Lumen Retro-Reflective Bicycle
What is it?
The Lumen is the first of its kind: a bicycle designed specifically for city riding with integrated retro-reflection.
This patented innovation returns any light that hits the Lumen's frame and wheels directly back to the light source. Available single speed or fully geared, in 5 sizes, the Lumen is the world's first commercially available retro-reflective bicycle.
By day
By day the Lumen is a deep charcoal gray, with a slight iridescent sheen. The embedded reflective material adds a unique visual depth.
By night
At night, with direct light, the Lumen's frame and rims shine with dramatic effect. There's no on/off switch, no batteries required, just integrated illumination.
How it works
Not all reflections are the same. Retro-reflection works by returning light directly to its source, rather than bouncing, scattering or diffusing the light.
Retro-reflection is focused, creating a signal that is brighter and more intense. By coating the entire frame and both rims, the Lumen has more reflective surface area than any existing bicycle solution. Each Lumen is painted with hundreds of thousands of microscopic spheres. As light enters those spheres it boomerangs right back to the source. This effect - known as “cat’s eye” - is visible up to 1,000 feet.
The spark
This project was born out of our daily/nightly city riding. As we passed hyper-reflective street signs surrounded by dark cyclists we asked “Why can’t this technology be applied to a bicycle frame?”
It turns out there was a good reason. Retro-reflective solutions have previously only been available in 2D formats. They could be applied as stripes on the road or as the backing of a stop sign but wouldn’t work on a 3D bicycle frame. Then we met the guys at Halo.
Halo Coatings develops innovative technologies to apply reflective coatings to 3D surfaces. Halo holds patents on the retro-reflective powder coat used on the Lumen bicycle. The end result is astonishing, by both day and night.
How to get yours
We've got several ways to put you on a retro-reflective bike.
- If you want to do the designing and building yourself, click here for your Lumen frameset.
- If you prefer we do the building, click here to design yours from scratch. Lumen retro-reflective finish has been pre-selected for you.
- If you want to just ride, our pre-designed Lumen One and Lumen Eight models offer the quickest turnaround.
- If you just want wheels for your existing single speed, click here for a retro-reflective wheelset.
Any questions? (415) 683-6166 | info@missionbicycle.com
