kookaburra1701

In my continuing quest to become a more discoball-like cyclist, I've been looking at other places to have lights and ran across motion-powered LED pedals.

https://www.amazon.com/Pedalite-Degre...rds=led+pedals

https://www.amazon.com/M-Wave-Mighty-...rds=led+pedals

https://www.amazon.com/LED-Light-up-A...d_sim_sbs_sg_3

Has anyone tried these? The reviews on all of them seem to be mixed. Or would it be better to just put some 3M reflective strips on my current pedals? They have the required amber so-called "reflectors" but they're not really effective.

K'Tesh

Clearly the cheapest option would be to go for the 3M reflective strips, which you can (with care) add to even clipless pedals. I can't speak for the quality of the self lighting pedals, but I think that with the added complexity of having small dynamo's built into them, the longevity of them would be questionable... At this point someone's going to be thinking to themself "Then again depending on your conditions, without the lights, your personal longevity may be questionable". To that I'd say that if you are in an environment that makes you so likely to be hit, the small amount of light output isn't probably going to defeat the surrounding ambient light.

My bike, which could pass for a disco bike (see signature image below), doesn't have lights on the pedals (not that I haven't thought about it), but I do have reflective surfaces. I buy sheets of reflective film to cover the bike, and cut some of that into strips, to apply to the cranks. I'll add a strip to both the front and back of the crank arm (visible from behind or ahead), a healthy sized patch to the inside of the crank arm (visible from the side on the down stroke. I don't add film to the outside of the crank arm (the side that the pedal comes out on) because it will only get damaged from routine abuse and create rough edges that could scratch my pants/legs (and on the downstroke, my leg's blocking the view of it anyway).

For lighting, I believe that a solid investment of a PB Superflash and/or one of the newer rechargeable high intensity tail lights should take care of cars on your six.

BTW... You can also add reflective tape (iron or sew on) to your clothes, or buy shoes that include reflective surfaces to get the up/down motion of pedaling and be a lot more visible than those amber pieces of plastic.

colleen c

I would thinkit will depends on the brightness of those LED. It may not be bright enought. I have however had my my full attention focus on a cyclist who was ahead of me with a PBSF light strapped to his ankle. It was very eye catching and looks like a wild firefly buzzing around.

Instead of pedal light, you may want to consider a Planet Bike LED leg strap. It is very bright and eye catching and also useable as a pant leg strap. Using this will also allow you to not be so limited to the type of pedal you prefer to use including clip, clipless or platform.

https://www.rei.com/product/769617/planet-bike-brt-strap

kookaburra1701

Yeah, I've got a PDW Radbot1000 as my main rear light, and then whatever panniers I'm running also have blinkies on. They're not as bright, but I got them for free in various swag bags. I also have Spoke-Lits (amber in front, red in back) and have the Lite-weights iron-on reflective patches on my jersey jacket, and a hi-viz Sugoi cycling jacket and helmet cover. So far it's been good - I have a portion of my commute on 101 at night, and about half a mile of it currently is down to one lane (the left lane) for construction. All cars that have come up behind me slowed way down and passed me with good margins.

Someday I will get MonkeyLectric lights for my wheels and my commute will be a Rave all the way to work.

kookaburra1701

Oh, I like that leg strap. And then I wouldn't have to worry about someone stealing my blingin' pedals.

Rockfish

Good timing - I saw one of these for the first time this morning when a guy locked up next to me on the bike rack with his pedals all a-blinking! I like that they don't need batteries - a huge plus for me. Anything that makes you more visible is OK in my book.

Peugamatic

Woah... I'm years too late on the draw.. I had some Wellgo LED pedals on my old Peugeot. They worked great!! I'm actually searching for another pair for my new touring bike and they are nowhere to be found. They do have batteries in them and are an excellent back up in case you forget a light or burn out your batteries. If anyone finds them, lemme know!!

fietsbob

Ergon pedals have huge wrap around reflectors *, they mount with an 8mm hex wrench ,

and dont come off easily even if you have the shop tool.

* I have those .. https://www.ergon-bike.com/us/en/product/pc2