I will start to commute by bike to work next week, Greenford to Heathrow. My shift start at 14.00 and finish at 00.30. The return home will be at night and with not many car around. Do you think is more or less dangerous than commuting during the day and which sort of advice can you give apart a good set of light.

Rosario

Decent lights for seeing and being seen and reflective… Watch out for badgers… They don’t start running until you’ve nearly run them over

Hi viz and lights that shine sideways into junctions would be good

http://www.glow.co.uk/spoke-lit-bicycle-light.html

Presuming you know the route well, so are ready for potholes etc, then can’t see a problem. It’s pretty much dark from 4:30 now anyway, and as you say, less cars, but they probably be travelling faster.

Be careful near large industrial areas, at 2pm/10pm/6am as there are usually shift workers hell bent on gunning their ageing Max Power machines away at high speed, whilst checking Facebook at the same time.
Three now in as many months.
Last month it was the Mondeo on it’s roof on the island.
This morning’s looked nasty, car vs tree. 😐

You can’t have enough hi viz.
I use footpaths where it’s risky.

Takisawa talks sense. At that time of the morning, don’t be shy about using pavements either. I await the flaming.

Normally a pavement riding hater but in the small hours away from clubs, bars and restaurants where you may flatten a drunken punter, crack on with appropriate care.

I’ve been experimenting with steady and flash on my front light recently (current macrodrive, the 400lm one) and I’m finding traffic responds better to the default 200lm ‘high’ than the flash settings, but pedestrians on cycle path sections notice the blinky better…

^ on that point

Flashing lights are poor for other road users to judge speed and distance.

With my ‘ driver ‘ hat on the very easiest lighting combination to see and deal with cyclists is steady and flashing both ends.

Flashing makes it obvious it’s a bike in even the most filthy weather and steady means the guesswork of distance and speed is much more reliable as you don’t have to compensate in your mind for the flash rate.

If you only have one I reckon steady is best for me BUT and it is a big but I am always actively looking for bikes when I drive as a consequence of riding then in traffic myself!

The normal non cycling driver may respond to different stimuli or none at all in some cases.

Light up your back like a Christmas Tree, front end, high powered fixed light & bright flasher.

I’ve started pointing a front light at my chest – lighting myself up from the cross bar. I’m pretty sure it works well, but you have to be careful not to dazzle yourself!

Reason I did it is because despite having the brightest light I had (stupid amount of lumens for riding off road) cars would still pull out in front of me. I decided a small but bright light on a cycle just looks like a motorbike much farther away and drivers were mistakenly thinking they had time to pull out. Haven’t had this happen since I placed a front light shining upwards onto my coat as well as one pointing forwards, I don’t think they realise that’s what I’ve done – they just see a cyclist.

After seeing another rider with one recently (I was walking my dogs and spotted bike other side of park easily) I’m considering adding one of those fibre flare lights on my seatstay in addition to the seat pos. Microdrive rear.

I’ve been seeing a lot of off road lights recently, and really there is such a thing as too much light if it’s all in one place like that.

Currently I’m using a Veglo and lezyne zecto on the rear, lezyne zecto and Exposure Equinox on the front. Possibly overkill, but I still get smidsys…
If you can leave early and take a quieter route then do. Definite earphones off when it’s quiet: as mentioned before, a lot more distracted drivers around.

It will be much safer on the ride home. Forget Hi Viz. Fit three good rear lights, one on the saddle rails, one on the seatpost and one on the rack. A good bright flashing front light like a Joystick is also great for pothole dodging.

Heathrow to Greenford you say? I’d go via Harlington, then Hayes, across the A312 on N Hyde Road (the roundabout is fine despite its size), up through Southall and into Greenford along Lady Margaret Road.

I do the odd post midnight commute, I don’t think I’ve had one close call in about 500 miles.

That’s mostly deserted Cheshire lanes, but when I do happen across a car they have been great. I definitely get more agro on my riah hour commute.

Joystick on the bars and a couple of cheap AAA lights at the rear.

Less drivers, speeding and more distracted, that’s my main concern. But I’ll take shack advise, i will light up my back like a Christmas tree. And at that time at night i will definitely use the pavement where possible.

I use 2 lights on back, one flashing and one steady.

Also a rear light on the helmet works well.

Also have 2 on the front, I go for 1 flashing and one on steady.

They’re so cheap these days I find it’s worth having 2 at each end. That way if the battery dies I can still make it home ok with the light from the 2nd light.

Moon light on the seat post and a flasher on the helmet At the front a bar mount light on steady and a flasher on the helmet.L and M Urban and a Lezyne Super Drive

I have two lights on the front, as above flashing and steady. The steady one can be ramped up to 800lm if need be for the quiet, dark country lanes. Flash and a steady at the rear and small led’s front and rear on the helmet.

As others have said, go for flashing and steady both front & rear.
Flashing stands out brilliantly, it shouts BIKE to even the doziest motorist. Steady is better for judging speed/distance.

Late night commutes are usually less problematic than rush hour. Less traffic so you’re more easily seen anyway and somehow the lower traffic volumes seem to calm people down, they’re less willing (or maybe just less able) to behave like total dickheads cos there aren’t the gaps to go for.

Helmet light is a good idea –
firstly because it spreads your lights out and makes you more noticeable, and second – you can direct it toward hazards (like drivers about to pull out in front of you)

I really like these for side viability

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J1YEO1C?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

It doesn’t matter what lights you use,you have to be prepared for the driver to never see you and even if they do to pull out anyway..I do Heathrow to Ruislip commute,If you can jump on the canal and come in the back end,use as little road as possible,I have a Exposure maxx-d on flash mode and a gemini duo helmet light set to medium,make sure you shine it in drivers faces at juctions so they can’t say they didn’t see you.

As a lot of people have already said, worth having two lights at both ends, one steady and one flashing, it does make a difference.

The other thing that can make a big difference without you realising it is pedal reflectors.

There is only one vehicle you will ever encounter on the road with an amber reflector bobbing up and down on each side of it, it instantly identifies you as a cyclist.

And as others have mentioned, any thing that identifies you as a person is helpful, reflectives on your jacket or helmet etc. help outline you as a person and it can make a psychological switch flick in peoples minds that says ‘person’ instead of ‘obstacle’

BTW – reflective doesn’t have to mean hi-viz yellow, there are plenty of more subtle options with reflective piping and black reflective panels/stickers are available, and they are visible form much further away than just a bright colour.

Having said all that, at that time of night it will be quieter hopefully, but as you rightly identified people may be travelling faster and less likely to expect cyclists, but on the flip side they are often less grumpy.

Specifically for high visibility at night, stuff like this rucksack cover made entirely of silver scotchlite is great.

[video]http://youtu.be/YqPfcuw7AxU[/video]

I have a single front light, and two back lights (set up to flash out of synch with each other), together with all the high-vis that I own.

Colleagues who drive and have seen me have all said that it’s the high-vis they notice first. There are so many different lights for drivers to take in that sometimes they fail to identify cyclist from runner, from car.

Still, I’m glad my commute is pretty quite. Round here it’s the teenagers out for a night-time hoon on the lanes that worry me most…

Many of us commuting for more ‘Standard’ type working hours are having to travel both ways in the dark this time of year, with the higher volumes of traffic, I’d say the OP’s commutes sound pretty ideal, nice sunny early afternoon ride in, minimal, post lunchtime traffic, nice quiet midnight ride home again, hopefully with minimal traffic (but It’ll be cold so wrap up)…

Get a couple of decent rear lights, steady on the bike, blinky on your noggin there should be fewer drivers about, but it’s going to be dark so best to be visible, reflective tape’s and panels and all the other stuff, oh and check to see if the local authority are operating a policy of turning off street lighting in the wee small hours (say midnight to 05:00) to cut costs, I know ours and many others do, properly dark nights on unlit roads, I do need more forward light to see where I’m going and pick out potholes, I currently use two Torches for my commute, one old P7 set on low as a sort of minimal lighting and “be seen” light, and a secondary single mode XML that I use as a sort of High-beam, works quite nicely and cost pennies from fleabay, I just flick that on when I hit the really dark roads…

Front flashing lights are a bad idea IMO but I can understand why people use them, always have a steady beam and if you must have a flasher have it as a lower powered secondary light that won’t dazzle other road users…

Colleagues who drive and have seen me have all said that it’s the high-vis they notice first. There are so many different lights for drivers to take in that sometimes they fail to identify cyclist from runner, from car.

In town, at close distances they probably do notice the hi vis, but then it depends so much on the environment doesn’t it.

From a few hundred yards on a quiet road or unlit lanes, it’ll be the lights and reflectives that they spot, the hi-vis will only start working much closer.

Same thing in fog and mist, light colours and hi viz will only work once you get close enoguh to resolve them through the mist, lights will penetrate.

freeagent – Member

Helmet light is a good idea –
firstly because it spreads your lights out and makes you more noticeable, and second – you can direct it toward hazards (like drivers about to pull out in front of you)

Yup- my commute is mostly unlit so I use an XML torch that I used to use for mountain biking night rides. I’ve got to aim it pretty low or it could be blinding for oncoming traffic, but the ability to lift my head and zap dozy drivers that look like they’re about to pull out of a side street is pretty invaluable, I miss it a lot in summer.

I’ve never really figured out whether my commute’s safer at night or day- it’s not one way traffic, with my million watts of bike light I’m more visible at night than day, and people seem to give me more space too… But people drive differently at night and I think the roads are generally less safe. The lower traffic volume’s mostly good but means you get more high speeds and carelessness etc. I reckon the later you get the worse that is though.

Don’t really know but on balance it doesn’t really seem that different, as long as you do the right thing with lights (how some stealthcyclists survive I don’t know)

My brother used to have a lease in a big industrial unit, and he’d always assumed that the assorted white van drivers, factory workers etc would be deadly to bikes- but it turned out since he wore his work hiviz and looked like a commuter to the factory not a Cyclist, he got more space and better treatment around the factory than anywhere else.