Looking for a new handlebar stem with built-in computer and lights? The Speednite “head motion controlled lighting stem” could offer you more than you might expect.
As well as all the usual computer functions (speed, cadence, heart rate, etc.), Speednite’s built-in 800 lumen front light tracks where you are looking and points up or down with your gaze. Look up, the light moves upwards, and so on.
The system also has built-in direction lights (indicators) that shine a warning laser light onto the ground in the direction you are going to turn.
All this is integrated into a stem — the screen is fixed in place on top and the battery is incorporated. Pardon the pun, but the system’s integration and automation gives us flashbacks to the SpeedX Leopard.
The question is, why not just wear a head torch? The front light’s movement depends on a helmet-mounted motion sensor, so it doesn’t remove the need for headwear and additional components.
To be fair, the sensor is quite small, so it might remove some weight from your head (most helmet-mounted lights weigh a few hundred grams). The sensor does serve other purposes, too.
Speednite’s sensor also operates the turning signals, which alleviate the need to remove a hand from the handlebars before a change of direction. With a simple twist of the neck left or right (presumably it isn’t necessary to rotate with such a violent jerk as in the product demonstration animation), the road is illuminated with a strip of light on that side, making your intentions clearer to motorists and other road users.
Under heavy braking the optional rear light flashes as a warning that you are slowing down. In the event of a crash, or “abnormal strike”, Speednite says its sensor and connected app will alert a designated emergency contact.
The stem unit is water-resistant, and its battery will last a claimed 29 hours with the lights off or 3.6 hours in the light’s brightest setting. A handlebar-mounted wireless remote is also included.
The Speednite stem-computer-light is available for pre-order for $169.
