s a reusable system. Unlike some other rider airbags, which use an explosive charge similar to a car airbag, the Mase airbag inflates with a replaceable canister of compressed gas. If you’re involved in a crash in which the airbag deploys, you can fold it back inside the backpack and replace the canister to use the AirRide again on your next ride.
The microcontroller running the system is chargeable via USB-C and the onboard battery lasts for 30 hours of riding. Minerva-AS manufactures the backpacks in its production facility in Erdingen and sources nearly all the individual components in its home region.