DSA LightCycle is a doubleshot ABS keycap sets produced by Signature Plastics. Three group buys with different colors and kitting were sold between September 2016 and November 2018.
¶ Design
Inspired by the 1982 film Tron, DSA LightCycle features colors and keycap legends that are defined by the artwork and characters from the movie. DSA LightCycle uses dark grey base colors with bright accents to create contrast and evoke the visual themes from the film.
The first two rounds of DSA LightCycle use dark gray modifiers, medium gray alphas, and cyan legends and accent keys. The third round of LightCycle was split into two monotone sets with identical kits, one is dark gray and cyan while the other is dark gray and red-orange.
Several new keycap legend plates were created just for DSA LightCycle:
MCP(Master Control Program) - included as a replacement for the defaultCTRLlegendHACK- indented to replace the standardSYSorSYSTEMlegendGAME GRID- named after the simulation environment from the film and included as a 1.75u keycap specifically to be used by TheVanKeyboards to replace theLOCKkey for the gaming layer on his MiniVan- Three "novelty" keys with images inspired by the Light Cycle, Disc, and Recognizer
¶ Kits
¶ Round 1
The first set of DSA LightCycle keycaps was sold in September 2016 through MassDrop (now Drop.com). A total of 80 keys are included in the set. The kit was designed specifically to provide coverage for the MiniVan and was sold alongside Round 2 MiniVan kits. There were no picture novelties included in this set as the legend plates had not been produced. Notably, this round was produced with Signature Plastics' small alpha legends, where the two later rounds were produced with larger alphas.
Color codes: GX, GY, BFQ
¶ Round 2
After the success of the MiniVan-only kit on MassDrop, there were dozens of requests for an expanded kit that could fit 60% and larger keyboards. In October 2016, a new group buy was opened for the expanded DSA LightCycle set consisting of three kits (base, numpad, compatibility). Unfortunately TheVanKeyboards was forced to refund all of the orders in late October due to a pricing mistake on the kits. The kitting had to be taken back to the drawing board to consolidate the kits and simplify the pricing.
A second group buy was later run successfully in March 2017 for two large kits (base and compatibility/international) that were available with either MX or Alps mounting stems. The base kit includes 132 keys and can cover many layouts from a MiniVan and Roadkit all the way up to a full-size 104-key ANSI board. All novelty keys except for the 1.75u GAME GRID key are included in the base kit. Both standard and scooped F and J homing keys are included. The compatibility key includes an additional 88 keys, including dozens of modifier keys of varying sizes to support less common layouts, 7u spacebars, ISO Return keys, scooped homing keys for Colemak/Dvorak, and 42 keys featuring symbols found on many international keyboards.
Color codes: GX, GY, BFQ
Expand for keycap size charts
¶ Round 3
A third revision of DSA LightCycle arrived in November 2018 when TheVanKeyboards posted two new sets for sale. The two sets feature identical kitting with clashing color combos inspired by the film. The "Freedom for the Users" set uses the same dark gray as the modifiers from previous rounds as the base color for all of the keys and the same cyan for all of the legends and accent keys. The "Control the System" set uses a slightly warmer dark gray base and swaps cyan for a bright red-orange inspired by the Master Control Program.
A total of 125 keys are included in the set. While this is fewer than the 132 included in the base set from round 2, the set retains great compatibility due to a reduction in the number of duplicate keys. The change to using the same base color for the alphas and modifiers removes the need for alpha- and mod-matched keys like |\ and ~. Additionally, some keys were included as accent-only like spacebar, Esc, the numpad Enter, and the small blank spacebars.
Color codes for Freedom for the Users: GX, BFQ
Color codes for Control the System: GB, OAV
Expand for keycap size chart
