six of the best
GADGETS FOR CYCLISTS
LUMOS HELMET, £130.44, lumoshelmet.co
LAUNCHED with the help of crowdfunding platform Kickstarter last year and a recipient of the Beazley Designs Of The Year award by the London Design Museum, the Lumos is a smart helmet with lights integrated in the front and rear. Coming with a whopping 60+ built-in lights, the helmet reacts to the speed of the cyclist, displaying a braking light as the speed tails off to alert other road users of the cyclist’s intentions. One really great feature is the illuminated left and right signal. Each charge – via the micro USB port – should give you 30 minutes of light every day for a week.
IMMOBITAG ELECTRONIC CYCLE PROTECTION, currently £10 (was £15), Halfords
NOW just £10, this tiny electronic tag fits into the bike frame beneath the seat. Register the tag online and if taken, you can change the status of the cycle to ‘stolen’ and the details will be updated on the police national mobile property register. Upload pictures of the bike, relevant receipts, frame numbers and descriptions on the site when you register.
RECHARGEABLE BIKE LIGHT SET, £25, Halfords
MANY lights are battery powered but there’s now a good corner of the market offering lights that can be charged via a USB port. This set by Halfords has three different modes; high, low and flashing, and a run time of eight hours for the front light on flashing mode and five on the rear on the same sequence.
MIO MIVUE M510 RIDER DASH CAM IN BLACK, £129.99, Currys
THIS camera can be mounted to helmets, is waterproof and offers up to 150 minutes record time – you’ll need to buy a memory card and charge via the enclosed USB cable – the camera will capture journeys and has a special night vision mode.
LINKA UNISEX BLUETOOTH BICYCLE LOCK, Black, £149.99, amazon.co.uk
ONCE hooked up to your smartphone, Linka senses your approach and auto unlocks as you come close. If the bike is tampered with, the bike alarm is activated, an ear-splitting 100db, and notifications sent to you immediately. The lock is hard mounted above the rear wheel to the frame so you’ll still need to use a D-lock or similar, but if thieves do take off with it, the bike will be immobilised.
GARMIN EDGE 520 CYCLE COMPUTER, £219.99, Halfords
THIS bike gizmo serves up stats as pedal power is detected. It will reveal speed, distance, lap speed, ascent, descent and calories burned. It will also send weather updates and live tracking and stats.