I blogged about my new electric scooter, the Unagi, at this link and this link. I love it! But I failed to mention another gadget I got for the purposes of riding my scooter: my new Lumos Kickstarter Bicycle Helmet.
I’m convinced that wrecking (or being run over by a car) while riding on my scooter is what will either kill me or break every bone in my body; so, in an effort to avoid this, I’m a huge safety freak! I went on a search to purchase a helmet.1 Bubble-wrapping myself might look a bit much, but this thing moves along much faster than I could possible run if I had to jump off in a crash–if that were even possible.
(Normally just the red center “triangle” is lit up)
So, anyway, I found the Lumos Kickstarter Bicycle Helmet and loved it. It’s not your typical helmet. It’s loaded with LED lights in the front and the back and back sides.
You can set the lights to be on/off, flash slowly, or flash rapidly. When you slow down, it automatically detects this and lights up the brake lights across the back of the helmet. It has blinkers on the front and back, and these can be activated by your turning hand gestures (via the Watch) or by a simple wireless remote easily attached to the handbar.
I personally find taking my hands off of the handlebar a bit unnerving. For various complex and not fully understood reasons (physics), a moving bicycle naturally wants to stand up (even if there is no rider on it) and generally continue in a straight line unless it hits a big bump. An electric scooter does not have this proclivity in the least! So, I find using the wireless handlebar turn signal controller much easier and safer than making the traditional turning hand gestures associated with riding a bike.
The software on the iPhone can track your ride or not (your choice) and has settings for adjusting various aspects and data for the helmet. It also notifies you about the charge of your helmet and remote. (In this previous post, the map, in the post, of my ride, was screenshot from the Lumos iPhone app.)
Charging the remote and the helmet (which has about a 2 hour battery life) is simple. And, interestingly, you get longer battery life when the lights are blinking. Lumos provides a magnetic charger that just pops on each and starts charging. The helmet and charger light up green when fully charged.
The only issue I’ve had with the helmet is with the tiny plastic clamp that allows you to adjust the length of the (under the chin) strap. It exploded into pieces the first time I wore it and started adjusting the strap. Fortunately, this didn’t make the helmet unwearable or even unsecured. The people at Sports Basement, where I bought the helmet, said I could either return or replace it when I am back in the city. I’ll either replace it or get a replacement part (if that’s even possible).
Easy to use, and Tim likes. I wear it turned on (fast blinking) when I ride in the day. I really don’t plan to ever ride at night, but if I do, I’ll feel more visible to others when I’m wearing this helmet.
I need to get knee and elbow pads as well. ↩