You get noticed using conventional bike lights. You notice getting noticed using new VeloHalo wheel lights. To prepare for the winter darkness when the clocks go back this October, Islington start-up Hikari.Bike have developed VeloHalo which loops around your rims to transform them into vivid spinning discs of glowing light. The heads are turning, and London’s drivers wish you were using them.
London is beautiful by night, especially by bike. But we get it. London roads: they’re busy, they’re cluttered, they’re stressful, they’re complex. Most of all for drivers. (And especially in cramped and hectic Old Street Roundabout.) But Hikari.Bike’s VeloHalo wheel lights do something very simple: they get drivers to notice cyclists fast.
And cycle safety (and road confidence) is all about getting noticed.
VeloHalo secures snug to the hub of a bike wheel and powers a 2.7m LED cable which is fastened to the spokes (white for the front, red for the rear). As you cycle, VeloHalo creates a head-turning spinning-circle-of-light effect which is hard not to notice (think ‘funky neon-silhouette’).
And by highlighting the shape of the bicycle wheels themselves, drivers can more intuitively understand your distance, direction and speed, can more instantly think “BIKE!”, and thus can more instantly brake to avoid crashing into you. More so than if you used conventional lights alone. Considering most fatal cycling accidents occur at night, getting noticed is more important than ever.
In fact, VeloHalo is so good at getting cyclists noticed that the vast majority of early adopters are gleefully reporting how they’ve begun to notice being noticed, from astonished punters to complimentary shout-outs from cabbies.
With all this confident talk of compliments, astonished onlookers and “noticing being noticed” that many are already experiencing, Hikari.Bike are prepared to eat their words and put their money on the line with a rather unconventional money-back guarantee:
“If after 10 nights of riding with VeloHalo you don’t receive at least 1 complimentary shout out, we’ll hand your money back. 10 nights. 1 compliment.”
Considering the cheapest Brompton bike will set you back the best part of £1000, and VeloHalo is just £39.99, VeloHalos seem a damn-worthwhile investment.
When the clocks go back and winter approaches, let’s give London’s drivers something positive to shout about.
Go get velo-enlightened over to www.hikari.bike
