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wingless' 32 LED Wheel Spoke Light Model LC-D016

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wingless' 32 LED Wheel Spoke Light Model LC-D016

Old 12-13-17, 08:30 PM
  #1  
wingless
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wingless' 32 LED Wheel Spoke Light Model LC-D016

The safety during night operation is increased when the bike is made more visible.

The standard reflectors are important / helpful. A continuously illuminated rear red lamp along with a flashing rear red lamp is also very important. So is a bright white headlight.

Recently I added these 32 LED wheel spoke lights to increase night visibility.

The lamp assembly has 16 single color LED devices on each side, four red, four blue, four amber and four green. These blink individually to create a pattern when viewing the rotating wheel.

The installation and the operation are both easy. Install three AAA batteries and clip onto the spokes.

The lamps turn on and off automatically, when motion is detected. The manufacturer lists that best operation is at speeds above 12 MPH.

The lamps detect ambient light level so they automatically only illuminate at night.

The manufacturer lists the lamp as waterproof, without providing an IPC rating. The clear housing appears to be ultrasonically welded, w/ the only opening being the soft rubber battery cover. IMO, it is sufficiently water resistant.

The lamp attaches to the spokes w/ a three-point push-on mount, using three rubber gripping clips. IMO, this is sufficiently secure. I was able to easily position these to avoid mechanical interference w/ parts while rotating.

These are my measurements:
  • Lamp Only (with Battery Door and with Three Spoke Clips) - 59.9g
  • Lamp w/ Three AAA Batteries, Battery Door Cover and Three Spoke Clips - 94.7g
  • 6½" Long x 3-3/4" Wide x 7/8" Thick

This product was purchased by me using cash from my pocket. I have zero affiliation and zero agreement w/ the manufacturer or w/ the vendor.








Operational Video 1

Operational Video 2
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Old 12-14-17, 06:52 PM
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Here are some videos showing on-road operation, at about 14 MPH.



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Old 12-14-17, 07:06 PM
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Originally Posted by wingless
Here are some videos showing on-road operation, at about 14 MPH.
Videos not working for me.
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Old 12-14-17, 08:31 PM
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Originally Posted by tyrion
Videos not working for me.
Please try it now.
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Old 12-14-17, 09:34 PM
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Originally Posted by wingless
Please try it now.
They work now.
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Old 10-03-18, 07:33 AM
  #6  
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My experience w/ these spoke lights continues to be very favorable.My plan is to always use these spoke lights on roadways at night. IMO these spoke lights are at-least as important as the front and rear lights for bicycle visibility to the person sitting behind the steering wheel.

Now that I am also operating on very hilly roads I've noticed that the spoke lights have an effect on wheel balance at higher speeds. I've noticed zero effect at speeds around 20 mph, but when going downhill at higher speeds there is a slight pulsing felt from the wheels that I attribute to the wheel balance being off.
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Old 10-22-18, 11:32 PM
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01 CAt Man Do
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Originally Posted by wingless
My experience w/ these spoke lights continues to be very favorable.My plan is to always use these spoke lights on roadways at night. IMO these spoke lights are at-least as important as the front and rear lights for bicycle visibility to the person sitting behind the steering wheel.

Now that I am also operating on very hilly roads I've noticed that the spoke lights have an effect on wheel balance at higher speeds. I've noticed zero effect at speeds around 20 mph, but when going downhill at higher speeds there is a slight pulsing felt from the wheels that I attribute to the wheel balance being off.
Correct me if I'm wrong but are you only using one per wheel? Judging from the video links you provided that is what it looks like to me. One per wheel is just fine I suppose if you just want to be seen but if you use two per wheel you get a much better / "whole wheel" video like effect. Not to mention the wheels would be more balanced with less vibration when riding at speed.
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Old 10-23-18, 12:33 AM
  #8  
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Originally Posted by 01 CAt Man Do
Correct me if I'm wrong but are you only using one per wheel? Judging from the video links you provided that is what it looks like to me. One per wheel is just fine I suppose if you just want to be seen but if you use two per wheel you get a much better / "whole wheel" video like effect. Not to mention the wheels would be more balanced with less vibration when riding at speed.
Corect, one lamp per wheel.

It would be possible to improve the high-speed balance by usage of multiple lamps per wheel, but the blinking patterns would not be synchronized across the lamps, so the effect seen by observers would not be as-intended.

This 128 LED lamp has four lamp arrays per wheel. The balance will be better. The illumination pattern is synchronized to create a whole-wheel pattern.
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Old 12-07-18, 02:22 PM
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Originally Posted by wingless
My experience w/ these spoke lights continues to be very favorable.My plan is to always use these spoke lights on roadways at night. IMO these spoke lights are at-least as important as the front and rear lights for bicycle visibility to the person sitting behind the steering wheel.

Now that I am also operating on very hilly roads I've noticed that the spoke lights have an effect on wheel balance at higher speeds. I've noticed zero effect at speeds around 20 mph, but when going downhill at higher speeds there is a slight pulsing felt from the wheels that I attribute to the wheel balance being off.
I totally agree about spoke lights being important. I believe that the lights I use give me far more side-to-side visibility than reflectors alone. While I did have wheel reflectors and some strategically placed reflective tape on the sides of my bike, I feel far more visible with the lights in the wheels.

This is what I have:



Cheap but effective lights purchased from Amazon, 5 pack of lights with one green, one blue, one red, and two multicolored (color-changing). I put the green & one multicolored on the front, red and multicolored on the back. The blue one I keep as a spare. They operate on one or two (can't remember for sure) CR2032 battery. Just squeeze them to turn them on or off.

I've gotten lots of positive comments about them from my fellow riders in our club.

And since I use two of them on opposite sides of the wheel, they don't throw the wheel out of balance.
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Old 12-07-18, 02:37 PM
  #10  
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Good solution with the five pack of Amazon lights. It is a great solution for increased night visibility to have moving lights.
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Old 12-12-18, 06:10 AM
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Thanks for posting the videos! Wheel lights on the xmas list.
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Old 05-22-19, 07:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Milton Keynes
I totally agree about spoke lights being important. I believe that the lights I use give me far more side-to-side visibility than reflectors alone. While I did have wheel reflectors and some strategically placed reflective tape on the sides of my bike, I feel far more visible with the lights in the wheels.

This is what I have:



Cheap but effective lights purchased from Amazon, 5 pack of lights with one green, one blue, one red, and two multicolored (color-changing). I put the green & one multicolored on the front, red and multicolored on the back. The blue one I keep as a spare. They operate on one or two (can't remember for sure) CR2032 battery. Just squeeze them to turn them on or off.

I've gotten lots of positive comments about them from my fellow riders in our club.

And since I use two of them on opposite sides of the wheel, they don't throw the wheel out of balance.
Not to resurrect an old thread...

But does these go on and off the spokes easily? So I could toss them on fast if I'm suddenly going out for a night ride and remove them in daytime?

Do the batteries hold up well? The lights are cheap. A 5 pack of batteries would be almost more expensive than buying new lights

If they last 1 full winter though they are probably good enough.
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Old 05-22-19, 12:12 PM
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I use the Nite Ize brand spoke lights. I've received compliments on them. They are very noticeable, and they achieve that while emitting a small amount of light and consuming a small amount of power. Yes, they go on and off easily, but even here in NYC where bike cannibalism is bad, no one steals them off my bike when I lock it up outside. It's a risk worth taking, for me, anyway. They are supposed to use two 2016 cells (20mm wide and 1.6mm thick) but I find they can work with a 2032 cell. The 2032 cell, of course, provides half the voltage but lasts twice as long.

You can find these cells very cheap on eBay, but don't go too cheap. If you buy too many, they may go stale. I like to buy them five or ten at a time.

I use a spoke light in my rear wheel only because having one in my front wheel is too distracting for me. Maybe I should learn to tolerate one in the front, to enhance my safety.
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Old 05-22-19, 04:16 PM
  #14  
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CR2032 coin batteries
You can get 10 packs of these CR2032, name brand like Sony or Maxell, for around $1.50 each from online battery stores. Larger quantities are close to $1.00 each.

There's lots of no-name batteries on Amazon third party sellers for much less than $1.00. I wanted reliable ones for my monitor devices, but for a spoke light, the really cheap ones would be good.
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Old 05-22-19, 05:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Skipjacks
Not to resurrect an old thread...

But does these go on and off the spokes easily? So I could toss them on fast if I'm suddenly going out for a night ride and remove them in daytime?

Do the batteries hold up well? The lights are cheap. A 5 pack of batteries would be almost more expensive than buying new lights

If they last 1 full winter though they are probably good enough.

They install pretty easily, there's a couple of grooves in one side which a spoke goes into, and then it's held on by the wings. I also put a zip tie through the holes in the wings to make sure they don't fly off.

Not sure why you'd want to remove them for day time, I just leave them on and only turn them on during darkness.

The batteries do hold up well, I've had these lights for a year and I've only replaced the batteries once. They use the CR2032 batteries.
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