For some commuters, the style and appearance of their two-wheeled steed is of utmost importance. Commuters must be functional bikes, but they can be pretty easily customized into something fun or ultra-stylish too. German cyclist and industrial designer Fabian Ludwig is one of those particular people- He wanted to create a minimalist light that would illuminate your path without disrupting your bike’s appearance, so Ludwig created the Stikk, a low profile LED light that’s integrated into a bar end cap.
We’ve seen a similar handlebar-lighting concept in HueRay’s illuminated grips, but there’s a key difference- while the HueRays will make you more visible to motorists, they don’t actually project light like the Stikk. While functional prototypes are already complete, the Stikk light’s campaign on Kickstarter needs a little more help before it goes into production. Click past the break to ‘see the light’…
The Stikk light is comprised of two main parts- the socket which is installed into your handlebar, and the light itself which easily pops in for riding use, and pulls out for safe storage. The socket clamps to the inside of your handlebar just like most bar end caps, with an expanding section that’s tensioned with a screwdriver.
The Stikk’s socket is made of ABS plastic, and the light housing is aluminum. The light is held in place by powerful magnets that the creators claim will hold tight no matter how hard you ride. The Stikk should fit in any straight handlebar (anything but super back-swept cruiser bars) with an internal diameter of 22.2mm.
The light can easily be positioned inside the socket at any angle, allowing a range of down/forward adjustment to suit your preference. Also, because handlebars have some amount of back sweep the Stikk’s bulbs are angled inwards by 6° so they will shine directly in front of you… not awkwardly to the sides like Steve Buschemi’s eyes.
The Stikk contains a high powered Cree LED bulb which puts out up to 100 lumens. The lights offer three brightness settings plus a Boost mode and a Pulse mode, which are selected via the Stikk’s single button. One click turns the light on, further single clicks switch between brightness settings, a double click enables the Pulse mode, and a long press switches the Stikk off. You can even check the battery life with a triple click, and the bulb will flash several times to indicate how much juice you have left.
The Stikk lights use one AAA battery, and while standard batteries are perfectly fine the creators recommend using high quality rechargeables. Run times are as follows; 25 minutes on Boost, one to four hours on the steady settings, and 12 hours on Pulse.
The lights are designed to be water resistant enough for typical riding conditions, but submersing them is not recommended. On a final note, the Stikk lights are also useful around the house as an all-purpose magnetic flashlight. Each assembly weighs 48g including the battery, and the light housings will be available in either black or silver finishes.
Early bird supporters can currently pre-order a Stikk light for €50 ($55 USD), and the campaign is on until Jan. 15th. If funding comes through, the first Stikk lights are expected to ship out in July 2016. For further info, check out the Kickstarter campaign here.
