Riders at Mountain Bike World Series will wear concussion detection device

Around 50 competitors at the Mountain Bike World Series in Fort William will wear a helmet device that monitors head impacts and concussions.

The HIT device, developed in Scotland, monitors both the impact from a crash and the smaller impacts experienced by riders during runs.

Micro-concussions have long been a concern for rugby and American football players but Euan Bowen, the creator of the HIT device, says mountain bikers can experience double the force of these sports, even without crashing.

Speaking to the BBC, he said, “If you are doing a full day’s riding you are going to have sore legs but it can be the same with your brain.

“It’s not just about the big impacts. In football and rugby we talk about the repetition of heading the ball and head knocks. In mountain biking it’s all those little impacts that can accumulate.

“The brain is the one organ that can’t self-diagnose and that’s why we get sub-concussive and concussive symptoms. What we are trying to do here is give people a flag, to tell them when they have had a severe impact.”

The device sends data it collects to an app which processes the information and gives the rider an easy-to-read traffic light system.

Among those wearing the device at the upcoming competition is Reece Wilson, who won the 2020 Mountain Bike World Championships in Austria, but has since spent almost two years out of competition following a head injury.

Wilson spoke of the culture of ‘Keeping calm and carrying on’ in mountain biking, telling the BBC, “You see people out there with broken bones and whatever else taping them up and just trying to get on with it — but when it’s your head and you can’t see it, you really can’t take that risk.”

The new device will give riders an indication of whether they are safe to ride, or whether they need to recover. After all, as Bowen says, head injuries are something you cannot self-diagnose.

It's not the first time this device has found it's way onto a professional cyclists' helmet. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers) has worn one for around a year.

There's no question that cyclists are at risk of concussion during a crash, but the use of the device in the Mountain Bike World Series will help to illustrate the stresses our brains undergo whilst riding.

Although it’s being used by the pros, Bowen says the device is for everyone.

“It’s an accessible device, not just for the pro riders, it’s for any age, any activity, any gender, and it’s helping protect you now, but in the future as well,” he said.

The device is currently on sale for £249.99.

The discussion about head injuries has been active in some sports for years. This new technology has the power to highlight that mountain bikers are at risk too.

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