Maybe NC is different than OR and maybe it isn't. Maybe the Superflash you want to put on the rear is a red one, made for that purpose and maybe it isn't. What I can tell you, not from having done it, some things don't need any experience... what I can tell you is, around here, if a cop decides to pull you in for having a front flasher on the rear you are going to be $300 dollars poorer for the experience. Again, I didn't need to have a LAW to tell me that is wasn't the best idea, but cyclists are a different breed. Their safety mindedness knows no proportion or consideration. I think RidingMatthew said it very well. It simply isn't necessary to attempt to blind, annoy or otherwise discomfit drivers 95% of the time. The other 5%... ... oh well... spit does indeed happen. You weren't going to influence that outcome with your illegal rear facing front flasher, did you think you would?. I'm ready to go whenever that SUV with the distracted driver wants my spot in line. My mother can't find my porn collection cause its on a hard drive and she isn't computer literate.

H

Edit: WTF? I quote you for planning to be an *** and I quote you again for actually making sense! Where are you coming from, guy? Which side of this are you on?

I use three... one a steady on Nite Rider 24LED, one a PB super flash, and the last a cheapo blinkie

For the headlight I use flash only at dawn and dusk, when lighting is poor or the angles are bad, otherwise I use a steady headlight. I recently installed a cheapo front LED I am thinking of using with the steady headlight at night.

I often bike on busy fast arterial roads with lots of distracting lighting and I want to stand out. I want to look like the proverbial "alien mother ship."

I spend spring/fall annoyed by MUP users blinding me w/ strobes at the height of my eyes, and then yesterday morning annoyed by MUP users materializing out of the peasoup fog w/ no lights and dark clothes.

What color is it?

Red is illegal in front, white is illegal in back... Do they make an amber hazard-light version that can be used either place?

I had a PBSF that did that for a while before it committed suicide by jettisoning the lens and batteries on a bump. Suspect they're related, some vibration is toggling the switch to the next mode. I now use the much sturdier Radbot, though taking out a screw to change batteries is a minor inconvenience.

Strobe frequency is quite important. Many are too slow and have significant gaps between flashes, long enough to glance and see no light.
On a dark lane last winter, I had 2 strobing cyclists riding towards me and I was unable to determine speed or distance.
I have dynamo powered lights on solid whenever the light is suspect (inc dull, bright days). I add rear strobes in fog.

I wouldn't think that a SuperFlash would be in any way noticeable during the day. I run a Serfas Shield, which is 6 watts (as opposed to the 0.5 or 1 watt of the SuperFlash) and I consider it minimal for daylight visibility. Up front I run a Nova Bull which is also about 5 or 6 watts but has really good optics - it was designed for emergency vehicles. It seems to be doing the job, but a 44 lumen light (Knog Blinder 4V) wasn't cutting it.

There was a similar post several months or more ago and one person posted a link to an article written by someone who is a pilot. The gist of the article, related to the OP's question, was that a driver could make quick glances left/right and during that interval, miss the lit portion of the blinking light. For that reason, I prefer to have both a solid and blinking light both front and back. No other type of vehicle uses a blinking light (except snow plows and garbage trucks, both slightly different to bikes) so I believe that this should alert a driver that the vehicle is a bike.

[MENTION=183241]jputnam[/MENTION] I have this blaze and superflash light set. I just could not remember the names.

and [MENTION=36008]Leisesturm[/MENTION] I am not sure why you quoted me. I have this . I would not run a red light on the front that would be dumb. I really can not understand what you are saying in your post. No offense.

ok, so a newbie asking a question. I plan to commute to work (I go in at 0300 and home at 1330). Are any of these lights for illumination or do you wear something else to see in the dark?

It depends on the illumination of the route you're taking. Most of my route, even during late fall/early spring when I ride in to work in darkness, has sufficient streetlight illumination for me to ride on the roads so I only need lights to be seen, not to see. One section, about 1km in length (0.6mi), is unlit so I have a stronger light that I put on steady beam for that section but since it is essentially empty between 6 and 7am, although the light is not the strongest, it is sufficient for me to see the whole width of the dirt road.

Evaluate your needs and the lighting conditions first.

thanks!

https://store.dinottelighting.com/amb...ight-p126.aspx

https://store.dinottelighting.com/day...ight-p117.aspx

I've been using a 120 lumen Viz 360 on my helmet and a "1000" lumen xml light on the handlebars while it's light out, with both of them flashing. People are now noticing me like they noticed me on my motorcycles in that they both see me and try and avoid me, that didn't always happen before when I only used the Viz 360 during the day. This really helps on the bike path with the people who want to keep left or are coming towards me while captivated by their phone or ipod. At night my front lights are all on steady.

Flashing front and rear during the day, steady at night.
Some of the bike front lights are blinding, I was on the bike trail last night (very dark) and I thought 2 motorcycles were coming at me, it was 2 cyclists, don't know what type of light they had but I was blinded...
I point my front light down for that reason.

[MENTION=40124]ItsJustMe[/MENTION] thanks for telling us about those lights. I will look into them. My wife drove up behind me yesterday because I forgot my cell phone and she was bringing it to me. She said she could see the light under my seat way down the road but the light on my pannier she could not see. I think you are right the PBSF does get washed out in bright sunlight.

A recent experience the other night I had with a cyclist coming toward me with a strobing front light (only) on a sharred bike/pedestrian path. I never saw him until he was within 20 feet of me. Maybe there is something about the blinking of an eye and not seeing them until the last second. It actually startled me. I am still confused why you would want a flashing light (only) over a steady on light in the front at night unless you also had a steady on light?

True. Bike Snob NYC touched on this issue of daylight visibility overkill today in his column. He pointed out the Defense Dept video at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNLZDINe128

Bike Snob's comments on this "safety" message:
"It's worth revisiting this video, if only because it really does distill the American attitude towards bicycles and cycling as neatly as anything I've ever seen. Basically the idea is that riding a bike is tantamount to suicide, even if you have a helment and lights like [the cyclist in the video].

And that what you really need is a pair of Lycra half-shorts, a Dayglo safety vest, a helment, and a spelunker's helment light."