Get yourself seen

[techno]

Sure does. That's why I bought it after a ton of searching for a light to fit on the seatstay whilst carrying a seatpack.

[fatbikephil]

Good discussion. I've always thought about helmet lights but never got round to it - must sort for this season. Pedal reflectors are a bit of a debate in itself as they are technically a legal requirement, yet almost no-one has them. Its been used as contributory negligence in claim cases but will not likely cut much ice in a death by careless / dangerous driving case if plenty of other illumination was present.

I'd agree with Trail Rat - if they aren't looking, they won't see you. I've had drivers pull out in front of my 1200GS (Large red motorcycle with three front halogen lights) so as always assume they haven't seen you until they have!

[oldstrath]

Smart Lunar R2 has a reasonable seatstay mount. Bit of petroleum jelly solves the water ingress problem some people report.

[dlovett]

Good discussion. I've always thought about helmet lights but never got round to it - must sort for this season. Pedal reflectors are a bit of a debate in itself as they are technically a legal requirement, yet almost no-one has them. Its been used as contributory negligence in claim cases but will not likely cut much ice in a death by careless / dangerous driving case if plenty of other illumination was present.

I'd agree with Trail Rat - if they aren't looking, they won't see you. I've had drivers pull out in front of my 1200GS (Large red motorcycle with three front halogen lights) so as always assume they haven't seen you until they have!

As I run tiny Shimo SPD's or Live mud Jekeyl, there are no reflectors on them. however what I did was get a small piece of plastic pipe and put it over the pedal shaft between the crank and the pedal. This piece of pip then had flouro yellow reflective tape put on it to hold it in place. Weights absolutely nothing, but works brilliantly as a reflector. It lasted abut six months before it e off and I keep telling my self must replace them.

I tend to wear a pair of bright yellow reflective roadie overshoes at night in the winter, does a great job as to a car they look light flashing yellow light in the distance.

[Trail-rat]

I use xt touring pedals and TUV approved beam road lights front and back on my commute. Give them no excuse

[Nevis]

I have an overly bright light I bought for trail riding. It's pretty obnoxious if you are riding with others and I will often cover it if I think it's causing a problem to oncoming traffic. One thing I have noticed though, it confuses drivers because they can't work out what's coming so will often slow right down. I also use a front flasher and two rear flashers, one on the seat pack and one on my lid.

Didn't work on Tuesday night though, some tool in an artic pulled right out on me; well scary. I was close enough to see that he simply didn't look my way. Wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference what I'd been wearing, how many lights I had, etc. The only thing that may have helped would have been an f off great air horn.

[psling]

I have an overly bright light I bought for trail riding. It's pretty obnoxious if you are riding with others and I will often cover it if I think it's causing a problem to oncoming traffic. One thing I have noticed though, it confuses drivers because they can't work out what's coming so will often slow right down.

That's probably because they can't see when they're completely dazzled!!

[whitestone]

For commuting I have a dynamo setup with StVZO compliant front and rear lights. On the rear I also have a flashing red light both for redundancy purposes (though the dynamo light should be fine) and for the previously mentioned distance perspective. I never used to have an extra light on the front but one night on the way home I had a chat with a driver - all very pleasant, we were just waiting at a set of road works - and he mentioned that I was hard to see from the front as my light was overwhelmed by the car lights and that a small flashing light would help me stand out more. So I now have one of those small Moon lights on flash mode as well.

[Nevis]

That's probably because they can't see when they're completely dazzled!!

Possibly!

I think it may have more to do with the fact that, what looks like a car light is moving in an erratic way (I.e. not like a car) Bit like when you see a big tractor or combine coming towards you, looks like an approaching ufo.

[Zippy]

My thoughts on this are basically:

I have a rear light (exposure Blaze now, and i carry a backup. Contemplating getting a micro-redeye thing too actually), am as tuned into the traffic as I can be, reflective on my shoes which are obviously moving most of the time so get caught pretty well in headlights.

I also have a front light, flashing one to be seen and an exposure of whatever I grab for to see with - bit like Slarge.

Anything beyond this, to be honest if I'm not going to be seen with those, I don't think added extras are going to help. Cars I'm unsure of what they're doing behind me, I have been known to wobble a bit in the road to generate space as they're suddenly wary of me.

[sean_iow]

On my commute in this morning it was very foggy, about 30m to 50m visibility maximum. One thing that stood out was when a fellow cyclist passed me going the other way his white flashing front light was visible through the mist before the dipped headlights of the car behind him. But as has been said before, having visible lights doesn't help if drivers aren't looking or don't care.

I also saw some shocking overtaking by people passing me who couldn't be bothered to slow down and just hoped (or assumed) there was nothing coming the other way. One driver who did slow down behind me and wait for a safe opportunity had the car behind him sounding his horn as he was slowing his progress

[Bearbonesnorm]

Did anyone ever try those lights that cast a pool of red light below and around the bike? I forget the name but remember thinking they looked like a good idea.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

3M reflective tape on shoes, wheels, helmet, bike, etc! Doesn’t stick well on fabric and degraded quite quickly, so needs replacing every 6-12 months.

Conspicuity is important, but riding defensively is probably the best strategy. I have also pretty much given up on commuting on anything but trails or empty back roads when it is dark.

[sean_iow]

One thing I have noticed on my commute is that as it's relatively short at 7.5 miles and I leave at the same time every day within a couple of minutes that the vast majority of the cars passing me are the same every morning, living on an Island no one is passing through on their way to somewhere so they are on their own usual trips to work.The usual drivers give me plenty of room.

If I'm late leaving by 10 to 15 minutes I get a new set of drivers and they seem to have lower driving standards. Not only was I late this morning but it was foggy so this made it even worse.

Perhaps those who pass me every morning get used to how to do it or if they follow someone who gives me plenty of room they then learn that this is the way to do it? Or maybe as they see me every day in all weathers I'm not just a 'bike' on the road but I'm that 'person' they see every morning? Perhaps as they pass me every day they are looking out for me as they know I'll be somewhere on that stretch of road?

[Trail-rat]

"I think it may have more to do with the fact that, what looks like a car light is moving in an erratic way (I.e. not like a car) Bit like when you see a big tractor or combine coming towards you, looks like an approaching ufo"

as a sometime car driver and also someone who cycles on wards to bikes with stupid bright lights on cycle paths - no its because they are dazzled.

The nobs get the message when my high beams flash back.

while you may thing great they have stopped .... but It does nothing for cyclist /driver relation even on my push bike your asbo light causes offense.

[oldstrath]

Did anyone ever try those lights that cast a pool of red light below and around the bike? I forget the name but remember thinking they looked like a good idea.

Guee make one - I did use it for a while. Not convinced it made much difference really.

[Trail-rat]

i should add , my opinion above is for out of town country roads.

in town blind the fuckers - its fair game its the only way to be sure they have seen you amongst the noise.

[Nevis]

I am both a driver and a cyclist, I'm certainly not a nob

Perhaps I'd didn't explain my experience particularly well so I won't be to too offended.

I never said it stops oncoming traffic, I said oncoming traffic slows down. Whilst the light is bright (as is dipped car light), it's angled down to light the road in front of me and not aimed directly at anything oncoming. I accept it's probably not as well focused as a car headlight beam and that there may be some spill but I definitely do not aim it directly at anything coming the other way (other road users or pedestrians).

i should add , my opinion above is for out of town country roads.

That's what I ride most of round here and they are the very roads where I've found it most effective. When I've experienced cars slowing down it's been been where roads narrow, that in daylight I'd usually expect them to force their way through. I don't believe they are dazzled, my experience suggests it's because they think I am 'comparable' vehicle as I have similarly bright light.

I will check it later just to make sure I'm not being an unintentional nob!

[fatbikephil]

Did anyone ever try those lights that cast a pool of red light below and around the bike? I forget the name but remember thinking they looked like a good idea.

My exp flare pretty much does that as the old style bracket makes it point down a bit when attached to a seat post which creates a noticeable pool of red light on the road behind you.

I don't worry about mega bright front lights. the maxx D has a sharp cut off of the beam which is normally positioned not fat in front of me (ie well below what a car headlight shines at) so it might look bright from a distance but won't dazzle. given that most modern cars have Hid lights anything battery powered is weedy by comparison.

[techno]

These look like a good idea, no good on drop bars though: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14 ... =discovery

[PaulB2]

Cat eye do some drop bar bar end lights

[Lazarus]

as does ebay, and other purveyors of chinese stuff without the middle man, for £2

[ScotRoutes]

Partially spurred on by this thread I've been looking at USB rechargeable rear lights - the small, silicone strap type. I'm surprised at the low run times though. Any recommendations for something that could be relied on for a full nights riding?

[gairym]

Partially spurred on by this thread I've been looking at USB rechargeable rear lights - the small, silicone strap type. I'm surprised at the low run times though. Any recommendations for something that could be relied on for a full nights riding?

I did an eight hour ride yesterday and was miffed to see that both my rear lights were flat by the six hour mark (both usb led thingies).

Was daylight so not a massive problem but still better to be seen in the shady parts, the dark towns, tree covered sections or tunnels.

I'll watch the responses and see what's recommended.....

[whitestone]

Partially spurred on by this thread I've been looking at USB rechargeable rear lights - the small, silicone strap type. I'm surprised at the low run times though. Any recommendations for something that could be relied on for a full nights riding?

I've found a big difference in run-times between "constant" and "flashing", a couple of hours for the former compared to best part of a day for the latter.