089 – Beyond Lumens: How Outbound Lighting Designs Bike Lights for Real Trail Performance (Guest: Tom Place)

Mountain Cog

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In this episode, we sit down with Tom "Danger" Place, co-owner of Outbound Lighting, a Chicago-based manufacturer revolutionizing bike lights through innovative engineering. Tom shares the company's origin story, how he partnered with founder Matt, and explains their unique approach to bike light design that prioritizes beam pattern over raw lumens. Listeners will learn why Outbound places wider, more powerful lights on handlebars and spot beams on helmets—the opposite of traditional setups.
The conversation explores Outbound's design philosophy, manufacturing process, and how their small team of six produces tens of thousands of lights annually. Tom details their direct-to-consumer strategy balanced with bike shop distribution, their no-discount policy to maintain product value, and upcoming product developments. Bike enthusiasts will appreciate the technical discussion about beam patterns, ergonomics, and why proper shadows from handlebar-mounted lights create better depth perception for night riding on challenging terrain.

Outbound Lighting
Web: https://www.outboundlighting.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outboundlighting/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OutboundLighting/

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Rozdziały

1. 089 – Beyond Lumens: How Outbound Lighting Designs Bike Lights for Real Trail Performance (Guest: Tom Place) (00:00:00)

2. Bike Ride Mishap With Tom Dangerplace (00:00:13)

3. Outbound Lighting Company History and Growth (00:04:45)

4. Direct Consumer vs. Local Bike Shops (00:14:47)

5. Bike Lights for Safety and Performance (00:21:56)

6. Rethinking Bike Lights for Night Riding (00:35:07)

7. Design Trades and Night Ride Mishap (00:43:42)

8. Custom Requests and Unusual Returns (00:55:01)

9. Company Storytelling and Future Growth (01:01:07)

10. Building Relationships and Local Support (01:09:23)