Seems like you're talking past the point. Lightning goes wherever there's the least resistance. If your metal frame is a little less resistant than a nearby tree, the lighting will go through the metal frame. If your frame is a little more resistant than a nearby tree, it will go through the tree. If you're on the top of a hill and in an area of less resistance in the air, well, you're screwed either way.

I think a little bit of it is tongue-in-cheek against the "carbon will assplode if you touch it" crowd though. With the absurd claims of carbon fiber being fragile made by the anti-anything-new crowd, it's kind of amusing to tell them an almost-as-absurd story about how you ride carbon because you want to be protected from lightning.

I suspect a metal frame material might make a very tiny, small increase in your odds of being hit by lighting, but it's very very small.

Lightening= take cover

Was struck by lightening while in my car, arm perched on the open window frame and as close to the brink of death I ever care to have, the burns healed, the respect is permanent. Do NOT think you are somehow protected by your bike, when lightening is near take cover! FYI structure fires are routinely generated when lightening permeates the ground, and travels along a buried utility.
Lightning Strike Fires Reignite Debate Over Gas Pipe Safety - NBC News

The bike material makes almost no difference- even if you had a glass bike, there is still a significant dielectric effect that will cause the the flashover to occur along the interface between the air and the bike. You can't predict it. The best place to be is inside a well-grounded Faraday cage. Failing that, inside a building is better than outside. Inside a car is better than outside. Away from trees and power lines is better than near them.

Nothing to do with carbon. I think i was pretty clear in explaining how lightning is a risk regardless of bike material. You can get struck no matter where you are if that particular charge found your person to be a good path to ground. Geologic makeup can make a huge difference too. Most concrete roads & some sub-grade road foundations have steel rebar in them, and i feel that was probably the over-arcing factor in this case (no pun intended).

- Andy

I think many people fail to understand the fundamental fact that lightning is a massive, extremely energetic arc & that arcing of power lines & things man-made is nothing compared to it. We cannot even begin to reproduce that energy save for a few microseconds in 1-2 energy labs on earth. Most lightning protection is about re-directing the current away from less conductive materials that may explode or catch fire.

- Andy

Most strikes that actually hit people, or anything on the ground for that matter, go from the ground-up. It STARTS with the most attractive conductor on the ground starting to discharge through, lets say, metal golf cleats (which no one wears anymore) on a person while they are holding a metal golf club (which almost no one uses anymore) above the head. So metal cleats, a steel bike, steel wheels and spokes, all are attractive to lightning. Even cars get hit every now and then regardless of rubber tires.

If you are the most attractive conductor around when the atmosphere charges up there is a 100% chance that you are going to get zapped. YOU are the cause of it! Think about that next time you decide to "tough it out" through an electrical storm.


From Wiki: One estimate is that 24,000 people are killed by lightning strikes around the world each year and about 240,000 are injured.

Some good elements there, but not precisely - and while it may seem picayune some of the details really do make a difference.

Lightning doesn't just look for the best conductor. In fact, a metal belt buckle, cleats, steel plate on a broken bone, or whatever you're carrying, do not attract lightning. The spark will travel to the closest pont along the path of least resistance, so these objects can become entry or exit points but do not increase your chance of being struck.

I think of it just like a spark gap, on a huge scale. You get the spark when the strength of the electric field is greater than the dielectric in the gap. The electric field ionizes the air, which becomes a conductor. The smaller the gap (higher objects), the weaker the dielectric is. A grounded conductor has the same electrical potential as the ground, so the electricity will preferentially choose that path. After it strikes. If lightning strikes an object near the grounded conductor, it will jump to it. But the conductor does not attract the lightning strike more than another object would.

My bike commuting mileage is way off this summer because we've had an incredible frequency of thunderstorms, most of them with lots of lightning and heavy rains. Last time I checked, our YTD rainfall was about 10" above normal, most of that coming in summer. Deciding whether to ride each day is like playing Russian roulette because the forecasts have called for a 30-60% chance of storms nearly every day. It has stormed somewhere in the area nearly every day, but the exact locations and times are unpredictable. Most of the time, I can avoid the storms by diligently watching the radar and timing my departure from work so I leave before or after they hit. However, on some days the storms develop extremely rapidly and I've been caught on my afternoon commute even though nothing was showing on the radar when I left work. I will be SO glad when the fall weather finally arrives.

Also,

light·ning

ˈlītniNG/
noun
noun: lightning
1.
the occurrence of a natural electrical discharge of very short duration and high voltage between a cloud and the ground or within a cloud, accompanied by a bright flash and typically also thunder.
"a tremendous flash of lightning"




light·en·ing
ˈlītn-iNG,ˈlītniNG/
noun
noun: lightening; plural noun: lightenings

• a drop in the level of the uterus during the last weeks of pregnancy as the head of the fetus engages in the pelvis.
  
  
  
  
  

I was hit by side splash from a lightning strike.

Talk about a single path of least resistance is a bit simplistic. That much energy goes where it wants to go, just stay out of its way. I still have a lot of pain in my arms and hands.

NWS Lightning Safety: Indoors

https://awlsmedstudents.org/images/8_Lightning.pdf

Thanks for posting the pdf. I saw two points that can help us improve our chances:

 The most common time of the day for lightning casualties is in the afternoon with more than half of these occurring between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. local time. This is the most common time due to the heating of the ground by the sun, which causes vertical cumulus clouds to form, that may be tall enough to produce lightning.
 The more dangerous times for a severe lightning strike are before the storm appears and after it has passed

My injury occurred before the storm hit and the bolt appeared of nowhere.

Another tip: avoid tocuhing all electrical applications, power cords, and any plumbing fixtures during an electical storm. Even your chimney or house foundation can be an electrical path to avoid. The important point being is that "ground" is no longer ground in a conventional sense. I now just sit in the middle of the room and touch nothing but I hear lightning does not strike twice, so, I have that going for me.

If stuck outside and assuming shelter is unvailable, I would try to find a lower laying area away from any metal or tall objects. So, on a golf course for instance.....I go to the middle of the lowest nearby fairway......not under a dry tree although a metal enclosed portapotty.....scratch that. The smell is too much.

https://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lhm/IEEE_Guide.pdf

This is what perplexes me. A grown man 51 years old is within a couple of miles from where he works when he gets hit. Witnesses said it was storming violently when they saw it happen. There are plenty of shelters in the area before he got on the expressway on a 17 mile commute home. Once on the expressway there are hardly any safe havens, overpasses to protect oneself. There might be 2 or 3 on that 17 mile stretch. Unless it was just very bad luck that the popup t-storm developed after he got on the expressway. If you hear thunder, it's too dangerous to ride even if you perceive it being far away.

I hope everything turns out alright. Last I heard he was still in critical condition this morning.

One other thought. Bikers vs. Cagers: I thought it pretty selfless that 6 motorists got out of their cars, risking their life trying to resuscitate with CPR the lifeless body of the cyclist. Paramedics were successful using advanced life support techniques.

Well, you skipped past my bit tongue in cheek part -

I am 100% confident that my carbon frame protects me from lightening better than my steel frame - by at least 0.0000001%. :-P

You've got to be kidding. I could see maybe 0.00000001%, but 0.0000001%! You've lost your mind!

Guess its time to ditch my latest garage sale score. To bad because I seemed to get a little more room from drivers.

You'll be fine!

Just watch the weather radar, and don't ride in storms. If you are caught far away from shelter, simply find the lowest spot, lay your bike down, take helmet off & keep it upright, and you yourself find as sheltered a place as possible away from stuff poking up into the air. I was caught out once in a very dangerous storm that i found later to have killed 2 residents not that far up the road from my town. I took shelter on the other side of the road from the nearby power lines in a (thankfully dry) ditch. Was pretty not good to be out that particular day.

- Andy

I ride year 'round in all conditions except:

1. Blizzard
2. Hail storms with high winds
3. Lightning
NWS Lightning Safety Outdoors

I always want to live to bike another day.

The faraday cage at work: Lightning Strikes Pickup Truck in Canada (Video)

According to the guy driving the truck, it is a good way to see your life pass before your eyes... if you're interested in seeing it again.

Most effective when used with a pair of these:

You got clipless pedals that work with those?

Who needs pedals?