What Safety Equipment Needed for Road Riding?

[mrdoright0405]

Without looking like an Idiot?

[twahl]

A bike. You'd look like an idiot trying to ride without one.

[mrdoright0405]

True. "Safety equipment"

[twahl]

I'm suffering from a lack of understanding. In my opinion you look like an idiot if you are riding without any of the appropriate safety equipment. Minimum, in my eyes, is a helmet, gloves, and some sort of suitable shoes. That means no flip-flops, but not necessarily cycling-specific shoes. I personally wouldn't ride without a mirror if I can help it. At night, you need a headlight and a rear light minimum. Additional reflectors and/or reflective tape is useful. The most important safety equipment is a well-maintained bike, and good situational awareness coupled with common sense.

Bright colored jerseys are helpful. Cycling shorts will help you be more hygenic, and "safe", sunscreen will protect your skin. Decent glasses will protect your eyes from UV and from debris.

I don't subscribe to any fears of "looking like an idiot" when it comes to my safety, or that of my kids. If you get your skull cracked because you are afraid you will look like an idiot wearing a helmet, you made your worse fear come true. Now you look like a dead idiot.

[RonH]

Brightly colored jerseys. Same with jackets and vests in the winter.
A blinkie for riding after work when it's dark or getting dark.
Helmet mounted mirror.

[PaulH]

A bike. You'd look like an idiot trying to ride without one.

I got this wonderful image of someone "air cycling" -- analogous to playing "air guitar."

:)

[twahl]

Sometimes I do that in my sleep. I'm sure I look like an idiot.

[mrdoright0405]

I'm suffering from a lack of understanding. In my opinion you look like an idiot if you are riding without any of the appropriate safety equipment. Minimum, in my eyes, is a helmet, gloves, and some sort of suitable shoes. That means no flip-flops, but not necessarily cycling-specific shoes. I personally wouldn't ride without a mirror if I can help it. At night, you need a headlight and a rear light minimum. Additional reflectors and/or reflective tape is useful. The most important safety equipment is a well-maintained bike, and good situational awareness coupled with common sense.

Bright colored jerseys are helpful. Cycling shorts will help you be more hygenic, and "safe", sunscreen will protect your skin. Decent glasses will protect your eyes from UV and from debris.

I don't subscribe to any fears of "looking like an idiot" when it comes to my safety, or that of my kids. If you get your skull cracked because you are afraid you will look like an idiot wearing a helmet, you made your worse fear come true. Now you look like a dead idiot.

Sorry if I offended anyone. I was talking about safety equipment so that I will be noticed by cars and other road hazards. Fast drivers. Lights, Tape, and blinkys sound good to me Thanks.
I wear gloves, glasses for sun and bug protection, Ill admit i dont wear my helmet, I have one but its feels to big and sits right on top of my head. LOL!

PS
what kind of tape and where to put it?

[twahl]

Sorry if I offended anyone. I was talking about safety equipment so that I will be noticed by cars and other road hazards. Fast drivers. Lights, Tape, and blinkys sound good to me Thanks.
I wear gloves, glasses for sun and bug protection, Ill admit i dont wear my helmet, I have one but its feels to big and sits right on top of my head. LOL!

PS
what kind of tape and where to put it?

No worries. I just get nervous sometimes andswering questions like this, after some of the posts about "cycling shorts that don't look gay", etc. I found some reflective tape sheets (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=10691) that were die cut into different shaped and sized pieces. Some small pieces can go on your rims if they are shaped appropriately, on a frame pump, or a water bottle, to provide some additional visibility without being too obtrusive. You can also be selective when you buy a seat bag, many have refelctive surfaces on them.

[mrdoright0405]

No worries. I just get nervous sometimes andswering questions like this, after some of the posts about "cycling shorts that don't look gay", etc. I found some reflective tape sheets (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=10691) that were die cut into different shaped and sized pieces. Some small pieces can go on your rims if they are shaped appropriately, on a frame pump, or a water bottle, to provide some additional visibility without being too obtrusive. You can also be selective when you buy a seat bag, many have refelctive surfaces on them.

OK Thanks for the help. Ride Safe. :)

[phinney]

Mr. D,

Don't worry what you look like or what strangers may or may not think of you, life's too short. Why would you care what people that spend their time criticizing others think of you anyway?

Make sure you have good bike handling skills and know the rules of the road. One of the best ways to develop your bike handling skills is to go to a big empty parking lot and practice. Practice sudden maneuvers, tight cornering, panic braking, normal starting and stopping, etc.. If you really want to find the limits while doing this wear some of the gear rollerbladers wear and save some skin.

If you ride at night then make sure you have reflectors and lights. Don't fore-go the reflectors as they'll show up brightly in car headlights when most bike lights are overwhelmed by the car lights and not visible. Reflectors also have excellent battery life.

Make sure your bike functions properly and keep it maintained in good condition. Occasionally do a panic stop (when it's safe to do so) for practice and to be sure the brakes are still working good.

Get a good horn. The louder and more obnoxious the better. The water bottle air horns or boat freon (well, they used to be) horns work good. Make sure the horn button is positioned where you don't have to move your hands to press it. If you've got a good "HEY" with adequate loudness and intonation then you may be able to skip the horn. Practice the "HEY" anyway in case the horn doesn't work when you need it.

Glasses are a really good idea. A bug in the eye can distract you and cause an accident. Tinted are really nice in the bright sun. I've found name brand shooting glasses (like Smith and Wesson or Remington) work really good. They're high quality and reasonably priced.

Ride defensively, cautiously, and courteously. If a section of road doesn't feel safe then don't use it.

There are all kinds of "body armor" available. IMHO if road cycling is dangerous enough to require wearing all of that than we're foolish to ride. If a car nails you with a 40mph speed differential then a full suit of jousting armor wouldn't help.

If you feel better with "body armor" then start with a helmet. The bmx helmets offer significantly better protection than the typical bicycle helmet in that they have a hard shell. They are somewhat heavier and don't ventilate as well, but of course what does that matter when your safety is at stake. If you're comfortable with the minimal protection of a bicycle helmet than try some on at the discount store first. The materials and tooling to make helmets is very cheap, and, like sunglasses, if you pay $100 dollars for one then $75 dollars of that wasn't for function. Discount stores first and then, because helmets are fashion items, look for big sales on non-current models. A full face type of downhill helmet is even better in that it will offer some protection to your face. A motorcycle helmet will roast your head but offers serious protection. Or, you can wear no helmet at all which the majority of cyclists do and have done for over 100 years. If you decide to tempt fate and not wear a helmet than a cycling specific cap is a great clothing item. You can get these with defunct cycling team names on them (lots and lots of defunct cycling teams) for a song.

Gloves will help reduce scraping your palms if you fall down. If you think you're going to fall down and want to reduce palm scrapes wear gloves. Whatever you find comfortable here. The cycling specific ones are nice because they'll have an absorbent backing which is good for wiping sweat from your forehead.

[PaulH]

I'd consider lights (at night, or in precipitation) and a helmet to be the only "must haves." The helmet is high enough to be in a driver's horizontal line of sight, and is usually brightly-colored, so I think it enhances visibility. Bike helmets certainly catch my eye when driving.

You won't look like an idiot. Rather the opposite.

Paul

[Sasquatchula]

If in doubt, fire up these babies

:D

http://www.orionsignals.com/Marine/Products/handheld/hhosignals.html

[phinney]

Almost forgot, a flag greatly enhances visibility. The ones that stick out to the left are excellent for getting the cars to provide you with a little more clearance.

[genec]

Sometimes I do that in my sleep. I'm sure I look like an idiot.

I do that on my back... supposed to be good for flattening the stomach... far better than any of those stupid machines sold on TV after midnight. :D

[javna_golina]

I think a reflective vest is the most important thing. I have one which is fluroscent greeny yellow with thick silver stripes on it. Got mine from a workwear store About the same as a set of ****ty lights. A reflective vest makes you more visible than lights, though they help, and a good front light is helpful for seeing where you're going on unlt country roads.

As an added bonus, this vest looks very similar (or is the same is) the vests worn by roadworkers and policemen...so often cars go extrememly slowly behind me for sometime, until they realise I'm a cyclist:D

[Michel Gagnon]

A bike. You'd look like an idiot trying to ride without one.

True. But take a look at Cycles De Vinci (http://devinci.com/english/) website!

[RonH]

Ill admit i dont wear my helmet...
You don't wear a helmet and you're worried about otherwise looking like an idiot??
IMHO, anyone who doesn't wear a helmet IS AN IDIOT!!!!

[Bike nut]

If you look like an idiot, at least you're being looked at, and that adds to your safety.

[barenakedbiker]

Daytime: Helmet. Helmet Mounted Rear View Mirror. 1 meter, thin fiberglass rod mounted horizontally from the rear rack, on the left side.

Nighttime: All of the above. Red and blue flashing halogen lights. Headlights.

[HiYoSilver]

Night/dusk/rainy weather safety list:

1. headlight
2. back up light to bungie on handlebars if headlight fails
3. front side clearance lights, amber is best to match other vehicles front lights and you want both to appear bigger and more quickly recognizable
4. reflective tape on inside of wheel rims or reflective side walls. You can get black tape so it doesn't look wierd in the daytime
5. reflective tape on key frame bars to aid further in instant recognition. 3M makes a diamond tape that is nice.
6. reflective cycling gloves, again to make you seem wider than a broomstick
7. a rear light that is bright and calls attention to you from a bit away. Cateye TL-1000 [think that's the model number. It has 10 led's and you can have one row steady and another row rolling]
8. flash back handlebar lights to catch attention because they are different and people will slow down to look.
9. a reflective vest/jacket. the yellow one from performance is not too bad.

Do they work? I'm a believer. Tonight it was drizzling on the way home so I turned on:
1. one of two headlights
2. one flashback light [luckily it was the left side, the right side I broke by dropping the bike ]
3. the front clearance lights
4. the rear light

On my most dangerous 1 mile stretch of 2 lane road, drivers
1. gave me at least 4 extra inches of road today vs yesterday
2. slowed down and slowly passed me instead of zipping past like earlier in week
3. created a gap for me to make my left turn instead of me having to time my turn carefully.

It seems like most drivers, when they see you are trying to be safe and obey traffic laws like other vehicles will make some concessions for your safety. There are always nuts, but it nice to know most folks like to see a role model for safe biking.