chandltp

Would this help?

crhilton

He saw you, because of your light. I think his problem is that his brain doesn't know "single light, especially if flashing" means bicyclist. He probably saw the light and thought "what the heck is up there?"

Eventually he'll learn they mean bicyclist and won't think twice about it.

Also, this is just one more piece of evidence, for me, that reflective jackets are silly if your blinky is running.

noisebeam

When raining at night if your blinkie is running well. Always nice to have multiple backups.
(I have never worn a retro-reflective clothing)

crhilton

Super flashes handle this properly. I'm shocked at how many of those style lights don't, it's pathetic. In my opinion, they're gonna get sued and they're gonna lose and rightfully so. Also, light and motion has an amazing new tail light if you have the $100 for it.

crhilton

Rechargeable batteries allow you to keep your batteries charged far past the decline point at all times. Also, non-alkaline batteries maintain voltage much much better. This is why I like lights like the superflash: I can put rechargeables in it and top them off every now and then.

I usually do use two blinkies cause I don't trust them. Especially when it's 0 farenheit.


I do see people's reflective stuff on the bike, but I see their lights long before that. And, really, I see riders (whose reflectors are missing or so poorly aimed they don't show up) way before I come upon them. There's absolutely no reason to miss a slow bicyclist, or pedestrian, on the same street as you. Dark, cloudy, rainy, I don't care: I can see them. That doesn't mean they shouldn't follow the law, which makes it downright easy to see them, but "I didn't see him" should be seen as an absolute confession of fault in my opinion.

noisebeam

I've never had either of my two PBSF's fail.
The one I used to have under saddle has gotten very wet/grimy over the years (no fenders and rides like videos above) and the switch is now hard to activate, but once on it stay on. I just changed from it to a Radbot 1000 as it has a brighter steady on than the PBSF.

I also only use rechargable batteries and keep them topped off. The other benefit of this is there is never a need to decide if it is worth 'wasting' battery juice, just put the light on.

closetbiker

I'm kinda thinking, he's thinking,

"What's a cyclist doing out there in this weather? Hey. I know that guy! He rides to work all the time. Doesn't he know it's dangerous out there and a driver can hit him? I better have a talk with him later"

Bekologist

Those two statements are contradictory.

On dark mornings with heavy rain, yes, a bicyclist should enhance their visibility over demanding the other drivers pay better attention. That's a great goal to shoot for and all, but how much are bicyclists in control of that portion of the riding experience?

It isn't 1989 anymore, the Vistalite was once a standout light, now its pales in comparison. I'd say get a brighter light or two, and likely a much better one for the front if you're riding year round in Vancouver.

I wouldn't expect the motorists to start slowing down anytime soon, maybe investing in couple of superflashes or similar might put you and the motorists at greater ease on those dark, stormy mornings.

Dean7

It doesn't matter who's at fault. If a car hits you, chances are they will do more damage to you than you to them so BE SAFE out there. That's my general rule.

Also, I've been in a situation where I was driving my car in HEAVY rain at night and almost pulled out in front of a cyclist because I could barely see his blinky light. Sometimes we are just hard to see. Get the best lights you can find.

invisiblehand

You already know the limitations of reflective surfaces. And when it comes to blinkies, I think people underestimate the effect of the blinkie's surface area. Anyway, if you're going from one blinkie to two. I think that there is a significant improvement; especially if the first light is small. But there are diminishing returns. If it matters, I use three on my commuter including my helmet.

As for obligation ... I don't think it is a well formulated question. That is, there are several "obligations" involved here. For instance, I think that an individual has an obligation to keep themselves healthy and in good working order if they have dependents. But a person also has an obligation to do certain things as a good citizen as well as legal obligations (which are not necessarily the same). If a person is approaching from the rear, that person has a reasonable legal obligation (and more) to notice you. But a priori, when you decide to get onto the bike, you have the obligation to take reasonable precautions that include being visible. Comparing the two is hard, IMO, since the dimensionality of it is high and one is conditioned on the other.

SCROUDS

I use the older version of these: https://www.flarealert.com

I want to get the new ones, the 1/2 watt version says its 1.5x times brighter then my current version. But the beauty seems to be in the 1 watt model. 30+ hrs flash on 4 AA batteries. Also provides good sideways light.

chrisb71

How do you connect that Flare Alert Beacon to your bike?

SCROUDS

A couple turns of electrical tape around the base with 2 zip ties snuck underneath the tape. They then zip onto the saddle rails or the end of a rack. I was thinking of making a bracket, but this works very well. If you aren't concerned about it easily walking off, a metal plate is all you need to mount, the magnets are strong and should hold them in place. A guy in a review on the site said he left them on his truck for 2 days and they stayed in place.

The unit itself has a battery compartment and seals on its door, never had an issue in rain. Mine has a pretty quick flash, I think that good for people to be able to judge your speed. Right now I just run one on flash.

slowandsteady

If you have just one old blinkie, it isn't enough. I have two Superflashes, and a third blinkie. The Superflashes are on my seat stays and the third blinkie is on my rear rack. I also use a 350 lumen white flashing headlight on the front.

gcottay

What's more important in breathing, inhaling or exhaling?

closetbiker

I get the part that one can always get brighter. There are products out there that are so bright, they can be counter-productive but I'm wondering if that's the issue.

I'm thinking, I'm not sure it is.

Bekologist

if you want good daytime visibility in foul weather but are still running a vistalite, I'm pretty sure it is.

closetbiker

really?

Bekologist

yes.

dougmc

Personally, I run more than one in case one stops working.

If my headlight cuts out, I'll notice immediately. If my taillight cuts out, I'm not likely to notice until I arrive at my destination and go to turn it off.

myrridin

The problem with a flashing light (especially when it is the only light) is that from a drivers perspective it can seem like a distant light viewed through something like a fence. When you have a fixed light in the distance and something like a fence that had periodic obstructions, as you move the distant light will appear to blink. I came upon another cyclist the other morning while riding, and all they had was a rear blinking light. I was surprised when I got close enough to realize it was a cyclists since my brain was interpreting the blinking light as a fixed light/flash and that makes the light appear much further away...

If the cyclists had a second solid light I would have known much sooner. If they had been wearing either reflective or light colored clothing they wouldn't have surprised me. Considering our speed differential was only a couple of miles per hour, surprising me wasn't an issue, but if I had been driving our speed differential would have been a fair bit higher. The surprise would have left me with much less time to avoid them.

Consularrider

In response to noisebeam's video in post #25, it's interesting, the box truck kicking up all the spray, no lights. The black car that's hard to see in the rain, no lights. Everybody else has their lights on. Well done drivers.

tuz

Yes as far as I know, solid lights are better to estimate your distance from it.

Also apparently drunk drivers can become fixated on a blinking light and drive towards it?

noisebeam

I am not familiar with the vista light, but if it is late 80s vintage and with Bek's knowledge of it vs. his often recommended BBSF I would say that it is probably not bright enough for dark rainy conditions.

Personally I find the PBSF to be just about the minimum I would use for night, stormy or other lower visibility conditions.

I would recommend trying a PBSF or the brighter Radbot 1000. Even better put the radbot on your bike and clip a PBSF to the back of your hat.

dougmc

The jury is still out on this (and it may never come back), and the issue may be more complicated than that. Either way, there's more details on the issue at
https://www.visualexpert.com/Resources/motheffect.html .