Spotlight: POC Cortex Flow Helmet and Iris DH Goggles
POC Cortex Flow helmet with Iris DH goggles
We got to check out some of POC’s goods back at Interbike this year and were quite impressed. After the show we were able to test out a few of their protective products in the field. We’ll be publishing several articles on their gear as we get adequate testing time. Today’s article will cover the Cortex Flow DH helmet and Iris DH goggles.
About POC:
POC is a Swedish based company located in Saltsjobaden which is outside of Stockholm. They have compiled an organizatoin that includes various engineers, designers, and medical specialists. Together they work to create products for extreme athletes that keep the rider safer by using patent pending techniques to deliver increased rider protecton. By leveraging sports medicine knowledge with advanced materials and construction techniques POC is able to create products that should function better during use as well as offer a higher level of protection.
Cortex Flow DH Helmet
* note this is a prototype version of the Cortex Flow. We’ll add further details about the differences between this prototype and the production version as they are available.
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The Cortex Flow helmet looks much like their Cortex DH helmet but offers more ventilation and uses a fiber glass shell instead of carbon fiber. The Cortex Flow is slightly heavier due to the material difference but offers more durability. The shell of the Cortex DH and Cortex Flow helmets are a bit different than standard helmets. POC has created their helmet with the best of both worlds of helmet shell design (in-mold and hard shell).
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They call their patented overlapping shell design Ventilated-Double-Shell-Anti-Penetration or VDSAP. It allows POC to create a helmet that offers good ventilation while still offering penetration resistance from rocks and other sharp objects as well as solid impact protection. POC has been able to do this by designing the shells to be offset and created channels between them to allow moisture, heat, and water to escape easily.
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The VDSAP design involves adding a Aramid ballistic penetration layer or APB to the helmet between the outer shell and multi-impact EPP inner liner. By adding this layer to the helmet they could keep the thickness of the helmet shell thinner to reduce weight but still offer protection from sharp objects as well as offer better energy absorption. The EPP multi-impact liner of the helmet is able to absorb multiple hits during a crash protecting your head throughout the event, not just the first large hit. Not all helmets offer this type of liner and can really help protect your head during multi-impact crashes over helmets with standard in-mold liners.
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The fit of the Cortex Flow is unlike any other downhill helmet we’ve ever tried on. It features thinner pads in the front, rear, and top of the helmet that are quite minimal compared to most DH helmets. As a result it doesn’t fit or feel the same so as always make sure to try it on for proper fit.
padding detail (click to enlarge)
POC optimized the chin bar to allow for easier breathing while still offering protection. The large opening the front of the helmet helps eliminate fogging and increase airflow through the front of the helmet. The Cortex helmets use a standard D-ring type chin strap.
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Ear chambers were also added to the Cortex helmets in order to allow riders to more easily hear what is going on around them as well as increase balance.
ear detail (click to enlarge)
POC has kept the styling of the helmet very minimal and basic to match much of the rest of their line. A nice detail is the POC logo sculpted into the adjustable visor.
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The Cortext Flow is available in Black or Putty (shown). The carbon shelled Cortex DH is available in White.
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MSRP: $265
Weight: 1034g
Iris DH Goggle
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The Iris DH goggle is a smaller fit goggle that fits a little tight around the eyes and nose area. POC designed the size to fit perfectly with their DH helmets. We like a little more roomy goggle to fit a wider variety of face types.
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The DH version of the Iris offers a clear lens with tear away pins for their PE tear-off’s. The Iris Flow is POC’s other goggle that does not feature tear-off knobs but instead features a clear lens with light silver or red mirror effect.
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The Iris DH lens features a polycarbonate outer lens and cellulose propinate inner lens for optimized anti-fog performance. All Iris lenses feature anti-scratch and anti-fog treatment.
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Iris DH lens dual layer detail (click to enlarge)
The face foam is a multi-layer design with Coolmax outer layer for moisture wicking. The Iris DH feels quite comfortable on the face and has extensive venting to prevent heat build up and fogging.
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top venting detail (click to enlarge)
bottom venting detail (click to enlarge)
The strap is a non-replaceable design with silicone grippers to keep the goggles secure.
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The Iris DH is available in Orange and White colorways. The Iris Flow is available in Baby Blue, Black, and Grey colorways.
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MSRP: $100
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POC’s line of protection products will be available in the spring. A list of retailers can be found under the Wheels section of their website - www.pocsports.com
[POC Cortex Flow Helmet Gallery] [POC Iris DH Goggle Gallery]
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wow for more than 300 $ I could buy a helmet+goggle set which would be 1000 times better and it would look better …
Looks like someone’s first design project….ever. Heinous.
Looks horrendous
POC products has always had a very unique design compared to the products from their competitors.
I think both the helmet and the goggles look great, very clean, and I would definitively consider a POC helmet over a TLD.
I like it and they just signed a very well known World Cup rider on a new team. I got to use the goggles last season and they nevr fogged and fit perfect.
There products known for the good quality, but this helmet design does look like first design project
Id choose a TLD anyday over this overpriced grey bucket..
seriously….unless you’re trying to get that retro-70’s look. Might as well pull the visor off while you’re at it and really go full 70’s. Horrible.
This helmet might be a best head protection ever created for cyclists I do believe so, but as every other swedish design it’s not ugly, it’s esthetic but it’s just… boring damn boring boooring!
Goggles look nice but really boring.
Helmet is ugly and very boring.
Lets give these guys few more years,
maybe they´ll come up with something visually inspiring.
So is it ugly because it doesn’t have skeletons and machine guns on it? If you like the minimalist clean look, that is a nice looking combo. If it’s a prototype then I’m sure it’s not the final graphic, but what is pictured is poc’s style and it probably won’t change much. I do have to say that all the poc products I have ever checked out were nice pieces of gear.
Clean, I like it!
no man, redneck graphics aren’t what is missing. like the clean look as well. there is no style in the shape. just a very boring, generic take on shaping. looks like a sample shape one would load into modeling software as a starting point for designing a helmet.
I’m perfectly ok with the aesthetics and I’ll take POC’s proven expertise in protection over the TLD stuff any day.
I like how the EPP is multi impact. Meh! Like you hit your head in the same place twice in a crash.
Don’t get me wrong, multi-impact is cool. But in reality it is only really worth 2 impacts in the same spot over time. The EPP still displaces energy the same way single impact does, and was that ability to transfer energy is gone, it is gone.
Another thing. What about the liner? How is that taken in a out? Clips, velcro, what? How does it look with the helmet on? How about while riding.
I am getting sick of sicklines ‘reviews’ - they really just read like advertisements in extended form.
Hey Adam,
Thanks for your thoughts however there’s a few things you are completely missing.
This for one is not a review otherwise it would be in our review section. It is merely a way to help get general information about the helmet out there.
All of our reviews are located at http://www.sicklines.com/reviews
so if it’s not there, its not a “review”.
Everything we post on sicklines isn’t a review so just because we took some good pictures and told you a few of the features doesn’t mean its a review. We don’t review everything you see on the site, and we made no claims of this being a review of it.
We do not posses the tools/equipment to properly test helmets, ratings, certifications, so we do not try to judge a given thing that we can not accurately test ourselves.
If you have access to testing equipment for helmets let us know but we won’t be doing reviews on helmets for this reason.
A spotlight like this is just tailored to show readers what is out there, and the specs on them. It is not a review.
noted
i like the look of them whats the point of having a great design and detail on the outside you won’t be able to see it and you use it to protect you not to look good!
Everyone is insane. If a protective apparel manufacturer came out with a perfectly box shaped helmet, providing proof that it offered the most protection of any helmet on the planet, while also being half the weight of a conventional rounded helmet, most of you would go with TLD based solely on appearance.
Wait, maybe thats not such a bad thing.
Perhaps TLD could make a new helmet with laser sights, cross hairs and machine gun/skull graphics, and a built in proprietary 32MB mp3 player. It could be made of “patented multi-layer microbead fibres”, and conform to a safety standard created by TLD. A few years from this point, everyone who buys protective apparel based solely on appearance, will be out of the market, leaving …. POC to continue making “ugly” helmets which succeed in keeping our brains correctly assembled.
Just ordered this helmet in black. It looks amazing, hope it works well with a Leatt brace too. I can’t wait!!!