Advocacy & Safety - Lights for your wheels

Radio Shack recently started advertising "Tirefly Lights" which screw on to the tire valve stem and produces cool, comet-like lighting effects that vary with speed. They light up when you go, shut off when you stop. The ad says "long battery life." We'll see. I bought two for $4.99, and they work great so far. Be the first kid on your block to have 'em!

Originally posted by trmcgeehan
Radio Shack recently started advertising "Tirefly Lights" which screw on to the tire valve stem and produces cool, comet-like lighting effects that vary with speed. They light up when you go, shut off when you stop. The ad says "long battery life." We'll see. I bought two for $4.99, and they work great so far. Be the first kid on your block to have 'em!

How much do they weigh?

Do they unbalance the wheel at all?

What colour?

Richard

They weigh about the same asthree watch batteries. Unbalancing the wheel is slight :ie you'll notice it if you take 'em off and put them on as I do for the rain etc. Radio Shack has them in Red only (all that's been shipped to my store).

Check your LAPS (local auto parts store) for these in other colors. They've been around for a while. Ask some of your local rice-rod kids. They can direct you to the LAPS that stocks these type of toys.

ChipR

A poor man's approach without the concern of unbalancing your wheel is to put reflective tape on your stem or (perhaps even better) is to tape a little reflective flag on one of your spokes.

I saw Tireflys the other day at K-Mart. They had tons of them. Didn't look to see what colors they came in but they sure had a lot of them.

I got a set of Tireflys a couple of weeks ago. I commute about 17 miles daily and here is what I found:

Pros
No noticeable weight imbalance for me.
Bright and eye catching.
came with second set of batteries.
on and off automatically.

cons
Batteries seem to die quickly. My first set lasted about a week. I thought it was due to the batteries being installed in the packaging and the lights turning on with each movement during shipping, displaying, etc.

Second set of batteries dying in a week. This could get expensive.

one light cracked at the threads.

water got inside the unit. minor issue...I rode through a downpour that day.


Overall I liked them but for the $23.00 USD I paid, I probably would have been better off leaving the shop with a blinking tail light.

YMMV

I bought two for $4.99, and they work great so far.

Was that with spare batteries or without? If they came with spare batteries then I overpaid.

:(

I firmly believe that a neon sign carried on my back couldn't hurt at all.

Still, the best investment is:

1) Powerful rechargable front headlights.
2) Blinkies front and rear (I found some under $5.00.)
3) Ray-O-Vac (or similar) rechargable alkaline "AA" or "AAA" batteries with charger, for the blinkies. Rechargable alkalines can be recharged as often as desired. Topping them off frequently insures maximum blinkie brightness.
4) Reflective material on your bike, person, or anywhere you can put it. This can include "slow moving vehicle" reflective triangles,
reflective tape, Scotchbrite, red or amber 3 inch auto reflectors, etc. All are very cheap.

Perhaps the most expensive thing would be the front headlights. But it's worth it. The main thing is, don't settle for the basic equipment that comes with the bike.