Transcript
Felix’s V-Light Pro bicycle handlebar answers the brief for a safer navigation method for cyclists. Drawing on both desktop and primary research, he found the current cohort of riders largely depend on looking down at their handlebar-mounted phone to navigate via Google Maps or a bike computer, despite admitting that these screen-based navigation tools easily distract them. Felix drew inspiration from existing solutions (the LED light-indicating handlebars of the Vanhawks Valour Bicycle), then went a step further by introducing haptics: a form of tactile feedback to enable riders to remain visually and audibly attuned to the space around them.
Felix’s subsequent design process was informed by user preferences (both actual and desired), research and testing of construction materials and methods, as well as an understanding of the legal requirements around bicycle design (which he noted was relatively flexible aside from specifications around the colour, position and strength of a bike’s lights).
He sought feedback on a range of primary designs then combined this with consideration of environmental, economic and social impacts to settle on his final design: the V-Light Pro: “A next generation handlebar system that integrates haptic navigation and advanced lighting to redefine safety and confidence for urban cyclists”.
Made from resin-cured carbon fibre, the V-Light Pro appears wet-look black and weighs just 350g. Its horizontal central stem separates at a right angle into the left and right drop handlebars, which then curl down like the horns of a ram to realign, at a lower level, with the stem. This design responds to testing by two extremes of hand-size to identify ‘the sweet spot’. A 1,500-lumen white light is set into the front of the stem, facing in the direction of travel in accordance with legislation and exceeding the industry standard of 200-500 lumens. The rear-facing red lights also function as end caps in the handlebar drops. In the epicentre of the stem/handlebar connection is an ‘on/off’ button, on which the traditional symbol (a line interrupting a circle) glows green.
