Originally published on Bikocity.
Those of you who want to make sure that your bicycle is lit up at night while riding, but have a dislike of noisy friction-powered dynamos or weighty dynamo hubs, now have an interesting new option — the Xbat. The Xbat is a self-powered LED bike light that is pretty much unnoticeable when in use.
The new offering from Sr. Eco (Sunrise Eco-Friendly Technology) is based on the use of dynamic induction as with conventional dynamo designs, but rather than utilizing conventional designs, the energy created by the interaction of magnets passing against one another or the bike rim is, amongst other things, what is exploited.
To put it fairly simply, when the wheel revolves, the magnets react to the conductible rim of the bicycle wheel and/or the paring magnet that’s mounted to the bicycle, thereby accumulating energy and triggering the compact generator to power the LED.
A press release provides more info:
With Xbat lights, cyclists do not even feel that the bike is creating its own energy. In addition, this technology is stable and robust enough to work in all kinds of weather. The Xbat series of lights features different models for different bicycles. The Xbat-C is designed for bicycles with a C- or V-brake, while the Xbat-D is designed for bikes with a disk brake. The Xbat-M is a tail light for road or city bikes that is designed to be fixed on a carrier or fender. In addition, integrated models are also available to meet the needs of different cyclists. In all cases, all Xbat lights automatically turn on when a bicycle is ridden, without any batteries or direct contact to the rim of a bike’s tire.
A basic Xbat LED light weights only 16 grams, and its LED housing is completely waterproof. Basically speaking, Xbat lights are very compact and wireless, just like ordinary battery-powered lights. Xbat lights are completely silent, unlike traditional dynamos and, best of all, Xbat lights not only look fashionable but also are very easy to mount on a bike.
More interesting than any of that, though, is that the lights don’t die down as soon as the wheels stop spinning — a built-in capacitor will keep the light running for 2–3 minutes afterwords.
Image Credit: Sr. Eco
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