The scary truth is for a lot of commuters, the question when it comes to vehicle collisions isn’t ‘if’, but ‘when’. Thankfully some entrepreneurial urban cyclists take inspiration from their close calls and set out to create products that will help keep themselves and other riders safe. After a near-hit from a driver who came from the side (and apparently didn’t notice his front or rear facing lights), Chris Flynn started working on the concept of the Nori Lights.
Flynn has been refining the Nori Lights for four years, and has optimized his design into a highly visible light system that achieves a considerable run time using coin-cell batteries. We’ve seen other wheel mounted lights before like the Revolights, which offer features like turn signals and smartphone connectivity. The Nori Lights don’t offer much more than on/off/strobe, but they’re very simple in operation and should make you pretty easy to spot on the roads…
The Nori Light system is comprised of two components- reactive strips that adhere to your rims, and UV activating pods that illuminate them from either side. The complete kit comes with 30’ of rim strip material and four pods to provide light from each side of your fork and chain or seat stays.
The UV pods easily attach to your frame and fork legs with their built in silicone straps. The easy on/off design makes them quick to remove so they don’t get ripped off by thieves, and convenient to swap between multiple bikes set up with Nori’s rim strips.
The Nori Lights’ UV activating pods have been fine tuned to emit a narrow range of UV wavelengths that react highly with the rim strip material. The company claims the strips shine bright enough to cast an aura of light on the road around you. The pods offer three lighting modes- On (constant), plus slow and fast tracers (strobe).
Each pod contains two coin cell batteries that provide 60-80 hours of run time, and are compatible with rechargeable batteries (non-rechargeables are included). The pods feature water resistant silicone bodies with easy access on/off switches.
While the Nori Lights would be easiest to install on bikes with disc brakes, coaster brakes or no brakes (eg. BMXers), they can be used on bikes with rim brakes- provided you have 1/4” of space on the sidewall that is not contacted by the brake pad. Nori claims most bikes with rim brakes would be compatible, but I’d be sure to check if your rims have enough space to accommodate a brake pad and a Nori strip. The company suggests swapping to narrower brake pads if your rims have shorter sidewalls.
The Nori Light kits are available online for $99 USD in Aqua Blue, or $79.99 in Electric Green. The kits include everything you need to get rolling, and are covered under warranty for one year. Additional rim strips are available separately for setting up multiple bikes.
