Shaping Safety: The Amidal
Helmet development is a balancing act. Safety, ventilation, aerodynamics and comfort each place demands on design, and those demands don’t always point in the same direction. But one variable runs through all these considerations: shape.The profile of a helmet, how it sits on the head and how its surfaces meet the air, is integral to both its development and the rider’s experience.
The perception of bulk
Helmets that extend significantly above and around the head can feel disproportionate – perception of fit and proportion is personal, and will always vary from rider to rider. A helmet a rider perceives as oversized is one they may wear less consistently. And since the safest helmet is the one you wear, we wanted to create something every rider will actively choose to put on.
The distance a helmet sits from the head is determined by the volume of EPS (expanded polystyrene) used in the liner – the energy-absorbing layer that does most of the work in an impact. Reducing that volume without compromising protection requires careful work: optimising liner density and geometry, reinforcing the areas that carry the most load, and thoroughly testing the results. Protection is a function of construction: materials, liner geometry, density and stiffness, and how those elements perform together; it is not fundamentally driven by size.
At POC, every design decision is made according to our Whole Helmet Concept™, where we optimise protection, ventilation, aerodynamics and comfort together, not in isolation. The Amidal is a new expression of that thinking: a helmet that achieves a slimmer, lower-profile form not by compromising on any of those requirements, but by finding new ways to meet them all.
Shape and ventilation
Effective ventilation is a function of a helmet’s internal shape. The geometry of internal channels: how they are shaped, how they connect, and where they end, determines how well air moves through the helmet and how the rider benefits from it.
The most effective ventilation systems are those where the internal architecture actively guides air from intake to exhaust. In creating the Amidal, we opted for a traditional frontal vent construction, paired with reinforced rear exhaust ports. These serve two functions: they define how air exits and they contribute to the structural integrity of the entire cycling helmet.
This solution, where each feature serves multiple functions, is a hallmark of our Whole Helmet Concept™, which considers the real needs of each user throughout the design process.
SHAPE DEFINES COMFORT
Comfort is key to choosing your bike helmet each time you ride, and there are certain factors that heavily influence just how comfortable a helmet can be. Internal structure, padding, the type of fit system and adjustability all play their part, and choices for the internal surface design can play a role in defining the exterior helmet silhouette, too.
Comfort padding, an adjustable cradle, and a 360° retention system that distributes pressure evenly across the full circumference of the head, rather than concentrating it at a few points, are trademarks of all POC helmets. It’s these features that make it possible to ride all day without feeling the pressure on your head.
The Amidal
Designed to energise a rider’s experience on the bike, the Amidal enhances the rhythm and pulse of urban early mornings, hectic city crits or long, winding rural roads. It’s a helmet designed with enhanced safety in a broad range of riding scenarios firmly in mind.
The Amidal has a slimmer silhouette than other helmets in the POC road cycling helmet range. This result came from questioning how to achieve protection, ventilation, and aerodynamics in a new form.
On safety, the Amidal meets EN 1078 and CPSC 1203 standards. Rotational impact protection is provided by Mips Air Node, which allows the helmet to move independently of the head during an oblique impact, helping manage rotational forces in an impact. The polycarbonate outer shell and optimised EPS liner manage structural load and energy absorption in balance.
Inside, the 360° fit system distributes retention evenly around the head. Chin straps adjust in four directions, and the strap dividers beneath the ears are independently adjustable – allowing a precise, personalised fit for different head shapes. An eye garage provides a reliable spot for sunglasses when you’re on the bike.
The Amidal integrates a dedicated Knog rear light, engineered specifically for this helmet. It wraps around the lower part of the EPS liner at the rear – a position tested to confirm it has no effect on impact protection performance. This visibility aspect was central to the helmet design, as research from a range of sources, including our partners Knog, has shown that having a light higher up on the body helps to make you more recognisable as a cyclist to any drivers.
As Magnus Gustafsson, Hard Goods Director at POC, says: "Our objective in creating the Amidal was to develop a helmet from all our extensive safety, ventilation and aerodynamic expertise and encapsulate it in a new form."
That new form is the result of asking the same questions POC applies to every helmet in the range – and following the answers wherever they lead.
“Our objective in creating the Amidal was to develop a helmet from all our extensive safety, ventilation and aerodynamic expertise and encapsulate it in a new form”
Magnus Gustafsson, Head of Hard Goods at POC
