Pedalite KPL200 Full Review
Posted: 14 February 2008 by Mark Harris
The relentless de-clawing of life's hazards continues apace, with these replacement pedals for your pushbike. Out go boring old passive reflector pedals, and in come active, multi-coloured flashing LED pedals. With every revolution, a set of internal gears and some clever electronics siphon off a fraction (supposedly less than 0.5 per cent) of your energy and convert it into electricity to power three LEDs -- white at the front, yellow at the side and red at the back.
As you pedal along, you're also powering up a capacitor so the lights continue to flash for up to five minutes while you're stationary. The Pedalites are fully waterproof and also have the statutory reflector panels, both front and back. Fitting them is pretty easy -- simply screw out your current pedals and fit the Pedalites in their place.
Left and right pedals are clearly marked, although we found the rotating sleeve to be narrower than our (standard) adjustable spanner, so we weren't able to secure them as tightly as we wanted.
The pedals themselves are designed to be used in one direction only (with the white LEDs facing forward), so grippy metal studs are found on just the top side. If you flip the pedals accidentally, as often happens when stopping and starting at traffic lights, the underside is slippery smooth and has an awkward bulge housing the electronics -- not a safety bonus. Serious cyclists will also raise an eyebrow at the Pedalite's chunky (550g per pair) build.
While the Pedlites do feel slightly heavier in use than normal pedals, they don't generate anything like the drag of a traditional dynamo. The manufacturer claims that the LEDs are visible one kilometre away, for 360 degrees, but cyclists in crowded, brightly lit cities might disagree. Viewed from in front or behind, the lights are quite noticeable, but not nearly as intense as standard reflectors to drivers. The real advantage they give is when viewed from the side, especially when the bike is in motion. The same effect can be achieved by simply wearing reflective ankle clips, however, which have the added bonus of keeping your trousers away from the chain.
Although we didn't test them for 4,000 hours, Pedalite's makers suggests that's how long a pair of these will last, which is equal to about five years for a high-mileage commuter cyclist.
The Pedalites are manufactured in China, meeting local standards, and ISO 9001 and CE certifications -- the factory has also been inspected by B&Q and Marks & Spencer. Pedalite has some decent green credentials, too, using a chemical-free capacitor instead of internal batteries and shipping with all paper and card packaging, some of it recycled. It also scores well as an ethical company since all it does is make bike safety products such as this one.
Pedalites are certainly a clever techy gadget, but will they make your ride safer? Pedalite quotes RoSPA research that 75 per cent of cycle accidents happen at or near a road junction, where visibility from the side is crucial. That may be true, but it's hard to see how Pedalites beat the low-tech, low-cost option of reflective ankle clips and armbands.
You certainly shouldn't become complacent when using them -- or rely on them as a substitute for traditional illumination. The urban environment is an increasingly cluttered space, where merely turning up the visual volume doesn't guarantee that you'll be seen -- or if you are seen, that drivers will modify their behaviour to avoid you.
Quality
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Ethics
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