One recurring question I have is, "Why don't bike companies paint frames with reflective paint?" Readers might have more wisdom than I on this topic. Is it too expensive? Is it too difficult? It just seems like common sense to me.
Until bike companies start coating frames with reflective paint, that leaves readers like Sara exploring their own creative ways to improve visibility at night. Take it away Sara . . .
* * * * * * * * * * * * Covered my commuterized Specialized Myka Elite Disc in cheap reflective tape from ebay. Really effective and also makes it look like an undesirable rubbish bike!
Reader Ross wrote to us with an enlightening hack. In his own words he states:
I came up with this hack because I entered a 24-hour mountain bike race and didn't have a high powered headlight/backup headlight system.
He labels his hack: Cheap and easy 340 lumen bicycle light and mounting bracket. I would officially change it to:
BADASS Cheap and easy 340 lumen bicycle light and mounting bracket
The pictures and instructions are all Ross. Makes me want to go out a buy a Dremel. Thanks Ross!
PARTS
-Old handlebar stem
-(4) medium hose clamps
-(2) high-power LED flashlights
TOOLS
-Dremel with cutting wheel
-Metal file
-(optional) Pipe cutter
Note: I found two 170 lumen LED flashlights on sale at Kmart, but you can use any aluminum-body flashlights you have on hand or see for sale cheap. Use aluminum-body flashlights for better heat dissipation (the mount works as a heat sink).
STEPS
1. Remove and discard the stem binder bolt and cinch (the triangular/cylindrical piece that holds the stem against the inside of the fork tube)
2. With a pipe cutter or Dremel with cutting wheel, cut off the pointy part of the stem and file off any rough edges. Wouldn't want to impale somebody with that!
Caution: You MUST wear safety glasses when cutting metal. Don't force the cutting wheel -- let it do the work on its own. Aim the sparks away from your eyes. Cool the stem with water as it gets hot.
3. Using the Dremel with cutting wheel, cut eight 1/2" slots in the stem tube. Cut four slots (upper and lower slots) on each side of the stem tube. Cool the stem with water as it gets hot.
4. Unscrew a hose clamp. Insert the clamp tip into a lower slot in the stem, then out through an upper slot. Repeat for the remaining three clamps.
5. Secure the flashlights to the modified stem using the clamps.
6. Attach the assembly to your handlebars. I prefer to hang the assembly below my handlebars.
Reader Mike sent along a creative hack for repurposing this thing, which prior to him contacting me I had no idea existed. I must say that I am proud that I did not know it existed.
Take it away Mike . . . .
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I used one of those silly "flashing mouth" LED things (like this).
They consist of four LEDs, two batteries and a power button, all wired
to flash at a seizure-inducing frequency and packaged into a rubber case
that you're supposed to put in your mouth so people thing you've eaten a
rainbow. They lend themselves to hackery because they have a simple
on/off, whereas many flashing-LED toys (like bouncy balls, yo-yos) tend
to have gravity-operated switches or auto-off timers that never stop
before the effect wears out its welcome.
I bolted a metal bracket to a stack of about ten of those transparent
CD-shaped plastic things you often get with a spindle of real CDs,
sandwiched between two black CD-shaped plastic things you often
get with a spindle of real CDs. Note: "real" CDs light up passably
well, though not as brightly as the clear plastic because the light
can't bounce around as much inside the stack (though presumably you'd
get clearer color separation). I placed the flasher at an angle so I
could use fewer discs, but it could be mounted vertically too. I then
trimmed away some excess rubber and hot-glued the flasher to the edge of
the CD stack, piling up a wedge of glue so the flasher can recline
comfortably, and the button is easy to reach.
When switched on, each LED hits the edge of a couple of CDs and lights
it up. The effect is surprisingly bright, particularly when viewed
straight-on (or from "sitting in a car" level). Anyway, I hastily tied
it to my bike rack and it survived its maiden voyage to work: concept
proven. And since the flasher was designed to sit in one's mouth, I
assume that it's spit-proof and therefore waterproof, so I won't mind if
it gets a little soggy.
When the batteries die, I'll either open up the flasher and replace them (like 5hockwave2 does here),
swap the whole flasher out for a fresh one (I have a couple), or bypass
the little on-board batts and wire it to one of the other other
electrical items I've got cooking, perhaps it can sit between a pair of
turn signals?
Of course this should only be considered supplementary blingification
and should by no means replace "real" reflective bike additions or
lighting. But it's certainly better than nothing, and is a far
preferable to putting that goofy LED contraption in a place reserved for
bacon.
To set the mood for this post, please take a brief journey back to the 1970s with me and watch this video with the volume cranked to 10.
What the 70s lacked in shirt sleeves was more than made up for with hair.
Why the theme music for this post? Well, as soon as daylight savings went in to effect, my after work commute home was plunged into darkness. It can be dangerous for me to ride at night, but not for the reason you might think.
I ride in a lot of ambient city light so the front light I rock is more to make people aware of me than it is to help me see where I am going. I can tell you that if you really want to see where you are going, the light needs to be pointed at the ground, which brings me to my point.
The issue I have found myself facing is a few riders that smartly equip their whips with a front light or even lights, but then proceed to point them right at my corneas. The past few commutes have been particularly bad. There is this one rider with two front handlebar lights, one set to blink and the other set to solid, and a helmet light, AND every single one of them is attempting to illuminate the inside of my skull. When I passed him the other night I saw spots for five minutes.
So kind commuters, equip your whip with lights-o-plenty, but please point those front lights at the ground. Even if they are pointed at the ground they will still serve to warn incoming traffic of your presence. Safety tips from readers are welcome any time.
Apologees fer anny speling erors, ii am stil ceeing spotts =)
I ride at all hours of the day and night and wish to stay alive so I like to try and make sure I can be seen on the road. I like to double up on my rear visibility just to be extra sure approaching vehicles see me. I purchased some standard rear lights that are meant to fit around round posts, but not everywhere I wish to place a light on my new bike is nice and round. Here is the light and the bracket mounting stuff it came with.
And as I said, it is perfectly suited for nice round posts, like a seat post where I did secure one.
But I wanted to double up and although the Topeak rear rack has some holes in the back of it to screw things through, my light was not a suitable match since it does not incorporate a doodad that will allow it to be secured through a hole.
This is where the venerable zip tie once again comes to the rescue. I strung a zip tie through the clip on the back of the light that is meant to slide into the bracket that came with it and looped it around the back of the rack.
To be doubly sure I used two zip ties and that should ensure that it not only stays secure, but does not walk away when I am gone.
Two lights, two more zip ties. Total zip tie count to date: 6.
J.T. from the U.K. submitted the first hack I have seen incorporating a film canister. He has an excellent Flickr set that gives a visual tutorial. He is rocking a Dinotte light, which I had never heard of before.
I have a tendency to go with pretty inexpensive lights, but I ride in a city filled with ambient light. If I was biking down a dark road with no lights, I can see a more pricy light being a wise investment.
For the full meal deal, visit J.T.'s Flickr set. Thanks J.T.!
Flickr Name Tompy
Made from some bits and bobs that were lying around and an old film canister. There's a metal seatpost shim inside the canister for extra strength. The canister lid gives enough of a ridge to prevent the Dinotte's O ring from slipping off.
What you'll need to make this light/accessory mount:
- an old film canister - I went to my local photolab and scrounged some
- something to make the film canister more rigid - I used a spare seatpost shim that I had lying aound
- a screw/nut and bolt
- something to attach the mount to the the bike - mine is attached with an allen bolt to the rack mounting point
- a couple of washers.
This is a great bike hack for commuters. We commuters have already got enough lights to think about turning on and off every time we hop on the ride--two automatic lights that increase side visibility would be great!
This hack looks like it takes a few less common items that you might have to source on teh internets rather than locally. But it's all pretty cheap.
If you're anything like me, you should probably set aside a full half day to get these things running. I'd probably put 'em on upside down first, then backwards the next time, before finally getting it right.
On a side note, Ryan is responsible for quite a few posts on Bike Hacks. Spin the wheel to win.
I am happy to say that due to the generosity of another company, I have hit blackjack when it comes to batteries used to power light related products when I ride. That's right, thanks to the gentleman behind the EZ2B Seen NEON helmet light, I have hit 21 batteries. My goal of being visible from space while I commute at night is a step closer to reality. The following is from my first email exchange regarding this new product -
The NEON is a new patent pending lighted bicycle helmet cover that gets
bicyclists seen by motorists when it’s dark outside. The NEON produces a
very bright “Neon” like light that is easily visible to drivers at
night. The NEON is one-size-fits-all, youth through adult and slips
directly over a riders existing bicycle helmet. It comes in 4 colors
and weighs only 6.6 ounces including 2 AA batteries.
Here is what the NEON looks like out of the box (batteries not included). I chose orange.
And here is what it looks like on my helmet.
Notice that I am one of those dorks who wears a helmet mirror and the two products can inhabit the same helmet without conflict. The battery pack and associated wire connector fit in dual pockets in the back of the unit.
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The unit is turned on easily by depressing a button on the battery unit (easy to reach behind your head) and has three modes - steady, slow, and fast. Here is mine in action -
As far as a review, I can say I am 100% satisfied. Let me count the ways . . .
1. Easy to install - slips on the helmet very quickly.
2. Easy to turn on - if you can touch your nose with your finger you can turn this thing on or off with ease.
3. It gets noticed - the first two times I road with it an oncoming cyclist yelled, "Nice helmet!"
4. Easy to power - 2 AA batteries make this thing easy to power.
I do have a couple of notes that curious readers might be interested in. First, the battery pack does make a slight high pitched whining noise.
The company is aware of this and has been working on it, but to no
avail thus far. The thing is, it does not matter when you are riding
with it because with wind noise, and even without wind noise, it is
impossible to notice. The battery pack is at the rear, behind your
ears, and even ambient "quiet" noise makes the whining imperceptible
when I am wearing my helmet.
Second, when first wearing the helmet with the NEON on it, it did take me a ride or two to get used to the weight in the batteries in the back. It's no big deal, after 2 or 3 rides I did not even notice any longer, but like anything else, if you make a slight change to something you wear you are likely to notice if for a short time.
Third, the material the NEON is made out of is vented with holes so your head can breathe. This is nice because the amount of heat that comes out of my head is quite copious.
I am not sure how long one set of batteries will last as I have only been riding with it for about a week now, but my guess is that it will last quite a while. All in all I give the product a five zip tie rating. For more information visit the EZ2BSeen web site.
I don't get depressed easily but there is one thing that is sure to cause me to despair - a trip down the holiday isle in a store. I try to avoid them, but some stores have turned to the gift store methodology and it is impossible to check out without passing through this isle of horrors. You know the one, the isle filled with plastic doodads, sugar treats, yard ornaments, and freaky looking holiday "mascots."
It's depressing to me because holidays have been co-opted and branded by corporations. A hundred years from now I think it's a safe bet that every day of the year will be holiday of some sort, and corporations will try to sell us cheap doodads to celebrate. When I first saw this cartoon years ago it immediately became one of my favorites.
Reader Assen momentarily quelled my cynicism with a great submission of a holiday isle product bike hack. Safety on the roads is important and Assen took a Halloween isle product and modified it for bike use. All text and pictures below are credited to Assen.
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I found a set of 12 flashing lights at the local Big Lots store and thought it would be a good way to make me more visible, what with daylight savings time soon coming to a close. $15 a set is the current price. Hopefully that'll drop after Halloween so that I can get a few more to play with.
My crate came from the local market $5 (which is what they have to pay the supplier). I easily removed the individual LEDs from the reflectors, drilled holes in the crate, inserted the lights and tested the effect.
Originally I had 6 in the back and 3 each on the left and right sides. I modified that to 2 per side, to include the front. I cleaned up the wire mess inside the crate by clipping and re-soldering each wire run to the next light in order to minimize floppy wires. Had I soldered a tail to each bulb and then connect to a main run, it would have gone easier than carefully combining two wires per contact for all but the end lights. After scuffing the inside of the crate with a palm sander, I then tacked down/insulated/waterproofed it all with my favorite all-around tool - Goop.
The controller (which has Off/Sensor/On switch settings) I mounted inside the crate, closest to my right hand. I sliced a stick off of a plastic pipe, screwed one end to the switch, made a groove for a guide screw, and put it all into a sleeve made from a motorcycle inner tube.
I usually leave it in the Sensor mode, which is vibration sensitive. That way, if I forget to turn it on, it usually is already flashing by the time I think of it.
I forgot to mention that the first thing I did was to rip into the controller and stop the spooky laughter soundtrack by disconnecting the speaker.
Works like a charm, garnering many positive comments - meaning I have achieved my goal of being more visible.
I have what I think are good bike related product ideas all of the time, but I have never actually submitted an idea to someone or some company that has come to fruition. There is a first time for everything and perhaps I will be able to one day say I played a small role in the development of a product.
Reader Taras sent us the following email -
I want to share my hack - a bike wheel light with a USB connection to both Mac and PC - it allows for a little display on a wheel. My idea is to make riding at night more safe and fun :)
I love the concept, but I have seen, and tested, a very similar product - the Monkey Light (Review 1 and Review 2). Taras did note that his product is meant to offer some features the Monkey Light does not, and I thought of one feature that the Monkey Light does not offer that I wish that it did - a way to take it with me when I leave my bike locked up. I let Taras know that I thought a quick release mechanism would make his light even more appealing and he responded positively, and even sent a quick sketch of the concept.
If readers have other ideas for Taras, or have other concepts or stories to share, feel free to comment or write to us.
