As Kent was riding home one night, he wondered why his bike's headlight, meant to illuminate the road ahead of him, was mounted on the handlebars. Why couldn't the light be closer to the ground? He put his engineering mind to work, and Revolights were born.

Revolights Demo Video

HOW IT WORKS

The arcs of light are formed by LEDs programmed to detect your speed and blink on as they pass the front or rear of the bicycle.

BATTERY LIFE
4 hours
LUMINOSITY PER WHEEL
134 lumens
WHEEL SIZE
700c rims (622mm)
WEIGHT PER WHEEL
7 ounces
Waterproof
Anti-Theft Design
The Revolights bike lighting system (patent pending) consists of two narrow rings of LEDs that mount directly to each wheel using a series of rim-specific clips. Lithium-ion batteries, bracket-mounted to the front and rear hub, supply power to the LEDs. The batteries are slim and lightweight, and can be charged via USB. A small, fork-mounted magnet and an integrated accelerometer provide speed and orientation data to the rings. This allows the LEDs to illuminate only when oriented at the front or rear of the bicycle.

EASY INSTALLATION

Attach the clips to each rim and screw the LED hoops in place. Run the wire down the length of a spoke and connect it to the battery bracket. Clip the batteries in, and you're ready to ride!
Align Clips
Tighten Screws
Snap Hoops

LIGHTING + SIGHTING

Revolights ensure maximum safety by providing both lighting and sighting in one fully-integrated, revolutionary design.

LIGHTING

Revolights provide cyclists with superior lighting by fully illuminating the path in front of them. By moving the light source closer to the ground, Revolights enable cyclists to safely avoid potholes, debris, and other previously unseen dangers.


SIGHTING

Unlike traditional bike lights, which project light in only one direction, Revolights cast 360 degrees of illumination, making it much easier for others to sight the rider. This improves safety tremendously, as most nighttime bike-car collisions are due to inadequate side visibility.

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ABOUT US

Late in 2010, Kent was chatting with Adam about an idea he had for a new kind of bike light. He pulled out his phone and played a video of an early prototype. "Dude," said Adam, immediately impressed. "We should start a business."

Adam and Jim began to draft a business plan, secure copyrights, and get the word out while Kent continued to develop and refine his innovative prototype.

Initial project funding was achieved via a kick-ass Kickstarter campaign, with over 1,400 generous supporters—including hundreds of Yellow Jersey backers giving a total of $215,621.

The Revolights Founding Trio all grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where innovation is the norm. Kent, Adam, and Jim are excited to make their revolutionary lights available to cyclists worldwide. They hope to provide safer roads for riders and drivers alike, and to push the market toward more forward-thinking, safety-minded products.


FOUNDER BIOS

Kent Frankovich
The Mastermind. Our technical powerhouse. Kent holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford. In his previous life, he worked in the field of medical devices.

Jim Houk
The Motivational Speaker. Capable of clearly communicating any concept, regardless of its complexity. Jim received both a BS in Biomechanics and an MBA from UC Davis. Currently working in the biotech industry, he hopes to put his education to work turning ideas into reality.

Adam Pettler
The Mad Scientist. A frequent proclaimer of spontaneous thought. Adam holds a BS in Molecular and Cellular Biology from UC Berkeley and an MBA from UC Davis. He loves developing new and innovative projects, and spends nights and weekends working in the biotech industry.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

When will Revolights be available to Purchase?

To make the most out of our kickstarter funding, we've decided to specifically focus on completing the design for a few more months. The Revolights US product launch will take place in late June '12, and the lights will retail for $220 US. We intend to pre-sell a limited number of units prior to launch. For all updates, sign up for our mailing list or follow along via our Facebook page or Twitter feed.

Will it fit my bike?

Currently the Revolights bike lighting system is developed for Road and Hybrid 700 series rims (aka 700c, aka 622mm). If you don’t know your rim size, please email us with any numbers you can find in your tire or rim and we’ll help you figure it out! Revolights will be adapted to more sizes in the future.

Do the lights still blink when at rest?

There has been a lot of feedback regarding the stationary illumination pattern as seen in our YouTube video . To address this feedback we've incorporated an accelerometer into the electronics which maintains the unique Revolights "arcs" at rest.

How easily can they be stolen?

The Revolights bike lighting system can only be installed (and uninstalled) with your wheel removed. Therefore they are not, in the current v4 easy to steal. They are only as easy to steal as ones wheel. We consider thievery a certain design priority.

Do the lights flicker when the bike is moving, like in the video?

In the video it appears that the lights are blinking. That’s an effect from the camera. The human eye will see a solid arc, in person, due to a phenomenon called persistence of vision (POV).

How long does a battery charge last?

~ 4hrs in the front; longer in back. The current battery spec’ed is a 1000mAh battery. 8 LEDs sink about 250mA total during operation, making for about 4h of runtime.

How much light is projected (in lumens)?

~134 lumens. Each LED is rated for 16.8 lumens of light, and since 8 LEDs are on at any one moment the total projecting forward is 134.4 lumens.

Does speed affect the position of the illuminated arcs?

v4 includes a magnetic timing mechanism that calculates your speed and, based on an algorithm, maintains the illuminated arc size and position. There are plans to incorporate an accelerometer into future designs as a more robust solution.

Can they handle extreme cold and snow conditions?

So far we don’t know how tough they’ll hold up riding in snow and being exposed to salt. We have had a number of messages from people in cold environments, so it’s definitely a big deal. Wet and cold will be of no issue but the impact of snow/salt on the rings over time could be another story. We are taking comments like this into account as we finalize the design. We’re on it.

More questions? Email us.

REVO BLOG

This blog chronicles the development of Revolights, from October 2010 to the present day. The evolution of the revolution.


Read more posts on the Revo Blog »

CONTACT

General Inquiries
info@revolights.com

Press Inquiries
press@revolights.com

The Founders
Kent Frankovich: kent@revolights.com
Adam Pettler: adam@revolights.com
Jim Houk: jim@revolights.com

Join our mailing list to stay up to date on our progress:

@revolights

facebook.com/revolights

STORE

We're currently in the lab putting the finishing touches on the Revolights bike lighting system. We’re expecting them to be ready for purchase here in late June 2012 for $220, and in stores soon thereafter.

Follow our blog, twitter, or facebook to track the progress, or input your email below and we'll let you know when you can get your Revolights on. Be the first to light up your city!

All proceeds from t-shirt sales will go to support the continued development of the Revolights bike lighting system.
T-shirts are for sale here.