bike lights

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.

It's convenient to have a headlight that's always on your bike, but the things can just get in the way when they're not needed. The Owlight was designed with that problem in mind, as it hides inside the handlebar during daylight hours.

Although there are already cycling jackets and vests with integrated rear lights, those aren't going to do you much good if you cover them with a backpack. That's where the Torch pack comes in, as it has an integrated lighting system of its own.

While a headlight and tail light are essential for night-time bicycle commuting, one thing that really catches motorists' eyes is movement. Arclight Bike Pedals were designed with that in mind, as they feature auto-color-changing LED modules.

Recharging the battery of a bike helmet with built-in lights can (conceivably) be awkward, as the whole helmet has to be placed near an outlet. A new model gets around that problem, though, with a removable tail light module.

A large percentage of bike-versus-car accidents occur when automobiles pass too closely to cyclists. The Dashbike tail light was designed with that in mind, as it automatically records video of any too-close drive-bys.

Why just wear a plain ol' bike helmet, when you can wear one with a built-in headlight, tail lights, turn indicators and brake light? That's the thinking behind the Lumos Ultra, which I recently had the chance to try out on real-world roads.

In order to keep drivers from passing too close, some cyclists use bike-mounted foam "noodles" that extend out horizontally toward the traffic. The L-Bow takes that concept a step further, by applying it to a tail light.

While there are now many turn-indicator bike lights on the market, their bar-mounted controls are just one more bit of clutter to manage. Eesen's Shield tail light/turn indicator takes a different approach, as it's activated with a turn of the head.