Small Spoke Lights with auto on/off
 

Last night while waiting for my wife got out of the office, a guy on a bike pulled up to a store across the parking lot. What caught my eye was the small LED lights he had on several of his spokes. They were very attention-getting. When he parked his bike and went into the store, the lights went off automatically and when he came out and got back on his bike the light turned on automatically. I've seen similar lights but nothing that has this auto feature.

Does anybody have an idea on what these lights might be? I wish I had gone over and asked him about them.

How about: https://www.google.com/search?q=auto...=1530&bih=1017

Thanks for the helpful hint but nothing there or anywhere I searched had the lights. They were a button type LED light. I'll keep searching the interwebs.

maybe one of these

http://www.sunlitecycling.com/produc...%26+REFLECTORS

http://www.iaminthestore.com/durable...tor-light-blue

http://fujiroadbikess.blogspot.com/2...activated.html

http://www.greencanyonoutfitters.com/dp/B007HOQFWY

http://www.grabcart.com/product/Spor...le-Spoke-Light

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/14296506152573093468?

I have these. They flash alternating blue and red. They flash when there is motion and it is dark out. Both conditions must be true for it to flash.

I once had the bike in the back of my car, and when I hit a bump while driving the car, the lights would flash.

Each light takes 3 AG3 cells.

The bad English on the package is amusing. The title is "Alarm Light of Bicycle," and the subtitle is "Take not to safe!"

If you want spoke lights you don't want the kind that turn on automatically ( when motion is sensed ). The reason I say that is because I had a pair of those and found out that when they are in stand-by mode ( no light ) they are still drawing battery power and will ( slowly ) discharge the batteries. Since the small button cells don't really have a large capacity this is not a good idea.

Currently I am using the Atozi spoke lights. These work very well and easily turn off by just twisting ( no discharge in off mode ). I've been using them since summer and just recently tried them on a cold night just to see if they would still function. With new batteries the units worked in the cold without problem. I purchased a card of one hundred of the small button cells from a Chinese website. Each unit takes three cells so I should be good for a good long time. I use two on each wheel

So what's the verdict here? These sound like an excellent idea. What's the best kind to get?
I like the idea of the automatic on/off because I'm lazy, but then again I don't want to be burning through batteries all the time.

I can't decide for others but for me I figured it this way: Since the Atozi units I have attach to the spoke quickly and are easily removed it is better to just remove them if I decide to park my bike where "casual theft" might be an issue. That being the case the on / off issue is a non-issue. Generally I take mine off the bike when I go home also since I see no reason to leave them mounted if riding in the day. Also keep in mind the kind with motion sensors will come on day or night if you leave them mounted on the bike all the time. This too will wear down batteries faster.

For the record I timed myself to see how fast they are to mount. It took less than a minute to mount all 4 to my spokes. They come off even faster. When I first got them I was worried that since they are removed so easily that they might "pop off " during a ride. So far I've used them over several rides and have yet to lose one so unless that happens I'll not worry about it. If it does happen a replacement is easy to buy and I can always use a bit of tape to keep them from falling off ( if that becomes an issue ) Currently I just slide mine a bit onto the spoke nipple to give them a tighter fit. This seems to be working for me. At least at the moment.