Drakonchik
Newly Enlightened
I want to put out a heads up on some skateboard LED head and tail lights that are just coming out. The idea of lighting up your skateboard has been around for some time, but finally now some skate product inventors appear to have come up with a line of serious, durable LED products.
Perhaps most of you CPFers are not skaters, but maybe your kids could use these products.
The chief issues with skateboard lights are: extreme vibration; extremely hard knocks on concrete etc; limited space in which to place lights where they won't get thrashed; and where to put what batteries. LEDs and small powerfull batteries address some of these problems.
There are really only three places for LEDs on a skateboard: the hanger (basically the axle), the baseplate of the truck, and the risers (spacers under the baseplate).
Three companies/entrepeneurs/inventors are in the process of launching skateboard LED products that take advantage of these three locations.
Flux Industries, www.fluxind.com, is selling their "Flux Riser" which uses 3 LEDs with coin-size batteries recessed in the risers. It seems they are not selling direct, you must enquire at your local skate store, who may not even have heard of this product yet. You can install the risers at both ends of the board of course and they come in a variety of colors. Price: about $25 per riser. Flux has had another LED riser on the market for some years called "NightGrinders," albeit the thickness of the risers means they're best used only on longboards.
Flux is or will be selling a truck with an LED mounted in the hanger. The product, called "Wicked Lantern," was to have been launched last December but I heard it had to go back into development (a switch issue?). Price: don't know. For more information email Brian Rogers at: [email protected]
A second LED skate product goes by the name "SunRiser" and can be seen at www.designbysumo.com, the site for Design by Sumo Studio of Industrial Design. Their product is a single LED recessed in the risers. Last I checked it was unclear to me when this product would hit the market.
A third LED array for skateboards is called GodzLight, invented by Mark Rains, and sold by his company GodzLight Unlimited. It is I believe a three LED array recessed in the baseplate of each truck. Go to www.godzlight.com, call (405) 282-0710, or email [email protected].
As for myself, I bought a set of the Flux Risers, one red, one green. The LEDs give you a modicum to light to skate by--mmmm, at five miles an hour-- but their principle benefit is making you highly visible to others. The product is light but solidly put together. In the two months that I've ridden (moderately hard) on these risers I have had zero problems, not even the flickering you might expect. If these risers survive for the life of the LEDs, with nothing but battery changes, I will be highly impressed--and well worth fifty bucks.
I you like to skate at night like I do then I suggest you also carry a good flashlight or headlamp. One problem all the above products cannot surmount is the height of the beam--less than three inches of the ground. This severely limits how much topo the beam reveals no matter how much light output.
Perhaps most of you CPFers are not skaters, but maybe your kids could use these products.
The chief issues with skateboard lights are: extreme vibration; extremely hard knocks on concrete etc; limited space in which to place lights where they won't get thrashed; and where to put what batteries. LEDs and small powerfull batteries address some of these problems.
There are really only three places for LEDs on a skateboard: the hanger (basically the axle), the baseplate of the truck, and the risers (spacers under the baseplate).
Three companies/entrepeneurs/inventors are in the process of launching skateboard LED products that take advantage of these three locations.
Flux Industries, www.fluxind.com, is selling their "Flux Riser" which uses 3 LEDs with coin-size batteries recessed in the risers. It seems they are not selling direct, you must enquire at your local skate store, who may not even have heard of this product yet. You can install the risers at both ends of the board of course and they come in a variety of colors. Price: about $25 per riser. Flux has had another LED riser on the market for some years called "NightGrinders," albeit the thickness of the risers means they're best used only on longboards.
Flux is or will be selling a truck with an LED mounted in the hanger. The product, called "Wicked Lantern," was to have been launched last December but I heard it had to go back into development (a switch issue?). Price: don't know. For more information email Brian Rogers at: [email protected]
A second LED skate product goes by the name "SunRiser" and can be seen at www.designbysumo.com, the site for Design by Sumo Studio of Industrial Design. Their product is a single LED recessed in the risers. Last I checked it was unclear to me when this product would hit the market.
A third LED array for skateboards is called GodzLight, invented by Mark Rains, and sold by his company GodzLight Unlimited. It is I believe a three LED array recessed in the baseplate of each truck. Go to www.godzlight.com, call (405) 282-0710, or email [email protected].
As for myself, I bought a set of the Flux Risers, one red, one green. The LEDs give you a modicum to light to skate by--mmmm, at five miles an hour-- but their principle benefit is making you highly visible to others. The product is light but solidly put together. In the two months that I've ridden (moderately hard) on these risers I have had zero problems, not even the flickering you might expect. If these risers survive for the life of the LEDs, with nothing but battery changes, I will be highly impressed--and well worth fifty bucks.
I you like to skate at night like I do then I suggest you also carry a good flashlight or headlamp. One problem all the above products cannot surmount is the height of the beam--less than three inches of the ground. This severely limits how much topo the beam reveals no matter how much light output.
