The Lumos – a bike helmet with indicators built-in – is now available in America and Europe after its designers raised more than $800,000 via Kickstarter to turn their dream into a reality.
However, the makers will not currently ship to Australia due to specific local safety standards. Lumos say they have received lots of interest from Australians about the product and are working hard to find a cost-effective solution to be able to supply the hi-tech helmet Down Under.
On their website, Lumos explain: “Australia is one of the few countries in the world that has mandatory helmet laws. It’s not so much a question of passing Australia’s helmet safety standards, but its cost. Each batch of helmets brought into the country has to be sampled and physically tested to pass the tests.
“This is fantastic from a safety and quality control point of view, but these requirements directly affect our costs to deliver units to Australia, and we need to do more research before we can have confidence to be able to say that, yes, we can get this done without the costs being too high for you.
“That being said, because so many of you are interested in Lumos, we are going to accelerate our efforts to get this done as soon as we can! We want to thank you so much for your interest and support and please know that we’re figuring this out.”
In the meantime, our American sister site bicycling.com have got their hands on the Lumos and posted the following review:
“As important as lights are to rider visibility, it’s all too easy to lose them, forget to charge them, or leave them out on a locked bike to tempt passing thieves. Lumos, the ‘Next Generation Bicycle Helmet’, as billed on its wildly successful 2015 Kickstarter, aims to solve these problems—and many more.
“Lights might be hard to keep track of, but your helmet likely is not. With more than 60 LEDs on the front and back of the helmet, not only does Lumos make it simple to bring the requisite number of lumens with every ride, but it also has a few fun, next-level features integrated as well. The most novel of these is the incorporation of turn signals. After all, even if you’re using your arms to dutifully signal all your turns at every intersection, how visible are your gloved hands to drivers at night?
“I wanted to see how effective Lumos would be in city traffic, so I charged up the helmet (via USB for two hours) and had a co-worker drive behind me as I wove through town after dark. First, the pros: My co-worker reported that the lights were bright and could be seen from 50 metres away as I rode toward and away from him. The lights were also higher and larger than traditional bike lights—and more visible from eye level in his truck.
“As for the turn signal function, it was simple to use and operated through a two-button remote that unobtrusively mounts to your handlebars. Synchronised with the helmet through an app and your phone’s Bluetooth, the turn signal blinks on when you hit the left or right button and stops when you hit the button again. You can adjust the settings so the helmet beeps to let you know the signal is working. When you want to stop, a built-in accelerometer causes the helmet to replicate brake lights. Pretty cool, right?
“The turn signals could be seen clearly from about 20 metres, according to my co-worker. But here’s where the helmet’s cons come in: Even if drivers notice one side of your helmet rhythmically flashing out your intentions, they aren’t necessarily going to immediately grasp what that means unless they’re paying attention closely. (And have we often known them to do that?) My co-worker said he didn’t put together that I was signalling turns until he had followed me over the course of several of them—and that’s from someone who was on the road specifically to pay attention to my helmet.
“And the brake light mode—even when set to the most sensitive calibration on the app—wasn’t always reliable, even when I stopped completely instead of just scrubbing speed. When it did work, there was a lag, meaning that I was sometimes stopped before the lights activated. That didn’t communicate anything meaningful to my co-worker: For brake light functionality to work optimally with bikes, the lights would have to be attuned to the squeezing of brakes to slow down, and not just the immediate stopping of the entire bike.
“On the other hand, both turn signals and brake lights are cool ideas that could catch on if drivers begin to expect this kind of light messaging from our heads. And the helmet is simple in appearance and comfortable, so even if the turn signal isn’t a function you plan to use, the lights are pretty useful.
“At 442g, the helmet is on the heavy side, so you’ll probably only want to use it for city commutes and keep a separate one for road rides. And that’s precisely what it’s intended for. According to the Boston-based engineers behind Lumos, who are cyclists themselves, the light was designed for the average 30-45 minute bike commute, and the battery lasts approximately 3 hours when the lights are on solid mode or 6 hours on blinking mode. The helmet currently only comes in one size and three colors—pearl white, charcoal black, and cobalt blue. You can pre-order now for $164 at lumoshelmet.co. Oh, and if it helps sway you—Bill Nye (of Science Guy fame) is a big fan!”
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