The weather has taken a turn, which means fewer hours in the saddle and more of them thinking about all the shiny new tech we might use on the next ride when it gets sunny again (we’ll still head out for a bit, just maybe not all day in the driving wind and rain)…
The “world’s first intelligent 360° light and safety system for bicycles, e-bikes and scooters” is coming to Kickstarter soon
It is certainly not the first bike light from a fledgling start-up with lofty claims about safety and AI, and it certainly won’t be the last… but when the term “world first” is thrown around, it’s only right we take a look.
As there are a number of impressive-sounding tech specs, we’re not completely sure what the ‘world first’ bit is meant to be – but Veloneer describes its offering as an “intelligent 360° lighting platform”, so our best guess (until Veloneer respond to our questions) is that it has come up with a front and rear set with intelligent features, not just one or the other.
One thing we don’t think we’ve seen before is the promise of automatic turn signals – how would this work? Veloneer claims its AI + Sensor Fusion Core “instantly analyses your movements and traffic flow with no phone or cloud required”. Hopefully the folks behind it are extremely confident in the tech, because signalling to indicate at the wrong time/in the wrong direction could end pretty badly in the event of a technical fault.
Alongside the indicators, the light system is also said to adjust brightness and trigger brake lights automatically: “Veloneer’s front light senses oncoming traffic and adjusts its anti-glare beam dynamically. It even responds to cornering, braking, and acceleration, broadcasting every motion with vehicle-level clarity.”
We don’t have an RRP yet, but Veloneer will be launching a crowdfunding campaign soon on Kickstarter to (hopefully) get the product into full production. This usually means early backers could get hefty discounts on the eventual RRP. You can get updates on the Kickstarter launch date and get more info here if you’re intrigued.
Kask becomes latest helmet brand to launch a wide and wacky (£600) TT helmet: new Mistral 3.0 promises “a new era of aerodynamic efficiency”
Joining the likes of Sweet Protection and Giro, Kask is the latest cycling helmet brand to offer a time trial and triathlon lid with a seemingly never-ending amount of width – and it’s all in the name of aerodynamic gains, of course.
The Italian brand’s Mistral has been completely redesigned, now optimised for an “extreme” time trial position with the head down: “managing airflow around the lower face and shoulders has become the new frontier of speed”, Kask says.
What sets Kask’s offering apart is the visor, which is super wide to match the helmet’s profile. The Aero Pro Visor 3.0 (a cool £350 on its own in the polished silver colourway) was developed with the help of Filippo Ganna to validate its watts savings in the wind tunnel. It has a 3D-printed Nylon frame, a polycarbonate lens, and it weighs just 70g.
The customary claimed watt savings at speeds you and I will never reach are as follows:
6 watts saved at 45 km/h
8 watts saved at 50 km/h
11 watts saved at 55 km/h
Want it? With a clear visor the helmet costs a whopping £600, and if you want the mirrored visor, it’s an extra £350 on top. While a tiny minority of elite TT specialists and triathletes prepare to go into their overdrafts, most of us are probably more suited to the…
Lazer Blade KinetiCore helmet for road and gravel
If road and gravel is more your thing, you could get yourself six Lazer Blade KinetiCore helmets with 60 quid change left over instead of one Kask Mistral 3.0.
For chasing quiet roads or dusty gravel trails alike, the Blade KinetiCore has Lazer’s TurnSys system with horizontal and vertical adjustment, plus integrated eyewear docking for safe stowing of your shades.
The helmet also features KinetiCore rotational impact tech (Lazer’s answer to Mips) with crumple zones that “redirect impact energy away from the head offering advanced protection”. You can also attach the Universal Lazer LED to the back of the Blade to increase your visibility.
As we alluded to with our wholly unfair Kask Mistral 3.0 comparison, the Blade KinetiCore is priced at £89.99, and will be shipping in August.
Newmen launches 62mm-deep Streem G.62 gravel wheels
Cube’s components arm Newmen reckons the new Streem G.62 wheels open “a whole new chapter” for gravel racing. With a roadie-style 62mm depth, Newmen says fast and light wheels are essential for today’s elite gravel riders because, well, they’re getting faster.
“With average speeds [at gravel races] approaching 40 km/h, they place very specific demands on aerodynamics” says Newmen, who put the wheels through extensive wind tunnel testing to validate its findings.
The German brand also says the wheels hit the sweet spot for tyres of between 45-50mm with an inner width of 27mm and outer width of 45mm. The wide-but-not-too-wide width meant Newmen could also bring the weight right down to just 1,530g per set – which would be a perfectly acceptable weight for road wheels of this depth.
The Streem G.62 wheels are hooked and tubeless-ready, and you can choose between carbon spokes (€1,690 per pair) or steel spokes (€1,390 per pair). They should be available to buy in August of this year.
Swiss Side launches AERO clothing range
More news from a brand best known for its wheels, but this time Swiss Side is here to tell us about its brand new clothing range.
The AERO kit is “developed for maximum performance in high-intensity situations”, says Swiss Side, and is said to be very aerodynamic, hence the all caps on AERO… still, Swiss Side is keen to highlight the versatility of the range, saying the kit provides “a performance-comfort fit adapted for long rides, breathable functional fabrics, and an optimised balance between aerodynamics, comfort, and usability.”
The range includes the AERO Classic jersey and bib shorts, AERO Ultimate jersey and bib shorts, the AERO Ultimate skinsuit, plus a base layer and socks.
China’s Seka Bikes aims to increase UK presence
We told you earlier in the week how China’s Pardus was looking to make waves in Europe, and now we have news of compatriot brand Seka aiming to increase its profile in the UK and Ireland markets through the appointment of Kuga Sport as its exclusive distributor. Kuga already distributes brands like Token, DeFeet and Berk Composites.
> China’s Pardus makes European push with sub-£4,500 6.7kg carbon road bike
Seka is one of the brands that we highlighted last year in our guide to the Chinese bike and component manufacturers challenging the big Western marques.
“Seka has built a reputation for producing high-quality bike frames over the past few years,” we said. “The Spear is the newest model, and Seka reckons that, after collaborating with the Aerocoach team to conduct wind tunnel tests at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub wind tunnel, it can say that you won’t find a faster all-round road frameset than this.”
Seka offers high-modulus carbon fibre frames weighing as little as 685g. It uses aero tube shaping and what it calls “WindEye” tech, which is distinctive architecture at the top of the seatstays designed to “suppress turbulence caused by low pressure areas at the seat tube and rear wheel”. It is also said to absorb road vibrations and smooth the ride.
You can now gain direct access to Seka’s latest bike models, technical support, demo opportunities, and future product launches through Kuga Sports. Head over to www.kugasports.com for more details.
5 thoughts on “Will this AI bike light with “real-time intelligence” and automatic turn signals prove a hit on Kickstarter? Plus Kask joins the OTT TT helmet party (yours for £600), China’s Seka Bikes lands in UK + more”
The whole point of the existence of turn lights it to indicate the INTENTION to turn, not the action itself. Anyone can see you’re already turning!
Every driver should know that, and so should every cyclist… as well as any bike light maker for that matter.
Bike indicators – the idea that refuses to die. Even before you get to questions like “how does it know when you want to turn”, an indicator positioned centrally on the seatpost is unlikely to be clear or conspicuous enough to offer a real benefit, especially when drivers are not (1) best case – expecting you to have indicators; (2) worst case – looking at the road – like the driver who recently overtook me while on his phone, while my arm was outstretched indicating to turn right.
Another cycling turn light that’s useless to most of us , just like rear radar
@wtjs I’ve seen my share of expensive lights come apart due to water ingress, software failure or simply by falling off the bike and getting lost due to a bad attachment mech. How AI is supposed to indicate you wanting to take a turn before you’ve started turning is beyond me.
However, for my riding I do find a use case for rear radar. I’d never trust it with my life but feel that it does make certain parts of my rides safer. On my daily commute I have a stretch of road that’s very straight, level and allows me to go -for me- really fast, about 44 km/h for 2 km or so. Then I need to take a sharp turn left (right-hand driving here) and due to the lay of the road, the speed and wind which impedes hearing and, well, the speed itself, it can become risky and I feel that my Garmin helps. The intelligent course of action would of course be to scrub some speed and take more time to check but what can I say…..
@Xenophon2 Fair enough, personal choice etc., and these pro-radar sentiments are not uncommon. However, in Lancashire where the police have an infinite tolerance to bad driving and unthinking support for bad drivers, radar is useless. How’s it going to help with these?:
ttps://upride.cc/incident/sk19evu_stagecoach42_closepass/
ttps://upride.cc/incident/yx68uwz_stagecoach42_closepass/
ttps://upride.cc/incident/px12dnd_stagecoach41_closepass/
ttps://upride.cc/incident/px12dmy_stagecoach40_closepass/