Help yourselves. Night riding attire

Struck me on the way home from work tonight that a fair number of cyclists really are doing nothing to help themselves get … by other road users.

Passed a notable number riding in black clothing with token reflective strips and frankly inadequate lighting.

C’mon folks, get at least a hi-viz and reflective vest and decent rear lights.

Agree the first couple weeks after the clock change are a nightmare.
I’m currently struggling to see runners, who seems duty bound to dress entirely in black on shared cycle paths. I’ve had a couple of very near misses, especially when dazzled by oncoming car lights.

I have just bought one of those rear lazer lights I must say they are really effective
and only 14 dollars.

be seen be safe

Pete

I’d agree with the use of reflective materials but I’m not sure that Hi Viz is much use after dark.

I’ve just got in from running an errand by bike. 3 rear lights (1 steady, 2 flashing), Exposure Strada on the front set to medium (500 ish lumens of broadly spread light) and a jacket with reflective strips on. Still had a bloke in a car pull out in front of me from a parking space and just to add insult to injury he didn’t have any lights on.

All safe and sound though, bit of shouty abuse from both parties and we went on our way no doubt both thinking we were in the right.

Come on that’s just victim blaming, it should be perfectly reasonable to ride in a black outfit and especially if you removed the legally fitted reflectors.

Back in the real world (and expecting the above to be quoted out of context) be seen, be visible, my rules for the road is give nobody an excuse on visibility.

Had one of those rear-lazer lights. Bit shit really. Proper non-toy lights are better.

muppetWrangler – Member

I’d agree with the use of reflective materials but I’m not sure that Hi Viz is much use after dark.

Agreed. Not just in the dark but from about twilight onward so called high viz is anything but. Reflective clothing seems to work very well though. A lot of the more causal cyclists (judging by their kit,bike and road skills) seem to think it’s okay to throw on a yellow gilet and they’re safe, but as soon as light begins to fade most look muddy brown and just blend into the background.

‘Hi viz’ works by being fluorescent in UV light. Therefore is useless at night.

You do not need more than two medium powered lights, it is more dangerous to dazzle other road users. There is a guy on my commute with a 100000 lumen head torch, I would push him into the ditch if I had a clue where he was

C’mon folks, get at least a hi-viz and reflective vest and decent rear lights

Its a pity manufacturers dont save us cost by providing something flouro for the day AND reflective at night. Take Proviz – other than the reversible Gilet, their LS shell jacket offering is massively reflective at night, but black. If itd been flouro I would by one in an instant it would be good value at £60, rather than have to buy / carry a daytime/nightime jacket. Why make a huge range of dark relfectives?

But wait, Altura’s night vision offer this, even in a roadie jacket (the Peleton…) but the issue is most are far too snobby to buy Altura offer this.

You’ll be suggesting one buys Gill next.
Shame on you Kryton57. Shame on you.

g5604 – Member

You do not need more than two medium powered lights,

We’ll put that on your head stone. Maybe the rest of us can decide how many lights we feel are necessary and if someone who’s opinion matters (like the police) take exception to it I’m sure they’ll let us know.

it is more dangerous to dazzle other road users. There is a guy on my commute with a 100000 lumen head torch, I would push him into the ditch if I had a clue where he was

Is it? I’ve yet to encounter a rear light that was anything more than mildly irritating and only if you stare directly at them. Just back off a bit. Bright front lights can be annoying yes if they are shone directly at you and you look directly at them but a cyclist coming the other way….just don’t stare at it. They don’t render it impossible to see.

I used to commute through Belfast city centre and I used 3 very bright front lights on occasion (although normally 2) from a riders perspective the difference between using an inoffensive little light and something properly bright is profound. Drivers treat you with a tiny modicum of respect, and having a powerful helmet mounted light is invaluable for alerting drivers joining side roads to your presence.

I’ve passed the police dozens of times, never a word, but always an acknowledgement. I asked a traffic branch cop and keen cyclist if he was concerned his setup was too bright and he just laughed and thought the idea was absurd.

Whether bright lights are actually dangerous or not per se is debatable, but I know that in the days when I used my Joystick on the road I’d regularly get my retinas bleached by drivers’ main beams because they didn’t like being dazzled. And that certainly doesn’t help, when you’re navigating potholed country lanes and for a few seconds you pretty much can’t see a bloody thing.

As a driver on mainly rural and suburban roads I find exceptionally bright rear lights pretty irritating (come on, don’t say you’d love it if all drivers went round with their fog lights permanently on), especially if they’re flashing; and personally I genuinely don’t see the point in them other than in fog (and maybe the middle of a busy city).

YMMV.

I saw a couple of people yesterday with quite bright rear lights obscured by their coat and / or panniers. Tried to catch up with them (I was walking) at the traffic lights but didn’t quite make it.

I’ve heard of cyclist pointing their lights up and back to illuminate themselves. Saves dazzling drivers and makes you a lot more visible.

I’ve heard of cyclist pointing their lights up and back to illuminate themselves. Saves dazzling drivers and makes you a lot more visible.

I saw a rear light on a website the other day that did the normal project light backwards thing but had an additional led and lens that projected red light down to the ground to illuminated he rear of the bike and an area around the bike, now it was a promotional image so would need to be viewed with a little scepticism but it looked like a good idea and possibly worthy of taking a punt on. Only thing is I can’t for the life of me remember where I saw it.

There are a few rear lights around which project symbols onto the tarmac behind, and a front one that does similar[/url].

It can be a difficult balance to achieve lighting that works for both you and other users.

I’ve a set of Lumenator lights on the front. They were generally great* for commuting on unlit shared use paths as I could see pedestrians/dog walkers/joggers etc. However, when I reached a road section I used to turn them onto the lowest setting and angle the light down a bit to avoid blinding other drivers.

*except for the one time I was rebuked by an oncoming cyclist to turn my lights down. Ironically I was shielding my eyes from his ridiculously bright head torch

Lets ban dark coloured cars. So bloody difficult to see.

On my commute my gilet of choice is one of these –

It’s got a nice big hi-viz yellow section and silver chevrons on the back that reflect like this –

Its a pity manufacturers don’t save us cost by providing something flouro for the day AND reflective at night.

Try the Sportful Relex 2 jacket or gilet, all have big reflective strips and come in a variety of colours. Or if you are feeling flush look at the Rapha Brevet collection. Also Altura and Endura do similar jackets etc. Not difficult to find stuff if you look.

What’s the problem with Altura, I’ve been using it for yonks and find it good value and functional ? Are people being sniffy cos it’s cheap[ish ]

If you search for “EN1150 gilet” you’ll find a bunch of stuff with large reflective panels, because French law requires the use of an EN1150 gilet at night and in reduced visibility (though IIRC they’ve now adopted a no-punishment policy for it).

Just picked up a Knog rear light from TK Maxx for £8 that is ridiculously bright and has an array of unusual flash patterns. I reckon the weird patterns are more eye catching than an array of rear lights.

AAA too, so good run life and easy replacement. All my CR2032 based ones seem to pack up at inopportune moments

I found those Knog ones a bit unidirectional, ie their side visibility is almost zero

Mr P – someone on my commute has a similar gilet. Unfortunately he then sticks a massive black rusksack on the top, thus defeating its purpose entirely.

Genuinely feel like I’m turning into a proper grumpy old man – told one guy yesterday that lights only worked if you turned them on, another that having a light with a dirty great seatpost mounted mudguard turned jauntily upwards in front of it was pointless, and another on riding in a long black coat also defeated the purpose of turning on his light as said coat was covering it completely.

I was behind a guy cycling last night, who had what appeared to be a red light back tyre and white front tyre. It was as if he had a light running down the centre of each tyre (where it connects with the road). The only thing I’ve found that looks close, is this: http://revolights.com/ . Anyone know what they might have been? Tried to catch up with him, but the traffic lights were not in my favour.

Genuinely feel like I’m turning into a proper grumpy old man – told one guy yesterday that lights only worked if you turned them on,

Blimey, I doubt that would even make it only the long list of things that make me grumpy when riding on the road.

One light on the back of the helmet and one on the bike or backpack is a good combination. I see a few with this setup on my drive to work and you can see it from a long way back and you know straight away that it is a cyclist.

No doubt that reflective gear helps but in some situations, you need to produce light yourself to be seen far enough in advance.

Forgot to add, there is one commuter who I see most days who has the small blue lights that go on the valve caps and the light comes on when the wheel spins. you would not believe how effective these are on dark country roads.

When I used to cycle commute (walk to work now), I used this:

IMG_2048.JPG by Dan and Claire Lees[/url], on Flickr

Seemed reasonably effective with a decent number of blinky lights.

I found those Knog ones a bit unidirectional, ie their side visibility is almost zero

Not sure that matters on a rear light?

Forgot to add, there is one commuter who I see most days who has the small blue lights that go on the valve caps and the light comes on when the wheel spins. you would not believe how effective these are on dark country roads.

My kids all have these, but I’ve not seen any Presta ones 🙁

You’re right they work a treat without being overly distracting to other road users. Plus you get to look like Tron.

These?

Sounds like great craic for night rides. I presume “France mouth” means presta.

Yes, jimjam. Not sure if it is those exactly, but same idea.

On a dark country road, they look like a blue hoop front and back.

Its a pity manufacturers dont save us cost by providing something flouro for the day AND reflective at night.

Hi-viz vest, £3, Halfords.

I have informed cyclists that their rear light is obscured by a bag or by clothing. I’d hope if I was ever in that situation someone would point it out to me.

A couple days ago I followed a rider with really strong constant rear light, it was way more effective than hi viz clothing and somehow better than a flashing light.

Not sure what brand/model it was but imagine it would’ve been quite an expensive one.

Bright front lights can be annoying yes if they are shone directly at you and you look directly at them but a cyclist coming the other way….just don’t stare at it. They don’t render it impossible to see.

Nonsense. I commute along a cycle path, and cyclists from the opposite direction with stupidly bright lights dazzle me to the point of not being able to see beyond them. One of these days I’m going to ride into a pedestrian as a result. Those sort of lights are meant for offroad use, and with good reason.

Hi-viz vest, £3, Halfords.

Only ever seen riding on pavements. 😉