Glowing bicycle tire

Riding a bicycle at night requires extra caution. For safety, it is recommended that a headlight be used to illuminate the path in front of you. Spoke mounted reflectors and reflective sidewalls are often used to make the sides of the bicycle visible to traffic. This instructable gives a modern twist to bicycle reflectors in which an LED charges a strip of photoluminescent plastic taped to your sidewall. Your wheel will immediately be visible at night. The glow comes from a Crayola Glow Station and Gorilla tape is used as the adhesive to hold everything on your bike.

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Step 1: Step 1. Gather the materials and tools

Tools
-Scissors
-Hacksaw
Materials
-Crayola Glow Station Light Wand
-3 AAA batteries
-Crayola Glow Station Light Canvas
-Gorilla Tape 1.88” wide

Roadfighter says: Dec 28, 2012. 12:49 PM

That gives a nice effect and it can be easy done. But sorry no vote for the contest :(

mefromliny says: Dec 26, 2012. 4:12 PM

Great Instructable. If you don't want to use the Gorilla tape, any double sided foam tape should do the job. Again, great idea!
Ken

1up says: Nov 1, 2012. 4:11 PM

Ooh, this is very clever! Looks cool, and very simple. Nice.

stringstretcher says: Nov 1, 2012. 11:28 AM

Great idea! And here in (very) dark scandinavia it will come in handy.

midhunrajmr says: Sep 13, 2012. 9:58 AM

what is the peculiarity of gorilla tape?

jbellmann says: Aug 7, 2012. 6:15 PM

They have a company that makes that for motorcycle & bicycle Lunasee
http://shop.lunasee.com/
You should check the price lol... fn crazy..... Bunch of thieves out there..

Anyway I was wondering if I could just do it with some Glow in the dark Paint and some leds

Allureglow in reply to jbellmannAug 25, 2012. 11:19 AM

You can save yourself a lot of money and get the same affect with Photoluminescent Tape or Paint. Check out our products at: www.allureglowusa.com

jim_2000 (author) in reply to AllureglowAug 26, 2012. 7:30 AM

Thanks, I'm always looking for easier ways to get the job done. Please post a picture of how well your tape works on a bike tire.

jbellmann in reply to AllureglowAug 25, 2012. 12:20 PM

Thanks I'll check out.. :D

zack247 says: Aug 7, 2012. 3:40 PM

this would work really well on cars too! just get a couple sheets and line the inside of the rim with them, mount some LEDs on the inside of the wheel well and have it aimed at the glow in the dark stripping :D

drewjq says: Dec 3, 2011. 2:21 PM

so this only works on one side of your wheel? to illuminate the other side, you'd need to repeat the whole process on the other side of your tire?

jim_2000 (author) in reply to drewjqJul 16, 2012. 8:17 PM

Yes, the glow station contains enough glow plastic to cover several wheels. I would also suggest running a 2nd LED in parallel off of the pen. A white LED from a keychain light will work well.

gerardobmoreno1 in reply to drewjqFeb 8, 2012. 4:43 PM

hahaha i think the same more money ??

tionica says: Sep 10, 2011. 3:08 AM

in my country i don't have crayola what another idea?

jim_2000 (author) in reply to tionicaSep 10, 2011. 4:48 AM

Sure, look for a glow tape at your hardware store. It is used for safety egress in buildings when the power goes out.

wobbler says: May 13, 2011. 6:31 AM

I've often wondered how to get the power to some wheel mounted leds. This is great lateral thinking! It would be great if the strip was actually built into tyres.

calicos says: Dec 6, 2010. 1:13 AM

Yes, I'll vote for you - this is the kind of things to keep the kids safe(er) as well as my husband - without causing the kids any anxiety that I'll make them look like ' a baby' to their friends (hubby probably thinks so, too.) -matter of fact, they'll love to show it off!

Thanks!