dereksticks

There's a guy on my commute who has no lights on his bike. Do you think he would be insulted if I offered him one of my old blinkies? Have any of you other folks done this?

stevegor

See this ALL the time....you could offer him the lights, but a good ol' punch in the guts will make him scream " Why did you do that?", you reply " Cos ya got no lights, ya moron, and I will punch ya every time I see ya, till you get some".....it might work

wahoonc

Never know until you ask! I hand out inexpensive reflective vests to the "utility" cyclists that I see in my area. There is one guy I see on a regular basis riding an old Huffy Canyon MTB with mismatched wheels. He was one of the first I gave a vest too and every time I see him he is wearing it. Now that it is getting dark early I will watch for him and offer a set of lights that I have. I really wish there were some decent inexpensive generator sets available. Batteries can get expensive. FWIW he rides about 20 miles a day between work the grocery store and his home. He lives in an old shack but it has been in his family for several generations and is the best he can afford. He works doing "day" work for anybody that will pay him, mostly at a local recycling center and a yard that cleans up old bricks. They get paid so much for cleaning each brick.

Aaron

Marrock

Hey, if someone was giving away free lights I'd be their friend for life.

I have two bikes that need to be kitted out for night time riding but, between living expenses and a recently lost job, money is rather hard to come by at the moment.

bmclaughlin807

There are still cheap generator light sets out there... Target and Walmart have them in stock occasionally. The Ace Hardware right down the road from me has a set in stock for $16.95... I almost grabbed it the other day.

bikebuddha 

I did it once, and the last time I saw the guy the blinkie was still there and it was still working. Although now the guy is riding on and off the sidewalk. Sigh...

wahoonc

I am working in SC at the moment and the area I am in the sidewalk is about the only safe place to ride...I leave out for work around 5am and usually see 3-5 guys on the sidewalk riding along. None of them have lights a couple actually have reflectors and at least one wears a safety vest. The road is a fast, narrow 5+ lane that goes up over an interstate and it is the ONLY road between most of the affordable housing and the WM where most of these guys appear to work. (recognize the bikes locked to the fence at WM) or they may be in a couple of restaurants along the road.

Aaron

substructure

I thought about doing this. This one guy rides his bike all over the road, sidewalk, grass, etc. and is always wearing dark clothes. I almost ran his butt over one morning when I drove in to work. I keep forgetting to put my old blinkie in the car incase I see him again.

Tude 

Try it, can't hurt!

I was in the rain riding at night a couple weeks ago, cut down a side street and there's a guy in a wheelchair motoring down the street - went by him - he had no lights at all and is in the road - then thought about it and turned around and flipped him one of my blinkies (usually have two - one on the underseat toolbag - and one I attach to the back of my pants) and he was overjoyed. Went by him the other night and he had it lit up on the back of his wheelchair.

Sawtooth

I offerred a blinkie to some missionaries. They said they had good one's at home and had just not mounted them yet. I offered to help mount them. They declined. I used to be a missionary, but, all holiness aside, some young men are knuckleheads about safety.

ilikebikes

I give away a lot of bike stuff and its always a 50 50 thing, some people appreciate and except the offer and some are insulted, I dont try to figure it out I just offer up what I have and move on to the next person when the offer is refused =) as for cheap generators well I use the generators I find on old bikes like Schwinns and Columbias and such, I figure they still work after 20 years theyll prob be working well after Im gone!

DVC45

I'll offer it anyway. Who cares what he'll think about it. If he has some good sense, he should be thankful. Your intent is good and that's all what matters, IMO.

Yup, my nephew is one of them. He has a helmet and I gave him a reflective vest, he wears neither. He thinks they're dorky. So, I asked him "do I look like a dork since I wear 'em?" he said "yes!" Kids these days.....

srp

I have a friend from church who is technically homeless. He lives in a shack he built himself off in the woods somewhere and rides everywhere he goes. When I met him, he was nursing a broken leg after getting hit by a car. He looking for work and doesn't seem to have the pathologies most homeless guys do. He's well dressed, clean shaven etc.

There's no way I can get him to wear a helmet or ride with traffic, but I did buy him a headlight and blinkie set to at least make him visible.

He was very appreciative.

bike2math

I think it is a great idea; but a question comes to mind: If they can't afford (or be bothered to buy) a 3$ blinkie, how are they going to get batteries for it?

dereksticks

I talked to him at the conveniece store where I get my coffee. He's been riding for about three years and has to ride for another four. After hearing this, I decided not to make the offer. The way I see it, If he wanted lights, he would have gotten them on his own by now. I figured out the need to be seen in less than a week. Took me a little longer than that to get off of the side walk though.

steganographer

Not only do I commute and ride at night without any lights - I took off all of my reflectors.

Since I never post in this forum, this seems like an exceptable time to ask: How do you commuters ride? Do you actually ride fast. I ask because everytime I see people commuting or whatever (the rarity), I see them taking their time. Even the people riding around on nice racing bikes which I could never afford are doing so in such a casual manner it partially upsets me. Am I the only one who rides like a man?

gnome

No feeding the Troll.

Treespeed

I would go broke if I gave out lights and blinkies to every unlit rider I saw on my commute. I see folks in junker cars too and I don't offer to take them to a mechanic either. But most of the riders I see without lights are on the sidewalk and how many folks strap on a blinkie when they go walking?

Schwinnrider

I've done it twice. One night I passed acyclist while driving home, and noticed he had a tallight but no headlight. I ran inside, grabbed an old Cateye micro halogen light, and met the rider at the corner. I stopped him, asked him if he needed a headlight, and mounted it for him when he accepted. He looked kind of shocked, like he didn't need a headlight.

Second time I was on my bike late at night, checking mail at the PO. As I exited I noticed a cyclist pedalling south along the divided 4 lane. He was wearing a black shirt, dark jeans, and had no lighting at all. Pedalling on a dark night on new dark blacktop, to boot. I chased him down and offered him the blinkie on my helmet. He said he was headed just up the road a bit to his campsite in the woods(he reeked of booze and was likely homeless). What did he do with the blinkie? Held it in one hand ahead of himself and pedalled away.

Lachlan

It's a victimless crime, like punching someone in the dark....

stevegor

AT LAST....someone who understands me!!

But seriously folks, I've lost count of cyclists I've seen who ride without lights at night, for some it's "not cool" it seems, for others it's " I'll do what I damn well like" attitude. You can't change those idiots' braindead way of seeing things.

I got verbally abused by an adult meathead when I suggested to him that he ride on the correct side of the road and because helmets are compulsory here....he should wear one.
Now, if they want to be idiots. let them be idiots.