Tag: cycling safety

Cyclo is supporting The Child Brain Injury Trust’s Child Safety and Awareness Campaign (read our feature here) and with this in mind, and with the nights drawing in, we take a look at some of the best reflectives, lights, LEDs and other cycle safety products on the market. It’s really quite simple – if you want to stay safe on the bike, you need to be seen…

 

Lezyne Femto Drive LED – Keeping it simple (and simply beautiful) Lezyne offer a functional approach to cycle safety, with these tiny, machined aluminum lights that measure just 30mm long, with a sub-25mm diameter and a mere 29g in weight. Attached with modest, but effective, rubberised straps to the bike, the Femto Drive LED isn’t astonishingly light at just 15 lumens front and 7 lumens rear, but they offer five modes – flash, slow flash, rapid flash, strobe and solid – and their go anywhere, fit in a pocket, dimensions means you never have an excuse to get caught without lighting – or extra lighting – again. RRP £12.99. Read the full Cyclo review here.

 

 

Knog Lights – Another long-time Cyclo favourite is the Knog range. This Melbourne-originated brand, has been producing cycling kit for a decade now and they continue to combine style with substance almost effortlessly. If the Femto’s harder, more industrial lines are not to your taste then the Knog’s softer approach to aesthetics could be for you. Take for example the Knog Frog Strobe, a flexible silicone bodied light with an impressive 80 hour burn time in flashing mode or 50 hours in constant; they connect to the bike with a quick release system, dish out a more than adequate 25 lumens and, for the fashion conscious, come in a range of five colours including a rakish pink. At around £7, they’re a bargain too. Read the full Cyclo review here.

 

 

Nite Ize – Nite Ize supply an impressive range of LED cycle solutions including some child-specific appeal options, such as the bendable BugLit LED Micro Flashlight and carabiner-clipped flashers. Cyclo particularly likes the Nite Ize Helmet Marker Plus; weighing a minimal 19g it’s a thin, durable polymer strip encased in weather-resistant nylon fabric, which can be attached to helmets via hook-and-loop strips or with the rubberised twist tie to pretty much any part of the bike – seat post, baskets, panniers, etc. Also worth a look is the SpokeLit which adds side-on visibility when added (easily and securely) to the spokes – press once for a continuous glow or twice for flashing mode and the supplied and replaceable battery gives up to 20hours of added illumination. Take a look at their products, reviewed on Cyclo, here.

 

 

Nathan – Another option for excellent LED solutions – and numerous reflectives – is Nathan (nathansports.com). A brilliantly simple idea is the featherlite ClipLight (£10), coming in at just 7g, including battery, it clips onto apparel – a rear lumber pocket is ideal – or can be attached to ClipPods which, with their sticky back, can in turn be attached to pretty much anything else. With either solid or flash-mode the ClipLight is one of the smallest and most efficient cycle safety LEDs we’ve seen. If you want to add some extra visibility the LighBender is an arm strap, which is weather-proof and, in either blinking of solid mode, promises 2,400foot of visibility and up to 100 hours from the replaceable battery. RRP £19.99

 

 

Fibre Flares – We loved Fibre Flares when we first reviewed them back in 2011 and not just because you can have lightsaber fights if you buy a pair. No, Fibre Flares provided much needed, and too often neglected, side-on visibility to the bike using high intensity LED’s to illuminate a flexible fibre optic core and attaching ,via silicone straps, to a variety of bike parts including over-size tubes of up to 60mm. Available in a variety of lengths and colours and promising visibility for up to 300metres and a burn time of 75+hours on a set of two AA batteries – Cyclo can firmly say this is another cycle safety product that looks good in more ways than one. Priced from £21 – Read the full Cyclo review here.

 

 

Aura Belts – An approach to not only side-on but true 360degree visibility comes in the form of the Aura Belt. Constructed from high-wearing ‘ballistic’ nylon, the Aura features an integrated LED strip (powered by a replaceable CR2032 battery) beneath coloured, weather-proof, fabric which switches on via a button next to the clip fastener. Available in six colours – pink, yellow, orange, blue, red, green – the belt can deliver either a fixed ‘on’ glow or two speeds of pulsing flash. It comes in a one-size-fits-all option (at £25) so regrettably not an option for kids as yet – but the makers tell us they’re working on it. Read the full Cyclo review here.

 

 

Fuze Wheel Writer – More side-on visibility, arguably for kids (or the big kids in all of us), comes in the form of the Fuze Wheel Writer. It looks initially daunting when it comes to fitting the individual parts to the bike’s spokes, but is far easier than first feared. Once in place and switched on the Wheel Writer’s ultra-bright LEDs can be set to display a range of images and animations as the wheel spins – aliens, skulls, flames, an old-fashioned ‘space invader’… There’s even an option to display the bike’s speed if you’re really looking to impress. It’s not the most robust or weather-proof piece of kit, but might just provide the fun needed to encourage reluctant children to take cycling safety into consideration. RRP £19.99 and widely available online.

 

 

Altura Night Vision Gloves – Adding visibility to apparel greatly improves cycle safety and if you can keep your hands warm at the same time, all the better. The Altura Night Vision Gloves are a Nylon/Polyester mix and a 100% Polyester liner, which cope well with even the most biting winter wind and their ample and well-placed reflective detailing is to be commended. Pick the day-go yellow option rather than the ninja black and that will help visibility too. Available in five sizes – S to XXL – the padding is exceptional and the triple grip (thumb, outer edge and finger bases) delivers superb grip. Take a look at the full Altura Night Vision Gloves review from Cyclo here.

 

 

SealSkinz Ultra Grip Hi Vis Gloves – If you’re looking for complete weatherproofing to combine with cycle safety the SealSkinz Ultra Grip Hi Vis Gloves come in either yellow or orange and feature the famous SealSkinz waterproof membrane. Feeling a little bulkier than traditional cycling gloves and lacking zone-specific padding these are best suited for commute rather than dedicated MTB or road cycling, but they live up to their name when it comes to grip – palm and fingers are studded with silicone dots that deliver a Spider-man like grip. They wick will and use Merino wool so their thermal properties are impressive too. RRP £32.50 details and online purchase at sealskinz.com

 

 

Vendante Pop Bands – Cycling safety doesn’t have to be complicated and things don’t come much simpler than the Vendante Pop Band. Made of highly reflective 3M Scotchlite (the go-to product for most on-garment sports reflectives) Pop Bands are flexed across their width to straighten, then tapped against the arm/leg to wrap them firmly in place without the need for Velcro, or similar fastening. Available in blue, green, orange, pink, white and yellow, the latter two promise reflectivity from up to 450 meters (the others a still impressive 130m). Vendante Pop Bands come in sets of two at around the £12 mark, Cyclo have tried other similar ‘snap’ bands, but for our money the Vendante are by far the most durable.

 

 

FlipFlap – One for the cycling commuters rather than the Lycra-lovers we feel. The FlipFlap is an unusual answer to cycle safety; a reflective designed to flip out of front or rear pockets – one side of these reflective paddles is rubberised to grip the pocket, whilst the flap which… well, flaps out, is hi-viz, tested to (and exceeding) the EN13356 safety standard. You can tuck the whole thing back into your pocket when not in use and it’s on hand (bum) when it’s needed. £16.95 (plus P&P) isn’t cheap for a reflective but the FlipFlap does offer a little more than your standard set of stickers or bike additions. Curious, but well worth your consideration…

 

Feature photo courtesy of Moritz Waldemeyer. For more information on the ‘Joy Rider’, an exercise in pure minimalism that mounts two LEDs on spokes to paint a smiling face, and his other extraordinary light projects visit waldemeyer.com

 

The Child Brain Injury Trust is a national charity, registered in 1991, providing information, support and training to anyone living in the UK who is affected by a child’s brain injury. In the lead up to the end of British Summer Time, they will be running a Child Safety and Awareness Campaign to encourage school children to embrace the use of helmets, lights and reflectives – Cyclo will be supporting the campaign with a series of features and reviews – but first we spoke to Andrew Tee, the Community Fundraiser at CBIT behind the campaign, to find out what they had planned…

 

Cyclo: Firstly, can you tell us a little more about what the Child Brain Injury Trust does…

 

Andrew Tee: We currently work with over 5,000 people each year – not just injured children but their family (both immediate and extended), and any professionals who come into contact with the child from teachers to healthcare and social care workers. We ensure that we are accessible at every stage to provide practical support and solutions to the many complex issues surrounding a child with an acquired brain injury

 

Cyclo: And the campaign?

 

AT: The Child Brain Injury Trust is committed to providing practical and up to date advice on road safety and the prevention of head injury. So we are planning a week-long child safety and awareness campaign to launch on October 21, which is the week leading up to when the clocks go back. It’s a time of year when suddenly children can find themselves traveling to and from school not necessarily in the dark, but certainly in worsening weather and lower lighting conditions. The campaign will be aimed at school-age children, and will focus on staying safe on the roads whilst cycling, scooting, and skating, and to encourage children to wear a helmet and hi-vis clothing. We really want to get the message across that wearing a helmet is a lot cooler than getting a brain injury!

 

Cyclo: What activities are planned for the week?

 

AT: Our Child and Family Support Officers and Fundraisers across the country will be visiting schools to spread the safety message, and handing out reflective ‘slap wraps’ with the slogan ‘Be seen not hurt’ to children to really encourage them to think about being seen and staying safe during the winter months.

 

We’ve also developed a wide range of National Curriculum based activities and worksheets all based around education and awareness of brain injury, child safety and injury/accident prevention. These school packs will be used in conjunction with the school visits. The campaign will culminate with a sponsored cycle ride from the Charity’s head office in Bicester on Sunday October 27, along with other rides from our offices in Belfast and Glasgow. The campaign aims to engage as many groups and individuals as possible during the week, and we are already getting offers of support from people involved in the sporting/cycling world, and companies who design safety equipment.

 

Cyclo: And how else are you planning on getting your message across?

 

AT: We’re planning to post blogs each day throughout the campaign week, from people who can inspire young people to get active, but do it safely. We have a number of seasoned adventurers who have completed amazing journeys by bike and skateboard already signed up to support the campaign and write these for us; they will help us to spread the message via their social media channels.

 

We will also be dedicating pages on our website to promote the campaign, with safety/prevention information and regular updates from our guest bloggers. We aim to run competitions throughout the week, with prizes from UK cycle and safety companies. Social media will certainly play a big role in this campaign, driving traffic to the website and encouraging our followers to share our activities with their friends and followers.

 

Cyclo: So your key messages would be?

 

AT: Wear a helmet! – Our mantra really is that wearing a helmet (and also using lights and reflectives) is a lot cooler than getting a brain injury… We absolutely want to promote that enthusiasm for children to be active, but equally to be safe; so to encourage more children to wear a helmet is fundamental. As a charity we certainly want to raise awareness of childhood brain injuries and highlight the common sense approaches to avoiding them when it comes to road safety.

 

For further information about the Child Brain Injury Trust (Registered Charity No. 1113326) and the latest on the campaign (check back regularly for updates) see: childbraininjurytrust.org.uk and take a look at their video below.

 

Read Cyclo’s latest reviews of children’s cycling helmets here and our reviews of the Nite Ize LED range here.