What would you guys suggest I obtain for night riding. This is LA so there are some crazy people on the roads

I dont know if I should buy reflectors/lights or what. 95% of my riding will be night riding because of my work/school schedule. 7-5work, 5-10 school, 10-12 study, 12-1 ride, sleep and start over lol

I basicly have no time to ride during the day except maybe weekends. I am pretty safe and I can avoid other people so do I really need any extra gizmos?

Thanks!

Reflectors: if you do this keep in mind they are only effective at certain angles (I chose to not use them). Since a front and rear light should be used, I chose to do away with those as well. Wheel reflectors or reflective sidewall tires could work well.

lights: get a STRONG front light....this really helps if you are out in a night rain, as an LED light is possibly not visible in this mess. same for a rear light, get something strong. I use a 5-led cateye, that although ugly, is bright as hell....you can see it in daylight. My headlight is a niterider trailrat 2.0. Under $100, and gives out plenty of light.

Also consider reflective clothing if you choose to. My helmet has a front reflectve bit on it, so that helps some....also the light silver color is pretty easy to see when a car's headlights are on it. Pretty much just use common sense.

As for not using any lights....I say use em. There will be times where a close call will happen, and maybe those lights could save your rump by allowing the other person to notice and react to them before it's too late.

Um no. The point of lights is so other people can avoid you. Buy a bright rear LED light and a good front light that takes AA batteries (Cateye micro II?) Make no mistake these are "to be seen" lights, not to see.

If you need to see where you're going, you're looking at 10w halogen minimum.

thanks! makes lots of sense. I see, its to be seen and not to see. I will definately pick a front and rear light up ASAP.

Reflective clothing....I dont have any. Can I buy Jerseys with this?

Thanks

I do a lot of early morning (3:45 to 4:45) riding. Some parts of my commute do not have street lights. For the front end of the bike, my first concern is to see the road, not necessarily be seen by others.

I've been running an old Nightsun Dual Beam for the last ten years or so. The Nightsun Team Issue Dual Bean is probably the closest current model. 10W low beam, 30 W both beams.

10W is plenty good to actually see road hazards in the dark. But then, I eat a lot of carrots too.