I mostly wear black, and my bike is black too.
there are some reflective strips on the inside of the arms of an Oakley windproof I have which aren’t really visible unless I surrender, which is weird.
I do wear a yellow hat though.

have you used one of those vests molgrips? Anyone else?

Bet they make you look a bit special but I could probably put up with that, I did wear a standard hi viz vest for a while but it was sweaty as anything despite being mesh and badly cut so it limited vision when looking over your shoulder

No.. I’d rather a better implementation actually. I thought Altura or someone made a jacket with them around the sides and shoulders, so you could still wear a backpack. Although that company does illuminated rucksack covers too which could work.

i use 3 cateye rear lights – one on the seat post, one in the centre of my camelbak and one at the side of the camelbak. all of them are on flash mode. i also use a high viz vest but the problem is that it kind of defeats the objective if i put the vest over my jacket then stick the camelbak on…so i have resorted to placing the vest on the camelbak (i use a camelbak havoc…which has an outer panel for holding a full face helmet or shin pads…i’m hoping that this is enough for me to be seen by drivers who pass me on the road.
as for the front set up i used to have two cateye opticube lights but my son broke one and i never bothered to replace it, but the one that still works is usually set on flash mode and it does have the light ring behind the lens so it can be seen from the side. as for my main lights, up until yesterday i was using my old cateye abs-30 lights – 20w spot/10w flood. i usually would point the spot towards the ground and the flood would point a bit more forward…these worked great but i always would have to remove them from the bike when i got to work and then refitting them would be a bit of a ballache….they also felt a bit heavy…
however they are now back in their box and i now have a C&B Seen Cree XM-L T6 1200 lumen headlight…i know this is overkill for road use especially in the superbright mode so i just use it in the lower brightness setting…but again i face the light downwards so i dont blind any oncoming traffic.
i also place this light on the left hand side of the bars so it doesnt dazzle drivers stuck in traffic as i zoom past them.
as with many cyclists who ride at night. i’m not entirely sure what type of light is legally acceptable or if indeed there is such a thing..i just tell myself that if i do as much as i possibly can to make myself as visible as possible to other road users…namely motorists then in thoery i should be ok, but i wouldnt go to the point of trying to blind them with my lights….

kind of defeats the objective if i put the vest over my jacket then stick the camelbak on…so i have resorted to placing the vest on the camelbak

How about:

http://www.respro.com/products/urban-commuting/cycling/hiviz_hump/

the trouble with relying on reflective clothes is that someone needs to be illuminating them for them to work.

so if a car is at a junction to the road you are on his lights are not going to be signing anywhere near you, so they high vis could be a waste of time.

loads of numbskulls cycle round london with just high vis on, which is bugger all use to pedestrians wanting to cross the road.

Several mildly bright flashing lights work well – I have two cateyes horizontally spaced on alternate flash on the front bars, so there is a horizontally moving bar of light that demands attention.

I have had several taxis stop themselves from pulling out on me with this setup, whereas with a single bright light or one flasher they have.

It is also fairly obvious that I am a bike as no motorcycle has lights like these.

Distance estimation might be compromised but we can’t have everything. But the lights aren’t particularly dazzling so it is not too bad.

This setup seems to be getting more popular in London, I hardly saw anyone else with it but now I do.

It is also fairly obvious that I am a bike as no motorcycle has lights like these.

Is there any harm in being mistaken for a motorcycle do you think?

I reckon cars are more likely to properly give way to a motorbike.
Guess they might misjudge your speed, but it’s probably less of an issue for people to think you are faster than you actually are – the problems usually seem to start when they think you are slower.

Is there any harm in being mistaken for a motorcycle do you think?

having read that article someone posted last week from an RAF accident investigator I am thinking that a single, slowly moving, front light is not a good idea – based on the idea that the driver scans across a view but only actually sees several ‘frames’ of it and the brain interpolates the rest. The implied horizontal movement of a couple of flashers on the front is probably more likely to get attention as we are more evolved to see ‘movement’.

In my experience a lot of the glare/dazzling problems from cycle lights could be reduced by more careful adjustment of the light beam angle. This may also be easier with some of the more expensive light units which tend to have better designed beam patterns when compared with cheaper units that go for more Lumens to make up for deficiencies in the beam pattern.

I take issue with your statement have the Saferide 80 and it’s fine for me at 15-25 mph (not got the hills to test 30+). Only drawback is that at the high power, I get only an hour’s light. As a result, I tend to use a bike with hub dynamo and the Saferide 60 version for winter commuting.

+1

Philips Saferide is much brighter than it sounds for two reasons. The quoted 270 lumens is accurate for what comes out of the light, whereas most lights quote what the datasheet says the LEDs will produce, or in the case of ebay specials, some multiple of what the LED will produce. Secondly, it all goes on the road, so you’re not wasting 50% of the output lighting up the tree tops.

That said, it’s easy enough to mod it to use an external battery and be a bit brighter at the same time – I posted some details here. Sadly there’s very little choice for lights with a proper beam pattern. It wouldn’t surprise me if we end up with calls for something like the German regs before too long.

Is there any harm in being mistaken for a motorcycle do you think?

Yes, if you’re turning across the traffic or negotiating a roundabout* and they’re expecting to see indicators.

*Yes I know that indicating at roundabouts is a dying art on a par with basket-weaving and stonemasonry.

Mmm fair point MrAgreeable.
Getting noticed indicating in the dark is difficult enough.

As an aside, just witnessed a ninja cyclist on an unlit local NSL road. pitch black and no discernible lights or reflectives at all!!
Car behind him had to slam on the brakes when he finally saw him.

Mental!

GrahamS – thanks for the picture…i had seen these covers and had contemplated getting one but i’ve been a bit lazy and not got one yet, hence the hi-viz vest.
can you still get access to the rucksack with one these on or do you have to take the cover off first?

Gonzy – they fit over the top with elastic straps behind so you can pull it down to access the rucksack, 2 second job

can you still get access to the rucksack with one these on or do you have to take the cover off first?

Yeah. The (Camelbak) one I have fits sort of like a big shower cap. Very easy to whip off when you need access to the pack.