Bike lights have a lot of problems. Because they're usually detachable, they're easily stolen. Because they're easily stolen, they've been designed as low-cost, disposable plastic widgets. Most of all, they're a pain to put on and remove. Blink/Steady's Ben Cohen calls it the "bike light dance," which consists of "finding it in your bag, clicking it into place, turning it on, and then repeating with your front light."
The Blink/Steady bike light, our Kickstarter of the Week, aims to change all that. It's an elegant aluminum-bodied LED that packs a whole lot of cleverness into an often overlooked part of the cyclist's experience.
Here's how it works: You install it on your seat post. When you ride at night, it turns itself on. When you stop, it stops. Steve Jobs was obsessed with one-button design. This is no-button design.
The Blink/Steady has an accelerometer inside that responds to 1.5G of acceleration -- "a small bump, or regular bike acceleration," says Cohen. Once you've woken it up, any amount of movement keeps the light awake, so you'll stay lit-up if you're waiting at an intersection. When you lock up, the light remains on for 30 seconds and then shuts itself off.
There's also a photosensor that can tell if it's day or night, saving battery life when it's light out. "The photo sensor is tuned so that headlights don't trick it into thinking it's daytime," says Cohen.
It's harder to steal, too. The seat post passes through the Blink/Steady's ring, so the seat would have to be removed and the light unscrewed with a wrench (there's a Torx screw option for added security) to get it off -- not worth the hassle. Plus, the minimalist aluminum body acts as camouflage. "It's not a big red thing on the back of your bike and it just blends in with the rest of your components," says Cohen.
The team put a lot of consideration into the blinking pattern. "Often blink patterns are a trade off for battery life with 'visibility', and visibility isn't actually directly correlated to the duration or frequency of each 'blink'," Cohen says. His team identified the pattern that offered the best energy efficiency and visibility. And if you'd rather have a steady beam, just flip the light over and it'll stay steady. Simple.
Unlike many lights which take coin batteries, the Blink/Steady takes a pair of garden variety AAAs, meaning you can pick up replacements anywhere. Not that you'll need to, thanks to the light's efficiency.
"We've simplified the interaction down to just riding your bike as usual without having to think about it," says Cohen, "Most bike lights are not very well made .... We can do better."
The aluminum parts will be machined at a CNC shop in Brooklyn. All other parts will be sourced in the US. Find out more at the official site. You can pre-order your own Blink/Steady by backing the project on Kickstarter.
All images courtesy of Blink/Steady
