Redshift has already smashed its Indiegogo funding target for Arclight pedals, which feature LEDs facing both front and rear, with more than a month remaining. It currently has pledges totalling over 500% of the £14,500 goal.
“The Arclight pedals are a unique set of bike lights that take advantage of the natural motion of a cyclist,” says Redshift, a US brand that started on Kickstarter back in 2013.
“The pedalling motion creates a distinctive and instantly recognisable light pattern. This unique light movement provides a clear signal to motorists of a cyclist's presence.”
The Arclights are aluminium platform pedals that include four rechargeable and removable light modules (two for each pedal) that have built-in smart features and customisable flash modes.
A sensor detects the pedal’s orientation and shines the appropriate coloured light. In other words, whichever way up the pedal is, it’ll shine white to the front and red to the rear.
The lights turn on automatically when you start riding and turn off when you stop.
The pedals fit any crank with a standard 9/16in thread, and the light modules are held in place magnetically. They’re said to be easy to remove for recharging via USB.
The pedals are IP64 rated, meaning that they’re protected from dust ingress and splashing water coming from all directions.
You get three light modes: steady light (giving you a claimed three hours per charge), flash (11 hours), and eco-flash (36 hours).
Pedal lights already exist. You can buy a Vision Light kit for Look’s Geo pedals, for example, although these don’t have the Arclights’ smart features.
If you’re riding in the dark, UK law requires that each of your pedals features two amber reflectors positioned so that one is visible from the front and the other from the rear. We all know, though, that many pedals – particularly clipless pedals – don’t feature reflectors.
You can also mount the Arclight light modules to rubber wrap-around straps and use them as standard lights on the front/rear of your bike, clothing, or bag. Again, smart technology automatically selects the correct colour depending on whether the light is facing forwards or backwards.
Redshift says that a pair of Arclight pedals weighs 610g and that it is working on a clipless pedal option
You can get yourself in line for a pair of Redshift Arclight pedals by pledging $89 (about £65) although this Super Early Bird offer ends later today.
After that, you’re looking at a pledge of $109 (about £80). The full RRP is expected to be $135 (about £98). Delivery is scheduled for February 2022. As we always point out, pledging money via Indiegogo is not the same as buying through a shop or online retailer.
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Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
Pedal reflectors are IP-as-much-as-you-want. The lights are a barely adequate IP64
Pedal reflectors never run out of power.
The lights have to be recharged, one day you will forget, one day the battery will no longer hold charge.
Pedal reflectors harness the power of whatever headlight is shining on them.
The lights are limited to their own power.
Pedal reflectors focus their beam directly back to source.
The lights must diffuse their beam more widely in the hope that some of it is going in the right direction, whilst the majority is just light pollution.
The reflectors are bad enough, the lights are a whole ecological disaster in miniature.
You have some valid points about the need to charge these and the potential environmental issues, but I think whilst charged and working these will be more visible than a reflector. Certainly in my experience of cycling and driving after dark, if someone has even half decent lights I spot the lights long before I spot any reflectors.
As you point out, reflectors work by reflecting the light that is shone on them. However, even with a powerful light such as a motor vehicle headlight, only a small amount of that light actually lands on the reflector. The light therefore doesn't need to compete with the whole headlight, just the far smaller amount that lands on the reflector. It's also useful to be seen by other road users who may not have such powerful lights.
As you say, reflectors are retro-reflective, reflecting the light back towards the source. However, if they were perfectly retro-reflective they would be useless as the light source isn't directly in line with the drivers eyes. I notice when wearing a headtorch (as I do for jogging after dark) how much brighter retro-reflectors appear to be when the light source is much closer to my eyes. You are still therefore relying on the small proportion of the reflected light that is reflected towards the drivers eyes, rather than directly back at the headlights.
Finally, reflectors rely on being in the beam of the light. There are many circumstances, such as windy roads and junction, where the reflector wouldn't be in the beam of light at all, but a pedal emitting its own light would be clearly visible.
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They don't require light to be shone on them.
Also if there is a difference in elevation, you would see the lights before the reflectors.
They aren't.
Pedal reflectors are IP-as-much-as-you-want. The lights are a barely adequate IP64
Pedal reflectors never run out of power.
The lights have to be recharged, one day you will forget, one day the battery will no longer hold charge.
Pedal reflectors harness the power of whatever headlight is shining on them.
The lights are limited to their own power.
Pedal reflectors focus their beam directly back to source.
The lights must diffuse their beam more widely in the hope that some of it is going in the right direction, whilst the majority is just light pollution.
The reflectors are bad enough, the lights are a whole ecological disaster in miniature.
You have some valid points about the need to charge these and the potential environmental issues, but I think whilst charged and working these will be more visible than a reflector. Certainly in my experience of cycling and driving after dark, if someone has even half decent lights I spot the lights long before I spot any reflectors.
As you point out, reflectors work by reflecting the light that is shone on them. However, even with a powerful light such as a motor vehicle headlight, only a small amount of that light actually lands on the reflector. The light therefore doesn't need to compete with the whole headlight, just the far smaller amount that lands on the reflector. It's also useful to be seen by other road users who may not have such powerful lights.
As you say, reflectors are retro-reflective, reflecting the light back towards the source. However, if they were perfectly retro-reflective they would be useless as the light source isn't directly in line with the drivers eyes. I notice when wearing a headtorch (as I do for jogging after dark) how much brighter retro-reflectors appear to be when the light source is much closer to my eyes. You are still therefore relying on the small proportion of the reflected light that is reflected towards the drivers eyes, rather than directly back at the headlights.
Finally, reflectors rely on being in the beam of the light. There are many circumstances, such as windy roads and junction, where the reflector wouldn't be in the beam of light at all, but a pedal emitting its own light would be clearly visible.
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