craigdurkee

how many lights do you guys use on your commute

do you do just 1 back and 1 front or do you light up like a christmas tree

Marylandnewbie

I think you'll find a lot of variation on this depending on when and where people ride. For me it is one serious headlight in front and a standard rear taillight. I experimented with Tireflys on the wheels -- particularly on the front since I think it would increase visibility at road crossings. Unfortunately, I found them unreliable and annoying to deal with since there was no easy way to turn them on and off.

If I rode more on busy streets or highways I would certainly want more lights from the rear and from the sides.

ollo_ollo

Christmas tree, plus lots reflectors & reflective clothing

DCCommuter

I want people coming up behind me to be wondering, "What kind of aircraft is trying to land on the road ahead?"

CBBaron

2 each front and rear.
I have one on steady and the other blinking. I'm hopeing this improves my visibility. My commute is on urban roads with plenty of street lights so I don't need a light to see the road, but I want to be seen by other road users.
Craig

mechBgon

It's good to have at least two rear lights, in case one fails or runs out of battery power without you noticing right away. If you're going to get a second rear light, I vote for the new SuperFlash, which is very powerful: https://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...0719&c=3758772 I like mine so much, I just ordered two more If your bike's got a road handlebar, also consider a set of bar-end blinkies.

If you can afford $20-$30 for an ANSI Class II or Class III reflective vest, like highway workers wear, and don't mind looking a little dorky, then those are worthwhile too (get the Lime color). Reflective legbands are also excellent since their motion attracts attention, plus they keep your pants out of the chain.

Here's some more visibility ideas: https://www.mechbgon.com/visibility What sort of commuting environment do you have, anyway, is it city streets, MUP/bike paths, or country/highway?

n4zou

Dual headlight with 1-watt LED and 20-Watt halogen bulbs. Yellow Blinkie up front so I can turn off both lights when bicyclists are approaching on the MUP so as not to blind them. Two Yellow blinkie lights one on each side. One red Blinkie on the rear in steady mode. Depth perception is difficult for most people when lights are flashing.

Cerberusgl

I use one halogen and one led light up front and one blinky in the back. Also I wear a yellow vest with reflective stripes. I am building a quad Luxeon I Star blinky but I'm behind schedual because it is almost dark now when I leave in the morning.

ghettocruiser

Front daytime running light from September through April.

When I actually ride after dark.. enough lights that it looks like every day is Christmas.

CliftonGK1

L&M Solo up front with a backup CatEye EL300 (see-me light.)
PB 3-LED red blinkie in back (buying another blinkie on payday.)
Scotchlite reflective tape on fenders, frame, and helmet (see picture thread, yesterday, for new pix)
I wear yellow reflective anklebands and a reflective yellow/orange vest over my gear.

cyccommute 

Front: 12V 20 W halogen on helmet operated at 14.4 V; 12 V 20w and 12 V 12W light on bar.

Rear: A flasher on my helment that blinks up and down. A flasher on my Camel Bak. A flasher on trunk bag. A flasher set on steady burn on the rack. A small flasher on a band around my left knee.

Various other reflective piping and patches on my clothes and bags.

The most important light? The helmet mounted one.

jeff-o

Dual 3W Luxeon LEDs in front, dual 1W red Luxeons in the rear (pointed at the ground) + a blinkie.

fender1

2 E6 3 watt head lights on forks powerd by Schmidt Generatot hub ,1 white flashing (battery)stobe on front, Taillight(w battery backup and standlight) powered by hub, helmet blikie, various reflectors.

froze

I try to light up like a CHEAP Christmas tree! By cheap I mean I run on the front a $45 Cygolite Metro 12.5 watt dual headlight (now though Cygolite has a more powerful 16watt called the NiMh Xtra for only $35 more), with a $12 xenon amber flasher for attention. On the rear I run the $18 Cateye TLLD600 (mounted vertically so that it can be seen from the side), then joined that with a pair of $18 barend LED lights. I then have a pair of $5 reflective leg band straps, with reflective tape on the helmet. All of this for under $100, and I get comments from motorist as to how well they have seen me.

I will be adding a helmet light this fall though, if I can find one reasonably price that's bright enough to actually be useful.

yuhoo

You guys look like UFO's rather than Christmas trees!!

Sock

Currently two headlights on the front, 12 watt spot and 20 watt flood halogens that are used in different variations along the way. One rear right now, but I have two more ready to install. Also have two amber lights on order for the front. Also in the market for a helmet light for backup and for shining at motorists once it's dark at the end of rush hour. I guess I'm approaching Christmas tree mode.

Michel Gagnon

My setup has changed a lot according to what's available. I also have passed along weaker headlights to my 10-year-old daughter because she only needs a be-seen headlight.

My current setup is:

Headlights
–Schmidt Dynohub with an E-6 primary headlight and Lumotec secondary headlight.
(I already had the secondary, that's why I kept it; since I mostly ride in lit territory, it's not that useful).
An added feature of the Lumotec secondary is that it has a built in reflector. I therefore fulfil the front-end legal requirement.

– One or two Planet Bike Beamer 5. Great compact be-seen headlights. Useful in flashing mode (business districts) or when I climb a hill... or if I need to repair something. Each uses 2 AA batteries.

Taillights
– Two BLT Flare taillights. Decent; not exactly as bright as the TL-LD1000, but I can bolt through the casing. One drawback: they use 3 AAA batteries.
– One Cateye TL-LD1000. I finally found a reliable way to fix it almost permanently behind the rack. I love the fact it uses AA batteries, and in pair.
- One BLT Super Doppler DX. Two drawbacks: uses 3 AAA batteries, and it is long, which limits it to seatpost use. Since its very bright on axis, it's great for riding on high speed roads.

mechBgon

For me personally, when I had a 4.5-mile / 7km commute to downtown on city streets, I was lit up pretty heavily on my primary commuting bike, a full-rigid mountain bike I bought specifically for commuting. I rode in all weather, including snow and rain.

This is what my stuff evolved into. I used the headlight and the two daytime-visible superblinkies in the daytime, as well as dusk/dawn/darkness.

Headlight
-NiteRider 13-watt HID, and a NiteRider dual-halogen system before that

Taillights (I was literally using up all the room on my seatpost for lights & reflectors)
-Cateye LD1000
-NiteRider Universal
-Cateye LD500
-Planet Bike self-levelling helmet blinkie

Side lights
-a Nashbar amber mini-blinkie on each front pannier, facing sideways
-at one point I had a Cateye TL-LD170-F amber blinkie on the left end of my handlebar as a side-marker light too

Reflectors
-three wide-angle rear reflectors (the Cateye LD500 was one of them)
-I tried a front reflector, but it got dirty quickly in bad weather
-bike's frame, fenders and rims liberally plastered with amber TrimBrite reflective tape

Body
-neon-lime jacket most of the time
-PolyBrite self-illuminating reflective vest
-PolyBrite self-illuminating reflective belt
-Jog-A-Lite reflective legbands on both legs
-Nathan self-illuminating reflective band on left (signalling) arm, at the wrist
-reflective tape on the back of my helmet


If I were still commuting that route, I'd probably switch to my rear racktop bag and use the rear rack with the ultra-powerful Nova rear flasher, then use my Planet Bike SuperFlash as my secondary rear light for failover, plus big DOT-style automotive reflectors and my ANSI Class III neon-lime reflective vest. And a healthy selection of the other stuff listed above.

Patriot

I love how some guys light up to the point of looking like that giant UFO in Close Encounters. Quite fantastic. Funny how they never seem to get hit. Although, they probably cause a few accidents from all the staring.

tsl

+1

I find cars pulling out or turning in front of me are MUCH less likely to confuse me with a kid or a drunk at wobble speed. They see that light and it makes them think just long enough to realize I'm cranking right along. I've had exactly zero incidents of too-close-pullouts since using my halogen as a DRL. This, as compared to two or three a day on the same route before.

2manybikes

I just ride between mechBgon and cyccommute with no lights.

dalmore

mechBgon

Our hourly rates for this are very reasonable, too

2manybikes

Juilin

I just got a L&M Arc Li-on Ultra. I found the only problem with it is it makes you want another one. And then perhaps another one on your helmet. And one with a red lens cover on your seat post. But actually I only have one and a Cateye LD-1000 on the rear.