Leatt

Leatt dates its founding to 2001. Dr Chris Leatt, a South African doctor, was training in neurosurgery when he saw a fellow rider killed in an enduro crash. His son had just started riding. Leatt's annual report says the death came the weekend after his son's riding debut. Dr Leatt set out to design a brace that would protect the neck in a crash. In 2004 he moved his full focus to rider safety.

Dr Leatt studied medicine at the University of Cape Town and worked in trauma care in South Africa and the UK. He served as a medical officer at FIM motocross Grands Prix. He completed a PhD on brain injuries in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stellenbosch University in 2026. He still chairs the company and leads its research.

Timeline

Ownership and listing

Leatt Corporation is a Nevada corporation. Its common stock trades on the OTCQB tier of OTC Markets under the symbol LEAT. The company reported 6,237,561 shares outstanding and about 155 holders of record as of March 10, 2026.

The Leatt-Brace patent is not owned by the listed company. Xceed Holdings owns it and licenses the exclusive global rights to Leatt Corporation. Xceed is wholly owned by The Leatt Family Trust, of which Dr Leatt is a trustee and beneficiary. In 2008 the company issued Series A Preferred Stock to Dr Leatt and Jean-Pierre De Villiers, who had helped found its South African operations. Each of those shares carries one hundred votes. Sean Macdonald is Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and President.

Cape Town headquarters

Leatt's head office is at 12 Kiepersol Drive, Atlas Gardens, Durbanville, in the Western Cape. The building has 948 square meters. Leatt says about 20% is used by finance, legal and operations, 45% by marketing and 35% by the Leatt Lab and research team. The company bought the property in 2023.

In the US, Two Eleven Distribution in Santa Clarita, California serves as Leatt's US executive office and exclusive US distributor. Elsewhere, Leatt sells through about 61 distributors and 6 e-commerce partners. It also makes protective equipment that other brands sell under their own names.

The Leatt Lab

Research and development sits in the Cape Town headquarters. Dr Leatt heads it. The annual report lists 4 full-time staff dedicated to research and development, plus outside consultants and universities. Leatt names its collaborators:

• Stellenbosch University, for finite element analysis and pressure mapping.
• The University of Strasbourg, for finite element analysis.
• Newton Test Labs, for helmet finite element analysis.

The lab uses a 50th percentile Hybrid III crash dummy with 23 sensors and a motorcycle-specific MATD neck. Leatt says the company has been awarded more than 30 patents.

Where the products are made

Leatt outsources production. Its products are predominantly made in China by third-party manufacturers to Leatt's specifications. Leatt also has manufacturing partners in Thailand, Cambodia and Bangladesh. The company says its staff and consultants in Asia inspect production on site, following ISO/IEC 17025 specifications. Standard lead time from purchase order to shipping is 90 to 120 days.

Leatt's materials include thermoset carbon fiber, glass-fiber-reinforced nylon and high-impact polycarbonate.

Leatt now covers a rider from head to boots. The table lists the current moto range and the certification each product page states. Model names follow Leatt's own listing.

Leatt also makes hydration packs, gloves, jerseys, pants and cooling apparel. See the hydration, gloves and pants and jersey guides.

Enduro-specific items

• Moto 5.5 FlexLock Enduro Evo boots. It has an enduro sole, a rear torsion blade to limit over-flexion, 3DF foam over the ankles and a SlideLock one-way closure at the top.
• Moto 4.5 Enduro Evo boots. A second enduro boot, with a double-pivot ankle, a one-piece front bellow and an enduro sole.
• Velocity 6.5 Enduro goggles. A double, ventilated lens that Leatt developed with Jonny Walker for extreme enduro. It has a 170-degree field of view and a self-draining lower frame.
• Moto 9.5 FIM helmet. A carbon shell in one size, with fit kits for XS to L. Leatt states a weight from 1,195 plus or minus 50 g. The helmet has a hydration side port and a design for neck brace mobility.

Our view: the Enduro versions of the boots and goggles are the ones to look at for hard enduro. Leatt gave them an enduro sole and a ventilated lens. Hard enduro is ridden slowly, with the feet down on rock and the rider breathing hard, which is where sole grip and goggle fogging matter most.

Leatt lists its supported riders on its athletes page. The hard enduro list is long, and several riders come from South Africa, Leatt's home country.

Leatt's rider pages list the kit each rider uses. Walker's includes the Velocity 6.5 Cryztal goggle, the ReaFlex chest protector and the X-Frame knee brace. Gomez's includes the Velocity 6.5 Cryztal goggle and the ReaFlex chest protector.

For the races these riders contest, see Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo, Red Bull Romaniacs and Roof of Africa. South Africa's riding scene is covered on the South Africa destination page.

The Moto 9.5 helmet also matters for racers. Leatt says it is homologated to FRHPhe-02-2023 under the FIM Racing Homologation Programme, for use in FIM-sanctioned off-road events.

The Leatt-Brace

The neck brace is still the core product. Leatt describes it as a bracing system that moves crash load away from the neck. The current 5.5 and 6.5 models share these features, per Leatt:

1. Collarbone cut-out. Keeps the helmet rim away from the collarbones.
2. Helmet rim striking platform. Spreads neck forces when the helmet hits the brace.
3. CoreFlex split rear thoracic strut. Folds and is designed to break away before it puts excessive pressure on the back.
4. SureFit adjusters. Front and rear sliders give three-way adjustment.
5. Emergency release. For removal after a crash.

The 5.5 is made from composite polyamide and the 6.5 from carbon fiber. Leatt states a weight from 600 g for both.

Leatt's white paper describes how the brace was developed. It used a Hybrid III crash dummy and LifeMOD spine simulation. Early correlation work used pendulum rigs at BMW Motorrad. KTM also took part in the development work, per the paper. In 2009 two independent reviewers signed a declaration on the original chapters: Prof. Kit Vaughan of the University of Cape Town and Dr Steffen Peldschus of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich.

Leatt's injury figures

Leatt's product pages claim "up to 89% reduction in critical cervical spine injuries", citing a study by Action Sports EMS. Leatt's white paper gives the underlying numbers from that ambulance group's 10-year data on 8,529 patients:

Our view: treat these as Leatt's figures. They come from a document written by Leatt's own engineers, and they count injured patients seen by one medical provider. They support wearing a brace. They do not compare one brand of brace with another. The neck brace guide covers fit and helmet compatibility, which matter for any brace.

Other in-house technology

• 360° Turbine Technology. Every Leatt helmet has it. Leatt says the Turbines let the helmet rotate slightly on the head in an impact, to reduce rotational acceleration, and absorb low-speed impact energy.
• FlexLock. The 5.5 boots let the rider tune how much the lower boot flexes at the ankle. Leatt claims this cuts ankle forces by up to 37% and knee forces by up to 35% compared with other high-end boots.
• Knee braces as medical devices. Leatt lists EU and US FDA medical device numbers for its knee braces. They also carry EN1621-1 Level 1 impact certification. The C-Frame chassis has built-in fracture points that Leatt says break before the shin or thigh bone.

Certification approach

Leatt states each product's standard and level on its product page. Neck braces are CE certified to the PPE Regulation (EU) 2016/425. Leatt's annual report adds market-specific approvals: DOT FMVSS 218 in the US, ACU Gold in the UK, JIS T 8133 for the Moto 3.5 in Japan and CCC in China.

Leatt also prints a "Total Leatt protection score" on its armor, such as 19 points for the Chest Protector 5.5 Pro Evo. That is Leatt's own scale. The EN rating is the Level printed next to it.

Replacement guidance

Leatt says neck braces are made from polymers that deteriorate over time, and that heat and UV light change the material. It runs a neck brace replacement program for braces made between 2006 and 2018. Helmets carry a 3-year Leatt Helmet Replacement Program. Each gear category guide lists the maker care and replacement guidance for that item.