By Price: $250 (Prevail II with ANGi and MIPS SL)
Weight: 264g (Prevail II with ANGi and MIPS SL, size medium)
Specialized has refreshed their helmet line with the aim of offering a higher level of safety. But you might not know it by looking at the helmets. That's because the new safety features are hard to see without a close inspection.
The company is launching a tiny new electronic sensor called ANGi that can direct your phone to send out a call for help in the event of a crash. Additionally, the company has incorporated the MIPS impact-force mitigation system into its entire helmet line.
Your Guardian Angel ANGi
ANGi stands for Angular and G-Force Indicator. It's a 10 gram, 25 x 40 x 8mm, sensor that packs gyroscope and an accelerometer. ANGi sits on Specialized’s helmets and links to the company's Ride app via Bluetooth.
When the sensor detects a large-enough linear or rotational force, it starts a chain of events. First the phone sounds an alarm and displays an on-screen notification. If the notification isn't cleared in time, a message—with the rider’s GPS coordinates—is automatically sent to a list of contacts designated by the rider.
Specialized S-Works Prevail II ANGi MIPS Detail Gallery
Low Profile
All MIPS
Minimal MIPS
Fixed Splitter
Big Gulp
If this all sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because ANGi is very similar to the ICEDot Crash Sensor. There’s a good reason for that: Specialized purchased the ICEDot crash sensor’s intellectual property, and now employs ICEDot's founder Chris Zenthoefer. ANGi could be considered the next generation of ICEDot. For example, ICEDot did not have ANGi’s patented gyroscopic rotational-force sensor.
ANGi is powered by a 2032 coin cell battery (same as most heart rate straps), which should last about six months before it needs to be replaced.
ANGi will be be stock on Specialized’s Prevail II, Evade II, and Propero road helmets; the Ambush, Ambush Comp, Ambush e-Bike, and Dissident mountain helmets; and the Shuffle Youth LED kid’s helmet. ANGi-equipped helmets are available at Specialized dealers starting today.
All other new Specialized helmets will be have a spot specifically designed to mount an ANGi. Aftermarket ANGi sensors are $50.
While is be possible to stick an aftermarket ANGi sensor on any helmet, Specialized representatives caution against it. The ANGi mounting locations on the company's helmets have been tested to ensure ANGi's ability to accurately measure impact forces, something Specialized representatives cannot say about another brand’s helmets, or even older models of Specialized helmets without the ANGi mounting points.
Specialized Ride App
ANGi is just a sensor. Live tracking of your ride and the heavy lifting of ANGi’s potential safety benefits is provided by your smartphone and the Specialized Ride app.
Specialized currently has numerous apps for its various technologies. One for its power meter cranks, another for its e-bikes, etc. Ride will eventually be the all-in-one app for all Specialized products and services. But at present Ride consists of ANGi's tools, and features that let riders find and organize group rides.
Once you’ve completed the initial pairing, ANGi automatically wakes up when the helmet is moved and connects to your smartphone (a blinking green LED lets you know it's on). But to get the benefits of ANGi, the rider must open the Ride app and click “Record’ when beginning a ride, and return to the app when the ride is finished and tell it to stop recording. This is in addition to any other services or devices you might use, though Specialized is exploring integration with Garmin and Wahoo GPS units so the rider doesn't have to start a second ride tracking device or service.
Among the tools for ANGi within the Ride App is the list of contacts you wish to alert in case of an incident. There's no limit to the number of contacts, so add all your friends and loved ones.
The app also provides the option to automatically alert your contact list when you start a ride, and when you’ve finished. And if you know you’ll be out of cell range, you can preset an expected ride duration. If you don't return to a cellular-service area and stop the Ride app in the amount of time you’ve set, your contacts will be alerted that you haven’t returned from the ride in the expected time.
All these services require a fair bit of computer horsepower, backed by Specialized servers, so the company is charging an annual fee of $30. However, ANGi-equipped helmets, and aftermarket ANGi sensors, come with an activation code that provides the rider a year of service for free.
All In On MIPS
ANGi isn't the only safety-related news from Specialized. The company is also going all in on the MIPS (Multi-Directional Impact Protection System) system. It will be offered in every Specialized model, though some models will also be offered in a without MIPS for a lower price.
At the high end, Specialized is using a new version of the system called MIPS SL. This version of MIPS will only be available in Specialized helmets for now, though the system will be available to other helmet brands in the future.
Like the MIPS Spherical system found in the Giro Aether, MIPS SL eliminates the plastic liner used in the first-generation MIPS system. Instead it floats the interior pads on small elastic straps which provide most of the functionality of the traditional MIPS liner. MIPS SL is nearly weightless, and, because the liner is eliminated, it doesn't have the fit, ventilation and comfort drawbacks associated with the liner.
Prevail II with MIPS and ANGi Impressions
ANGi is invisible to the rider. It adds negligible weight to a helmet, and it doesn't affect fit: you won't know it's there. Same for the MIPS SL system. So the Prevail II with MIPS SL and ANGi fits and feels just like a Prevail II without.
The biggest drawback is it requires the extra step of starting the Specialized Ride app. If you don't, ANGi's potential safety benefits won't be there for you. A smaller drawback is the rider needs to remember to keep the battery fresh. Dead battery, no call for help.
Those aside, Bicycling received an ANGi-equipped Prevail II ahead of the product's launch it elicited a more positive response than any other product or technology that's come through our offices. That's because ANGi is a largely invisible and relatively simple system that can initiate a call for help when the rider is unable to do so on their own. That's something that we cannot endorse strongly enough.
Specialized Prevail II With ANGi
Pros
- Light
- Excellent ventilation
Cons
- Non-adjustable strap splitters
Like any technology or modern service, it costs money, and bugs or other hiccoughs may cause less-than-perfect operation (which sucks because we're talking about something that could literally be the difference between life and death).
ANGi can't stop crashes. But it's tiny, nearly invisible, thing that, when you crash, can potentially get help to you sooner. Who wouldn't want that?
A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling, Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race.
