NolaCycle is a project aimed to create a high quality cycling map of New Orleans. Cycling maps include information beyond just streets and their names that benefits cyclists. In our map, we highlight the pavement quality, car travel speed, lane width, and special caution areas (busy intersections, man-eating potholes, or high accident areas). Volunteers help to collect this data by attending mapping events.
The information is then digitized to make a map of the data we collected to help cyclists - young, old, local, and tourist alike - navigate New Orleans.

Check out the blog for updates on the project, ways to get involved, and volunteer mapping events!

If you have questions, feel free to make a public comment on the blog entry or e-mail us directly at info@nolacycle.com.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Cheapest bike lights



Many people ride in new orleans without bike lights. This is foolish, honestly. As much as i love riding in the darkened streets under the moonlight, it's a good way for cars to hit you.

So i've been thinking about a way to achieve a decent LED bike light that lasts months for very little money, one i could distribute to people you see riding dark.

This is especially nice if you are a parade or ride organizer, and want to distribute lights among your riders / paraders--since the lights are not the kind that last an extremely long time.

The lights.

For some reason, you can buy 10 LED lights from a bargain hong kong distributor for about $16. This is less than the cost of two 2016 batteries that you get in each light. If you wanted to run a cheap battery scam...

cheap bike light with rubber band
a bag of lights, and the finished device on my finger

The rubber band holds the light tight against the frame (or a finger). These particular lights come with a key ring, which makes the task of wrapping the light around the frame easier. but, you could also thread a rubber band through the hole in the light itself.

the mount, here demonstrated on my finger

finished!

the light activates with a button or a switch. the switch is what you want to use, naturally.



Re-using?
Here's the internals of the light, showing the 4 screws, and not showing the the 2x2106 button batteries. if you want to re-use the LED, i'm thinking the batteries can be replaced. of course, it's cheaper to buy new, and the most toxic / ecologically costly component of this setup is the batteries.