FlashBak inventor, Brad Beneski
If you’ve been on any of the Thursday Urban Night Rides, you’ll have seen Brad Beneski. Well, you may not have seen Beneski., but you certainly will have seen his flashing back, lit up like a helicopter landing pad. The lighting system that he is sporting, called the FlashBak, was developed by Beneski in the last year to solve an age old problem for cyclist: how to be seen after dark and thus not get hit by traffic.
The FlashBak is certainly bright and an ingenious way of tackling the problem. We’ll be doing a review of the product in the coming weeks, but first a little more about Beneski and the development of the Flashbak.
“I was tired of friends getting hit by cars.”
Brad Beneski did not come to develop his product from a bike industry background. In fact, he started biking in the mid-90s for recreation and only owns one bike. In the 1990s, Beneski built a nice business destroying confidential documents for most of the big tech companies in town. He was so trusted and successful that when national companies tried to poach his business, they got nowhere. Failing to out compete Beneski, they were forced to buy him out of the market, and Beneski sold his company to Iron Mountain in 2001.
With cash in his pocket and free time, Beneski went to school at St. Edwards to get a undergraduate degree and learn more about business. Unsatisfied with just the book learning, he also relied on the SCORE program through the Small Business Administration which pairs retired business executives with new entrepreneurs. Beneski would use these resources heavily when developing his product.
His original product was a lighted collar for dogs inspired by his experience walking his own nearly blind dog after dark. While he was developing the collar, one of his friends took one of the collars, cut it, and put it on his bike. A light went off in his head, and Beneski started developing a new product. “I was tired of friends getting hit by cars,” he said. He thought there had to be a better way of being seen.
Flashbak Development
Beneski wanted to build the best, most visible lighting system out there, and he started by looking at the way lights are currently made. Most rear bike lights are small and red in color designed to mount on your bike. “I talked to my opthamologist about what the brightest color would be,” Beneski continued. “It turns out its white or yellow, not red.”
The bright flashing rectangle of the FlashBak
He started developing an amber colored system but needed to deal with Texas law which requires rear lights to be red. “I spoke with the Travis County District Attorney’s office, and they indicated that they would not prosecute someone [regarding] the color of their lighting system,” Beneski explained. “They said the intent of the law is that cyclist be seen.”
Legal hurdle jumped, Beneski got to work making the system as bright as possible. First, he increased the size of the light by making it a large square with ten lights instead one small spot.This allowed for a lighting system that would attached to the rider instead of the bike, invaluable if when you fall off your bike. The large rectangle of lights were put on a nylon backing so the system could be removed, folded, and put in a bag when not in use.
He next positioned the lights above the rectangular structure for higher side visibility. “One of the problems with conventional lights is that the bulb is recessed in a reflector, ” he stated. “This is great for improving light to the front, but it all but eliminates side view light.” Having tossed aside reflector shells, Beneski worked with an engineer to create an electronic pulse that increases the maximum brightness of the bulbs many folds without shorting the their life. The bulbs, which are not replaceable, have a 100,000 hour estimated use life.
Alligator clips allow the FlashBak to be attached to any shirt, bag, or rack
Putting prototype FlashBaks on riders backs also improved the product as well. The original design had velcro straps to wrap around a backpack, but Beneski quickly moved to alligator clips which allows the FlashBak to be put on messenger bags as well as shirts. He also answered one of the constant questions of after dark riders, “Is my light still on?” Beneski put a light in the on/off button that clips on your shirt so you can quickly look down, not back, to see if your lights are on.
Beneski realized he had a great system when he sponsored a team for the 24 hours of Dirt marathon ride in Smithville. After dark, he noticed that none of his sponsored riders had their lights on. When he asked them why, they said all the other riders were complaining that the FlashBak was too bright. Maybe not good news for riding mountain bike races, but certainly great for on-road visibility.
FlashBak comes to market
With his prototype fully developed, Beneski arranged for production and began working to get the FlashBak in stores this summer. He developed a recyclable cardboard packaging to reduce waste and set up an online ordering system. The FlashBak is now available at Austin Bikes, Bicycle Sport Shop, and Mellow Johnny’s with more stores expected to carry it soon.
The FlashBack can be purchased online or locally for $39
“It was pretty exciting to see the first rider I didn’t personally know wearing a FlashBak,” Beneski concluded. “Mainly, I’m just happy to make something that saves lives.”
FlashBak
Power: 3 AA batteries
Brightness: Visible up to 2000 feet
Retail: $39
Available online at www.flashbakonline.com or locally at Austin Bikes, Bicycle Sport Shop, Mellow Johnny’s, and other local bike shops.
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on Aug 11th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Nice story. I know Brad, but had heard only a small fraction of this.
Though as for the legal hurdle, if it were me, I’d have approached that from a slightly different angle — I’d have made one or two of the lights red.
(And I still think that’s a good plan — it’ll make it easier to expand sales outside of Austin and Texas. And it would slow any cops who wanted to be a stickler for the word of the law.)
on Aug 11th, 2009 at 11:46 am
What a fabulous idea!!!!!!!! Brad is a very smart, and great guy. Comes from a very nice family. We are very happy for him and wish him continued success… and manhy blessings.
on Aug 11th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Great story and a great product! I got one of Brad’s flashing dog collars and I’m sure the Flashbak works as well for humans as the dog collar works for canines. All I can think about is the number of lives this could save.
on Aug 11th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
great idea and the packaging is great…… will tell my friends that ride …..
on Aug 11th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I’ve got one of these as well and run it on my trailer whenever I ride with it after dark. It’s very visible and easy to secure to things. I dig it, plus Brad’s a hell of a guy.
on Aug 11th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
[...] Bike Industry Profile: Brad Beneski of FlashBak | Austin On Two Wheels by elliott He started developing an amber colored system but needed to deal with Texas law which requires rear lights to be red. “I spoke with the Travis County District Attorney’s office, and they indicated that they would not prosecute someone … [...]
on Aug 11th, 2009 at 11:43 pm
wow what a great piece!! Id like to try it out sometime
on Aug 13th, 2009 at 9:27 am
I’ve got one of these on my Xtracycle and it mounts perfectly to the back of the Xtracycle frame. Definitely the most visible rear bike light I have seen. Great job Brad.
on Aug 15th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Can a person on a motorcycle use it? Or would it be against the law?
on Aug 22nd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
You may of answer my question. However I had trouble with my old email address and have a new one.
My question was “Can a perso on motorcycle ues it? Or would it be against the law”
on Sep 14th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
way to go Brad. Congratulations!
on Nov 14th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
The light is amazing! I got one at the 24 Hours of Moab bike race and have been wearing it on rides lately (with it getting dark so early now, it’s pretty handy!).
I’m convinced it makes a difference…I really sense that the drivers give me more room. A buddy of mine was telling me how surprised he was by how bright it was.
As for the color, I’m surprised that’s an issue at all. Many cars have yellow turn signals/hazard flashers on the rear–so it’s hard to imagine how a yellow blinking light on the back of a bike (or even motorcycle) would be a problem. I’m not a lawyer, though, so that’s just conjecture–a comment on how stupid it would be for yellow lights on the back of a bike to be illegal when it is legal on a car.