agarose2000

Now that I'm taking this bike commuting thing more seriously, I'm looking into LOUD clothing to be seen. I've been experimenting with lights, safety reflective vests and such, which are undoubtedly required for night riding. However, I'll be avoiding night riding as much as possible round here, but I want the DAYTIME drivers to see me really well.

Saw a guy yesterday with a red polyester shirt that was LOUD...was wondering if anyone had similar experience/suggestions with other products.

I tried a fluorescent yellow Pearl Izumi windbreaker ($80) which probably would be great in rain & wind but got too hot for summertime riding.

Preferably something that isn't too pricey so I can get a few of them for the week as well deals well with sweat and heat.

Wulfheir

Does anyone know where Jeff ordered the HHCMF shirts from, they are very LOUD. I can't wear them anywhere without someone making a comment.

Allen

I received one of these (below) from REI as a gift. It's crazy loud, and packs down to smaller than a tennis ball. It gets a little sweaty in real heat, but tolerable.

--A

DataJunkie

What about alert shirts?

mechBgon

Flourescent neon lime is about as good as it gets for colors IMHO. https://www.alertshirt.com gets a lot of good comments. You can get a neon-lime vest by Pearl Izumi and undoubtedly 10 other companies too, if you have cycling jerseys you want to use.

For better daytime visibility, I usually use my HID headlight and a daytime-visible rear blinkie (Nova, Cateye LD-1000 or NiteRider) in addition to a bright-colored outer layer. I think it helps sometimes.

Nightshade

LIME GREEN is the standard color for police vest in the UK, road workers safety vest, and others who
work in harms way and need to be noticed. That said, FWIW I strongly recommend a lime green vest
(or shirt) to wear OVER your normal street clothes. It works for me as well as all these other folk's
who lives depend on being seen. Can you do better??

bike2math

+1 I picked up a saftey vest at Lowe's for 3-4 dollars. It is lime green but also has the 3M reflective tape sewn on it. The lime green will disappear if it is dark or wet enough, but that reflective tape seems to always be visible, it stands out in the dark garage in the morning just from the street lights shining in the window, and seems to be even more reflective if it gets wet. It goes over whatever wicking shirt I've put on.

legot73

I ride the Nashbar jerseys in HI-VIS color every day, and believe they work well.

geog_dash

+1

https://alertshirt.com

n4zou

Wal-Mart and most likely other big box retailers have Athletic T-shirts in very bright colors with specially designed material (Dry Star) that wicks sweat off your skin and evaporate it into the air and stay dry in the process. The shirt will actually feel cooler than the air moving across bare skin. They cost just under $9. They also have matching baggy shorts and work find for bicycling as long as you use bicycle type underwear with them. They have pockets so there nice for fast food joints along the way. You may find them or not as there moving out the summer clothing and moving in the fall/winter stuff as it's now September.

dynaryder

+2

My orange ones can signal aliens. My yellow ones can be seen by blind people. I've just completed my second summer commuting in them,and after all those washings they're still ultra bright. They're holding up extremely well(note:I hang them to dry after washing). I've also got shirts from REI,UnderArmor,and TechWick,and none of them are significantly better to justify the higher price.

max-a-mill

yeah i have had multiple people comment on how bright my alert shirt is.

they areen't the coolest (meaning, best fabric for staying cool) but they do alright and they are certainly bright and reasonably priced.

Geraldo

I bought a couple of slime-green jerseys and they seemed pretty loud, until I bought a couple of bright orange wicking t-shirts from campmor. Since I've started wearing them (along with a Nashbar Brilliant LED) I've noticed that cars generally give me a full lane when they pass. So it's orange for me from now on.

dalmore

performance had some orange short sleeve jerseys onsale last week or earlier this week. And I cast another + vote on the alert shirts. Just wish they made jersey's instead of just t-shrits and vest...

aadhils

Any of em weather/rainproof?...

rule

no

Mr_H

I just noticed they (Alertshirts) has a 'thermal sweatshirt'. Anyone have experience with that? I'm thinking of getting some of their shirts, but with winter coming up, I'd rather prep for that.

aadhils

Shucks...

unkchunk

I have a few Alertshirts. Their sizes seem to me to be small. Their large would be another's medium for example. So consider ordering one or two size larger than you normally would. Better would be to measure the width of a T-shirt that currently fits you and then compare that to the widths they have posted for their sizes.

Allen

Good to know, thanks.

DataJunkie

You could always wear some of those god awful pro cycling jerseys. That will get ya noticed
Like the white one with poka dots.
he he

marqueemoon

The thrift store is the place where ugly and cheap intersect.

here and there

I've noticed the same thing. I bought one size smaller at first because I heard they ran a size bigger, but after trying them myself, they do seem to run a size small.

mechBgon

Bah, I'm holding out for jerseys in a cheetah coat pattern!

donnamb 

No looking like a road clown for me, thanks.