Volvo Life Paint

PoorInRichfield

http://www.volvolifepaint.com/

A transparent, temporary spray that makes anything it coats highly reflective for up to 10 days. Apparently it's only available in London right now. I think it'd be cool if bike manufacturers could figure-out a way to create permanent version of this and coat bike frames with it.

reformedfatty

on-one (amongst others) have done frames painted in glow in the dark paint before, which look pretty cool, if not quite the same effect.

t4tomo

how much a can?

Why does it only last 10 days if its invisible by day?

Wheels and cranks would be a good idea, really help with side on visibility and the fact that they move.

in the making of this film we used both reflective paint products available from Albedo100.
Lifepaint was used on textiles and is water based, and the other Alebdo reflective paint products are for metals and are oil based so not suitable for use on textiles due to permanent nature. The film has not had any post production enhancement to the reflective capabilities seen.

so there is a more permanent solution for "bike parts"

The Rookie

t4tomo wrote:

Why does it only last 10 days if its invisible by day?

Its reflective, it doesn't produce light, so daylight is irrelevant

As for 10 days, well clearly there is some reason it only lasts that long, presumably it 'wears' off or maybe its a drying process, who knows.

iPete

A nice idea but it washes away(?). Great PR for Volvo but less than great real world application.

Go out and buy some reflective A4 sheets and stick them over your bike/helmet in the appropriate colours. Hey presto, invisible by day...

The Rookie

iPete wrote:

A nice idea but it washes away(?). Great PR for Volvo but less than great real world application.

Well they tell you in advance it only lasts 10 days, so I see no issue....only use it when appropriate!

iPete

The Rookie wrote:

iPete wrote:

A nice idea but it washes away(?). Great PR for Volvo but less than great real world application.

Well they tell you in advance it only lasts 10 days, so I see no issue....only use it when appropriate!

Not suggesting they are trying to fool anyone but that's every other week for 4-6 months of the year; a bit of a waste.
Possibly more useful for attending raves

MountainMonster

iPete wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

iPete wrote:

A nice idea but it washes away(?). Great PR for Volvo but less than great real world application.

Well they tell you in advance it only lasts 10 days, so I see no issue....only use it when appropriate!

Not suggesting they are trying to fool anyone but that's every other week for 4-6 months of the year; a bit of a waste.
Possibly more useful for attending raves

I have a sneaky suspicion the stuff is quite expensive based on what it is. Big money maker possibly!

I don't understand why it is only available in London though. That's annoying.

iPete

It's a PR stunt for Volvo, it's in Timeout and all the free London rags. They were giving them away apparently.
Massive amount of coverage for not much ££, I can't see them actually selling them(?!).

CRAIGO5000

3M black reflective tape.

Job done.

Kieran_Burns

Meh. another example of victim blaming. "We can't be arsed to look for you, so we'll make you paint EVERYTHING hi-viz instead"

daver1

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Meh. another example of victim blaming. "We can't be arsed to look for you, so we'll make you paint EVERYTHING hi-viz instead"

This seems a bit paranoid. This is a product that you can choose to use or not use which allows you to make yourself more visible to other road users (albeit a potentially ineffective and expensive one). Do you have the same problem with cycle apparel manufacturers adding reflective logos or cycle accessory manufacturers making lights?

Albedo100UK

Albedo100 is the reflective spray used in the Life Paint video. As stated in the thread, this was available in selected London bike shops. It is also available on our website http://www.albedo100.co.uk/. For those of you are still skeptical of the product, our YouTube channel has first hand experience of the product, showing how effective the spray can be! https://www.youtube.com/user/Albedo100UK

imatfaal

Albedo100UK wrote:

Albedo100 is the reflective spray used in the Life Paint video. As stated in the thread, this was available in selected London bike shops. It is also available on our website http://www.albedo100.co.uk/. For those of you are still skeptical of the product, our YouTube channel has first hand experience of the product, showing how effective the spray can be! https://www.youtube.com/user/Albedo100UK

Just to be clear the scepticism is not whether the paint works or not - it is the implicit message that if cyclists are visible enough (clearly their own responsibility) then cars/lorries/buses won't hit them. However most of us who do hundreds of kilometres a week on the busy roads of the UK realise that the two major factors that lead to accidents are drivers not giving a flying-fcku about other road users and rlj-ing fools who over-estimate their own cycling skills and reactions. We all long for a world in which actual ability to see a cyclist is the most important factor.

That said I will probably buy some of your paint cos I am a sucker for new tech toys and it does seem a very good idea.