Have you ever pulled off the front of your local road group ride after a hard effort, only to be nearly blinded by your riding mate’s super bright flashing tail light? While visibility is important, rear facing lights are not conducive to comfortable group riding.
Augur, a new Melbourne based Kickstarter company aims to end this blinding with its Wolf Collective Safety Cycling Lights. Similar to many of their competitors, the lights feature powerful CREE LED’s, however the Wolf lights can detect when another Wolf light is within three metres, adjusting brightness depending upon where you are in the pack.
“Whether you are cycling alone, commuting to work, or training with teammates, Wolf ensures that you have maximum visibility, protecting you from other road users without blinding your teammates,” Augur CEO Ewen Smith said in a press release.
The Wolf lights use an infrared communication protocol to control dimming, which means they can only detect other Wolf lights. Smith told BikeRadar, “This is so the Wolf can tell the difference between our lights and car headlights. Otherwise every time a car passed, the tail light would dim.”
The lights themselves are to be made from machined aluminium, run off of a USB rechargeable Lithium Polymer battery, and put out 165 lumens on the front and 35 lumens on the rear. Sold as a set, the Wolf lights have five flashing modes, and according to the press release, transition smoothly in an attempt to avoid any rapid changes in light intensity.
With just under a month to go in its Kickstarter campaign, Augur has raised AU$1,760 of their AU$60,000 goal. If their campaign is successful, the Wolf lights will ship in March 2015 and cost AU$160 — or AU$140 on the early bird Kickstarter special.
For more information or to give your support, please visit the Augur Wolf: The Collective Safety Cycling Light Kickstarter page.