Light Up Those Rims!
 

Two Carnegie Mellon University students have developed a cool invention to help cyclists get noticed:


You can read about it here.

Pretty slick! The thing I dislike about the ones already on the market that go in the spokes is the weight and that its asymmetric weight. That set up is nice in the fact that it would be minimal weight added to the wheel and it is spread evenly on the circumference. Using the hub generator you could probably still drive a headlamp and be within the what the generator can handle.

Hope those kids patent that idea. They could very well have a million dollar idea if the can find the right buyer. Id be on the phone with Mavic, Alex and Sun the day I got the patten.

Looking at it they could easily run this on a battery without the hub generator to reduce the cost.

looks fun. i like

If you're directly behind the rider or in front, you can't see the lights. I wouldn't use it.

I like.

Logic fail:
If if you look at the majority of head and tail lamps you cant see them from the side or you sure as hell cant tell its a bike from the side from any distance. Will you stop using those as well?

Form the side is the point of having these. It would be an alterantive to spoke reflectors.

I'm pretty sure the intention is to improve side-on visibility... hence the reference to 36% of the fatal cycling accidents in 2008 happening at intersections. The article I linked to includes a statement from the inventor saying that the lighting system is not intended to take the place of forward or rearward facing lights.

If further R&D can run the system in conjunction with front and rear lights, all run off a dynohub, I'll be getting out my checkbook. Battery power, as Grim mentioned above, would make it a viable option as well. I also echo Grim's sentiment that this is a slicker setup than those MonkeyLectric bike lights.

I don't like the power transfer slip ring. Hopefully a final product would use a hub generator with the magnets on the axle, and the coil attached to the rotating hub shell.

oooohhhh I want them...

I think it's overkill, because just like blinking lights it's too visually distracting. A bunch of bikes, all with color changing spinning lights would drive me crazy when I'm driving.

http://cdn1.sellerimage.com/cdn/ebay...led041_ggd.jpghttp://www.tomtop.com/images/v/200906/12452031440.jpg

These cost $2 from ebay, delievered. Snap on to a spoke, weight nearly nothing. Have a light and motion sensor. Work well and incredibly cheap.

http://shop.ebay.ie/?_from=R40&_trks...kw=spoke+light

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Bike-Bicycle-Whee...item414e328fdc

20 years ago, in a shop in NL, I got a ring of reflective plastic , in a tube form,
around a wire core. it laced in amongst the spokes.
Unlike the reflex band that has become common for tires for EU market,
It Was not fouled by road grit and aluminum oxide flung outward from braking.

seen nothing like it since.

Bling but not necessary.

It will only get you noticed if the person is looking. If cyclist like it and think it would help, then go for it.

I like wheel lights in general. I run TireFlys in addition to a rear PBSF and 1-3 front lights. I might get a couple of those spoke lights that newkie posted when it's time to re-up.

My wheel lights seem to have gotten the attention of more than a few drivers exiting fast food joints so they do their job, IMO.

Two words (reflective tape) I put some on my rims and it works great or reflective sidewall tires, another option. This is pretty cool but the guy in the demo video was not wearing any other kind of reflective clothing and not headlight and blinky.

came across this thing too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fp-REcXjjM
pretty cool.

I think the video was intended for the hipster crowd but he does have a helmet on so he might be one of the original hipsters who thinks he's not a hipster...:lol: +1 on the reflective tape. I had some on my old 98 Bianchi Premio and combining the reflective tape on both sides of the rim with front and rear lights are plenty of lighting.

I normally don't have cars coming at me from the side, except when crossing an intersection. And the blinky on the back of my bike (PB SuperFlash) is visible from the side. The guy in the video does not have any lights on the bike except for the wheel lights. No thanks.

it would be cool if those lights lit up the road.

I agree. The Planet Bike SuperFlash is a great light.

I couldn't live without my PBSF, but it's side output is pretty weak. Having spinning blinkies on my wheels really makes a bike visible from the side and if like me you go down roads with business driveways every few feet, that's a huge bonus!

My impression is that they left the front/rear lights off to not detract from the wheel lights for demonstration purposes. I lived/commuted in Pittsburgh for 10 years and there's no way I would ride around like that in normal circumstances. A good 10-20W HL and .5-1.0W rear blinkies in addtion to that wheelset lighting system would be great for any nighttime cycling situation. I'm in.

Why all the hate? They aren't even selling them, but instead, they saw a problem, and made an honest attempt at devising a solution to it, using their own free time. The result is a lighting system that provides excellent side visibility, and is elegantly integrated into the bike. All of this done not by a team at a bicycle accessory manufacturer, but two college students. The project was not about the Superflash or reflective tape, but their own individual solution to the problem of people being struck at intersections during night hours. They did a good job and should be congratulated for their work.

Maybe fitting front and rear lights would be a good idea as well. I know the video was designed to show how effective the wheel light were but a bit of common sense safety first please. Saying that, they do look spangly :)