Thread: Spoke lights?
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Old 09-06-11 | 10:01 PM
  #6  
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banerjek
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Bikes: Custom Winter, Challenge Seiran SL, Fuji Team Pro, Cattrike Road/Velokit, РOS hybrid

Originally Posted by iiimik3
agreed, especially if you ride in a heavy metro area like i do. I just use those cheapy little LED lights w/ the bungee straps and strap it between a couple of spokes. I use a white one on the front wheel and a red one on the rear wheel.
If you're talking something like a PB Superflash or a Radbot, I could see that being quite visible. Even so, I would not recommend such a setup. For night riding, you want to be immediately recognizable as a cyclist and the light pattern people would see from a setup like that would take drivers a bit of time to figure out. Better to have headlight in front, tail light in back, real reflective gear on the body.

Spoke and valve lights have such pitiful light output that they are practically useless. They put out a little glow some people may find cool, but in terms of making you visible from any distance that mattered, they are useless -- particularly if there is fog/rain or if there is any kind of grime on the lights. Decent reflective material can be seen from further away.

Do some testing at different distances and get road reports from drivers and you'll see what I mean.
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