Alpinestars took advantage of the Grand Prix of the Americas held at the Austin Circuit to present the new Alpinestars Tech-Air 10 airbag. Designed for both professional and amateur ridersthis system provides the pilot a fairly complete body protection. In fact it covers the whole upper torso, covering the shoulders, chest, pubic area and hips. Body parts these never “covered” with this type of system, until now. For its elaboration and development, the Italian brand had the help of MotoGP, Moto 2, Moto 3, AMA and WSBK riders.
The system can work under any Alpinestars Tech-Air Ready suit or any third party leather suit. This is possible if there is at least four cm of free space around the rider’s chest circumference and two cm around the hips. These measurements are not random, as it is the thickness of the airbag once it inflates in the event of a collision.
Alpinestars Tech-Air 10 airbag, the protection activates in just 44 milliseconds
To accurately determine the exact moment the accident occurs, uses 12 sensors (3 three-axis accelerometers and one three-axis gyroscope) and a series of algorithms. The latter are updated through a proprietary application that is also used for configure if the suit will be used for the street or for the circuit. To activate it, you just need to put it on and close the belt. As soon as this is done, the system will send a signal to the small remote wireless LED screen which indicates the operational status of the airbag.
Once the possibility of an accident is detected, Alpinestar’s new system inflates the airbags in a maximum time of 40 milliseconds. It is CE Level 2 certified for both the back and chest. When worn, shock absorption is reduced by up to 95% compared to a typical passive protector. For the system to work, it uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery with an autonomy of up to 24 hours.
In the event of an accident, the Tech-Air 10 system must be sent to Alpinestars to reset the airbags, having certified use for up to three activations.
The Tech-Air 10 will be available in all sizes for a stated of $ 999.95 which translates to approximately € 917 EUR. Its arrival on the market currently does not have a date yet, but you can find out by leaving your e-mail on the website.