Cyclists who want to enjoy their sport and transportation method while remaining safe and visible, should check out Zackees. Zackees are cycling gloves that have designed with built-in LED turn signals that light up with a simple press thumb press. A bright LED arrow lights up to let drivers know your intention to turn. Zackees are powered by coin cell batteries which are included along with a charger. The gloves are constructed of leather and Lycra with padded palms for extra comfort. The turn signals feature ambient light sensors that increase brightness 4x during the day for extra visibility. Zackees are available in sizes small, medium, and large and are priced at $74.95. For more info visit Zackees.com.
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I’m all for keeping cyclists safe with product that illuminate but as with many things for cyclists, these seem very expensive for what is effectively a glove with some leds and a battery. Personally I think a bike attached signal system is more effective. Also, cycle gloves usually only last 4-6 months before the need replacing.
> Personally I think a bike attached signal system is more effective.
There are three reasons why turn signals on the hand are the best place:
1) A light under your seat is not going to be as effective as an arm stick out in front of the drives face.
2) These gloves allow you to signal in front of you.
3) Mounted turn signals will get stolen, gloves will not because you wear them.
The problem is so few cyclists actually do put out their hand. Also you could argue it is safer to keep 2 hands on the handlebar in certain conditions. As for mounted ones being stolen, it is very simple to make them difficult to remove. As I said I am all for better signalling and illumination but for me, these aren’t it.
> The problem is so few cyclists actually do put out their hand.
And some people don’t signal in their car to change lanes. What’s your point? Should we remove turn signals from cars because some don’t use them properly?
> As I said I am all for better signalling and illumination but for me, these aren’t it.
Well the community of people that have formed around this product strongly disagree with you. That community has been so strong that I was compelled to quit my job at Google as the senior software engineer (after 5.5 years) to bring this product to the world.
You really don’t know how bright we made these gloves. I do because I became an LED expert and in the processed figured out that the Aluminum-Gallium-Indium-Phosphate LED’s at the 609nm wavelength (amber-orange) have an island of peak efficiency in the power-to-lumens curve.
I’ve literally stopped vehicles in their track by flashing my bright blinkers at them. I’ve caused cars to yield to me when I wanted to signal to come into their lane.
The lights that you buy that are mounted only blink, they don’t communicate intentions. They can’t be pointed at a car in 360 degree radius around you.
I appreciate your questions and skepticism, but this isn’t just some gimmick product. This product changed the way I cycled and if you bought a pair it will change the way you cycle, and when you cycle without them you will feel somehow naked and vulnerable.
I guess I just prefer to keep both my hands on the handlebar and can’t be bothered to be raising my arm for turns I wish to make. Also I get through at least 2 pairs of gloves a year. I very much hope your business is successful as I am sure it can only work to reduce accidents and protect cyclists, but as I said, it just isn’t for me. Now, perhaps 2 LED arrows pointing in opposite directions stuck on the back (and perhaps the front too) of the riders helmet might do it for me…just got to work out a way to activate it. Cheers
What I din’t understand is: why don’t they just invent a good blinker-combo for bicycles? It can’t be that hard and would be very safe! Forget all the special gadgets…
Hi there this is the inventor, Zack.
In answer to your question, many have tried but they can’t nail down a good user experience yet. One of my three majors was in psychology (the other being math and computer science) and the user experience was what I identified was holding back the turn signal industry down for cycling. I was obsessed with creating something that was intuitive. Surprisingly no one has made activation plates work and be durable, so we had to go out and invent the technology ourselves. This is the key component of what makes our product so wonderful to use, according to our users.
Would be cool if they made the LED turn signal as an add-on to any pair of cycling gloves…some riders here in Boston ride all year round and would benefit from being able to slip it onto different gloves depending on the weather.
Well, those that love to run around with the “yellow shirts” will pay for this, but as a kid in the 60’s-70’s, we had turn signal head/tail lights on our bicycles.
Cheap too, but in this hipster world, sky’s the limit I guess.