Brilliant Bike Glows Like the Sun When Headlights Hit It

Brilliant Bike Glows Like the Sun When Headlights Hit It

Posted by maghestra on Thursday, March 20, 2014 0

The Lumen is the new bike from Mission Bicycle Co. that lights up when headlights hit it. Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

The Lumen is the new bike from Mission Bicycle Co. that lights up when headlights hit it.Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company The powdercoat has millions of tiny spheres embedded inside that reflect light Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

The powdercoat has millions of tiny spheres embedded inside that reflect lightPhoto courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company The reflection is still quite brilliant, even from far away. Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

The reflection is still quite brilliant, even from far away.Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company By day, it looks just like a sparkling gray paint job. Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

By day, it looks just like a sparkling gray paint job.Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company The Lumen can be set up as an 8-speed with riser bars. Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

The Lumen can be set up as an 8-speed with riser bars.Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company A different configuration: single-speed with bullhorns. Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

A different configuration: single-speed with bullhorns.Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company Even the rims are coated in the super-reflective paint. Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

Even the rims are coated in the super-reflective paint.Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company It's a handsome machine, all aglow. Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

It's a handsome machine, all aglow.Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company Visibility is less of an issue when your whole bike lights up in traffic. Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

Visibility is less of an issue when your whole bike lights up in traffic.Photo courtesy of Mission Bicycle Company

We city-bound cyclists invest countless dollars in gear to make us more visible to the giant SUVs, surly cabbies, and enraged Ubers we coexist with on our commutes. We glue, sew, strap, and tie lights and reflective strips to our packs, bikes, helmets, and shoes–all in an effort to reduce, however slightly, the chance of getting killed by a driver who will ultimately claim he “just didn’t see you there.”

So here’s a bright idea that turns not just the rider, but the entire ride, into one big glowing road-going HEY!.

The Lumen is the latest bike from the artisanal builders at San Francisco’s Mission Bicycle Company. The entire bike– frame, fork, and rims–has been sprayed with a retro-reflective coating. Hundreds of thousands of tiny transparent spheres are embedded in a top-layer of powdercoat. This trick was mastered by a company called Halo Coatings, which joined Mission Bicycle Co. to develop the Lumen.

During the day, the Lumen looks like a city bike with a snappy, slightly sparkling gray paint job. But at night, it comes alive. The reflective action relies on the “cat’s eye” effect. When illuminated by a car’s headlights (or any light source), each microscopic sphere reflects light back at the source. The closer the car gets, the greater the intensity of the reflection. It’s a trick that’ll surely get you noticed–as long as the driver’s view isn’t completely obscured by the screen of his Galaxy Note.

The Lumen comes in different configurations–both single-speed and internally geared–and is available as a frameset ($499) or a complete bike ($1,245).

Pre-orders are being handled through Kickstarter, and the frames will be delivered in July. Normally, we’d encourage you to take delivery dates on Kickstarter campaigns with a big grain of salt, but Mission Bicycle Co. is a real-deal company with a brisk business and plenty of experience in honoring web pre-orders — I rode the company’s last Kickstarter project, the Sutro, in 2012 and really liked it — so you can feel confident the Lumen will arrive in a timely manner.

Michael oversees WIRED's consumer products coverage. He plays bass, rides bikes, and collects spacer GIFs. Write to him at mike at wired dot com.

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