The Down Low Glow -- Related Posts

In the new Mattias Johansson video for the Rubies song "I Feel Electric", the three members of the group first appear standing over cruiser bikes tricked out with the Down Low Glow.

 

See also: http://www.rockthebike.com/node/1211

Check the latest lighting mod from photographer Derek Pearson: A Pink Fink / Xtracycle combo with custom skateboard snapdeck, Envy Green Down Low Glow (matching the skateboard wheels), Plush Red DLG in the front, and quad Serfas TL 1000 taillights.

Here's a cool video compilation of the Down Low Glow shots we've posted to Flickr over the last two years.

The music in the video is a track called "Boda Boda Rap" I worked on when I was working in Kisumu, Kenya for Worldbike.org .

Snowy commute

Originally uploaded by Jeff Youngstrom

You go Jeff.

Click the photo to see his notes on the various safety products
Originally uploaded by RJL20 RJL20 is one of our Flickr friends. I saw his picture of his Xtracycle commuter rig this morning.

Clif Bar has posted a groovy 4-minute video of the SF Cruisers in action, shot last September. Look for "Soul Ride" on their home page.

Jay's Dragon Bike was a big hit at last night's Bike Culture Night and will be on tonight's New Year's Cruise. Unfortunately Jay was out of town at a race last night, but was cool enough to let me borrow the Dragon. On the way to the event, walking down Valencia with the Dragon, all the eyes were following us from various restaurants and cafes. It made it easy to hand out flyers for the event.

On our way to return the Dragon Bike to Jay's garage after the event, Mafi and I headed down Lexington St., where this time of year, they have beautiful lights and decorations. We stopped under the disco ball to show off some of the sweet details of Jay's new Dragon Bike .

 

What's up bike people, I had a great ride home tonight from my friend Leila's house. I had three tubes of Hot Pants Pink Down Low Glow on my Xtracycle and it was really laying down a beautiful cloud of light on the wet streets. The rain had just started when I turned on the lights. They turned on fast, and stayed superbright till I turned onto York St. a mile later.

That's when I looked down and saw that the front tube in my dual-tube system was noticeably dimmer than the rear tube, and the single tube system I use on the rear of my xtracycle was about half-bright also.

I've been thinking about the comparisons between Bike Culture and Hip Hop culture. One of the cool things about Hip Hop is that it has four clearly defined elements: Rap, Breakdance, Graffiti, and DJ'ing. It seems like Bike Culture could have similar pillars: tall bikes, critical mass, night rides with music, riding in the rain, fixing a friend's flat tire, etc. Perhaps human power might be one of these pillars also? Here's a video shot in Austin at their annual Moonlight Cruise. We were at one of the rest stops, and I popped the Choprical Fish onto it's beefy center stand and pedal powered some dance music. You can get a sense of how well attended this ride is, especially considering it began at 2AM!

Here's the Ginger Ninjas performing '10 cents' at a recent Southbay Cruiser ride...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L0Vz_may-s

How photographer and bicycle advocate Derek Pearson ends a hard day in Olympia.

Adam, Joey, and Karl are the hosts of the Rochester Cruiser Ride. If they're this passionate in the snow, you can bet they'be putting together some great rides in '08.

 

Been pushing really hard lately at the workshop and left tonight after 10. I'm entertaining tomorrow at Specialized's holiday party. We'll be doing a cruiser ride with employees and apparently lots of cool kids. I wanted to finish up as many Down Low Glow shipments as I could tonight so I don't have it hanging over me this weekend.

Here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P1EU9az-RQ

Edited video from the Dec 1st, 2007 Southbay Cruiser 'Pleasant Revolution' Ride.

Fact: Nearly 70% of all nighttime Bicycle-Car collisions are due to inadequate side visibility (source)! Normal bicycle lights only point forward and backward. The Down Low Glow offers more side visibility than any other safety product on the market!

Normal headlights and taillights can't cover the angles like the DLG, because they are based on a directional light source. The DLG's high output tubular light source is as bright from the side as it is from the front.

Big thanks to Derek Pearson for the latest in a series of shots taken near his home in Olympia, WA.

It wasn't a pretty scene when his mom and dad decided it was time to go home...

Slovenly Pete has modified his Conference Bike (seen below in full neon regalia on the Playa) with a drumset and 10 channel mixer. The video screams for itself.

 

 

Robert, a marine stationed in Al-Anbar province in Iraq, will be sending out the bike vibe on his base with a new chopper bicycle and some Ice Blue DLG.

Apparently, even on the base, there's a problem with drivers not seeing cyclists. Here's his email:

Hey Paul, I was looking for a cool chopper bike and while surfing the internet I ran across a web site called www.aztlanbicycle.com and they sell your lights. So I decided to shop around and see where they come from. I found your web site and pretty much read the whole thing.

When I picked up my dual tube ice blue Down Low Glow system, my intentions were mostly for safety and a small amount of style. I was in no way prepared for the kind of popularity I'd get because of the bicycle system.

Kipchoge and Eco invited me to a hard-rocking Manu Chao show on Wednesday night and uncovered a new use for the Down Low Glow. Our group of eight people was dancing in an enormous crowd at Bill Graham Auditorium. The room was dark, save for the strobe lights coming from the stage.

A few minutes into the show, we were already dispersed through the crowd. I caught a red glow in the corner of my eye and saw Kipchoge holding this intensely bright red line in his hand. It took me a minute to figure out he had grabbed the Down Low Glow from my bike. Our group came together and danced for a few songs before splitting apart again. Later we put the Down Low Glow on the floor and had a great disco circle a few minutes before a really hard moshing number came up and I grabbed the lights so they wouldn't get kicked.

photo: Faster Panda Kill Kill

So DJ Manny and I made the bold move of scheduling a social ride to debut the UMDJ on my last night in Austin. It was a major push, the fourth day in the workshop. We attached the bottoms of the main speaker cabinets, screwed the tweeters into their horns, created a wiring harness, installed a control panel with four switches into the rear of the right cabinet, mounted the amp on the underside of the DJ table, welded in a mounting bracket for the battery, and installed the lighting inside the frosted translucent polycarbonate cabinets.

The ride was scheduled for 8 O'clock. We connected the last wires at 7:45 and immediately blew the fuse in the amp. Wired the polarity backwards! What a basic error! That's what happens when you rush. Miraculously, the next door neighbors had two new fuses. I fixed the wiring, hit the switches, and bam! Cabinet lighting works! Rear Down Low Glow works! Front Down Low Glow works! Amp turns ON!

Quick, load the UMDJ and the Choprical Fish...

I was double-checking the address for a customer named John from Tokyo. I asked him how he heard about the Down Low Glow:

"
Hi Paul,

I'm a BMX street rider in Tokyo (from SF/ Bush St) and last night I was nearly run down (GTA style) by a Taxi. Same story different town, right? Well I knew that my lame head set light wasn't cutting the job, so I had to find something that would really work and look cool too. After about an hour of searching the net, I found your photos on flickr.com. Man, once I saw your product and the cool photos I was 100 percent sold. And duuuuuuuuuuuuuuude, I can't wait to hook up my lights and cruze the streets like Night Rider. I bet I'll get lots of inquires about the lights too, so if you want some business coming from the East could you send in some stickers or something that I can pass out? You know if you have the time.

Thanks again man and all the best,
John"

Noticed a couple videos on www.midnightridazz.com of what appears to be a recumbent rider with an Ice Down Low Glow at a recent ride. It's about 1 minute in. Check ' out!

 

Take to the woods with your favorite mountain bike, a high intensity headlight, and the Down Low Glow.

The Down Low Glow adds an otherworldly ambience to night-time trail rides.
Your friends will appreciate the additional light when they're chasing you down a gully.

OK, maybe this will seem like a small thing to you, but it meant a lot to me.

I was coming home from the workshop on my racing bike with the Envy Green DLG, and I hit the West Oakland BART stop as usual. The BART attendant was walking back to her booth, and she stopped and said "Ooohhh, that's a nice light! I don't think I've ever seen one like that."

So I told her a little about it and gave her a card. She said "that looks like a great gift for father's day."