Sixty Fiver

We sure get to see a lot of nicely lit daytime pictures but thought it would be nice to see what you bike looks like at night... I don't think I am at much risk of being rear ended or sideswiped or clipped on Grace, my Phillip's Twenty folder.

I ride with a yellow commuting jacket that is highly reflective, have multiple blinkies up front, and a red blinkie mounted to the rear of my helmet.

These are just the reflectors... I mounted reflective leg straps on the newly installed Wald folding baskets that work whether they are open or closed and don't interfere with the baskets ability to open or close.

even if there is nothing to carry in the baskets I can open them at night to get the reflectors facing to the rear and being that they are wire, have almost negligible drag.

My backpack has a leg strap that is permanently attached to the handle.



Side view (baskets open)



Side view (baskets closed)


My Trek 7500 at night... the paniers have huge reflectors in the rear.





So... I have shown you mine and would love to see yours.

Jonahhobbes

Is that snow or mini orbs in the pics?

Might be the lost souls of all those bikes that died without their owners giving them names....

Sixty Fiver

It was snowing tonight and must be my fault as I put slicks on the Twenty this evening.

Jonahhobbes

Lovely pics

CommuterRun

From the front. I'm not real concerned about reflective gear from the front, as that is, generally, the direction my 'bar mounted and helmet mounted headlights are pointed. I left the 'bar mounted headlight turned off for these photos.



From the rear. The reflective material really washes out the brightness of the Cateye TL-LD1000 mounted on the seat post. In the dark it's the brightest light on this bike besides the headlights. The reflectiveness of the TL-LD500 shows up well though.



The right side. The left is the same. All my other bike are set up very much the same way in regards to lights and reflective gear.



In addition to this stuff I also have a headlight and a Mars 3.0 taillight on my helmet, which I didn't include in these photos. One of my other vests is white reflective stripes on a black vest, but otherwise the same as this one. The dark spots on the reflective stripes of this vest are the red LED flashing lights. I have another vest that I sometimes wear, orange reflective stripes on a yellow vest, but this one isn't lighted.

When I'm towing a trailer at night the TL-LD500 comes off the rear rack in favor of a TL-LD500 on each rear corner of the trailer.

I-Like-To-Bike

My commute involves no particular risk from side or front, though I do have a Cat Eye Headlight. My emphasis is visibility from the rear by 55mph+ traffic on a rural road; hence:

Sixty Fiver

I still see too many poorly lit cyclists at night although it seems a higher percentage of riders here are mamking that small investment in lights and better reflectors...our city has a lot of cycle commuters.

When I put the Scotchlite on my Trek for better side and front visibility I noted a decrease in cars pulling out in from of me and should not that if I am commuting on the Trek I am going to be humming along at a pretty good speed which does add some risk.

Lots of the other kit I have like tail bags and frame bags also have integrated scotch lite reflectors.

I have a theory that if your bike looks like a UFO at night drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians will take pause to ponder what the hell that thing is... that or they figure you are a total geek.

edbikebabe

Oh it's YOUR fault. I though it was mine from a) putting summer tires back on my car & b) planning to go road riding this weekend.

Sixty Fiver

Hey bikebabe... you should know that my cycling and wrenching activities do in fact control the local weather here.

When I built my rain bike it didn't rain to any degree for months afterwards...it is a good thing the rain bike is also an excellent fair weather cruiser.

I finished building up my '73 Carlton road bike last week and got slicks on the Twenty and it got cold and snowed.

Perhaps I should build up a snow bike and know that when I can get back on my mountain bike to test the news SPD pedals and shoes it will pour rain as to make the trails un-rideable.

cyccommute 

From what I see in the pictures, you are underlit too. Yes, you have lots of reflectors but you need more active lighting, too. Reflectors are only of use if light strikes them. Personally, I much prefer active lights over passive reflectors. Drivers shouldn't ask 'What is that?' They should scream 'Oh dear God, here come the probes!' or they should scream because their eyeballs are melting







In addition to the taillights pictured here (one mounted on the frame and helmet), I also have another light on my Camelbak, another on my rack bag and still another mounted on my leg.

I-Like-To-Bike

Especially true if the cyclist prefers the high speed motorist to begin thinking about a safe pass long before his headlights can illuminate the reflectors. If motorists can only detect a bicyclist by reflectors on a high speed road, they may be way too close to respond safely.

banerjek

I don't have a picture of my workhorse commuter, but it's well lit. 13W HID, NR universal taillight, reflective tape everywhere, and I have plenty of reflective gear. Here's my in town cruiser for trips to the store though....

paulwwalters

Cool... but what is it?

macteacher

Hey Cyccommute, what kind of lights are you running? They look real bright!!!

Sixty Fiver

cyccommute -

I have a good deal of active lighting on the go and can put out enough wattage to cause retinal damage... The pictures just show the non active reflectors from a rear and sideways perspective.

At the minimum I run a 1 watt light up front with additional white led blinkers and will often run a 10 watt headlight and also have a 1 watt light for my helmet that is really nice for off roading at night.

My helmet also has forward facing reflectors as I feel that by putting reflectors and lights on your helmet you really increase your odds of being seen.

I'll have to take a picture from the other end of things.

ghettocruiser

And of course, the motorist in question has to have functional headlights, which is apparently way too much to ask around here.

Lamplight

Some very cool pictures. I don't have any night time shots of mine, but none of them are as interesting as these anyway. My brother and I have discovered that the more poorly lit we are, the less likely we are to be yelled, screamed, and honked at. Not that that makes it worth the risk of riding without lights!

Machka 

A picture Rowan took of me on the Last Chance.

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gnome

Very nice light pictures. I can't take a photo of my bikes lit up - my crappy digital camera is absolutely pathetic in low light situations. I also need someone to take a photo of the bikes in motion as the bikes I ride at night use dynamo lighting, with a little blinky for when I am stopped.

I-Like-To-Bike

Very nice; but if he took the flash picture from 500 feet, or even 80 feet (the distance a 55mph vehicle travels in one second) it is likely that you'd be as visible as a dark clad Ninja.

cyccommute 

DIY. Here's the link.

cyccommute 

It's hard to tell from your pictures. Your folder looks very dark on the front end in your pictures. How about a picture of the bike with the lights on?

banerjek

A velo-kit

BAH

some of our bikes at night

Sixty Fiver

BAH - Those are some seriously cool bikes that are just as sweet in the dark as they are in the daylight.