MISSION BRIEFING
In order to keep improving the safety of our products and thus of motorcyclists, our designers are constantly being challenged. In this case, they were tasked to find and revise the notorious weakest link during a crash.
After analysing hundreds of suits and gloves caught in high-speed crashes, low speed crashes, high siders and low siders, the weakest link turned out to be anything but surprising: the seams.
What did surprise us; seams can be found in all major impact zones like elbows, knees, and shoulders. Has the industry been holding things together with a piece of string? Yikes! This could use some macnafication.
DESIGN PROCESS
Create a large opening in the leather that is supposed to protect you. Place a protector and connect the parts by using seams – what is now the weakest part of the construction. That doesn’t sound like a great idea.
And yet, this has been the traditional way to fit a protector onto leather. So the goal was clear: get rid off seams in impact zones. Leather doesn’t attach itself magically to other parts though. This required some innovation.
First, we tried reinforcing the seams, but all it took during a crash was a bit more time to end up with the same result. This was also the case with extra seams and special types of stitching.
We quickly found out that not using seams at the shoulders is next to impossible due to the construction. This resulted in the concept of a tough solid base protector fastened by seams and a hard abrasion resistant cover fixed by an adhesive solution.
Other impact areas – like elbows, knees, knuckles, fingers, and palm – did allow us to connect the base protector and abrasion resistant cover without the use of seams. Key to success was minimising the size and amount of cut-outs in the leather which greatly increased the overall strength, making seams needless.
FINAL RESULT
You’ve probably heard of the expression “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” The same thing can be said of the seams in a suit, as they are the weakest part of the construction. That’s why we searched for and found a way to increase safety by not using seams in critical areas. The result: Armax™
MUCH SAFER
No seams to slide over greatly increases abrasion resistance and thus safety.
MORE AERODYNAMIC
The absence of seams smoothens the surface and thus increases aerodynamics.
BETTER LOOKING
All separate parts can be coloured differently which allows us to match it perfectly with the rest of the suit.
KNUCKLES
SINCE 2021
This patented design is developed with safety as main focus. A hard abrasion resistant cover is mounted on a tough solid base plate at the knuckle area. Protecting your knuckles from impact and it can act as a slider. The seamless design makes the knuckle part less subjected to wear and tear.
PALM
SINCE 2021
Ergomically shaped, the palm protector acts as a sliding pad, but also spreads the force of impact, minimizing injury of the scaphoid bone. Our Armax™ palm protector is attached to the glove with just two small holes and no seams. This way the leather stays more intact, keeping the glove as strong as possible.
FINGERS
SINCE 2021
External hard protection elements mounted on the fingers. Protecting them from impact and can also act as little sliding pads. Attached onto the fingers without creating large holes and using seams, keeping the leather solid as a rock.
SHOULDER
SINCE 2021
To protect the shoulder, a tough solid base plate made of nylon reinforced with fiber glass is fixed in the shoulder. A hard abrasion resistant cover is then mounted on top of the base plate, keeping everything lock-tight in place.
Providing you protection and abrasion resistance, these shoulder protectors are solid as a rock. They add safety and durability by covering the seams on critical spots. The clean Armax™ design never made safety looking better.
ARMAX™
SINCE 2021
Now you know the benefits of Armax™ protection. Want to find out more about other forms of protection? Return to the Safety page and scroll down to continue your adventure.