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Arsenal Cycling works to protect cyclists from distracted drivers

  • Ron 

Thomas Prehn, the 1986 USPRO national road race champion and a noted bicycle industry consultant who rides thousands of miles each year, has launched Arsenal Cycling, a company dedicated to improving cyclists’ safety. Its maiden product, the 4Sync Light, debuted Sept. 13 on Kickstarter, the renowned international crowdfunding platform.

4sync-light

The 4Sync Light combines science and state-of-the-art wireless technology to create a mini networked system of a white front light and three red rear lights that flash in unison with each other. The synchronized strobing creates an impossible-to-ignore pattern on a rider and bicycle.

Arsenal 4Sync Lighting System

“The human brain has an innate ability to detect patterns against a cluttered background,” explained Prehn. “The premise for the 4Sync Light is that its synchronized flashing enables cyclists to be not only seen – but noticed – on the road. It is a proactive defense against distracted drivers – and the only one of its kind.”

The most recently published statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration cite a continued increase in the rate of distracted driving incidents nationwide. According to NHTSA, at any given daylight moment in 2014, more than 587,000 vehicles were driven by someone using a handheld phone. Further, 3,179 people were killed and an estimated 431,000 people were injured in distracted driving crashes.

4Sync Lights have durable silicone straps that fasten quickly and easily to parts of a bike such as the handlebars, seat stays, and the seat post, and parts of the rider, such as the helmet and courier bag. Prehn’s synced strobing design, which occurs automatically when one light is turned on, mimics radio tower lighting and offers an additional benefit of helping drivers discern their distance from a cyclist. Any single light controls the flash pattern of the others, which makes it easy for the rider to change between modes as conditions change during a ride.

Prehn has applied for a patent for the 4Sync design and indicates that it is one of five products that Arsenal Cycling will produce to keep riders safe.

4Sync Lights have an anticipated retail price of $165. They are rechargeable via the included 4-in-1 charging cable and have a run time of 16 hours in “pulse” mode or 24 hours in “group ride” mode, which uses a reduced lumen output. The normal lumen output is 40 lumens for the front white light, and 20 lumens for each of the three rear lights, or 60 lumens total.

To date, the 4Sync Light project has attracted 53 backers on Kickstarter who have committed 30% of the $20,000 funding goal. The funding deadline is Oct. 14. For additional details, including a product demonstration video, please visit Arsenal Cycling’s web page.

Project backers who support the project with $120 or more will receive a set of four lights in December, assuming the project meets its fundraising goal, which allows for creation of final production molds and FCC licensing expenses.

Prehn, whose industry experience includes working at Cateye, Squirt Lube, and his own consumer research and consulting firm, Boulder Sports Research, helped publish the first portable lighting standards that are the broadly adopted ANSE – FL1 Standard.

Tags: bicycle, bicycle industry, Boulder, crashes, cycling, Inventions, kickstarter, Light-emitting diode, Lighting, lumen, Sustainable development, Sustainable technologies, Sustainable transport, technology
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