Bike Lighting Contest Ideas

On June 26 I will be participating in the N.I.T.E. Ride in Indianapolis with 2,999 other riders :eek: :D :eek: It is only a 20 mile ride, it is the number of my companions that has me me a little spooked. I am going to try and join a local club ride once before then so I can see what it feels like to start in a group. I am accustomed to country roads with little traffic and no stop-lights :p

The ride itself (which starts close to midnight) comes at the end of a long day of activities and other rides. Part of this is a bike lighting competition. I already have a good Stella 150 light and need a tail light. That is easy enough.

I would be interested in hearing creative ways to add more lights to my bike and me. As I have this huge LHT conversion bill due this coming week I will not have much money for it...

Time for my morning ride, am looking forward to suggestions from this wonderful group of creative women and men!

Sounds like fun.
I think with some glo sticks and a bag of zip ties you could come up with something special.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/glow-stick...i_sku=11061468

Some of those spinning battery operated light toys could be taped onto your frame?

I am just throwing this out there and I do not know if it will even work:o....glow in the dark paint (can be bought at craft/art stores) Then wrap your bike in clear plastic wrap and paint some funky designs on it? I dunno. I like the idea about glow sticks the best though. That is probably the easiest too.:)

Also, there are CatEye Orbit Spoke Lights (sold at REI and other places I am sure). They clip onto your spokes and light up! I think they are pretty cool.

Good luck!

That reminds me--got to get some hokey spokes before the St. Louis Midnight Ramble!

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Originally Posted by nsandz

I am just throwing this out there and I do not know if it will even work:o....glow in the dark paint (can be bought at craft/art stores) Then wrap your bike in clear plastic wrap and paint some funky designs on it? I dunno. I like the idea about glow sticks the best though. That is probably the easiest too.:)

Also, there are CatEye Orbit Spoke Lights (sold at REI and other places I am sure). They clip onto your spokes and light up! I think they are pretty cool.

Good luck!

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I found a couple of You Tube videos. The first shows the CatEye Orbit Spoke Lights, it makes it easy to pick out the racer using them :)

Here is another video showing the CatEye Orbit & Loop lights which seem a bit more versatile. Warning in advance, the cyclist in this video has no helmet...

I like the Orbit & Loop lights, but I can get a LOT of glow lights and zip ties for $40... There is also something about the simplicity of glow lights and zips that is appealing to me besides the cost. If I were anything of an artist I think the glow-in the dark paint + plastic wrap could be interesting, but I am not an artist :)

I just remembered that Zen? provided a link a few months ago to the Down Low Glow lights. I LOVE this, especially the blue (being a "blue" kind of gal - I like the pink and green as well) - however this is NOT in my budget.

Thanks for the tips, and if anyone else has other ideas please don't hesitate to post them!

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Originally Posted by TrekTheKaty

That reminds me--got to get some hokey spokes before the St. Louis Midnight Ramble!

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Cool! I looked these up. At $30 each that is still probably outside my budget, but I like them! They would certainly be attention getting for sure - and I like that you can customize the display. Perfect for an event such as this one!

I'm sure these would cost way more than you would want to spend, but I just think they are so cool looking. :)

http://www.monkeylectric.com/m464q_gallery.htm

Been doing the 'lighting' bit on my commuter (kinda going nuts with it, and having fun), and found two things that work really well to light up the rider and bike. First, the Bike Glow light. I got mine at REI (http://www.rei.com/product/793960). Sounds silly, but it is really cool looking and lights up the bike and rider really well. The second is the little Serfas seat stay light (http://www.rei.com/product/793233). I have two of them and I point them sideways on the seatstay for even more side visibility. On the back, I have a 3 watt blinkie made by MagicShine- really bright, even in daylight and runs on a rechargable battery (no more AAA blinkies for the rear of the bike for me, all they do is fall off (I lost two last week) and they are not visible in the day time. I ride a major N/S road to work every day and having enough light is critical. Also, Planet Bike has a lightup leg band that works well- I put one around the headtube, and Nathan has a battery operated 'glowstick' that can be clipped around the headtube, seattube or sear rails.

Not only do I peg them onto my tent so I can find it in crowded camp grounds when touring....


At Christmas I usually string a set or two on my bike. I buy them from a local variety store (BigW here but think Walmart etc) around Christmas time. They are only about 4 or 5 bucks a string and are operated by two AA batteries in a little box with a switch. I just wrap liberally around the bike and cable tie to my heart's content!

Last Christmas they had some that were like fine neon rope lights too (about $10). I bought one in fluoro pink and wrapped it around the pink bike. That was really grand!

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Originally Posted by pinkbikes

Not only do I peg them onto my tent so I can find it in crowded camp grounds when touring....


At Christmas I usually string a set or two on my bike. I buy them from a local variety store (BigW here but think Walmart etc) around Christmas time. They are only about 4 or 5 bucks a string and are operated by two AA batteries in a little box with a switch. I just wrap liberally around the bike and cable tie to my heart's content!

Last Christmas they had some that were like fine neon rope lights too (about $10). I bought one in fluoro pink and wrapped it around the pink bike. That was really grand!

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Ooooh, I like these! Amazon has them for $18 a strand. I will have to wait and decide what I can spend until after I bring my LHT home on Thursday - I know what it is going to cost me but need to make sure that nothing unexpected comes up when they do the work Tuesday.

Have you seen these in the stores outside of Christmas?

http://www.niteize.com/collections/l...cts/l-e-d-wand
http://www.niteize.com/products/spokelit (cheaper at Amazon than from Niteize, last time I looked)
http://www.niteize.com/products/ridelit

I have had occasion (each of the past four summers, to be exact...) to purchase glow bracelets and/or necklaces and/or glow sticks by the hundreds (last order was for a thousand...!), and I get them from here:
http://www.extremeglow.com/

I've tried other places, but that place has good prices and quick service. (Not affiliated with them in any way; just had to find a cheap source of horrible-for-the-environment glow products for my kid to take to camp!)

You can light yourself up, too. :D http://extremeglow.com/Merchant4/mer...y_Code=COSTUME

Poor man's Down low glow

http://www.amazon.com/MAXSA-Innovati...235686&sr=1-12

Here ya go; you can make your own glow-in-the-dark shirt/shorts/etc.: http://www.extremeglow.com/Merchant4...ry_Code=GPAINT

Light up the night! :D

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Originally Posted by Catrin

Ooooh, I like these! Amazon has them for $18 a strand. I will have to wait and decide what I can spend until after I bring my LHT home on Thursday - I know what it is going to cost me but need to make sure that nothing unexpected comes up when they do the work Tuesday.

Have you seen these in the stores outside of Christmas?

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The only place I have seen them here outside Christmas is at Ikea.:(

My new fave rear is the Radbot 1000 rear light, which uses the same mount as the Superflash et al. A friend made this video. I have Superflashes on my helmet and a chainstay. But if there's 2998 others, you won't need a lot of light.

Who knew there were so many (expensive) ways to light up a bike?

I like my Blackburn Fleas. I use them to increase the "see me" factor when I ride during the day. They are rechargeable with a USB connection. They are also light, not too expensive and cuter than most other options. My front one is pink!
http://www.blackburndesign.com/lights.html


Don't forget to decorate your helmet and yourself too. Glow-in-the-dark and reflective clothing would add to the flash.