The Burbank, Calif., company Pure Fix Cycle has created a bike that glows in the dark. Not only does it glow, it glows green. If anyone hits you while you are riding this bike, provided you are still alive, you would be totally within your rights to scream at them, “Are you blind?” and they would, quite honestly, probably have to confess that yes, perhaps they were. (Though it’s worth noting that Pure Fix suggests this bike if you’re “a night owl, a raver, or just want to trip out your friends,” i.e. they’re staying far away from claims about safety.)
This isn’t the first neon cycle, but at $400, it’s the first one that isn’t really expensive. (The Atlantic turned up some $1,500 ones from Germany, and a possibly-just-theoretical model costing $1,600.) True to its name, Pure Fix makes fixed-gear bikes, so this wouldn’t be the most advanced bike you’ve ever ridden, but $400 for a schmancy fixie isn’t too bad.
The bike relies on solar power — an afternoon in the sun and it will glow for an hour or more. So what happens to the thing if you ride it to the movies at 7:30, and you come out at 10? Is it just a stupid bicycle then? Do you just risk death on the way home? It will cost you 400 clams to find out.
