Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - SpokeLit

http://www.night-gear.com/p/Illuminating-Gear_By-Activity_Cycling/414/SpokeLit-by-Nite-Ize.htm

Discuss

Discuss

no.

You could do the same thing with reflective tape. Anything that helps you be seen better is good, but do not go with gimmicks in lieu of a good bright headlight and an good rear blinking light or two.

You could do the same thing with reflective tape. Anything that helps you be seen better is good, but do not go with gimmicks in lieu of a good bright headlight and an good rear blinking light or two.

Actually, you don't get the same effect at all with wheel reflectors. Reflective surfaces are better than all but the brightest lights when a car's headlights are pointing at you, but when they're not, you don't get any benefit. Most headlights and rear lights don't do much for side visibility. Wheel lights can fill that gap.

I've done a few night rides with over a thousand bicyclists, and frequently ride with a couple hundred, so I've seen just about every lighting setup (or lack thereof) imaginable. of the probably several dozen folks I've seen with some kind of lights on their wheels, none of them were lacking regular lights.

I've run Tireflys valve stem lights before, but 5 out 6 have broken, and I've been looking for something better. I believe I'll give these a try, because when the tireflys worked, they did seem to increase my visibility. One thing I noticed was that seeing your wheels roll helped left turning drivers better estimate my speed, or else just dazzle them. Either way, fewer close calls from left turns, even compared to running a bright helmet light. Motorcycles have the same problem when it comes to side visibilty and judging their speed, They get hit from the side and left turned into all the time, and their lights are pretty good.

All good points Maxwell. And all valid. Reflectors are passive. My point was that the cyclist pictured in the ad was only using the wheel light, and does not appear to have any sort of headlight or taillight.

true, though the pic looks to me like a daytime stock photo that's been photoshopped dark. might be misleading to 'shop in more lights than are included in the package. I think the tireflys had a warning about not replacing standard lighting on the package.

I was thinking today, the thing that bikes almost never have is marker lights, same problem with most motorcycles. On a car you have the amber lights to the side of the headlights, most bike lights don't do much to the side. I have a couple taillights with side LEDs, but the front is where you really need it. Neon lights like the down low glow work amazingly, but the run time isn't the greatest.

I'm not sure about the way they seem to use the body as an optic, but they look fairly bright in this video,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_0ad2oOKis

I think I'll order a couple and maybe post a comparison to my one still functioning tirefly

I have blue Nite Ize in both wheels... they are bright and highly visible...I was thinking about getting some red ones... wish they made them in amber though...