With an increasing number of bikes now sharing roads with vehicle traffic, it’s more important than ever to be as visible as you can on two wheels, especially at night. But that won’t be much of a problem with the Zap commuter jacket from Sugoi.
Set for release later this year, the nylon-shell Zap is very similar to the company’s existing RPM bike commute jacket, but with an important distinction: a layer of highly reflective ground glass “pixels”, which have been screen-printed onto its exterior. Under normal daylight conditions, the jacket appears innocuous. However, when illuminated by car lights at night, the Zap lights up like Liberace’s Technicolor Dream Coat, reflecting that light evenly across the surface of the clothing.
The effect you see in the video above is purely reflective. The Zap doesn’t light up itself, and therefore doesn’t require batteries. It will be interesting to see how well those pixels hold up to the rigors of a daily commute over time, or whether the jacket will lose some of its lustre after a few wash cycles. The RPM Zap is expected to retail for about $US150. [Sugoi via GearJunkie]