June 06, 2014 (Toronto, ON) – POC Sports launched its first North American boutique at La Bicicletta in Toronto with an event on May 24 that featured the brand’s latest helmet and new clothing offerings, as well as recent Tour of California second place finisher Rohan Dennis of Australia and Canadian cycling icon Curt Harnett and his son, Carter.

POC helmets and clothes are causing a big splash in the world of cycling, with their solid background in action sport safety, coupled with their cool design. The Swedish company has a strong mission to do its utmost to possibly save lives and reduce the consequences of accidents for gravity sports athletes and cyclists.

For instance the bright orange colour scheme featured in their helmets and clothing is 5-6 times more visible than other colours according to POC’s research. In January the company announced a partnership with Volvo Car Group, also based in Sweden, to explore new safety and design ideas (read more here).

Furthering POC’s drive for safety and innovation is its recent partnership with ICE Dot (Emergency Response Centre), a unique device that can be secured to POC helmets and can send a signal to the rider’s smart phone when it senses an impact, which triggers an alarm. If the wearer does not disable it within the allowed time frame, it then alerts the rider’s emergency contact signal and transmits GPS coordinates to assist in finding the rider if they’re injured.

The launch was also part of POC’s recent announcement its AVIP concept now incorporated into its cool and functional designs. AVIP stands for Attention, Visibility, Interaction and Protection and is an initiative that promotes safety for road cyclists through its products. For more on POC click here.