We’ve already told you about bike helmets with integrated lights and bags designed to bounce back any light source (like the headlights of a car), so it seemed inevitable that bikes should start to glow. Okay…”glow” may be an exaggeration. But the new Lumin model from SF-based Mission Bicycle Workshop will certainly look like the light is being projected out of the bike because the fork, frame, and rims have been treated with a top layer of powdercoat embedded with thousands of tiny transparent spheres that reflects back whatever light source might be shining upon it. The coat employs cat’s eye “retro-reflection,” which bounces back the source light in a focused beam that’s brighter than diffuse or specular reflective patterns. The result? Visibility for up to 1,000 feet. And the closer the light gets, the brighter the reflection. In the daylight, this otherworldly tech is masked by a more mainstream, surprisingly reserved charcoal gray with an iridescent sheen. The bike will come in two configurations, single-speed and internally geared—and can be had as a complete rig ($1,245), or just the frameset ($500). The Kickstarter campaign was successful; those bikes start to ship in July. We’d hope to see more available some time later this summer.
—Nathan Borchelt
