These Bluetooth Lights Turn Your Bike Wheels Into Turn Signals

Safety lights are one of the most important pieces of bicycle equipment, especially if you ride at night or in low-visibility weather conditions. Most look the same -- a large, forward-facing beam under your handlebars and a slim row of red LEDs under the saddle. But Revolights are a little different. For years now, the company has been experimenting with lights that attach directly to your wheels and, by constantly analysing your speed, illuminate at just the right moment to create two arcs of light. The new Eclipse, which it's pitching on Indiegogo, is its most ambitious set to date. For starters, there's now a rechargeable "snap-in" battery which removes the awkward, dangling cables from before. The Eclipse+ version is also Bluetooth-enabled, meaning you can track your rides and monitor battery life from your smartphone, as well as trigger turn signals -- a full, flashing ring of lights on one side -- through a control pad on the handlebars, an app, or by gesturing with a smartwatch.

With the new Revolights app, you can also turn the lights on and off remotely -- useful if you're leaving the office with your hands full -- and have them set up to switch on automatically at a specific time, or whenever the sun is about to go down.

The lights are attached to the wheels via four large, circular rings -- two on the front, two on the back -- which snap onto the spokes. Each wheel has 24 equally spaced LEDs which illuminate in time with your pedalling using data from a fork-mounted magnet and integrated accelerometer. This keeps a smooth, consistent beam on both wheels and also triggers a series of quick red flashes whenever you hit the breaks. At the time of writing, you can reserve the Eclipse for $149 and the Bluetooth-enabled Eclipse+ for $209 on Indiegogo. Revolights says they're safer than competitors because they disperse light in every direction, but in all honestly -- their looks alone are enough to get us interested.