The designers wanted to go beyond a foldable helmet to something that’s truly packable. “It needs to be about more than just volume reduction, because if it goes from 100% to 50%, but the shape of that 50% is inconvenient when putting it in alongside your laptop and your notebook and whatever else you put in your bag, it’s kind of immaterial how small it is. The startup is producing the helmet, called the Cyclo, as its first product. The helmet is currently crowdfunding on Indiegogo as the startup raises funds to go into manufacturing. They chose a honeycomb shape because of its inherent strength. “That shape is extremely good at dissipating force, because if you have an impact, the force has a lot of directions in which to travel,” Cotton says. Without a solid shell, it also doesn’t get as hot when riders wear it. The design transforms easily—the rounded dome flips over to fit neatly inside the bottom part of the helmet, and then the straps clip inside.