a lighting proposal...
 

Something I have noticed lately, something that can make cyclists stand out better at night. Two lights, vertically spaced.

Seems simple enough, but consider that when looking at various tail lights, most are in a horizontal pattern... based on the width of the vehicle. Cyclists have little width, and quite often tend to put a blinky low, near the saddle. However lately I have seen a few cyclists that are also placing a blinkie or steady light either high on a backpack or on the back of their helmet, and this is a unique thing on the road. One light low and one light high.

This may make you both more visible and easily identifiable as a slower moving object on the road; identifiable as a cyclist. Two red lights or blinkies vertically spaced to be seen from behind.

I have always gone with the idea that more blinkies is better, but I have typically clustered the lights around the saddle/seat stays... so essentially making a cluster of blinking/steady lights. But I have noticed that this vertical pattern is unique.

What do you folks think.

BTW this is a cross post to the same thing I put in A&S. I posted this here as you folks tend to discuss more practical items such as lighting and may yourselves have come to similar conclusions about lighting.

Trains do that with their headlights,although we're not going to have that effect.

I've found that by using the blinky on my helmet it makes me more visible. I rarely use the rack mounted blinkies any more, I'll have to try using them both when it warms up enough to ride again and drivers are even less likely to look for me.

Sounds like a pretty good idea, especially if your commute puts you in a mix with truck traffic. Remember that drivers of big rigs, as well as some urban trucks & vehicles (ie. garbage trucks, delivery vans, buses, etc.) sit up much higher off the ground than car drivers. Having a light higher up (in addition to your seatpost or rear rack) might help them see you better. It probably helps with long-distance visibility a bit too.

No doubt the higher light helps with longer distance vis... the thing I am promoting here if you will is that two lights vertically placed seems to be unique to cycling, and thus something that may help identify cyclists specifically...

This is just something that I happened to notice while driving about... that the combination of two lights is both more visible and is unique to cycling. I have not seen two vertical lights on anything else... although it would be easy to have that combination on motorcycles too, but motorcycle riders tend to depend on their built in single light. Cars have their wide horizontal spaced lights, and trucks have their various marker lights. Two vertical lights is unique.

I recently asked my wife to critique my night time gear. I was wearing a reflective/neon vest, had a single rear blinker, and my headlight. She approached from behind and said I was very easy to see. She did comment that it would be nice if I had some sort of light up high to give a better picture of a person on a bike. I have added a blinky up high on my vest. I like this spot better than the helmet, as it tends to point back more, where ones head is moving side to side periodically. Either is better than nothing. Both have the problem of being hard to keep pointed well in the correct direction. But it the rack mounted one stays put (as it should), then the one up higher can have a lower visibility factor and still be effective.

i have a pair of Schmidt Halogen headlights , made to be wired in series, so when descending fast,
the secondary light is turned on, when you slow for a climb , it goes not off, exactly,
but in the circuit it is bypassed.. and the hub dynamo is powering the primary one brighter, alone.

[ the lights I have are FS, never did Brevets where they are Ideal.. ]

I noticed a bicycle one night while driving home that had 6 or so blinkies arranged vertically under his seat. They were all blinking at a different speed, and it was really easy to see him from a distance. It made me wonder what the heck that was at first.

Your idea is valid, but there is a flaw- the design and placement of the light(s) being used. Most rear lights these days (at least the more powerful ones) tend to be a bit too 'focused' of a beam. Once you get the light properly aimed and then move your head/torso, the light is no longer as effective.

One way to increase the effectiveness is to use multiple lights. Fire Eyes and the B&M Topfire are some examples. Using a powerful seat post or rack mounted light combined with one of the above product (or similar) could provide some decent coverage.

I've been doing this for years. Light on the rear rack, a light on the bike bag, a light on my Camelbak and finally one on the helmet. The one on the rack is run on steady but all the others are flashing.

I also run 2 lights on the bars and one on my helmet (all on non-flash mode). That much light thrown forward tends to make motorists stop and think about what is coming at them before they pull out in front of you.

The idea is OK, but my priority is being noticed FIRST. Personally I don't care if motorists never figure out if I was a cyclist, or a motorcyclist, or a moped .... or whatever. I just want their attention and to be moticed from as great a fistance as possible. Anything else is negotiable.

Years and years ago I used 3 belt beacon lights mounted on a triangle piece of aluminum mounted just under my seat... I figured the random pattern along with the triangle shape would make me pretty visible.

About 17 years ago I went to a NiteRider system and replaced my belt beacon set up. But I also added a blinkie. A few years ago I added a PB super flash. But I have kept all these lights low, near the saddle.

This year I have noticed more and more cyclists by the 2 light placement (I would probably see the cyclists anyway, as I DO notice cyclists), but that two light set up, with one high and one low, really caught my eye and said "cyclist" at a greater distance than anything else. Long before my headlights would illuminate anything reflective, I knew there was a cyclist ahead, due to the vertical pattern. This is why I am proposing this as something we might want to consider as a "standard," or "best practice."

Use lots of lights... light yourself up like an alien mothership... but keep the groupings such that you have a distinct vertical pattern (hard not to do on a bike), by placing something high, and something low.

It sounds like a practical idea. My rack mounted blinky in the rear is so bright, that on 2 occasions, drivers stopped ahead of me at stores or restaurant and waited for me just to stop me and ask what kind of light it is and that they saw me a mile away. One additional blinky on my helmet may be a good thing to have though. I also think like, cyccommute mentioned above, 2 lights on the bars is a very good idea. I am planning on getting an additional Nightrider light for my bars.

I've done basically the same thing for a long time. I've got a Bell Citi helmet with a mount on the back for a taillight, so I have a Superflash on my helmet, a Radbot on my seatbag and a Dinotte 140 on my frame. In the front, I have a Light & Motion Urban 500 on my handlebar and a Fenix LD20 on my helmet.

Some time back I approached a cyclist from behind that had a blinky on the back of their helmet. I liked the way you could see it from more than a couple of cars back because of the height. The one on the rack is harder to see for the 2nd, 3rd, or more car back in the line simply because it is blocked from their view. I have started running the light on the rack on steady and the blinky up high. Same thing on the front. Steady on the bars, white blinky on the helmet.

Okay, I am starting to like the one low, one high approach.

I am currently running a Radbot 1000 (set on flash) on my rear rack and a DangerZone (steady) on my seatpost. Not a lot of vertical separation, but the one solid, one blinky is a great combo for getting noticed and giving reference location.

Is there a good helmet-mount product I could add to the mix (preferably one that runs on rechargeable batteries)? I suppose I could move the DZ up higher, but I'm not sure how I would attach it to anything confidently.

I do like the look of the topfire and fire eyes linked to earlier; might have to check one of them out.

I have two red blinkies on the rear of the helmet. They are not super bright, just small LEDs, but the high position makes them very noticeable (says the wife). I also have a regular taillight under the saddle.

That's what I'm running. Hotshot steady mode on the rack. Hotshot blinky on the helmet.

Handlebars: Niterider Pro 1800 on steady, setting medium = 800 lumens
Helmet: Cygolite Turbo 740 Xtra on rapid flash for the front, Cygolite hotshot usually rapid pulse on the back of the helmet held by velcro strap, sometimes steady beam if the seatpost is setup that way too.
Seatpost: Cygolite hotshot on medium or high steady
Left side of rack: Cygolite hotshot on rapid pulse, held w/ 2 zipties
Right side of rack: Cygolite hotshot on rapid pulse, held w/ 2 zipties
Fenders: completely taped up with Reflexite REF-DB Retroreflective Daybright Tape, the sides of both fenders as well. Thinking about drilling the end of the fender above the mudflap to mount another hotshot.
Panniers: Sides have a 6 x 6 inch square of the reflective tape above. The sidewalls of the bags already have 3M reflective material sown into the bag.

I think that we need to revive the leg light as well. Combination headlamp/taillamp that straps to your calf. No blinking, and the up and down motion of the leg light provides and unmistakeable "bicycle" signature. These days, I'd do a standard blinkie front and back as well.

+1 I have a 900 lumen wide beam, a 400 lumen spot and a another wide angle 400 lumen on my helmet. I definately get seen. I had one guy on the bike path who was walking the wrong way compain they were too bright but I make sure they are aimed low enough to avoid blinding on coming cars while advertising I really am there. I also use a wide light strip on the rear basket of my commuter with two small flashers on the corners to really make sure people know I am there.

Unless you are the Exorcist baby your head does not swivel enough to keep a helmet mounted tail-light from being seen. Some tail-lights, like the PB Superflash that I have on one of my bikes can be seen as easily 90* to the side as directly rearward. So, be at peace. Also, I suspect that most drivers perceive cyclists at night much the way I do. If it flashes, its a bike. From 200 yards they cannot make any sense of the shape or any other characteristics of the light pattern, nor do they have time to process this minutae. The redundancy of two flashers is nice but one good flasher with good batteries in it is more than enough to pull you out of invisibility.

H

I already do this. ;) Rearward facing helmet light (PB Blinky helmet light), Mars 4.0 on the seatpost or back of saddlebag, and a Portland Design Works Fenderbot tail light on my rear fender. Similarly the front: my "pot hole spotlight" mounted low on the rack (steady on), a blinky flashlight on the handlebar and a PB Blaze .5W on top of my helmet. They aren't terribly bright, but the ends of my handlebars are illuminated by Soma bar end lights as well. I was running a BikeBrightz on my downtube as well, but sadly it isn't very waterproof.

I ride in hilly terrain and I know that sometimes the helmet lights are the first thing that is visible as either I or the vehicle are cresting hill. The forward facing helmet light is invaluable for a number of reasons, one of which is that it is visible over the tops of parked cars to vehicles pulling out of driveways ahead of me.

This would be great:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=292431


I thought of pointing my magicshine up from the bottom tube, but it turns out too Halloween-like.

This is it exactly... the one low and one high makes cyclists more visible from further back.

I saw a guy that had a white light mounted on the back of his rack, aimed at his back. From 50 yards back or so it was easy to see that it was a cyclist. But this required a fairly bright white light.

I still think the one high and one low offers visibility for a longer distance, but like I have said before... light up like an alien mothership... blinkies high and low and white light aimed at your back and lots of reflectors, white blinkies forward as well as a steady headlight... make yourself noticeable.

But at a minimum, one high and one low.

Maybe this is an idea "whose time has come," since it's so hard for motorists to see us and recognize us. I had this exact idea only a week ago. Any ideas for how to do this reliably and moderately inexpensively?

Okay, you guys have convinced me to add a light up high on the helmet. I am leaning towards a second Danger Zone, since I think I could zip-tie the base to the helmet and just remove the front piece to change batteries. The fact that it uses AAA rechargeables is important to me. I keep a battery charger at my desk that charges AA's and AAA's, and I'm continually rotating batteries, keeping a log sheet, and generally geeking out on that stuff. I thought I would ask though, any other taillights that use AAA's that would be easy to ziptie to helmet and still be not difficult for changing batteries? I'm open to whatever works best for that application.

Also, agent pombero - that is a good idea with the Reflexite tape on the pannier sides. I should do that with my Ortlieb's. Does the tape hold up reasonably well to wear and tear? I'm not concerned with looks so much as safety. Any tips are useful, thanks.

As I mentioned earlier, I have seen something like this... done with a white light mounted on the very end of a rear rack and pointing forward and toward the back of the cyclist... so that is one way to do it.

Probably wouldn't hurt to put a bit of a stick there to raise the light (keep it out of the way of anything you are carrying on the rack), and you could mount a reflector and a blinkie aimed aft at the same time.

I use one light mounted on the rack, and I have a Blackburn flea, set to steady, that I mount higher, usually on the upper part of my Camelbak when I am using one, otherwise hanging off the seat. The times I have commuted in heavy traffic, I've added another blinky on top of my rack trunk.

400 lumen Cygolite up front and a 200 lumen on the helmet when commuting.

For side visibility, I have a flashing light on the fork, which lights up the spokes, and some of the high visibility yellow trouser bands wrapped in a few spots around my frame. A few other assorted bits of reflective bits as well.

I have two front lights, one blinking, one steady. Both on the handle bars. Since I ride a lot in urban traffic, with a lot of light from store fronts and street lamps, I found that a bright light is necessary to break through the light pollution.

What I have recently started is, pointing the steady light at me (and my reflective jacket). So far, I have gotten positive feed back. It changes how traffic sees me, not just two bright lights coming at you, but a clearly visible guy on a bike with a bright, reflective jacket.