Not really but regulations are regulations... About the only itme I think they owuld be of use is to get that 3mph of deceleration form the driver as they are about to t-bone you if they didnt slow down at that yield or ran a stop sign.

Can you think of any situation where side reflectors might actually be of use?

I'd say they'd do pretty good - some people had them on last sat's night ride and they lit up really well. If a car was heading to t-bone you, they'd be a lot more likely to see you.

One guy on the ride had a light that looked like a wheel reflector that was a bright red, and that looked like it REALLY did the trick. Big red spot going around in circles just screamed 'Bike Here'...

Thanks for the link Da Tinker. I see what you mean. And the prices in that link cheered me up no end too, I worked out that we pay nearly double for stuff here in the U.K. :cry:

No No! Save your money! You can get them from: http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/search.php?search=led

www.wiggle.co.uk

About the only itme I think they owuld be of use is to get that 3mph of deceleration form the driver as they are about to t-bone you if they didnt slow down at that yield or ran a stop sign.

In such a close situation the driver would see the bike and rider better than the tiny tire reflectors. These reflectors are meant to be seen from a LONG distance, and their motion clearly indicates a cycle is ahead. Imagine you're turning left onto a dark street. Drivers should be able to see those spinning reflectors from several blocks away as you cross/enter the street, and expect a bike ahead. They also help where two dark roads cross, and a car and bike meet at the intersection - the reflectors will catch the wings of the car's headlight beams when approaching the intersection, if the line of sight is clear.

LED's or Blinkie's as you guys call them are illegal in Britain as they dont confirm to British Standard ruling on the grounds that they dont contain a reflector and they are not visible from the side. Having said that almost everyone runs them and everyone recognises that it is a cyclist from a great distance. Even the authorities turn a blind eye to them now as it is better to be seen than dead!

fixed to the bike illegal : fixed to your waist and they´re legal !!! - `the law is an ass´

I obviously will be running this light from now on when on the roadway.

What brand/model is it?

What brand/model is it?

This is a pretty old thread. Since i originally posted this i would have to say that it wasn't a phenomenon but instead just a coincidence. I don't run the red blinkies in the daylight because several thousand miles later i have found them useless in daylight. Drivers are drivers. Most of them suck but some every once in awhile you will run into a courteuous one.

My new favorite light is a lightman xenon strobe. This thing is noticeable in the light and esp. in the dark. With headlights, lots of reflectivity, two red blinkies, tire flies, and the xenon strobe, people give me TONS of room in the dark. Way more than in the light.

My new favorite light is a lightman xenon strobe. This thing is noticeable in the light and esp. in the dark. With headlights, lots of reflectivity, two red blinkies, tire flies, and the xenon strobe, people give me TONS of room in the dark. Way more than in the light.

It's not always a good thing to be running lights in the daytime. I think some people just seem to think that the brighter they are, the more visible they are. Remember that what you're trying to achieve is visibility and not necessarily luminescence which in the wrong circumstances can actually lead to camouflage. In certain situation, having a light on in the daytime can actually reduce the silhouette effect that would otherwise make you more noticeable. The military experimented with the use of lights to mask their airplanes during WW2 in a project called Yehudi. It was also tried again in Vietnam with success. Additionally, the F-117A Nighthawk stealth "fighter" was supposedly also planned to have received light-masking technology as well.

http://jmrc.tripod.com/fa/stealth/stealth2.htm

Da Tinker. You're absolutely correct on the absence of a reflector for the front of the bike. Must have a light capable of being seen @ a distance of 500 ft. I salute you sir!

Da Tinker. You're absolutely correct on the absence of a reflector for the front of the bike. Must have a light capable of being seen @ a distance of 500 ft. I salute you sir!
And I salute you sir.

Perhaps I should have explained that I was born & raised in the Great State of Texas.

No explanation necessary. As many times as I've read the transportation code of the state of Texas & had discussions with non-cyclists over laws regarding the road & bikes, I should have known better. Certainly should've double checked before posting
"facts". Have a good one.

This is a pretty old thread.

I didn't watch the dates, sorry. :)

Rear and side reflectors are legally required, though many of us ditch those rather quick. I know I did. BUT, I do use plenty of lighting front and back (cateye led 600, and a niterider trailrat 2.0 w cateye el110 backup light). Given I do need side lighting, and I plan on getting some reflective wall tires for that soon. I just don't like the thought of possibly having one of those reflectors find their way loose and jam into my fork in bad ways. As far as the rear...I got my `600...and might add another for safe measure.

I also ditched my wheel reflectors long ago. I recently started commuting and first purchased wheel refelctors with a single LED... They were bright, but at high speeds the wobble from the weight was irritating if not dangerous. I recently purchased a single LED “Mini Light” from Pyramid. It is very small and has an elastic band used to attach it to a seat post/handle bar. I mounted mine on my wheel hubs. They have added no rolling induced wobble, and provide an irregular pattern of light that can be seen 360 degrees.

I also ditched my wheel reflectors long ago. I recently started commuting and first purchased wheel refelctors with a single LED... They were bright, but at high speeds the wobble from the weight was irritating if not dangerous. I recently purchased a single LED “Mini Light” from Pyramid. It is very small and has an elastic band used to attach it to a seat post/handle bar. I mounted mine on my wheel hubs. They have added no rolling induced wobble, and provide an irregular pattern of light that can be seen 360 degrees.

I've used orange wheel reflectors for a while until recently. They made my MTB (which is also my commuter) a little dorky looking and the orange makes it all a little too much eastathically unpleasing (like someone threw eggs at the wheels or something :)). I do think the more sleek, white reflectors are okay but IMO if you're a commuter you should be using tires with reflecting walls anyway.

I find that in the evening with the blinkers on, the cars seem to give me more room too. Will try it in the daylight.

my first post, did I get through?

Another good one to add is those LED Valve-Stem blinkies. I've been runnin' some of those on my bike, for my evening urban rides.. and cars seem to give me more room... or honk... either one. :)

Mine are blue.

-Matt

I don't know. Did I get a bad set of Tire Flys. Seems to me they SUCK. Mine only work at a certain low rpm if I go faster they stop working, and then there are the times when after changing batteries they just keep blinking and no amount of adjusting it's cheap flimsy internal parts will make it work right. They seem kind of a rip off to me for what you get, the hassle factor, and not working right. My tire flys were junk.

I don't know. Did I get a bad set of Tire Flys. Seems to me they SUCK. Mine only work at a certain low rpm if I go faster they stop working, and then there are the times when after changing batteries they just keep blinking and no amount of adjusting it's cheap flimsy internal parts will make it work right. They seem kind of a rip off to me for what you get, the hassle factor, and not working right. My tire flys were junk.

Ditto...It's just more 'made in china' bike accessories. Most bike accessories just don't hold up.

30 year ago, when I lived in west Los Angeles and frequently commuted at night, I had a generator-driven headlight/taillight set, French strap-on lights on the left (traffic side) arm and ankle, standard rear reflectors, and lots of reflective tape. I always wore white or bright yellow or orange, and people commented that I was more visible at night than during the day. Today's battery and light bulb technologies are vastly superior; no one had anything like a "blowtorch" back then! However, I wish I could still find those French strap-on arm/leg lights, as I think they are an effective supplement to any lighting system.

Back in the mid 80s when I was commuting to school, at night, I also used strap on lights - white in the front and red in the back - that I would wear on my leg. Any idea whether anyone still makes these?

Stacy. I think what you refer to are called "UFO " lights..I have never seen them in a bike shop, but I have seen them in various cataloges...Think Nashbar has them larger enough to fit about a person's calf. I have seen these lights on cyclists as they ride down the Coastal Hwy. at night..THought them to be very effective..
I bought some from Performance over their red phone order line..The one's I received did not have a big enough strap to fit about a persons calf, as I would like..However, they do come in that size..

Cyclezealot,
Thanks. The closest thing I could find on the web was the PolyBrite Lighted Safety Armband
(http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?sku=15324) and Strap On Tail Light (http://www.beseenbesafe.biz/bikelitepkg.jpg) from Bright Idea Technologies (http://www.beseenbesafe.biz/index.htm)

I spend a lot of time riding on our local Bikeway at night and just upgraded my front reflecter to a blinkie. It's not the brightest blinkie on the path but, I've found cyclists tend to give me more space at night, and seem to appreciate the fact that they can see me coming on dark stretches.

Cyclezealot,
Thanks. The closest thing I could find on the web was the PolyBrite Lighted Safety Armband
(http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?sku=15324) and Strap On Tail Light (http://www.beseenbesafe.biz/bikelitepkg.jpg) from Bright Idea Technologies (http://www.beseenbesafe.biz/index.htm)

I spend a lot of time riding on our local Bikeway at night and just upgraded my front reflecter to a blinkie. It's not the brightest blinkie on the path but, I've found cyclists tend to give me more space at night, and seem to appreciate the fact that they can see me coming on dark stretches.

You looked at these yet?
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=17624&subcategory_ID=4322#

My girlfriend has one in white, it's amazingly bright.

You looked at these yet?
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=17624&subcategory_ID=4322#

My girlfriend has one in white, it's amazingly bright.

That one might work too. Thanks.
I could probably put something together with a clip-on light and a reflective leg band.
The old ones were good because they could be placed on the outter part of your calf and were visible from the front as well as the rear but I'd imagine these newer LED versions probably have much better battery life.

I personally put a big amber reflector on the back of my bike, in addition to the cheap 5-LED flasher in the back from Nashbar. Also my panniers have pretty good reflective tape on them. Up front I have a 20W halogen, and on the helmet, a Cateye Opticube 3-LED unit.

Here's my rig: http://ridley.dyndns.org:1494/cycling/index.html

I run an amber reflector on the back because it IS legal to run amber in the back, and it's about twice as visible as red.

Here's my question for the group; my red LED flasher can NOT take getting wet. It was new this spring, and I found I had to take it off the bike and wash it completely each time I rode in the rain. Right now it's very corroded inside, and I have to occasionally take it apart and clean all the contacts inside.

Are other units waterproof? At this point I'm about to go to the truck stop and buy an LED truck marker light and wire a flasher circuit for it. They're BRIGHT (10 to 12 high brightness LEDs) and they're damn sure waterproof. I can hook into the 12v for my halogen system without hurting the battery much.

I just bought an armband light similar to the PolyBrite at Lowe's home store. The brand is Nite Ize. It was also around $14. I don't see it on Lowe's web site though.

Here's my question for the group; my red LED flasher can NOT take getting wet. It was new this spring, and I found I had to take it off the bike and wash it completely each time I rode in the rain. Right now it's very corroded inside, and I have to occasionally take it apart and clean all the contacts inside.

My favourite blinkers are, first, the Vistalite Super Nebula (5 LEDs, large rectangle, using 2 AA batteries) and, second, the Vistalite Eclipse (small, vertical with 7 LEDs, using 2 AAA batteries). The Eclipse is more compact, but seems more fragile and has less autonomy than the Super Nebula. So I mostly use mine as a backup to the Super Nebulas. I always use 2 (in town) or 3 (on the road) for a larger taillight as well as for redundancy. Nothing worst than a dead taillight noticed 6 hours after it was dead...

I am sure none of them is waterproof. But mine have seen plenty of rain, snow, frost... and still work fine. Some of mine are 4 years old and the latest one have been bought this summer (for backup; they are impossible to find in January). So far, I have broken one riding through potholes (we have good ones) and one died; 5 are permanently attached to bikes, 2 are carried in my bag.


As far as reflectors: Québec law asks for a red reflector and red taillight. But one may add extra reflectors and these may be red or amber. So my fender has a mudflap with oblong automotive reflectors (like yours): one red one and two amber ones.

I was going down the coastal highway last night. Passed by a cyclist. I have a vest with illuminated strips and a flashing lighted strip. But this person looked like he/she had flashing lights about the ankles, similiar to a blinkie. It certainly did not look like just a reflective ankle strap.
This person was really illuminated to the max...
Question..I wear a couple illuminated ankle straps..Just how much stuff is there out there in terms of lights , reflective gear, etc.....
This person I passed by had more stuff, Than I have ever seen in the bike shops. ANyone seen any outlets for really advanced night riding gear.This person had like a strong lamp on the handlebars and another light off of his/her helmet..
I can't feel that you can have tooo much stuff to keep your seen at night.
Wish I could have run into this person at a stop light to see exactly what night gear they were adorned with..


Saw a guy on my route that is pretty busy with cars that had the ultimate system to indicate "I am a bike." He had one light on a rear rack that aimed right at his back. You could tell he was not just a bunch of blinky lights, you saw HUMAN in front of you. It did not look like it took that much light to do this trick... maybe a little 3 or 6 watter, but he went from blinky reflective cyclist to I am a HUMAN.

Too cool.

I have a niterider setup with full HID front and 16 led blinkie tail. When people see the light they do seem to move far enough away. That darn light is so bright you can see it from very far away. I use it all day at work and it seems to work very very well...