Skip to main content

Helios smart bars turn bike handlebars into GPS-enabled light machines

helios-handlebarsEver ridden your bike down to the local pub, only to run into friends who want to go somewhere else, and then find yourself at closing time in a bar you never intended to visit wondering exactly where you parked your bike? Yeah, us neither. But if you worry that this might happen to you, product designer Kenneth Gibbs has a preemptive solution: the Helios bike handlebars.

The bars, which come in both bullhorn and traditional drop out designs, feature a GPS locater that allows the bike to SMS you with its current location and even (if you’re really … ahem … lost) exact directions on how to get there. But that’s just on the inside of the bars. On the front, the bars feature 500 lumens of night-blasting headlight, while on the ends additional LEDs can act as turn signals, a color-based visual speedometer, or just funky mood lighting. When paired with the Helios phone app, the lights fire up as the bike owner approaches, making it easy to find no matter how deeply it’s buried in a stack of locked bikes.

Recommended Videos

Gibbs began the project by simply trying to add lights to his bike so he’d show up better in night traffic, but one thing let to another and eventually he started work on “The Smartbike Revolution.” As with all visionary ideas, this one is on Kickstarter. Gibbs launched the fundraising effort on May 2 and has already rounded up $98,812 dollars of a $70,000 goal. The fundraising continues until June 20, 2013 and it looks like he may pass the $100,000 mark before it’s all over.

At the end of his earnest, cinematic Kickstarter video Gibbs lays out his plans for the future like a good cult leader: with a voice over, emotional music, and video of him bombing the dark streets of San Francisco on his lit up bike. “Now we’re eager to get back on the streets with a smarter bike,” Gibbs says. “And we want others to join us. We’re already looking ahead at new ways we can improve the biking experience, but for now keep your eyes out for some bright new lights. And if you’re ready to join the smartbike revolution we’ll see you out there.”

We’re pretty sure Gibbs wasn’t thinking of our hypothetical lost pub crawler when he designed Helios; nevertheless, if he can connect just one of those poor souls with their bike (which they will then responsibly walk home along the sidewalk), then he’s got our “smart bike revolution vote” all locked up.

Lee Crane
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Lee Crane's career in action sports spans print, TV, and digital media; his work and handsome mug have appeared in and on Fox…
Topics
GlassesUSA Black Friday Sale: Get 30% off prescription glasses
GlassesUSA frames close up with multiple styles.

Need a new pair of glasses? Want to stock up for your holiday trips before you head to meet up with your relatives? Typically, you'd have to wait until the official Black Friday event, the day after Thanksgiving, or maybe even Cyber Monday, but that's not the case this year. Alongside a variety of the best online glasses deals, GlassesUSA is hosting a huge Black Friday sale early, allowing you to save big on prescription glasses and frames with no waiting necessary. Of course, we always recommend browsing the sale of your own accord to see what's discounted because we couldn't possibly cover everything, nor could we know precisely what you're looking for. That said, we've called out quite a few of the best deals below.

What to shop in the early GlassesUSA Black Friday sale
Rightfully dubbed the Black Friday Early Bird sale, now's an excellent time to save up to 30% on prescription glasses. Moreover, GlassesUSA is truly dedicated to helping you find the perfect pair. Not only are there a ton of brands and styles to choose from, but you'll benefit from free shipping and returns and a money-back guarantee if you're not satisfied. You can even take to find the correct pair for your face. Ray-Ban, Oakley, DKNY, Prada, Ottoto, Muse, they are all here and available to shop, most discounted even. Men's and Women's eyewear are on sale, too, so there's something for everyone.

Read more
The best DNA testing kit Black Friday deals you can shop now
Daughter gifting Ancestry Gift Membership to family

DNA tests are awesome holiday gifts for your family. Together you can all build your family tree and discover your genetic makeup. Unfortunately the tests are pretty expensive, but at least you only need to test once. There are some nice Black Friday deals going on today that will save you a significant amount of money on single tests or bundles. Check out our favorite below, then more more deals worth checking out under that.
The best DNA testing kit Black Friday deal
AncestryDNA Genetic Test Kit -- $59, was $99

The single person AncestryDNA Genetic Test Kit is our pick for the best Black Friday deal already available. The kit normally costs $99, but right now it's down to just $59. That's a nice discount of $30 on one of the best DNA tests available. We're not sure how long this deal will last, so you should grab it soon.

Read more
The 5 best DNA test kits for 2024
We spit in a ton of test tubes to find the best and most unique DNA tests
A 23andme DNA kit.

Despite the fact that tons of competitors have sprung up in recent years, 23AndMe still makes the best DNA test on the market. It's the quickest, it's very comprehensive, and the way the company presents your genetic data is simple and easy to digest. However, depending on what kind of information you're looking for, there are other, more specialized DNA tests that might be better suited for you. Whether it's ancestry, fitness, disease risk, or something else entirely, there's likely a DNA kit that'll uncover that data.

With the rising popularity of these tests, we decided to take a closer look and see which ones are worth the investment. To do this, we secured a mail-in kit from as many DNA testing services as we could find, then shipped them a spit tube full of our precious genetic code for analysis. After looking through all the data and personally trying all of these services, there were a few that stood out from the pack. Here are our favorites:
The best DNA test kit in 2024

Read more