Blink Steady Secure Rear Light flashes through Kickstater success, moves on to retail
Back in May, the Blink Steady light was launched via Kickstarter with much success. The project was successfully funded with a total $82,367 coming from 777 backers. They were only asking for $35,000. The light was a hit, and the company had a lot of orders to fill. Those orders have been processed, and the light is ready for a full on retail assault. Ordering one can be done online, direct from Blink Steady for $125.
To find out what that $125 gets you, hit the jump.
What you get for your hard earned money is one very well designed, CNC’d aluminum casing that houses some fancy tech. First, the light secures to your seatpost via a 2mm allen bolt that implements a nylon tip so that it won’t mark up or damage your post, carbon or otherwise. The light them mounts to the bracket via two more secure screws. The Blink Steady light includes an accelerometer as well, which allows the light to turn on when it detects motion, and off when the bike is no longer moving. Depending on the orientation of the light when mounted, it will either turn on in the steady mode, or the flashing mode. I like the “set it and forget it” mentality here. My only wish is for a matching front light that operates the same.
As mentioned, the casing for the light is CNC’d aluminum. The two .5w LED’s are visible through a lexan window, and the main body is kept waterproof thanks to the rubber o-ring seal between it and the mounting plate.
Full Specs:
Run Times:
200 Hrs Blink Mode*
80 Hrs Steady Mode*
Standby Time: More than a year.**
Materials: Machined Aluminum, Polycarbonate Lens, Stainless Steel Screws.
Power: (2) AAA Batteries
Weight: 60 Grams without batteries.
Lights: (2) .5W LED’s
Dimensions: 2.4” Wide, .5” Thick
Seatpost Sizes: 25mm – 31.6mm
Finish: Silver or Black Anodized
Waterproof: Yes
* Run times are not calculated, but are observed from real bench tests performed until a noticeable drop in brightness.
** Standby time is calculated from the power requirements of the electronic components in their sleep state.
Comments
Make it out of plastic and sell it to the masses.
Agree – $125 for a rear light is just too much, no matter how cool it is!
Annoying having to remove the seatpost to mount it. Most people have more than one bike right?
I’ve had mine for a couple months now, so far so good. The idea is to lock it on there and forget about it. The same reason I’m backing the sparse headlight on kickstarter.
Harry, if one can afford more than one bike, one can probably afford more than one light. And if you live in a city where lights get stolen (like NYC) then this isn’t a bad idea. Personally I’d like to see one in person and see the light it gives off before putting down that kinda cash when my $30 light does well enough.
I’m with Gillis!
125$ for lights wtf
Well, it would not be legal in Denmark.
Its lack of mounting versatility ruins it. Im sure its high quality but I would not pay $20 for it.
are people just excited to get things from kickstarter? how much more difficulty is involved with remembering to flip a switch, as opposed to having an accelerometer activate the light? what’s next, body piercings with LED’s, you don’t have to remember them if they are attached to your body.
and Gillis, in New York people have to secure their seats and seatposts to protect them from theft. So a light that is securely bolted on will not be left behind by thieves, it will be stolen along with the saddle and post, maybe the whole bike. At least then there’s no need for a tail light, and you can try to secure funding for a new bike via kickstarter.
If I had a single bike I always used for commuting I’d check this out, but I have about 4 in my current rotation, and I’m not about to drop $500 to set them all up.
This idea is flawed and unsafe unless there is a delay that keeps the light on for a few minutes after the bike is stopped. It is very unsafe for a rear light to turn off when stopped at at traffic light or a stop sign! I smell a lawsuit coming up.
So, what’s the point of this? I don’t get what this makes it better than a regular tail light.
JimmyZ, I lived in NYC for four years and never had my seat/post stolen. And that was a Thompson with an old Flite Ti saddle and a regular bolt clamp. But I had at least 3 tail lights of the $30 variety stolen. If you’re riding a Brooks with a NOS Campy seatpost, then yeah, that’s probably something you should be taking with you.
The biggest issue here is that I need to take off my saddle to put this thing on. Taking off two torx bolt is not and issue. Taking off the saddle and putting it back to the right spot and straight is.
Bahaha. Interesting concept but I’ll stick with my much better designed, waterproof, lighter and rechargeable Knog Blinders, thank you very much
These lights seem to be aimed more at the loaded urban/cafe/fixie crowd rather than serious riders.
For less you can get Exposure Flare lights that are brighter, more compact and can be (re)moved in seconds.
Re: Gillis
For many people nowadays two or three sets of decent lights are a luxury and there is no point of buying many sets if one can be easily moved from one bike to another.
For theft there is nothing better than not leaving anything that attracts attention on a bike at all whether it’s removable or not.
$125 buys a lot of Princeton Tec tail lights and a toggle switch is a lot less failure prone than an accelerometer. Also if you really don’t want your light stolen you need to take it with you. That said, I work in the Portland suburbs and park in front of a security guard so I even leave my expensive LED headlight in place without worries.
BBB, are you listening to yourself? Multiple bikes are a luxury! If you can’t afford a extra light or two then you probably shouldn’t have the extra bike(s).
for that price a bit of side visibility would be appropriate I think.
I have a fairly decent fully rigid mountain bike (upgraded over a long time), one cheap retro road bike and a rubbish pub/utility/shopping bike. Hardly a luxury.
Again I can’t see a point of buying lights that are worth more than the bike itself and which are going to be sitting in a shed unused most of the time.
In a current economical climate when you can loose a job tomorrow it’s a luxury to buy stuff that you don’t need.