The 5 Most Exciting New Cycling Safety Accessories

Cycling regularly can be stressful. Riding beside lorries and buses, and being mindful of blind spots are just some examples of the issues cyclists face on Britain’s roads. Thankfully, there are several new start-up companies inventing cycling safety accessories utilising the latest technology to help make cycling easier and safer.

Here are five of the best new innovative cycling safety accessories that could save cyclists’ lives for years to come.

Lumos bike helmet – RRP: $134 (£95) - pre-order for September 2016 delivery

The Lumos helmet is the world’s first smart bike helmet that provides LED braking and turning signals. With a built-in accelerometer, Lumos also detects when you’re slowing down and automatically displays brake lights so people behind you can easily see and adapt to your change of speed.

Hand signals are hard to pick up at night. That’s why Lumos provides left and right turn signals controlled by a wireless control pad on your handlebar so that road users behind can clearly see your intentions.

Key features

• Automatic brake light sensors
• Turn signals controlled by wireless remote on handlebar
• A comfortable, sleek and strong helmet
• Over 60 LED lights
• Waterproof
• Rechargeable micro USB battery

Blaze Laserlight – RRP: £125

The Blaze Laserlight combines an LED light with a laser to project a bike symbol six metres ahead of you. It gives the cyclist a much larger footprint on the road and alerts other vehicles and pedestrians to their presence.

The bike projection will mean that cyclists are more visible in blind spots next to HGVs and other vehicles. Blaze says that 79% of cycling accidents occur when a bicycle is travelling straight ahead and a vehicle manoeuvres into their path, because the vehicle hasn’t seen the cyclist. The Laserlight could change that.

The Laserlight also aids cyclists by warning other drivers exiting side roads of your arrival. At night, it can be tough to see oncoming cyclists, but with the Laserlight, it’s even harder to be missed. The same applies to pedestrians who might be walking in-between parked cars and fail to see you coming.

Key features

• Best-in-its-class LED bike light
• Projects laser bike image 6 metres ahead
• Up to 13 hours of light with each full charge
• Simple, fast on/off mounting
• USB chargeable
• Waterproof

Blubel cycle bell - RRP: £65

Blubel is a smart cycle bell that knows its way around your city. It sits on your handlebars like a normal cycle bell, but connects with the Blubel app to navigate.

Blubel works in a very simple way: you just type your destination in the Blubel app and press go. It connects with the device automatically and then navigates you using a series of lights.

When approaching a particular turn, a yellow light will show, followed by a green flickering light to indicate that you actually have to make the turn. There’s also a blue light that indicates the final destination.

“The Blubel came about through my own cycling experience,” says Sasha Afanasieva, founder of Blubel. “I found it incredibly difficult at first to find my way around London, I kept being directed onto busy streets and I realised it would just be so much simpler and easier if there was something to navigate me. I broke a few smartphones trying to check the map, so I realised there needs to be something better!”

“London is a really great place to cycle, but the road system is really quite complex, so we believe if we can make it work here, we can make it work anywhere in the world,” she added.

Key features

• Blubel automatically connects to your smartphone
• It gives you colour coded directions on a simple interface
• It recalculates your route if a wrong turn is made
• Press ‘PARK’ on the app to mark precisely where you left your bike
• Dangerous roads can easily be found through stats on which roads have the most clicks of the bell
• It is a useful crowdsourcing tool for collecting mass cycling data

Get all the launch information first and up to 40% off if you sign up on the Blubel website.

Skylock bike lock – RRP: $179 (£125)

Skylock is the world’s first solar-powered, connected bike lock. Every year millions of bikes are stolen, despite being securely locked to lampposts and fences. But the Skylock is a game-changer that will make theft harder. It has a built-in triaxial accelerometer that senses anything out of the ordinary and alerts you instantly via your smartphone.

Riding with a Skylock could even give you and your loved ones extra peace of mind. That’s because if you’re unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident, Skylock’s triaxial accelerometer can detect many types of serious injury and will notify both your trusted family or friends and the authorities with a crash alert.

Skylock’s keyless entry is another handy feature for cyclists. First of all, there are no keys to worry about remembering or losing. Instead, you can choose to unlock your bike through a button on the app or automatically when you’re within your chosen proximity radius. You can also grant access to any of your family and friends via the app.

There is also a fall-back option of a ‘capacitive touch’ code, should you forget or lose your smartphone. It’s really easy to set up and just requires you to create a patterned code. Entering the code will unlock your bike if your smartphone battery ever runs out.

The lock’s built-in solar panels will recharge the battery in just one hour of full sunlight and will produce enough energy to keep it going for a week. It can be charged via USB, and when fully charged Skylock has enough power to run for six months.

Key features

• Keyless – unlock through your smartphone
• Crash alert – can detect many types of serious injury and notify anyone in your trusted network
• Theft alert – uses a built-in accelerometer to detect theft threats. Skylock detects motion and notifies you with an alert
• Shared access – you can set up your own bike sharing system on the Skylock app and grant access to any of your friends
• The world's first solar-powered bike lock
• Capacitive touch – set up a patterned code to unlock your bike

 

Blinkers bike lights – back the project on Kickstarter for February 2017 delivery

Blinkers bike lights are smarter than your average bike light. The rear blinker includes the majority of its safety functionalities like indicators and a rear brake light. Meanwhile, the front blinker complements the back blinker perfectly, ensuring visibility from every angle.

These innovative bike lights have several awesome safety features. There are front and back indicators, controlled by an ergonomic remote on the handlebars, which is easily reachable with your thumb. The brake light also alerts road users of any changes in your speed.

Blinkers bike lights also have a laser perimeter feature that creates a safety boundary either side of your bike via two laser beams. This feature gives other vehicles an understanding of how much space and respect they need to show a cyclist on the road to keep them safe.

Blinkers are smart bike lights, so they automatically activate when you attach them to your bike. They can also measure daylight through a light sensor, adjusting the brightness of the lights accordingly. The company says that if you only use the Blinkers for one hour a day, then you’ll only need to charge them once a week – ideal for any cycling commuter.

“Blinkers are a set of lights that help cyclists be seen, understood and expected by other vehicles on the road, from every angle and in every situation,” adds Javier Bilbao, Chief Operating Officer of Velohub.

Key features

• Turning indicators – rear blinker indicates the direction of your turn
• Braking light – rear red light warns vehicles behind that you’re braking
• Laser perimeter – two laser beams create a safety perimeter around the bike
• USB rechargeable battery
• Fully water resistant