Shark Helmets | |
Type: | Privately held company |
Industry: | Motorcycle helmet manufacturing |
Founded: | 1986 in Marseilles, France |
Founder: | André and Robert Teston |
Successors: | --> |
Location: | Marseilles, France |
Owners: | --> |
Parent: | 2 Ride Holding[1] [2] |
Shark is a French motorcycle helmet manufacturer based in Marseille. Shark helmets are known for their safety and meet SHARP, DOT, ECE, and FIM standards. Though the company is primarily known as a racing helmet manufacturer, they also produce urban/street helmets for commuters.[3] [4]
Shark was founded in 1986 by brothers and former professional racers André and Robert Teston in Marseille, France.[5] [6] [7] In 1990, Raymond Roche won the Superbike World Championship wearing a Shark helmet, which increased the brand's popularity.[8] [4] Shark's XRC helmet was featured in Motorrad in 1995 as the "best helmet of the year."[9] By the end of the 1990s, Shark had opened a factory in Thailand; in 2002, they added one in Portugal.[4]
In 2005, AtriA Capital Partners acquired 2R Holdings, which included Shark. Among its first business moves was to open a sales subsidiary in the United Kingdom; by the following year, it had expanded to Germany.[10] In 2008, Eurazeo bought out the Teston brothers, giving the company a controlling interest of 57%.[4] In 2011, Shark acquired the Holding Trophy Group, which held Ségura, Bering, and Bagster brands, and subsequently opened subsidiaries in Chicago, Illinois and in Dallas, Texas in the United States.[9] [11] That year, Perceva Capital became the controlling interest in the company, and nearly 60% of Shark's sales came from outside of France.[12] [13] [1] In 2016, a factory opened in Normandy, and in 2017, Shark began branching out into outdoor sports after it acquired Lyonnais Cairn.[4] In 2019, 2R Holdings acquired Nolan Helmets and its X Lite, Grex, and N-Com brands, increasing the company's production capacity to 800,000 helmets annually.[2] [14] [4] [15] The company launched in the Philippines in 2019.[16]
Professional racers who have worn Shark helmets include Jorge Lorenzo, Johann Zarco, Carl Fogarty, Troy Corser, Miguel Oliveira, Scott Redding, Sam Lowes, and Jorge Martin.[9] [6] [17] [18] As of 2019, Shark helmets had been worn by nearly 70 world champions in organizations such as MotoGP, FIA World Endurance Championship, and World Superbike.[9] Shark has sponsored the French Grand Prix every year between 2019 and 2022.[19] [20]
Shark's flagship product was the Race-R PRO.[17] In 1991, Shark became the first company to mass produce carbon-fiber lids (ACS) and both homologated full-face and open-face modular helmets.[14] [9] [12] [4] They use computational fluid dynamics to reduce "the 'buffeting effect', acoustic nuisances and the aerodynamic drag coefficient."[9] The chinstrap on each helmet has a unique code that can be used to identify when and where it was made, most often in the event of a warranty claim.[6]
SHARP rates the helmets 4-5 stars on average.[7] Shark also meets DOT, ECE, and FIM standards.[4] Part of the internal safety testing utilizes finite element methods.[7] Biking enthusiasts rank Shark helmets in the top 10 safest brands.[21] [22]
Though Shark has factories in Thailand, Portugal, and Normandy, France, design work is done only in Marseille.[2] [23] [15] By the end of the 1990s, Thailand primarily manufactured composite models, "the lightest and also the most expensive" part of the helmets.[4] The Portuguese factory primarily makes "entry-level injected polycarbonate helmets."[4] This shell is heavier than fiberglass helmets but its thickness allows for a higher safety rating.[7]