Pedal reflectors are a legal requirement in most western countries and the majority of pedals are fitted with them.These little yellow reflectors are extremely effective when caught in the lights of a car – the rhythmic motion catching the eye and transmitting the unmistakable signature of a bicycle. Unfortunately, on most roads under most lighting conditions, the reflectors do very little.
Flash Pedals are an attempt to get round this problem – they’re perfectly conventional but have light emitting diodes mounted in the reflectors.The clever bit is the power supply – no batteries, but a small generator on the pedal shaft. As the pedal turns, an alternating current is fed to the diodes, causing them flash on and off.
Although pedals revolve comparatively slowly, the effect is quite good – highly visible at night and noticeable even in low light conditions during the day.The mechanism sounds complex, but adds only 25g to the pedals, which weigh a fairly typical 190g. More of a problem for some people is the width of the generator. If you’re used to pedalling with your feet on the inboard edge of the pedals, the curved generator housing will annoy. And we should point out that the lights are technically illegal on two counts (in the UK, at least): firstly because they flash, and secondly because they’re red, and red lights should not be visible from ahead.That said, yellow versions would be easy to produce.
Flash Pedals work well in most conditions, from unlit country roads to city streets – especially in gloomy conditions when other lights are off. As a last resort, they continue generating light where all other sources have failed, which has to be better than nothing.
Being particularly effective at high pedalling speed, Flash Pedals would be well suited to children’s bikes and BMX machines – the sort of bicycles that rarely if ever carry lights, but have a tendency to appear from nowhere after dark. If they become a fashion accessory, the roads will be a lot safer.
Flash Pedals are not currently available in the UK, but retail and trade enquiries are welcome. For details, contact Margaret Kim, Bizmate Technology Co Ltd tel +86 20 8139 6047 fax +86 20 8139 6143 email bizmate@vip.163.com
