lbear

My daughter just got a new road bike for her commute, a OCR 1. She loves it! She ride in an urban area about 12 miles each way. She has a head light, tail light but with fall coming soon she is concerned with being visible from the side. Any recommendations reflectors, spoke lights or other lighting systems. Weight is not a big issue the bike already has rack, fenders and panniers.

Myqul

You could put reflective tape on all over the frame. If your concerned about not matching the colour of the bike you can get tape that is a particular colour (i have some refective black tape, as my bike is black) but reflects light when shined upon it

blamire

shwalbe marathons have a reflective strip running down the edge of the tire next to the rim. something like that would be good.

idcruiserman

Frog lights pointing to the side.

SSP

As a year round commuter, here's what I use:

Silver reflective conspicuity tape on the crank arms.

Reflective sidewall tires (e.g., Schwalbe Marathons).

Class II ANSI vest.

A headlamp or helmet-mounted light for aiming at side street traffic.

crhilton

I wonder if this would mount on a frame: https://ecom1.planetbike.com/3010.html

Has the advantage of using 1 AAA battery. So you can _probably_ use rechargeables. Many of the other small lights use expensive ($5 each) CMOS batteries.

I might consider this for later this fall. If only they weren't $23 each.

The old version ($13)? https://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...Taillight.aspx

bakaster

I jerry-rigged a simple version of one of these.

weighs/costs next to nothing

with a couple electronics parts, leds, batteries

wahoonc

I use small bits of reflective tape on the rims themselves in addition to the reflective sidewall tires. They used to sell kits just for the wheels but I haven't seen them in a while. You can get some of the DOT conspicuity tape and cut it to fit. If you put about 6 pieces on the wheel it will give you a strobe effect.

Aaron

JanMM

I would worry less about the sides and more about in front of and behind.
If you want side conspicuity, how about spoke-mounted reflectors? Remember those? Haven't had one on a bike for decades. It's been said that they work well for using a bike as a traffic barricade but don't do much for making you safer.

lbear

I am have been suggesting a passive (more light weight)system like reflective tape. So far she has been talking about a active system like lights on her down tube. Has anyone used anything like that?
Any pictures of your lighting setups would be appreciated, thanks....

bikinpolitico

I'd look at a Down Low Glow: https://www.rockthebike.com/lights/downlowglow

ItsJustMe

A reflective vest is an AWESOME improvement from all sides. Harbor Freight sells a great one for $4. I reviewed one with pictures:
https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/378850-reflective-vest-test-harbor-freight-vests.html

harleyfrog

+1 on the Down Low Glow. One of the BF members (BAH) has a blog showing off his bikes with the DLG. I also go with tires with reflective sidewalls and reflective tape (a good balance of active and passive).

vestarita

Here's what I did with some white reflective tape, and I'm waiting for a couple more rolls I've ordered to be delivered before I finish taping it up. The two big blobs in the middle are bands I made out of reflective cloth. They're wrapped around the frame with velcro so I can take them off and use them as arm cuffs if I want to.

JAG410

Here's my bike:


$12.95 from lightweights.org (I found them at my LBS)

Grim

Batteries die. I actually carry a spare head light and spare batteries. Go with reflectors for the side where you don't need to provide light to see by.

The below picture is taken from over 75ft. Wife didn't let the camera focus so a little fuzzy.

Nathan vest (Its light weight for summer but as it gets colder I'll be getting a looser fit one from Harbor Freight

I have a Topeak MTX trunk bag on the back that has reflective side accents.

DOT REQUIRED spoke reflectors (Yes all bikes are suppose to come with them as well as front and rear and pedal reflectors. Electric head light and tail light are required equipment in many places for night riding).

I also added some reflective tape on the front wheel. Going to double it up and do the back wheel as well to increase visibility at an angle.

In the Safety advocacy forum is a few post on the subject including some links to colored reflective tape that will blend in some with the bikes color during the day but give good visibility at night. I'm looking for some since I drive a black bike with black accessories with black backed with black printing back lit with black light.

wahoonc

I would use reflective as my primary and add the lights. The passive reflective tape is always there and requires minimal maintenance...basically keep it clean. Active battery powered lighting is a PITA to keep maintained, I am a firm believer in the KISS principle. The bikes I ride most at night have generator hubs, head lights, tail lights and one PB Superflash mounted on the rear. I use LED lights as much as possible due to their longevity and gentle use of batteries.

Aaron

lbear

Thanks guys Ill show her the pics. If you have any more it will be of great help.

Booger1

Teach her not to ride in front of cars.Don't put yourself into places where you need reflectors,the idiots/drunks will run you down,reflectors and all.

mechBgon

The big downfall of passive stuff, is that it doesn't work if the viewer hasn't turned on his/her headlights yet. Reflective stuff also doesn't work nearly as well if the vehicle's driver-side headlight is burned out, since the other headlight is not as closely aligned with the driver's line of sight.

I agree with everyone suggesting reflective tires, reflective tape, reflective legbands (they move and catch the viewer's eye), and a hi-vis reflective vest, but active lighting is still going to be worthwhile for that reason. As the days get shorter, I see about ten motorists per day who need to turn on their d*** headlights sooner.

Here's some suggestions to look at.

Planet Bike BRT-STRAP is a LED-illuminated reflective legband. Set it for blink mode, and now you got a blinkie strap going in circles on your ankle, visible from any direction The motion should attract the viewer's eye. And it's modestly reflective too. They have long runtime on a single CR2032 coin battery, and in my experience, they're reliable. You may need to safety-pin the strap so it doesn't creep loose.


Planet Bike BRT-STRAP. The actual flashing rate is faster than this.

eGear Guardian is a quality LED light that takes two CR2032s and clips onto stuff. I haven't tried these yet, but the amber one looks great for a side light if you have somewhere to attach them. Maybe zip-tie one of them onto each fork blade, aimed sideways? And/or one clipped to the side of each pannier.


eGear Guardian

I've also used Planet Bike's BRT-3F amber front blinkie on the fork blade before, but it looks like they discontinued it.

Here's one from a bike I don't have anymore.



This pic was shot with a small flashlight and a long exposure time, not a camera flash. Things to notice:

(1) the reflective tape reflects from severe angles of approach. The plastic reflectors do not, because of the limitations of their method of reflection.

(2) fenders give you tons of surface to stick reflective tap onto

(3) from this angle, even the very good Planet Bike SuperFlash doesn't look that bright. Blinkies generally have a very narrow focus, and it's critical to aim the blinkies dead-level and straight back. A bike came into the shop yesterday with the binkie aiming straight down!

(4) the reflective tape on the rims doesn't make a complete circle, so reflective tires would've been cool here.

(5) reflective tape on the frame would've helped define the bike's shape better, too.


The Nova BULL is a high-output LED strobe usually found on the mirror pod of a Ford Crown Victoria police car That level of output is also available with the DiNotte 140-series taillights, if she's interested. They're a great visibility enhancement in daylight, not just at night.

HiYoSilver

Wow is she smart. Roughly 80% of accidents are from the side. The safest approach is a combo of passive and active visibility aids:

passive:
1. reflective tape on helmet: white, stealth black, or 3m diamond
2. reflective sidewalls
3. reflective tape on wheel rims
4. reflective tape on side of bike frame
5. reflective gloves
6. reflective strip on bike bag
7. reflective windbreaker/jacket


active
1. front fork lights put on the side, such as
https://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/319
2. tail light with side view, such as cateye tl1100
3. possible handle bar flash back lights, but I'm not as positive of them as used to be, they don't last long and use expensive batteries
4. a good strong headlight

Cyclist0383

The Cateye TL-1100 taillight has decent side visibility.

Industrial

Plaster bike with reflective tape and reflective sidewall tires. Make the bike look like a glowing bike from the side. The lights are just overkill to be seen but work well too.

e0richt

I would suggest a helmet light... light shines wherever you look which can be off to the side...

riddei

Pedal Lites