In today’s blogpost, we are sharing with you more about the CIO battery-free bike light and how it can make your cycling so much more enjoyable. If you have ever gone out on a ride to find that your bike light batteries are flat or if you forgot to charge your USB powered bike lights, this will never happen again.

Never Forget to Charge your Bike Light Again, Forget USB powered bike lights

Riding a bike can be very dangerous when you don't have a light and that's where the CIO comes in. So the reelight CIO is a bicycle light that works via magnets. You connect magnets to the spokes on your wheel and the light to your fork or seat stays. Every the magnets reaches or passes the CIO bicycle light, it will light up. That way, as your wheels are constantly spinning when you are riding your bicycle, your lights will constantly be flashing. No batteries needed!
The Battery-Free Bike Lights Will Still Flash at Traffic Lights
And you're probably wondering whether stopping at traffic lights will cause the lights to cut off and stop flashing. Due to the reposer technology, the CIO bicycle battery-free lights will continue to flash for up to two minutes after the bike stops. This is longer than the stopping time at any traffic light that we know if. So these bicycle lights actually charges itself and stores the energy when you’re riding. Yeah so the magnets are very strong which allows them to generate a bright light. If you are interested to learn more about the physics behind the CIO battery-free bike lights, check out this video by Reelight which explains this in more detail. There’s a red flashing light for the back and a white flashing light for the front.

The best way to connect CIO Bike Light by Reelight, You don't Need a Bike Shop to Do it

The connecting process for this easy and fast. There are 2 components to this, installing the magnet to the spoke and anyone (regardless of skill level in terms of how good you are with your hands) can set this up. The first step would be to choose a spoke and attach the magnet to your spoke. You can use the allen key that is provided with the CIO and set it up simply. Make sure that it is tight but not too tight such that it damages your spokes. Next drape the wire around your fork or seat stay at a height that matches the magnet and tighten the wire using the allen key until it is firmly attached but not overly secure. You can then use the coin given in the packaging as a spacer to determine the proper length between the magnet and the bike light to determine the final distance between both elements before fully tightening the CIO bike light. Once tightened, the light would not move and you won’t need to worry about it budging.
If you are more of a visual learner, Reelight has many videos showing you how to install it. It only takes a few minutes to set up this bike light that will last over a thousand hours.

Are these Bike Lights Bright?

The magnets are pretty powerful and the flashing is really bright such that any other road user will be able to identify you with no problems whatsoever. This may not be the perfect solution only if you need a light to view the floor below you to be illuminated. In places such as Singapore where paths are well lit all over, they are the perfect solution as they allow you to be seen without blinding anyone else who may be sharing the path or road with you. The reelight battery-free bicycle light is the perfect brightness.

Do Bike Lights Fit Bromptons and Other Folding Bikes/ Should I Buy This Bike Light?

As we know, the world of bicycles is full of many quirks and differing “standards”. It is impossible to say whether a the CIO will fit this broad category of folding bikes. That said, as it fits all bikes with round spokes. It can be installed on almost all Bromptons and folding bikes. That said, if you regularly fold your folding bike, the CIO may be knocked out of position and may have to be re-adjusted each time. Accordingly, in this case we typically recommend the AMS for Bromptons as it is the best battery-free bicycle light for Bromptons and most folding bikes.

Have you tried the CIO bike light for yourself? Visit our bike shop to pick one up now here in Singapore if you have not. If you have tried it for yourself, let us know down in the comments below what your experience was. Did you find the lights bright enough? Was it easy or difficult to install. How durable have you found our lights to be? Let us know in the comments down below!

May 05, 2022 — Douglas Koh

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