The best ideas are often, but not always, the simplest ones. So while there are many ways in which a cyclist can make themselves visible to motorists and pedestrians at night-time - these LED systems that light up your rims, for instance - perhaps all that is needed is a frame that glows in the dark. Bike manufacturer Pure Fix Cycles believes so and is introducing the GLOW series, of which The Kilo is the first.
The Kilo GLOW is a standard bike with one very clear difference: its frame is covered in glow-in-the-dark paint which will be visible after dark. Pure Fix states that an hour of daytime sunlight will make the frame glow for an hour or more once the moon has taken up residence in the sky. This means anyone heading out after the sun has already set may be out of luck, but those already cycling when day turns to night get a little extra time safer from being unsighted by other road users.
This bike comes in a range of sizes from 47cm to 61cm, with plenty of customization options available. Prices start from US$399. If you're not in the market for a new bike then buying your own glow-in-the-dark paint to give your existing frame a new phosphorus sheen could be a viable alternative.
While riding a bike with a glow-in-the-dark frame may make you more visible to others, it obviously won't help you find the way to your destination. In this regard the LED by LITE may be a better option, fulfilling the need for a lighting system that illuminates the way while still adding visibility to your velocipede of choice.
Source: Pure Fix Cycles via Inhabitat
Radium Girls From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Radium Girls were female factory workers who contracted radiation poisoning from painting watch dials with glow-in-the-dark paint at the United States Radium factory in Orange, New Jersey around 1917. The women, who had been told the paint was harmless, ingested deadly amounts of radium by licking their paintbrushes to sharpen them; some also painted their fingernails and teeth with the glowing substance.
Five of the women challenged their employer in a case that established the right of individual workers who contract occupational diseases to sue their employers.
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