bike lights

If a motorist just sees a red light up ahead, they might not realize it's a bike's tail light – at least, not at first. The VIS LightPool Taillight is designed to address that problem, by alternately shining down along with outwards.

We've seen bike helmets that fold up for storage and transit, plus ones that are equipped with lights. The Fend Super, however, is one of the first to combine both features in one helmet.

Although there are now a number of helmet-mounted brake lights on the market, they're almost all activated by an integrated accelerometer. The OxiLum takes what is claimed to be a better approach, as it's triggered by a brake-lever-mounted device.

It was seven years ago that we first heard about Garmin's Varia Radar tail light, which warns cyclists of vehicles approaching from behind. After adding smartphone compatibility in 2020, Garmin has now put a camera in the device.

Last year Redshift Sports announced its LED-equipped Arclight Pedals, which "magically" illuminate white in front and red in the rear, no matter which side of the pedal is up. I had a chance to try them out, and they're everything that was promised.

Over the years, we've seen bike lights/turn indicators incorporated into wearables such as helmets, backpacks, gloves and jackets. The Flasher system takes yet another approach, by fastening the things around your arms.

Bike lights are becoming increasingly sophisticated, but that doesn't mean they have to look that way. Two new headlights hit Kickstarter this week, and both feature the tech of today combined with the look of yesteryear.

While bike headlights do help cyclists see the road, they also make those cyclists more visible to motorists. The Focus headlight was designed very much with the latter in mind, as it grabs drivers' attention by flashing at a whopping 5,000 lumens.

Cannondale's Synapse has always been a fairly well-regarded road bike, but the latest version sports a little something extra. It's called the SmartSense system, and it's designed to help keep riders from being struck by cars.

Given the multitude of currently-available cycling electronics, it's certainly possible that someone could have an actioncam, a rear-view camera and a lighting system mounted on their bike. The Seeker system combines all of those items in one setup.

A tail light is an important piece of night-time cycling equipment, while a rear-facing ride-recording camera is good to have in the event of a run-in with a car. Currently on Kickstarter, TOOO Cycling's DVR80 combines both tools in one device.

Several bike-mounted devices already laser-project lines onto the road, showing motorists how much passing space they should provide. tether works in a similar fashion, but it also senses passing vehicles in order to produce cyclist-safe road maps.