Pedalite - Ankle Lights

Pedalite:

Pedalite International is a UK based company that designs, manufactures and distributes environmentally friendly safety products worldwide. The company's best selling products include the unique 360 degree visibility battery-free pedal lights, for cyclists, that harvest Kinetic energy and the stores it to efficiently re-use and keep the safety lights on even when cycling has stopped. The Pedalite Baglite and Anklelite products harvest light energy, which is a form of solar energy and are used by cyclists, walkers, horse-riders, runners and many others. The range is complemented with sub-range of organic (eco) lubricants, greasers and cleaners under the Green Oil brand.

Pedalite was originally conceived in 1998 following a near-miss accident in Kingston-upon-Thames (a district in the West of London, UK) involving a bike cycling without lights. On a dark, rainy night and Chris Stimpson drove to a local pub to meet with friends. At a road junction he had to swerve suddenly to avoid a collision with a cyclist that had no lights on his bike, had been virtually invisible and appeared to “come from nowhere”. The near miss was later discussed amongst the group of friends and an engineer and inventor with a number of patents already to his name, Richard Hicks, agreed that something was needed that would be the third great lighting essential on a bike (along with front and rear lamps). It would require no maintenance. It would flash and keep flashing without the need for batteries and, unlike a dynamo, it wouldn’t fade when you stopped pedalling. In other words, if you got on your bike, you had lights that were on all the time and couldn't be turned off. This was the original "blueprint" for the battery free Pedal lights.