Cycling helmets are likely to be obsolete in a decade, says the head of a Swedish company that manufactures air bags. He says they will take over from helmets as protective headgear Hövding has sold more than 12000 of its air-bag helmets across northern Europe.The Hövding is worn as a padded collar around the neck. Sensors monitor the wearer's movements and if they detect a serious impact a protective air bag inflates around the head in a tenth of a second."Helmets have many drawbacks. Some give limited protection to the cyclist," said Frederik Carling, Hövding's chief executive. "Our air bags offer three times the protection. Helmets are designed to break on first impact whereas ours are designed to take multiple impacts."Hövding will go public next month on Sweden's First North stock market, Nasdaq's European growth market, designed for small and growing companies. The company is hoping to raise 60million Swedish krona (R85-million), which would value the company at 90million krona. The listing already has the support of major investors.The company was started in 2006 and it took seven years to design the Hövding to crash-standard.It retails for about R4584. It can be used only once but the company offers a crash replacement policy which allows a cyclist to buy another at a lower price."In 10 years' time, the way we know bicycle helmets will be different," said Carling. "The standard will be air-bag helmets, just as air bags in cars have become the standard." ..