Check Your Six With The Beam's RS 1000 Bike Tail Light AI Camera Combo

Forbes

a day ago

In June 2024, two cyclists riding near Dallas, Texas, were injured—fortunately not seriously, despite the terrifying footage —when a drunk driver ran them over from behind.
What was perhaps unique about the incident is that it was captured on video by another cyclist in the group who was not hit. That rider had a small camera mounted under his seat, facing backward, which recorded the horrific impact, as shown in the video below. Again, despite the severity of the collision, neither cyclist was seriously hurt. Warning: This video contains graphic content and is not suitable for young children.
The reason I post this video is that sadly, this is not as rare an incident as you might think. As a life-long rider of bicycles, skateboards and pretty much anything with wheels, I've had numerous close encounters - but thankfully no serious crashes - with cars and trucks. I always ride defensively, wear gear and stick to bike lanes when possible. I only mix with vehicle traffic when there is no other option.
Most drivers in Portland 'get' bike safety concerns and mesh well with the many cyclists in the metro area - but not all of them do. That's why I've been testing the new RS 1000 bicycle camera and tail light device from cycling safety device maker The Beam/Alps Alpine.
How The RS 1000 Works
The RS 1000 is designed to be part of a riding safety package that includes a bike helmet, lights, mirror (Beam sells the excellent Corky line of add-on mirrors) and a smartphone display mounted on the handlebars.
Despite its sophistication, the RS 1000 looks like a typical, if oversized, bicycle tail light with four bright red LEDs placed around the perimeter. However, inside the casing is a 158-degree wide-angle 720P video camera with a recorder and a dollop of AI computer tech, plus a battery to run it all for about four hours. The RS 1000 attaches via an included quick-release mount that typically connects to a seat post (top image). It can also mount horizontally to the light mount on most bike racks (above). Internal position sensors feed correct video (vertical or horizontal) to the rider's phone. It can also be powered via a USB-C cable attached to a battery pack or an E-bike's USB outlet for longer operational runs if needed. There's 32gb of internal memory and an micro SD card slot for memory expansion.
The RS 1000 and Ride Safety app (iOS and Android) can also interface with other tech gear such as smart watches and fitness trackers via a subscription ($3/month or $30/year) but I did not test that feature. The RS 1000 can also send out an SOS message after an impact, which is a backup to the same feature in my phone.
While riding, the RS 1000 constantly monitors the area behind the bike and feeds a live video stream to a smartphone positioned on the handlebars. A tool-level AI (called SRA or Situational Risk Assessment) built into the device then alerts riders using color and sound when a vehicle approaches from behind. Depending on the speed and proximity of the vehicle, the unit emits one of three escalating warning tones. The video display will flash a white, yellow or red warning to the rider while the four LEDs on the RS 1000 flash brightly as the vehicle gets closer. Alert levels, sounds, the LEDs and such are all customizable in the Ride Safety app.
If the vehicle behind the rider does not pose a 'threat,' no warning is given but it is still visible on the display (and recorded). The SRA feautre can also be turned off and the camera system used as a 'dumb' camera or even a video camera if off the bike.
Does It Work?
I installed the quick mount on the seatpost of my e-bike after downloading and installing the Ride Safety app on my iPhone 16 Pro. The camera links via hot spot (there's no data use that I can discern) and Bluetooth. Once I got it set up initially, it was easy to activate on subsequent rides.
While riding, the video is essentially clear when the road is smooth, and naturally a bit shaky when it isn't. But any video is better than no video should something happen. Out in traffic, the white, yellow and red warning markers appeared reliably following a decently loud beep to get my attention. Recorded video is serviceable for the intended purpose but isn't going to replace your GoPro or Insta360 footage quite yet. And while you can start and stop recording footage manually from the app, the RS 1000 also records loops like a dash cam and if something does happen, there is footage ahead and after the event for context (and evidence).
Additionally, the built-in LED lights are bright enough to see in daylight and can also function as a brake light. They also perk up and blink when a vehicle approaches.
Observations
Fortunately, I did not need to utilize any footage as I was not involved in any incidents while testing. Cars approaching a bit faster than others got a yellow or red warning along with a beep to alert me. The audio and video alert feature is a definite step up over other cameras that simply record your ride.
It's good to see The Beam offer the RS 1o00 to riders and have it work well. The design is thoughtful and unobtrusive, the app works well, the LEDs are plenty bright and the RS 1000 is a truly useful piece of cycling tech. After a while, going on a ride without it seemed like I left home with no shoes on.
I would like to see some small changes, however. The quick-release mount does not lock as tightly as I'd like; I actually put a small tether on it tied to the seat rail in case the RS 1000 module detached from the mount while riding off the pavement. This is no $5 blinky light from China, after all. However, it stayed in place despite my rough riding to jarr it loose, but I'd encourage The Beam to include a small safety tether of some sort for peace of mind. Overall, the app worked well and is easy to navigate, but I was unable to change the speedometer readout from KMH to MPH (the RS 1000 is from Germany).
Beyond that, I'd love to see the RS 1000 expand in usefulness and safety by eventually incorporating a front-facing camera module and maybe turn signals for the rear module. But as it is right now, this is a great piece of safe cycling tech that is truly useful and perhaps life-saving. $350 for a rear light with a camera may seem expensive, but given the RS 1000's expandable capabilities and built-in smarts, the video it can capture could make or break a criminal case, an insurance settlement involving a collision, or just give rider that small window to escape a distracted (or worse) driver. That capability alone makes it a solid value.
Highly Recommended.
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