TIREFLYS


Tireflys, retail $TBA (www.wallgreens.com)
Manufactured by Theory3, Inc. (www.tireflys.com)
Last updated 02-04-10




I found these at Wallgreens in a sale bin for $4.99, and even though I do not own or use a bicycle, I bought them because they are an LED product.

These are labelled as bicycle Tireflys, and they contain an LED (a NUV LED in this case; emitting radiation near 400nm in the deep violet portion of the spectrum), protected by a plastic bubble that fluoresces (glows) a greenish yellow color when exposed to the NUV radiation from that LED. They are designed to be screwed onto the valve stems of your bicycle tires ("tyres"). When you start pedaling your bicycle, the motion-sensitive switch inside the Tireflys will engage, turning the units on. The units will turn themselves off automatically after 15 seconds if no motion is detected.


SIZE



To use the Tireflys, remove them from the package with a sharp knife or a pair of household scissors. They have a set of batteries already installed, so you'll be ready to use them right off the bat.

On your bicycle tires, unscrew and remove the valve stem cover if they are present.

Screw the Tireflys onto the valve stem in their place, and that's it.
Yes, it really is as easy as that.



To change the batteries when necessary, unscrew and remove the Tirefly from your tire's valve stem. Grasp the Tirefly in your hands, with one hand holding the top portion of the Tirefly and the other hand holding the lower portion of the Tirefly.

Twist counterclockwise (as if unscrewing); some vigor may be necessary, until the halves seperate. Be sure the light-emitting side faces the floor so those batteries don't just clatter all over the driveway or garage floor when the two halves come apart.

Tip the three used CR1330 (AG-10) cells out of the Tirefly's body and into your hand, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.

Insert three new CR1330 (AG-10) cells into the Tirefly's body, button-end (-) negative first. Place one cell at a time inside the body. When all three cells are in, screw the bottom half of the Tirefly firmly back on.

Gently whack the unit on the palm of your hand, light-end first (this assures the motion switch inside gets reset properly), then screw the Tirefly back onto your bicycle's tire valve stem.

Unable to measure current use due to how the product was constructed and how they function.



The Tireflys are meant to be used as valve stem lights on tires, not as flashlights meant to be carried around, thrashed, and abused. So I won't throw them against the wall, stomp on them, try to drown them in the toylet bowl or the cistern, run over them, swing them against the concrete floor of a patio, use a ball peen hammer in order to bash them open to check them for candiosity, fire them from the cannoñata (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piñata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout, with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; and the cannoñata is only used to shoot piñatas to piñata parties away from picturesque Piñata Island), send them to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or inflict upon them punishments that flashlights may have inflicted upon them.

I do not own or have access to a bicycle, so I cannot test this product in the manner in which it was intended to be used, and I may not be able to actually complete this evaluation.

Best I can do is screw them onto the valve stems of the tires on my electric wheelchair tomorrow morning (08-09-05) and see if they work.

(Edit 08-09-05): I did not install the Tireflys on my wheelchair tires, because the valve stem sticks straight out (horizontally); this puts me at extreme risk of damaging the Tireflys or even the wheelchair tires themselves when passing through a narrow opening like a doorway, the aisles of the Greenwood Friendly Food Mart, or the electric lift on a city bus. Therefore, I cannot finish evaluating them or assign a rating to them.

(Edit 08-10-05: I received the following information from a website visitor:

It may be worth noting in your review of Tireflys that there are two major kinds of valves for bicycle tires: Presta and Schrader. The Tireflys appear to use Schrader. Presta are more slender and tend to be used more new bikes. Schrader valves are still used, especially on less expensive bikes and bikes with larger tires (bmx, mountain bikes). Car tires also use Schrader valves, so the Tireflys you purchased could be used there.

(Edit 06-04-07): I screwed them to the tire valve stems of the rear tires of my new electric wheelchair (a Celebrity X3); the wheels *DO* turn fast enough to activate them. Assuming I do not destroy them going through a narrow doorway, we'll see how they do.



Photograph of a Tirefly lighted. Photograph shows the unit brighter than it actually is.



Photograph of a Tirefly mounted where it belongs - on a tire, of course.

Quicktime movie (.mov extension) showing a Tirefly blinking.
This clip is approximately 1.2 megabytes (1,331,440 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than five minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.
I cannot provide it in other formats, so please do not ask.

*** IMPORTANT *** This movie shows a pulsating that does not actually occur.
The Tireflys flash rapidly at regular intervals instead of pulsating.



TEST NOTES:
Test units were purchased at Wallgreens in Seattle WA. USA on 04-29-05.

Products were made in China. A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.


UPDATE: 06-04-07
I screwed them to the tire valve stems of the rear tires of my electric wheelchair; the wheels *DO* turn fast enough to activate them.
Assuming I do not destroy them going through a narrow doorway, we'll see how they do.


UPDATE: 06-09-07
O NOOOOO!!!!
One of the Tireflys has been destroyed.
It probably became destroyed when I went through a narrow doorway yesterday (06-08-07).


Here's a photograph of what's left of the poor, defenseless Tirefly.
The other unit (on my right rear wheelchair tire) continues to function properly.
I checked around the door in the location of the Tirefly's suspected demise, and did not find the top half or any of the batteries.
I will ***NOT*** consider this a negative, and it will not affect the rating I give them, as Tireflys were not meant to be used in this fashion.


UPDATE: 12-25-07
I noticed that the one remaining Tirefly was missing and had been replaced with a standard black valve stem cap after my wheelchair had come back from the shop following repairs.
Some seminifrious bungsnoidial tubloidial buttsnoipe obviously stole the {vulgar term for one who initiates intercourse} at that time.
Therefore, that dreadful "" icon will now appear on my website next to its listings, as I no longer have this product at my disposal.


UPDATE: 02-04-10
From an email I received, comes the following (his name & email address have been omitted to protect his privacy):

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I currently use a more expensive model, though the price difference is not substantial considering the differences:
Tireflys® Pro RWB

I started using the UV model you found under the assumption it would be brighter than the "pro", but found the construction to be poor. There was a lot of messing around with the interior to get it to work properly. I had gotten the Pros for a friend; the colors were intended be somewhat of a gag. On comparison, there did not seem to be a lot of difference in brightness.

Having switched to the pros, this is what else I found: the aluminum housing and interior is a lot more sturdy, and contains fewer parts (no metal foil). Rather than be turned on with bumps, the motion of the wheel seemed to have more effect on the pros. Though they do work on my bicycle, I should probably mention that I average about 12 mph, and can probably hit about 30 mph downhill.

The valve issue for bicycles you mentioned is easily solved with an adapter available at most bike shops.
(http://www.icyclesusa.com/catalog/brass-presta-valve-adapter.htm)

For your purposes, considering the orientation of the valve on the vehicle you were using, I suggest looking at these:
Tireflys® Microflys®
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Theory3, Inc.
    PRODUCT TYPE: LED tire valve stem lights
    LAMP TYPE: LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Automatic motion detector switch
    BEZEL: Plastic bubble protects LED
    BATTERY: 3xCR1330 (AG-10) coin cells
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Yes
    SUBMERSIBLE: Unknown; probably not
    ACCESSORIES: 12 batteries
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    PRODUCT WAS STOLEN, SO IT CANNOT BE RATED





Tireflys * www.tireflys.com






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