News Why Didn’t Anyone Think of This Before?
posted by February 1 at 15:12 PM
onLadies and gentleman… the glow-in-the-dark bike:
The Puma bike has a single gear, includes an integrated wire lock system for safety, disc brakes, anodized silver alloy rims from Jalco, and a carbon steel chain. It’s also part of the recent folding bike trend that we’ve followed for over a year. But its key selling point is that it glows like Slimer, especially if it is left out in the sunlight all day. The bike will probably be really easy to see at night, especially when combined with its regular head and back lights.
Via Towleroad.
Comments
made for a velodrome without lights?
Probably because not many people bike in absolute darkness?
#1 - I don't think it's gear is fixed, just a single speed. While not my personal preference, a single gear can be extremely versatile.
Leaving your bike in the sun all day, then expecting it to glow brighter than the streetlights, however, seems impracticable. Reflective paint would have made more sense.
It's not a fixie - @3 is right. That's a freewheel back there. A fixie with disc brakes would be beyond retarded.
Wheel reflectors are as effective. Incandescence isn't as bright as reflectors and wheel reflectors move, making them even more visible.
I don't get folding bikes. Are they really more convenient for anyone other than boaters (the original market for them)?
My goodness, car drivers often don't see other huge cars. Now they'll be hitting glow in the dark bikes!
Folding bikes are also convenient for folks who live in small apartments without a separate bike storage area. Also, you can take a folding bike on the bus, so they can be handy for combination commutes. I have a single speed (w/freewheel) folding bike with a kevlar belt drive instead of a chain, so it's easy to fold without getting grease all over the place. I often take it when I fly to other cities, as it's a great city-exploring bike. Also, it's a great way to meet people. Whenever I ride it, I have people running after me asking me what the hell it is, and wanting to get into conversations with me. I suppose I should rent it out to my single friends, or at least my single friends who are interested in snaring bike geeks.
I'm with you #4 on the folding bike thing, I don't get them. What they lack as a bike (efficiency, speed, etc.) isn't really made of for in convenience. It's the difference in shape between carrying around a matchbox or a credit card... kinda a wash if you ask me. And you can't take a folded bike anywhere the regular bikes are prohibited.
Besides boats, maybe efficiency apartments for short trips to the store? no, actually, walking with groceries probably makes more sense.
#6 - interesting. No folding bikes onboard MUNI here in SF. Not sure if that's official policy, but it's what I've seen enforced. Bikes of all types are allowed on BART, if that's useful for anyone to know.
I hate their website.
High-concept trash.
I have a Dahon folding bike (there is an excellent specialty store in Fremont: Folding Bikes West http://www.electricvehiclesnw.com/fbw). They're not for everybody. For me there are three big pluses. I can keep it indoors without it blocking a door (my full-size stays locked outside under a tarp). I can take it on an airplane when traveling without having to pay special fees. And, lastly, I can take it ON BOARD a bus crossing SR-520 on a nice summer day, when the 3-bike (now 2-bike ... ) racks fill up quickly.
For people who don't want to invest in a new bike you can buy reflective or glow-in-the-dark spray paint.
The reflective paint is clear and can be sprayed over an existing color.
http://www.invplus.com/aerosol/catalog_krylon_reflect.htm
Glow in the dark is a sort of greenish glow-in-the-dark color like the Puma.
http://www.globalindustrial.com/gcs/product/productsPerPicGroups.web?picGroupKey=92015&options.parentCategoryKey=4799&index=35&catSearchParams.categoryKey=4795&REQ_SUB_CAT=Aerosol+Paint&gclid=COWJjLWcpJECFRdPagodODTheA#gridAnchor
Reasonably priced at around $4-8.00 at any hardware store.
Most bike fatalities are because they didn't see you from the front or from behind. Mostly head-on left turners or when you are turning left. The frame might be more visible from the side, but that only makes you more noticeable a half second before you are run over while running red light.
I think they let them (folding bikes) on the subway in London. Or at least that's the impression I get from reading Moritz Volz's blog.
I own a full-size Dahon folding bike. (Most Dahons don't have full sized wheels.) It was perfect for me during the time when I was a combination commuter and now it's good for the times when I choose to go on destination cycling trips - it fits in the trunk of my small car or on a plane nicely. Of course they are not for everyone, nor are they generally serious top of the line bikes. Duh.
Thanks for bringing up the painting option, yucca flower. I didn't know clear reflective paint existed.
Nobody thought of it before because it's a dumb idea. It's just a gimmick. If it really made sense, the bike wouldn't need separate lights, which, you'll notice, it has. Like someone else wrote, you need to be visible from the front and back -- not so much from the side.
That's why I don't leave the house without my glow-in-the-dark pantyhose. I'd send you a photo, but some things are best left to the imagination.
A can of glow-in-the-dark spray paint costs less than $10.
Elenchos @12 -- not to question your statistics, but both times I've been hit by cars on a bike it was by someone who zipped around and into me while turning RIGHT, into my path as I was continuing on straight. But yeah, this paint wouldn't help too much there either. (Plus they were both in broad daylight).
Get a freaking light, people. A REAL light, not a goddamn flasher. Niterider.com.
12 & 18:
Actually, you're both right. Most fatalities are left-turning incidents. Right-turning cars cause more accidents, but they're not usually fatal. Overtaking accidents are rare but have a relatively high fatality rate.
Oh, who really cares about the safety aspect, good lights and a reflective tape striped jacket are best for safety; but it's just cool. Like the glow in the dark pigs (or was it cats?).
Cascadian, I was killed in both of my crashes. But I am immortal.
you're immortal, fnarf? do you have inside you blood of kings? have you no rival? can no man be your rival? are you a prince of the universe?
oops. i meant, can no man be your equal?
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