Possibly the Smartest Bike Light Pedals Ever Promise to Boost Visibility by 57 Percent

The Arclight pedals are the creation of Redshift Sports, a Kickstarter-born company in Philadelphia, which has been in the cycling components business for more than eight years. The bike pedals are made of rugged aluminum and pack in two LED modules per pedal, each with lithium-ion batteries, smart sensors, and a built-in USB plug.

Everything about the Arclight pedals is clever, from design to technology. First off, they are easy to install and remove and are compatible with almost any bike with frames tubes ranging from 0.9 to 1.3 in (25mm to 35mm). All you have to do is unscrew your bike’s pedals and replace them with the Arclight. The company says it even has a solution for clipless pedals, but if you fall in this category, you have to contact them to find out more.

The light modules that go into the pedals stay securely into their slots using magnets, and can also be used on other places on your bike. You can easily remove them from the pedals and attach them to your seat post, handlebars, helmet, and so on. Their versatile multi-mount system with magnetic lock attachment allows you to mount the lights anywhere on your bike in just a few seconds, without requiring additional tools.

With an IP64 rating, the Arclight pedals are suitable in any weather conditions, including heavy rain, dust, and so on.

There are three lighting modes available with the pedals: steady light, flash, and eco-flash. The battery offers a range of more than three hours in the ‘steady mode’, more than 11 hours in the ‘flash mode’, and over 36 hours when used in the ‘eco-flash’ one. You can charge the battery of the LED modules in approximately two hours with any standard USB charger or by using the included USB charging hub to charge all four modules simultaneously.

By having a wraparound design and being mounted into the pedals, the Arclight LED modules provide 360 degrees of protection, making you visible from any angle. The large light footprint they cast on the ground while you are pedaling ensures you will be noticed everywhere you go, from any angle.

The company claims that its pedals amplify the rider’s natural body motion thus increasing visibility by more than half. As reported by Redshift Sports, scientific studies show that your visibility increases by up to 57 percent when adding bio-motion. Arclight’s dynamic, circular motion attracts the attention of both pedestrians and motorists alike.

But wait, there is more! The even more genius thing about these pedals is their built-in SmartSet sensors. What these do is they only switch the lights on when the rider starts pedaling, and they automatically turn them off when the bike gets parked. Moreover, living up to their name, the smart sensors know to change the color of the LEDs depending on their orientation. Forward means the color is white, while rear means they’ll get red.

There’s a complex, ‘sciencey' explanation behind this technology. In a nutshell, there are some magnetic field sensors involved so when you insert the light module into the pedal, those sensors detect a North or South pole, figuring out whether it’s located on the right or left side of your bike. Using gravity, an accelerometer/gyro chip determines the rotational position of the pedal filtering out any motion from actually pedaling, as explained by Redshift Sports co-founder Erik de Brun.

The Arclight bike pedals are currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign and they’ve raised over $67,000, although the company only aimed for $20,000. There are still 35 days left in the campaign.

A pledge of at least $89 will get you one set of the pedals with their four light modules and one USB charging hub. The estimated delivery date is February 2022.