BEDROCK Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Cycling at night can put riders in danger, so most place sets of reflectors and lights on their bikes to make sure that drivers know where they are. Now one company in San Francisco has an idea to make bikes even more noticeable in the dark: by making their entire body reflective. On Kickstarter, Mission Bicycle Company is trying to raise funds to create Lumen, a bike that's gray by day but glows bright white when a car or anything else shines some light on it. The bike's frame and rims are coated with "hundreds of thousands" of retroreflective spheres, which send light that hits them directly back to where they came from. The reflection is apparently visible up to 1,000 feet away. http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/20/5531026/lumen-retroreflective-bike-kickstarter I wonder how much one of these babies will be, looks like we are one step closer to Tron !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lobworms Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 what a amazing idea,perhaps someone could invent a suit out of this retroreflactive material so that all pedestrians can also be seen in the dark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gormenghast Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Pity you didn't cut and paste the rest, where it told you the price...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEDROCK Posted March 21, 2014 Author Share Posted March 21, 2014 Pity you didn't cut and paste the rest, where it told you the price...... Yes they said the price but the final retail price will probably be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Pity you didn't cut and paste the rest, where it told you the price...... It's a new "technology". Thinking it would cost a few quid is very naive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daid Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Some guy designed a light that when fitted to the bike shone on to reflective material worn by the cyclist the whole time making the rider more visible. Such was the design, the light remained hidden from the cyclists eye. At the time it was deemed an excellent idea as it didn't rely on the lights of a vehicle to make the rider visible. This in itself is not entirely safe. Never seen them on the market so not sure what happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slh73 Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 It's a new "technology". Thinking it would cost a few quid is very naive. Its not that new, I had it on my motorcycle helmet about 5 years ago. Vinyl stickers that looked black in normal light, but changed to a highly reflective silver when a light hit it. Cost about a tenner for an a4 sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mapleboy Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Or just slap some reflective paint on the bike. Note that for any of this to work, the headlights of the car need to be on and pointing at the bike - so it's NOT a substitute for proper lights. Indeed, without lights the bike would not be visible at night on an unlit road until the headlights fell upon it. By which time it might be too late to avoid an impact. Isn't it an offence to ride a bike at night without lights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rampent Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Or just slap some reflective paint on the bike. Note that for any of this to work, the headlights of the car need to be on and pointing at the bike - so it's NOT a substitute for proper lights. Indeed, without lights the bike would not be visible at night on an unlit road until the headlights fell upon it. By which time it might be too late to avoid an impact. Isn't it an offence to ride a bike at night without lights? Why not wrap the entire tubular structure of the bike in fluorescent tape? Cheap stuff and attains the desired effect? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biotechpete Posted March 21, 2014 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Pity you didn't cut and paste the rest, where it told you the price...... $499 dollars for a frame and forks doesn't seem too unreasonable for new technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.