Phosphorescent transparent powder coating makes trendy bike glow in the dark Night Bike: Special coating creates a glowing effect
Reduced design, minimal branding, high quality components and elegant colors – handmade, individualized bikes are all the rage today, primarily in urban areas. The Berlin-based bicycle manufacturer 8bar bikes specializes in building bicycles – predominantly single-speed bikes – and has its finger on the pulse. First developed in big cities like New York as a means of transportation for bike couriers, the extremely robust single-speed bikes are becoming increasingly popular in German cities. There are no off-the-peg bikes at 8bar bikes; each bike is a one-of-a-kind, custom-made item. With the so-called “Night Bike”, the Berlin-based manufacturer has established a new trend: bikes that glow in the dark. 8bar bikes relied on Brillux Industrial Coatings for the special finish: The bikes get their striking glowing effect thanks to the phosphorescent powder coating with Brillux Lumifekt Powder PE 5989.
Special coating to attract attention
The idea came to Stefan Schott during a night ride: how cool would it be if a bike could glow without any lights at all? The owner of Berlin’s 8bar bikes took action and searched for a solution to make his vision a reality. He wanted a coating for the bicycle frame that would be charged by sunlight or artificial light and then release the light again in darkness, i.e. glow-in-the-dark like a watch face. However, the first attempts at coating with spray paint did not lead to satisfactory results. In his search for a suitable coating solution for his “Night Bikes”, Stefan Schott came across Lumifekt Powder PE 5989 from Brillux Industrial Coatings. The phosphorescent, transparent, polyester-based powder coating is a photoluminescent coating for functional or decorative applications and is often used in areas where objects need to be identified or highlighted.
Versatile applications
In addition to decorative indoor and outdoor applications, a large field of application for the phosphorescent clear powder coating is the security sector. Thanks to the long-lasting green afterglow effect, the coated parts provide orientation in the dark. Whether for emergency exit signs, informative signs, directional arrows, handrails, door frames, or switches and control boxes, photoluminescent coating is used whenever elements need to be highlighted by luminescence in the dark. Luminescence occurs when a portion of the light energy absorbed by an object is emitted later as light. Decorative afterglow coatings can also be used in residential and commercial applications, such as bedroom furniture for handles and lamps, or in children’s rooms and on toys.
Urban trend
With the “Night Bike”, the Berlin-based bicycle manufacturer 8bar bikes chose to work with Brillux Industrial Coatings. The bikes get their afterglow effect thanks to the phosphorescent powder coating with Brillux Lumifekt Powder PE 5989.
8bar website:https://www.8bar-bikes.com/
Lumifekt Powder PE 5989 (gloss, silk matt)
Phosphorescent transparent powder coating based on polyester as an afterglow coating for functional (e.g. in the security sector) or for decorative uses in interior and exterior areas.
- long-lasting green afterglow effect*
- the afterglow effect is not affected by weathering
- very good weathering resistance
- very good gloss stability
- good corrosion protection
- good resistance to chemicals
- very good leveling characteristics
- after appropriate pretreatment, suitable for all common metallic substrates, and for some plastics, glass and ceramics
*The reduction to the glow effect in the first 30 minutes is compensated as your eyes adjust to the dark. A daylight fluorescent lamp is a particularly suitable source of stimulation.
