I am looking for a replacement rain cover for my rucksack, and just went on Amazon to look at what they had there. Under ‘Customers also bought…‘, there were all sorts of things I didn’t realise existed and have never seen anyone use, like a hi-viz helmet rain cover.

How hi-viz are you for your winter commute, and how many of those accessories do you use/have you used?

What, in your opinion, is necessary, and what is overkill?

if drivers paid attention to the **** road instead of playing with their **** iphones* nobody would **** need any **** hiviz.

*other smartphones are available.

How hi-viz are you for your winter commute,

Personally, not very hi-viz at all. I tend to reply on lights, light colour clothing and reflectors rather than high-viz. I have 4 lights on the back, 1 constant, 3 flashing, and 3 on the front, 2 constant, 1 flashing. I then just make sure I wear lighter coloured clothing, most of which has got some kind of reflective material in it.

got a hi viz cycling jacket and Gillet, but thats about it, lights on flash in day, steady at night

see too many people on cycles with no lights wearing black…. and i see them at the very LAST second or meters aways

In most incidents I’ve been involved in being on fire would’nt have made any difference as the driver was’nt looking at me or where they were going at the time.

I always think reflective clothes are way better than the high viz malarkey.

one main light on the front (flash during daytime and constant when its dark)
one on helmet set on flash
one rear light on seatpost (constant) and one on the seatstay(flash)
one on camelback set on flash
i have a hi-viz vest that i sometimes use over the camelback…the camelback also has a couple of hi-viz reflective strips attached to it
spokes also have reflective strips attached to them for added visibility

drove up behind a cyclist in the dark the other week and could see great reflected light a long way back – as passed saw that it was a “hump” rucsac cover – a thing that I use which i thought looked good but am now convinced is

FYI, reflective ‘piping’ or tab/logo on a bag or jacket a f-all use. Unless the reflective strip is an inch wide (or a block like a hump rucksack cover) a driver will never see it.

I just use a quality light front and back (B&M dynamo on most bikes) and pay attention to the road. Have less issues in the dark than i do in the daylight.

Black or grey jackets are a no-no too for me on the road, red/blue/green etc. lot easier to see than dark colours, even in daylight.

I have one light on the front and 2 on the back (depending on whether or not they’re both working at the time) and then I usually wrap my hi viz work vest over my rucksack

I’ve got a bright and reflective’d coat, and retroreflectives on my bag and helmet. But mostly, I have so many lights that Matt Cardle keeps turning up to do a switch-on ceremony. I’m a UFO spotter’s wet dream.

Remember, yellow doesn’t mean hi viz, and even a lot of reflectives are crap. Flourescents and retroreflectives are a whole other game, I’d sooner have a couple of square inches of high quality retros than a square foot of crappy oldschool junk

This would get you noticed

is this bright enough?? 😆

In most incidents I’ve been involved in being on fire would’nt have made any difference as the driver was’nt looking at me or where they were going at the time

+1
I’ve been hit (accidentally) twice. First time when it was dark. Driver pulled up to a t junction on my left. He looked to his left to see that his path was clear and then pulled out while I went into/over his front wing.

Second time was in broad daylight. She stopped, wanting to turn right across my path and into a side road. Waited until I was about ten feet away and then accelerated across and I put a dent in her back door (not a euphemism). She got out and said “I thought you’d seen me”.

In terms of visibility things that move are better – especially if they move in strange ways. When I see cyclists I notice the ones with pedal reflectors and ankle bands very early. So I tend to use those these days.

I like the Altura Night Vision EVO Vest personally.

Lots of reflective stuff away from the rucksack zone, so it doesn’t get covered too easily, and stretch mesh so you just chuck it over what you were wearing anyway.

Plus lights. Lots of lights.

Keep meaning to buy/make some ankle reflectives as our paperboy makes good use of pedal reflectors up the pitch black road and they jump out well. ie he has nothing else.

Hi viz only really useful in some low light situations IMO and not in others. Reflective best for night riding. Jacket with loads on then I’ve got black reflective tape to go on the mudguards.
I also generally carry a rain/shower jacket that’s heavy on reflectives for getting caught out at other times of year.

Then lights. 3 on the rear for battery/unit failure. 2 on the front and one of them is overly powerful for riding at 20mph plus with no street lighting.
Looking for a rear light thing to dangle off/wrap around the helmet vents as it useful as it’s higher and moves in odd ways compared to static positions.

Was rather anti hi-viz but firmly a convert now for the commute certainly. Hump cover on the pack, lights and usually some sort of bright jacket/ vest. I’ve gone so far as to put black 3M tape on the bikes tubes too for night time. Makes no blinking difference IME though, last week’s near misses were a prime example. But I guess it all helps.

Personally I reckon the main function of hi-viz is to provide another thing for the cyclist haters (and lawyers) to complain about cyclists not having.

The thing that I’ve found makes the biggest difference to other road user’s behaviour, is an atomic headlight. Not just my own vision but I used to get non-stop people pulling out in front of me in a couple of places, and still do in summer, but in winter it just doesn’t happen any more. Honestly I think people think I’m a motorbike.

Halloween’s coming. Do Northwave do a reflective version of their skeleton clothing?

I think that would be appreciated.

Light, lots and lots of light 😀

The flash mode on exposure lights is really good. It’s more of a pulsing than a flashing so you’ve got both constant and flash in one unit.

I’m quite looking forward to the long dark commutes though where i get to play with my new MaxxD as well

Remember Hi-Viz Fluro clothing only works during the daytime/dusk as its reacts with the UV, it does squat all during the night.

Lights and reflectives are what you need.

https://brightkidz.co.uk/road-safety/how-does-high-vis-work

jonba – Member

In terms of visibility things that move are better – especially if they move in strange ways. When I see cyclists I notice the ones with pedal reflectors and ankle bands very early. So I tend to use those these days.

Yep.
Pedal reflectors always stand out early.

Halloween’s coming. Do Northwave do a reflective version of their skeleton clothing?

I think that would be appreciated.

Don’t know but I won the Foska version.

I always think reflective clothes are way better than the high viz malarkey.

In terms of visibility things that move are better – especially if they move in strange ways. When I see cyclists I notice the ones with pedal reflectors and ankle bands very early. So I tend to use those these days.

+1 for each.

Buy sheets/strips of reflective material and cut to fit bits of kit, you’d be surprised how much you can put on without it starting to look too bad in daylight (admit it, it’s a secondary consideration). A strip down the middle of full length mudguards works quite well.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfWzeGlaFvI[/video]

Personally I reckon the main function of hi-viz is to provide another thing for the cyclist haters (and lawyers) to complain about cyclists not having.

+1 for this.

I bought a few metres of 3M diamond reflective tape. It’s the same stuff they use on bollards apparently (and they never get hit by cars….).

I put a long piece of it all the way down the back of my rear mudguards which does a good job of attracting a bit more attention. I’ve also put the black tape on my cranks to act a bit like ankle/pedal reflectors.

I use flashing lights during the day but the most dangerous passes I’ve had are from drivers who’ve obviously seen me but decide to squeeze past in the space between me and the centre line.

Or it’s a double-solid line and they’ve been grilled that you must never, EVER put a wheel across it under any circumstances, but that it’s absolutely fine to force the person on a bike on your left into the hedge while they barrel through.

As a driver who’s actively looking for bikes, reflective clothing and lights help immensely.

I use to ride one of these, lights were permanently on:

http://images.mcn.bauercdn.com/upload/268409/images/01sprint.jpg

Plus wear one of these:

http://images.mcn.bauercdn.com/upload/259209/images/hg_cruise-daylite.jpg

Folk often didn’t see me…

The thing that I’ve found makes the biggest difference to other road user’s behaviour, is an atomic headlight. Not just my own vision but I used to get non-stop people pulling out in front of me in a couple of places, and still do in summer, but in winter it just doesn’t happen any more. Honestly I think people think I’m a motorbike

This is why, when I am on the bike with a dynamo, I use the DRL function in traffic. I still ride as if people are going to pull out mind you, but I do feel a little naked on the days I ride another bike in.

As a driver who’s actively looking for bikes, reflective clothing and lights help immensely.

Most drivers aren’t looking for bikes and no amount of high viz is going to make up for not putting yourself where the driver is looking.

And most of the time it’s stuff like this…

I use flashing lights during the day but the most dangerous passes I’ve had are from drivers who’ve obviously seen me but decide to squeeze past in the space between me and the centre line.

… and this…

She got out and said “I thought you’d seen me”.

Bright yellow helmet, good dynamo lights, reflectives on bike and pannier.

I have a tabard but usually forget to wear it.

Now that every new car has ‘daytime running lights’ motorists are being conditioned to spot lights rather than objects so I’ve found it’s a case of join in or get flattened.

Yellow on the helmet, two lights on the rear and an integrated rucksack cover for commuting. And of course a three-wheeled recumbent trike gets me noticed on wrist-rest days like today 😉 .

For general road duties, I normally have one rear light flashing under the saddle. Two lights in the dark.