Micro switch for tail light?
 

HI,
I wonder if anyone ever made a micro switch for a tail light it could be interesting to let tailriders know your brakeing a bit ahead. take an old mercury switch from a thermostat mount it sideways and when you slow down light on.
I know your not supossed to brake, but sometimes things happen and when your slowing down, someone maybe be day dreaming and wham.
Doug

Don't use mercury!

how about a metal ball bearing
 

HI,
how about a metal ball bearing, many switches use intertia and bearing to close a circuit.:notamused: Booom!!!
Doug

And every time you hit a bump, the light will be flickering to the annoyance of those behind.
It would be better to just rig a switch into one brake lever so that a light pull would turn on the light even before the pads touched the rim. Then you could use it to signal you were slowing w/o even actually braking.

You can get one from Nashbar:
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?sku=10516

It looks like a normal blinkie:
http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photo...-NCL-ANGLE.jpg

The switch is mounted on the brake cable:
http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photo...CL-MOUNTED.jpg

If they're daydreaming I think they'd not be paying attention to your brake light either...especially if they didn't know you had one.

Yeah, if someone crashes into you from the rear, you will both die.

Then scare some sense into 'em!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/...b603a075eb.jpg

From http://bikeportland.org/photos/album...-of-light.html

Here in Pittsburgh our Bike Club has an annual "Light Up Night" ride the Friday before Thanksgiving when the city lights up all the buildings as a prelude to the holiday (shopping) season.

A few riders have come with bothe themselves and their bikes festooned with strings of lights pretty much like your photo. One had a motorcyle battery fastened to his rack just to operate all of the lights. It certainly caused a lot of comments from all of the others.

Given that cyclists are not accustomed to looking for brake lights on other bikes, I suspect it would do no good. I am trying to imagine myself behind such a bike, and even if I knew the brake lights where there, I would just not really be in the habit of reacting to them.

Alternatively you could just scream "WATCH OUT!!" every time you hit the brakes. Make sure your group has a forgiving sense of humor though. I used to know a guy who had perfected his impersonation of the sound of an air-leak in the tube/tire. Maybe that would be effective here somehow.

jim

That Nashbar thing is pretty clever.

In the pacelines I've ridden the standard warning to the rider on your wheel is to say "braking" or "slowing" when you have to slow down for traffic or other obstruction.

With the current availability of bright but low power demand LCD lights I'm surprised someone hasn't come up with brake lights and turn signals for bikes. The dedicated roadies wouldn't bother but commuters, etc. might benefit.

Horrible explosion with intense flames.

One of the highlights of our Recumbent Retreat event (held at Fort Stevens State Park in Oregon for the last 10 years) is our "light parade". As you might imagine, 40 or 50 lit up recumbent bikes circulating through a darkened campground causes quite a commotion. This is a mild example:
http://home.comcast.net/~jeff_wills/...y/XmasTodd.jpg

More photos of the last edition here: http://www.recumbentretreat.org/phot....php?cat_id=50

Mecury is fine, you just have to season it.

Delicious!