Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Are we the minority?

I've read a lot of articles in this formum as well as others and it seems that most everybody has the essentials for commuting. Lights, helmet, reflectors ect ect. However when I go out at night I see a lot of people still riding with no lights and only limited or factory reflectors.

Are the people of this (and others) forum a minority in having the neccessary equipment or are we the majority? In reference to what I've seen, we seem to be a minority. Most cyclists ride without lights.

let me know what you've seen in your area.

Thanks.

I've never seen a cyclist with a head or tail setup anywhere close to mine. Beyond that, the majority of cyclists I've seen at night have no lights to speak of. We're very much the exception to the rule.

I see maybe 1 out of 5 bikes in my area with lights. In fairness though, I rarely see any bikes at all out after dark. So maybe I'm the idiot. Or, maybe it's because they don't have lights...hmmm.....

Most I see don't have lights.

I ride with my Dinotte lights (tail and 600L front) on the flash mode during the day or night. So I know I'm definitely in the minority.

I see a lot of kids without lights at night, but in all honesty, I used to do the same thing when I was a kid.

We're in the minority. But I think we're fortunate that these forums make us better cyclists because we benefit from everyone else's experience. I remember life before the forums. I didn't even know it was possible to swap a stem let alone use something other than a lame bike light for lighting my route. I'm a much more informed cyclist because of these forums and I'm much more lit up when riding in the dark because of these forums.

The large numbers of surviving ninjas out on the roads suggests super bright blinkies are a little over rated.

We're in the minority. But I think we're fortunate that these forums make us better cyclists because we benefit from everyone else's experience. I remember life before the forums. I didn't even know it was possible to swap a stem let alone use something other than a lame bike light for lighting my route. I'm a much more informed cyclist because of these forums and I'm much more lit up when riding in the dark because of these forums.

Same here. I've only seen a handful of riders with lights when I'm out pedaling around. I've seen more of them in other areas when I'm driving, and some of them have been hard to see because their lights were do dim.

I do think we are in the minority. As most people still consider bicycles toys rather than forms of transportation, this will continue.

I ride day or night with my lights on. Part of the reason beyond safety is to promote lighting up. The more of us that do the safer we all are and others will begin seeing the value.

I ride mostly in Modesto, California. Some riding in the outskirts (Hughson, Keys, Ceres, Salida, Empire). Very few cyclists I see during the day or night have lights. What few cyclists do have lights at night, their lights are very small, dim, hard to notice. Also don't see many reflectors on the bicycles.

I AM the minority around here, when it comes to lights! As I'm riding past people, quite often I hear various comments regarding my lights. The other day I heard a lady say to the people she was with, "I though they were the cops!"

Some people make siren like sounds when I ride by. Some people say my bicycle looks like Christmas lights. I've almost run into other cyclists at night because I couldn't see them.

Many cyclists in our area ride against the traffic, which causes problems (sometimes serious) when they are coming at me, especially at night, or if the pathway is very narrow. I usually don't budge, and they are forced to get out of the way, but sometimes they aren't even looking and I have to be ready to dodge them!


I've read a lot of articles in this formum as well as others and it seems that most everybody has the essentials for commuting. Lights, helmet, reflectors ect ect. However when I go out at night I see a lot of people still riding with no lights and only limited or factory reflectors.

Are the people of this (and others) forum a minority in having the neccessary equipment or are we the majority? In reference to what I've seen, we seem to be a minority. Most cyclists ride without lights.

let me know what you've seen in your area.

Thanks.

The large numbers of surviving ninjas out on the roads suggests super bright blinkies are a little over rated.

Your conclusion is based on incomplete data. You need to find out the number of non-surviving bike nijnas to get the survival percentage and compare that with the survival rate of the general cycling public. You may want to account for differences in traffic and levels of sobriety.

EDIT: a more apt comparison is bike ninja survival vs. lit up freds (not the rate for all cyclists).

Definite minority. In my small college town I see the "ninjas", both students and townies, pretty much every night. I can't remember any other riders with lights.

If there are street lights, neither the rider or the automobile need lights to avoid each other. If the automobile has lights, the bicycle does not need them to avoid a collision. Bike lights are a last line of defense and not likely to make much of a difference given that the moon, street lighting, and automobile headlights all failed. If you add up the watts or lumens of all the lights, that blinky might add 1%.

What about those broad daylight collisions between a group of bicyclists and a car? Would a blinky have helped.

I do use a blinky becuase I think I am worth the extra 1% of protection, but consider it less effective than wearing a white shirt.

Define minority:

Minority of lights-using cyclists? Here in the suburbs, I have my doubts.

Minority of 35,000,000 lumen triple P7+niterider dinotte combined with three superflashes, two MARSs, a couple of Vettas and a couple of dinotte or ultrafire K7 taillights? Yes.

the simple fact.
we, that frequent here are avid enough cyclist to recognize the importance of those little accessories.

meanwhile to the novice riders, they consider it a luxury, or they are usually kids/teenager going from and to a friends house.

anyone that commutes for real should have the basic knowledge of the basic requirements.

most of the above mentioned riders, does not even have a "by law" requirements like Bell, Helmet and other stuff.

some other people they simply don't care to have the bare necessitate, and they take for granted if they bike get stolen, they'll just buy another cheapo one from the box stores like Walmart, etc...

The people I see riding without lights are what I call real bikers. They are poor working stiffs who use the bike for their only form of transportation.
When a biker is killed or injured at night it is almost always one of these guys.

what I meant by minority is this; who are there more of a) people who use lights, helmets or b) people out riding without lights or helmets?

I'm of the firm belief that people with lights, helmets, and other assessories are the minority. Just tonight while walking with my wife. We were passed by a grown woman with nothing for lights or helmet just a bike. We live in the a suburb outside of town where there are no street lights in a sparcly populated area.

I don't see many people with even blinkies around here. And you should see the looks I get from people because of my helmet light :rolleyes:

I was totally surprised the other night when I was driving, out of nowhere was a bicyclist. It's basically pitch black most areas around here and there he was: no lights, no blinkies. Reflectors only on the wheels, and he was wearing black clothes.

:twitchy:

I definitely am in the minority around here when it comes to being lit up like a Christmas tree.

The large numbers of surviving ninjas out on the roads suggests super bright blinkies are a little over rated.
Get a hold of your cities bicycle master plan. If it is anything like my city's, it will list accident and death statistics. On mine, riding at night without lights is a prominent factor. A side note, it was informative seeing where on the map previous accidents happened, I can be extra cautious around those areas.

I have enough trouble avoiding collision with motorists and I have superflash blinkie and AYUPs up front as well as reflective tape on the bike and reflective clothes - I really have no idea how these "Ninjas" survive. The most dangerous time IMO is about 5pm-6pm when everyone is leaving work and it's just gone dark, makes it very hard for motorists to see cyclists when there are so many other lights: car lights, street lights, lights from shops and signs and the list goes on.

I reckon lights should be mandantory on all new bikes when you buy them new from the shop, in the same way cars and motorbikes do. There really is no excuse for not having any lights, a cheap (better than nothing) light can be purchased from supermarkets and department stores for the price of a beer or two or a packet of smokes.

I think Mr. York also touched on something. Route planning. I think that it's something a lot of people overlook. Which route is safest, contour etc etc.

Here in central FL I would say I am in the minority when it comes to bike lights. I have a PBSF on the back as well as an older Blackburn blinkie and on the front I have a Dinotte that I run on high beam and a Cateye strobe. However 90%+ of the other cyclist that I encounter have little or no lights.

:cheers:

With my dynohub and front & rear lights, I'm easily in the minority here.

In Germany, I wouldn't be any different than anyone else.

Here in central FL I would say I am in the minority when it comes to bike lights. I have a PBSF on the back as well as an older Blackburn blinkie and on the front I have a Dinotte that I run on high beam and a Cateye strobe. However 90%+ of the other cyclist that I encounter have little or no lights.

:cheers:

From what I have read on these boards, most riders in Florida are pretty much Natural Selection in progress.

:lol:

With my dynohub and front & rear lights, I'm easily in the minority here.

In Germany, I wouldn't be any different than anyone else.

Is that the law in Germany or is it due to the bicycle being a mode transportation?

Is that the law in Germany or is it due to the bicycle being a mode transportation?

It's the law, as far as I've been told by my sister (she's only been there for three years, so what does she know? ;)). Bikes categorized as "sport bikes", like race-style road bikes or mountain bikes, can get by with removable battery-powered lights. Everything else has to have some kind of generator-powered system. Walk down any row of bikes locked up by the street and danged near every single one of them has generator lighting, whether from a sidewall generator or a dynohub. Go to the bike section at Toys R Us and most of them (maybe it's above a certain size) already have lighting systems installed.

I guess I'm split 50 / 50 in my area. I see a lot more people with lights on the back than I used to. No one has asked me about my set up yet, but of course I haven't gotten everything i've ordered in so far. I see a lot of the Mars lights, and some Cateye's I think. I can't be the only who knows about the PB Superflash, can I?

It seems reflectors are hit and miss also. I admit I took off the front and rear reflectors on my bikes when I first started riding (I thought they looked stupid and didn't know any better). Recently when driving around I noticed that in certain situations the reflectors were brighter than some of the tail lights people had. I went to my LBS and they were more than happy to give me some. It seems they had so many people who wanted them off that they were either throwing them in bins, or just throwing them out.

I don't worry about the Ninjas to much in my area, they mostly ride on the sidewalk going the opposite direction :rolleyes:.

From what I have read on these boards, most riders in Florida are pretty much Natural Selection in progress.

:lol:

I must have missed something as your Natural Selection in progress comment has gone right over my head...???

:cheers:

Definitely a minority in my area. I have only been riding again, for about 6 weeks and most cyclists around here don't even wear a helmet, much less have lights on their bikes. I have seen upwards of 50 people on bikes, and only 2 have had lights on. One was a super bright light, and the other was average. However, the average light cyclist I saw was also wearing an orange reflective vest too. A lot of the time, the other cyclist is also riding on the wrong side of the street.