Not sure about the other "bright flashing light advocates" but I never suggested running flashing only except in daylight conditions. I run flashing front and rear during the day and add steady front and rear when it gets dark.

^^^
Ditto. I've got the bike's headlight on flash, and my headlamp on steady. It's nice to have the "to see" light always pointing wherever I'm looking.

No, definitely do not flash the front light. It is incredibly obnoxious.

It's also pointless. You flash the rear light b/c you can't see behind you. There's almost no need for a forward facing light b/c you can see what's in front of you.

Hardly pointless when the entire POINT of a flashing front light is for OTHERS to see you.

Like cars coming out of side streets.

If that's obnoxious to you, well you'll get over it. Or not.

I don't need scientific evidence to know what i've seen with my own eyes, which is, when I see a cyclist passing with a blinking light, it's much more noticeable to me than a solid light. Especially in a city like Los Angeles with lights everywhere. Solid lights just blend in and become invisible here. If you live in the boonies with nothing around, then a solid light probably makes more sense.

I ride at night with both lights on steady, and during the day and early evening with flashers. The reason is that flashing lights disorient. If it is dark enough that your flasher creates a strobe effect, then you should have it on steady, it is not safe for you, or oncoming traffic. Especially on long, unlit stretches of road. When a biker is flashing at night, it does attract attention, however the strobe effect also causes errors in depth perception, so that it is hard to tell exactly how far ahead the rider is. It can also be hypnotic, and actually cause a driver to unconsciously get closer to you. Steady lights are more recognizable on the road, as they are associated with vehicles, so i try to position my lights the same height as on a motorcycle, so that in the dark you appear to be a regular vehicle (which you are) and remain visible while not distracting the driver in a dangerous manner.

Concerning flashing lights being more noticeable, that is true if all else is equal. But around here most of the flashing headlights are the ones that run off of a couple of AAA batteries. A real headlight you can see with is going to be way brighter and more noticeable than that in steady mode.

Also again distance is going to be easier to perceive. I once had an oncoming driver flash his hi-beams at me to let me know someone was pulling out of a drive-way ahead of me (that I couldn't see that well from my angle). Don't know if the driver would have seen what was going on if I had a blinking light.

My lights are bright enough that I get the, "woh I thought that was a motorcycle" comment from bystanders (or just smiles). But on my other bike I have one of those AAA blinkies and that goes in flashing mode, because it's just a dot of light to be seen by.

I've run across *******s who have really tiny and really bright strobing lights on BIKE PATH TRAILS.

It is easily the most irritating thing I have ever seen, either behind the wheel or on the bike. You're right, it is disorientating to have to see that.

I had a friend who, while we were stopped at a light, had her flashing headlight (MiNewt, I think) blinking directly into the driver's side mirror of the car in front of us. I could see the driver wincing and trying to shield his eyes. If he was a New Yorker, he probably would've rolled down his window and yelled, "Turn off that @#$*@ light!!!"

Some people here would say, "Hey, at least he saw her!", but really, it was stupidly obnoxious.

I try to turn my front wheel to the side at red lights at night for that very reason, even on steady, so it doesn't shoot right into the driver's eyes in front of me. My opinion is that if I expect the utmost courtesy and respect from cars, I must extend them the same or more.

^^^
Same here. I tend to sit on the top tube at stoplights, and will rest one hand on the bars and hold them about 45 degrees off to the left or right. The other day I got stuck in solid stop/go traffic and rolled behind the same car for about half a mile, through two separate traffic signals. I ended up turning the headlight to steady, just to avoid annoying the driver in front of me.

On the other hand, I did once aim my flashing headlight directly at the center rearview mirror of a car with the intent of annoying the driver. He'd honked at me, passed, and then I ended up behind him at the next light.

I run mine flashing when I am on the road. I have seen enough of both at night (from my car and from my bike) to decide that flashing is much more visible.

If you end up on a path, feel free to switch to solid, no one will be coming at you fast enough not to see it.

There is no reason not to set a rear to flash.

as someone who drives a car once in a while, when I see a flashing light I immediately think "that a cyclist". A small steady light might be mistaken for a distant light. Personally I ride with both: one steady to see the road, another to caution drivers that I am on the road with them.

but if you crash into a cyclist with a steady light you'd probably still think: oh crap,,, yup... "thats a cyclist"..

its true blinking lights are more noticeable.... so when in doubt just flash/strobe them. but on bike paths keep em on steady.

+1

I have used my light in a passive aggressive way by subtly aiming it at a rear view mirror at a four way stop when a driver was being a real idiot to another driver. Otherwise I am careful where the helmet light is directed.

Blinking lights allow higher maximum instantaneous illumination at a lower average power expenditure compared to steady illumination. For battery powered blinkies, this means the light can be bright enough to get noticed over background lighting clutter or at longer range without draining the batteries too fast.

That said, I am also a firm believer in continuous visibility for improved tracking when at relatively close ranges, when motorists' accuracy at estimating closing speeds is most important.

Therefore, I always use bright rear reflectors in addition to a rear blinking lamp. At closer ranges, the reflectors provide good continuous visibility while the blinky provides good long range conspicuity.

For the front, however, I am less interested in very long range conspicuity than I am the accuracy of motorists' estimation of my closing speed. In my experience, under conditions with little or no overhead street lights, drivers who are preparing to cross my path on the roadway are reliably conservative about not pulling out in front of me when I use a bright, steady white 250 lumen headlamp mounted on my handlebars. I cannot think of any situations where I felt that I wasn't visible enough to drivers in front of me or that drivers ahead of me underestimated my speed.

I think it's possible that under urban condititions with lots of overhead lights to provide some tracking visibility of cyclists wearing bright clothing, an energy-challenged headlight might be more attention-getting in flash mode while ensuring adequate range, therefore being a benefit. However, my own commutes take me through enough dark areas that I need a bright enough headlamp to see the roadway, and my Cygolite Expilion's lithium ion battery capacity is adequate to cover my entire commute a few times over, so I prefer to run mine steady whenever visibility is an issue.

Some pedestrians have remarked that my 250 lumen headlamp, while being aimed at a reasonable down angle, was painfully bright. However, I think the main reason for this is that some people tend to stare at bike headlamps out of curiosity, while they know better than to do that for much brighter automobile headlamps.

I agree that a light is useful at a cross section.

However, it doesn't need to be flashing to be visible.

On a straight road, esp if you're in like a bike lane, it is simply unnecessary.

And as for long-range visibility, you can probably see the car and get out of the way far before it matters that a flashing light gets their attn.

Really, flashers on the front have no excuse. Please stop! I'm a cyclist and I want to kick the wheel of every guy who has a flashing front light, I honestly want them to crash and die, they suck so much.

I think once the nice weather returns and there are more cycling commuters back on the road, I might drive my truck to work for a spell...at least until I spot a cyclist with a blinking headlight...at which time I'm gonna stop, fall out onto the ground, and do my version of an epileptic seizure...aka the dead bug. Yeah, I know, I'm a freakin loony toon...but the look on the cyclist's face as I froth at the mouth should be priceless. Note to self...take a camera.

After reading more of this thread, I am convinced the best way to handle visibility is to use the same color coding as cars, and motorcycles, and in a similar pattern. This will ensure visibility and recognition as a vehicle on the road, as well as not be distracting or obnoxious. I think i am going to try and add small amber flashers, of very low brightness on the sides of my front and rear fork and continue with steady main lights. Does anyone know where to get some of those small blinkies in amber color?

I run a solid LED on the rear of my bike, and a blinkie on the rear of my helmet. I always run the solid on my bike, and run the blinkie on the helmet in all but ideal daytime visibility.

I run a blinkie flashlight on the front of my bike, and a solid flashlight on my helmet. I run the blinkie in all but ideal daytime visibility, and the solid helmet light when it's dark enough that I would want a light to see stuff.

The forward blinkie probably saved my life yesterday afternoon. I had just moved past the left side of a tractor-trailer (it was turning right from a single lane) to turn left, and was slowly (barely moving) rolling to the corner so I could see cross traffic - when a cement truck decided he was going to turn left onto my road, cutting the corner closer than he should have - right where I was. Just before he was committed to the turn, he saw me and hit his brakes, and waved me on (I guess he thought I was going to dash in front of him, but I wasn't about to).

So... forward blinkies get a big "Yes" vote for me. I'll turn it off or solid when I get to a MUP, but when playing in traffic, I'll run the risk of causing epileptic seizures to anybody who sees them.

BTW, the person who taught me how to ride, and instilled a love of riding has epilepsy, as do two of my brothers. None of them are permitted to drive - in fact, most places won't issue you a license if you are prone to seizures. The idea of blinking lights causing seizures in oncoming drivers is mostly horse-squeeze, since they're not supposed to be driving at all.


Next up for lights: Amber/yellow tire stem LED lights, and a MagicShine once the battery issues are resolved.

I passed a guy on the trail this morning flashing 2 high powered zillion lumen lights at me. Just shook my head in disbelief. I run a small $15 light in flash (to let people know I'm a bike) and my mains on steady, I haven't had any complaints yet.

Do you bother asking before wheelsucking someone you don't know?

I think by behind the wheel he means, behind the steering wheel of his car...

I'm not worried about making friends, just keeping my own life viable. Bright and flashing - front and rear.