pedalnmetal

Apologies if this already made the rounds, but seems like a cool and useful invention for cyclists … invisible during the day, but reflective at night … works on a variety of materials.

Volvo 'Life Paint' for Bikes

non-fixie 

Thanks for the heads-up. Interesting. "Lasts about a week". Hmmmm.

lostarchitect 

There is also a more permanent version. The temporary version is for clothes and such.

fietsbob

Wonder if its safe to spray on you dog when you have to go walk them at Night?

jonnyc1999

I think that's what the original product was marketed for!

lostarchitect 

Yes, there is actually an animal version! I'm not kidding. This product was actually not made by Volvo, they're just marketing it. It's made by Albedo.

Here is the horse & pet version:
Albedo100 | Horse & Pets - semi transparent light reflective spray for applying to fur. Non permanent.

thenomad

Cute.
Nothing protects you from the driver WHO ISNT LOOKING! They'll hide behind "I didn't see you" no matter what you had on: helmet, reflectors, lights.

Because the reason bikes get hit is that we are mysteriously invisible and its up to the rider to make themself seen as opposed to the driver to LOOK.
I'm afraid this'll be just another layer of things that drivers feel should be mandatory for us: reflectors, flashing and non flashing lights, helmets, registration, license, neon everything, reflective bands, vests and belts and now daily spraying of everything?

I venture a guess that the person who seeks this out, buys and then spend time to install this will already own good lights, reflectives and care about safety; rendering this a drop in their safety bucket.

(Rant off. I am into safety and appreciate the option)

KonAaron Snake 

Volvo sent their R&D team to 14 Swedish raves. This is the result.

CliffordK

The one week thing sounds like quite a racket. But some reflective highlights might not be a bad idea.

How about photoluminescent paint? Or would that just be plain eerie.
Glow in the Dark Paint - Solvent Based
Glow in the Dark Powder

Perhaps a photoluminescent main color, with highly reflective highlights.

fietsbob

since this stuff is posted in about every section on the forum , spread the word.

thenomad

Why not Electroluminescent paint jobs?


Electroluminescent paint makes your bike light up the night | News | Geek.com

Omegacom

Hello i m philippe from paris , do you know where is the resaler of life paint in uk ? I m interested to resale the product for france , we don t have this product yet avalaible
thank you
philippe

iab

nybs basically said the same thing. Blame the victim.

Personally, I'll never buy the stuff. Just another company wanting to shirk responsibility. Not surprising that it is a car company doing so.

KonAaron Snake 

Next from Volvo - life bicycle night direction indicators:

lostarchitect 

Volvo has a Lifepaint website which shows all the places you can get it in London.

Otis

Wait, so that wasn't an April 1st joke?

Blue Belly

Looks interesting. Anyone actually use this stuff?

Paramount1973

I'm skeptical. With stuff like this, you have to have the light source very close to your eyes to see the reflectance.

tiger1964 

I could see this interesting to graffiti artists. Bikes, not as much.

noglider 

That works well with motor vehicles.

Blue Belly

About 8 years ago I worked for a construction company. We had printed tshirts a with reflective ink. Actually worked well. Anything that will reflect should help, I would think. I'd be intersted in seeing this stuff
, first hand.

Citoyen du Monde

Back in the 80's, I worked for a compnay that made safety products and 3M was one of big suppliers. We were shipped a tin of black retroreflective paint like that used on road signs. I had it sprayed on a bike frame. The retro-reflectivity was reasonable, but the paint wasn't adapted to the application and it didn't hold out. At the time, I thought it was quite a cool concept. Still do.

Ed.

The reason bicycles and motorcycles aren't seen is very simple. From the time one is a small child one is admonished to always look both ways before crossing a street. What is one told to look out for? A car. There, IMOO, you have it.

pastorbobnlnh 

Spoken by a wise man! Very true.

Paramount1973

The reason I say this is that I bought some 3M black reflectance tape and applied some to my bike fender. What I found was that the tape was highly directional. If I separated the light from my eyes by 18-24", the light fall off from reflectance of the tape was dramatic. This would be similar to the distance between your eyes and your headlights. If the bike was some distance away, the tape worked better as the degree of arc between my eyes and light source became less significant. So, not worthless but less of an effect than I was hoping for.