Sunday was Winter Solstice, which means that the days are now getting longer. Hooray! However, as the recent weather is showing, we still have at least a few months of dark, drizzly, snowy, foggy weather ahead of us. Boo. For those of us who bicycle around a lot, keeping visible in this weather can be a heck of a challenge. I wanted to share something I’ve recently discovered, which is the Reelight. Made by a Dutch company, to quote their blog,

Reelights are daylight running lights for bicycles. With Reelight, you always have lights on your bike – day and night! The permanently fitted magnet lights flash when the wheels rotate and therefore work without any batteries.

You install a couple of magnets on your spokes, the light on your hub, and they’re powered magnetically by the spinning motion. This means that you don’t have to worry about replacing batteries, and they take long enough to remove that they’re much less likely to be stolen than handlebar-mounted lights. Not quite bright enough to be headlights, but enough to greatly improve your visibility. The front light is white, and the rear light is red, just like our automotive brethren.

The most basic model, the SL100, flashes as you pedal, while the top-of-the-line SL150 has a steady beam. A few different independent bike shops in the US carry them (I got mine from Niagara Cycle Works, via mail order), though your Local Bike Shop can probably order them.

For the extra-curious, here’s a youtube video demonstrating a rear light.