About PieProof.
I’m a Dutch-Australian Engineer who also has a passion for the bike. I clock up many thousands of kilometres each year and love almost every minute of it.
I’ve been swooped by Magpies hundreds of times over my life and just when you start to feel comfortable under a normal bike helmet, along comes yet another bird who takes a nip at your ear or cracks you on top of the head through a vent to shake up your confidence.
Following some nasty direct injuries and a near crash while fighting off a bird in late 2022 I decided to do something about it. Applying engineering logic to the problem along with a lifelong cyclist's experience resulted in the PieProof design.
We focussed on the things that matter. Safety, light weight, ventilation, comfort, a 'normal' look and of course keeping you calm and safe when under Magpie attack so that you can ride year-round.
Developing PieProof
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A preliminary handmade mould.
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Early design of rear vents
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Final design of rear vents
When we started contacting helmet manufacturers they thought this was some kind of Australian practical joke! One manufacturer finally took on the challenge and luckily they have been fabulous to work with ever since. That said, their first prototype completely missed the mark because we hadn’t communicated to them clearly enough what was required of this helmet. After that first failure we compiled a bunch of photos of bleeding kids, mangled ears, and some terrifying YouTube videos of attacking Magpies. It was an ah-ha moment for the Shenzhen Engineers when they finally realised what angry and powerful birds they were dealing with! Their next prototype nailed the brief, and from that point forward only minor modifications were needed before producing the custom moulds.
After lab testing to make sure that the helmet components were all up to the task, we embarked on field testing and would like to thank Shane Miller (AKA GPLama*) for literally putting his body on the line to conduct thorough testing. Links to his video and the amazing footage that he captured are contained on this site.
It’s been quite the journey, and after one intensive year we were finally able to provide comfortable, year-round protection to Aussie and Kiwi** cyclists.
*No birds were enticed to attack, and no birds were injured in the making of this video. The Magpies were willing, voluntary participants!
**Australian Magpies were introduced to NZ in the 1860’s and 1870’s to control agricultural pests. Now Kiwi cyclists get to enjoy the same annual reign of terror that Aussie cyclists do!
