taylorgeo

Not sure if there is any scientific data on this, but what color do you believe is more striking during a daytime ride?

Koyote

Blaze orange.

Better yet, get a bright tail light.

_ForceD_

It probably depends on your surrounding environment (i.e. the contrast of the background when someone looks at you). Construction workers along streets and roadways…generally in urban settings with buildings, and less vegetation around…wear safety yellow garments (as dictated by OSHA I guess). But hunters, who are in the woods surrounded by vegetation, wear the blaze orange (not sure if OSHA mandates that). So…if you’re riding on the streets and roadways…I guess go with the yellow. If you’re off-road riding through the woods…go with the orange. And the light as suggested above.

Dan

NumbersGuy

Fluorescent yellow is the brightest color on the chromaticity scale, so scientifically speaking that's your answer for most striking in daytime.

Orange is commonly associated with caution or danger on roads. Blaze orange is used for hunting because it stands out best against the green and brown colors of a forest making a clear indication of something human and not naturally occurring. Those two factors make orange an excellent choice as well for both road and off-road riding.

Iride01 

Depends on where you are, but for environments where it's mostly green leaves and green grass then something on the bright red to bright orange side of the color wheel. Don't worry too much about which specific hue. That'll just be marginal gains, arguments and anecdotal experiences.

However even in the green environments, the bright green and yellow clothing that can easily be camouflaged by the bright sunlight filtering through the trees at a distance will be easily seen when closer to the viewer. And likely in time for any needed avoidance.

What works in desert settings.... can't say.

Herzlos

Movement is the bigger factor, so a flashing light, or bright socks

Daniel4

Good question. I have both colour in construction vests.

Yellow is bright but so is a bright sunny day. So yellow may be lost in all the other brightness around.

Orange on a bright sunny day maintains its contrast so should be able to be seen.

Having said that, I was waiting at a traffic light on a busy street once when another cyclist approached me from behind. He said to me he could see me from a mile away. I think I was wearing yellow.

Leisesturm

All good answers so far, but, as it happens, although I was able to get a fluorescent green/yellow Giro Register MIPS helmet for my wife, that model, nor any other in the XL size I need only come in Black or White. I recall reading that Matte or Gloss White are both at the top of the visibility spectrum even when the other HI-Viz colors are considered. So my riding jacket is fluorescent green/yellow but my helmet is Matte White. The actual lifesaving, however, is done by superior road-craft and 50 years of experience in urban and suburban street riding. Proof? Well ... for forty of those years I wasn't riding with any kind of helmet, hi-viz, or even mirrors on the very same roads. So why change? I got tired of being pulled over by LEO for not having bells or lights or whatnot and the riding club we joined insisted on a helmet, so there you are. FWIW.

Mojo31

I have a gray jacket that my wife says is very striking looking on me.

Once, when I was riding in December, a guy on a motorcycle pulled up next to me to tell me that he was unable to see me as I blended in with the surrounding vegetation other than he saw my flashing lights.

genejockey 

OSHA stands for OCCUPATIONAL Safety and Health Administration, so, no. That's up to the state Fish and Game Department.

Also, not all states require blaze orange for all hunters at all times. For some hunters, full camo, even face painting is allowed, whereas in other situations the rules actually dictate how many square inches of blaze orange must be visible at a minimum.

rumrunn6

lime? green

Daniel4

I'm glad the OP is asking about orange or yellow. I think too much bicycle clothing is black or dark. They would easily blend in with asphalt or cement.

Camilo

pure white is also very good, based on what I see when I'm coming up to cyclists on rural highways. I personally don't think the ultra-bright yellow or orange are any better for seeing a cyclist at a safe distance than regular yellow or orange or white. Not science, just opinion.

rsbob 

An excellent article backed by science: https://www.newsweek.com/staying-safe-days-darken-81459

Milton Keynes

I suppose safety orange is likely the best, but my cycling jacket is bright yellow. I also wear bright yellow nylon T-shirts while riding, as well as bright orange, green, and other neon colors.

shelbyfv

Size matters as well as color. An eye catching flag and some shiny accessories may help as well. Ride safely!

jon c. 

Material matters as well. I've seen yellow vests that really pop and others that don't seem to stand out much at all.

79pmooney

I saw it matters little daytime on a bike - except - in the northern fall when orange can be camouflage and even yellow not standing out. (Grew up in Massachusetts, been to New Hampshire many times, rode across Michigan;s UP in October.) So take-away? Look outside and be aware. (In the spring, I've been out when fluorescent yellow wasn't all that much of a contrast to the very first green.)

veganbikes

I would say get good lights a nice bright solid front and rear light is going to give you the best visibility clothing color is maybe going to make a minute difference but lights are the most visible. If I was going to wear something to be more visible it would be reflective.

hevysrf

I think it depends on the actual material, I have a cheap amazon hi vis orange t shirt that really stands out, even after multiple washings. Akyrm is the brand on the label.
Last 20 years of my woking life were on construction sites, I've seen them all.
IME, yellows and greens haven't held up to laundry detergents.

pdlamb

40 years ago the fluorescein dyes (for so-called hi-vis) were about the least stable in the dye catalog. Things have improved somewhat, but I've still seen some hi-vis jerseys fade within a year or two. It's hard to find the yellow and orange that pop out in the spring any more, but they last a lo-o-o-ong time.

Paul Barnard

Don't overlook hot pink as an option. The state of Louisiana now allows it as an option for hunting vests.

I like the idea of high vis helmets and socks. Our head is the highest point, and often the only thing visible above auto traffic. We move our heads a lot too and that helps. Our feet are constantly moving. I have seen people wearing high vis crew socks, and they really stand out.

jon c. 

As a driver, I see good lights long before I can tell what the rider is wearing.

As a rider, I have good lights and don't worry about the visibility of my jersey.

indyfabz

That may be so, but this coming Monday is Labor Day so….

Vintage Schwinn

Long ago, I had always heard that the reasoning that blaze orange was selected for the required attire for hunters in my state was that orange was a color that deer could not notice or distinguish any better than olive drab or camoflauge. Humans of course, can really notice blaze orange among greens, browns, greys of nature and in dimly lit not quite darkness(dawn & dusk). I do know that humans perceive orange, but I am not certain that the deer being not able to is true or not, I would guess that at best it is a somewhat partially true, but I don't know.

I don't think that you could ever go wrong with either high visibility YELLOW or high visibility ORANGE as far as a bicycle riding jacket that allows you to be seen for MILES & MILES........so they can see you for MILES & MILES....
Just don't be the Johnny Cash type as too many of the motorcyclists are known to dress all in black..........oh dear what can you do, Cool Kenny is wearing all black and the driver of the suv just cannot see that fool...
Hey, being the man in all black will getcha smacked is what the old saying was 50 years ago about motorcyclist's attire, as you wanted to, at the very least, have a bright visible helmet color: WHITE, YELLOW, ORANGE, BRIGHT RED, GOLD, BRIGHT BLUE, anything really visible, and/or a combination of easily noticeable colors. This stupidity which is currently popular of folks wearing all black leather, and a flat black helmet, on a dark charcoal grey motorcycle with no contrasting visible colors, no reflective material on the motorcycle frame or tire sidewalls and no reflective material on the rider's leather jacket or helmet, and very little or no brightwork, makes the motorcycle and its rider just almost vanish into the distance in some less ideal daylight conditions, not to mention nightime conditions.

Tennis balls made the change from the previous all white to the optic yellow during the early seventies. Some people think of white as during the all wood racquet era only but I was using the new Wilson T-2000 raquet in 1969/70 before yellow
Golf ball manufacturers attempted to introduce ORANGE & YELLOW balls during the late Seventies, and though it was a very short lived fad with hacks, very low handicap, and scratch amateurs and professionals seemed to prefer white by a huge ratio. Personally speaking, I had a more difficult time seeing and finding the ORANGE golf balls among the pine straw........ Yellow was harder for me to see in the deep rough.
I did think the ABA basketball was really colorful and outta sight as you could really see that ball in action, LIVE at the arena, and on television in '72 to '75. Dr J. with the Nets (#32) doing his thing, hand high above the rim with that colorful ball...........a couple of ABA teams got absorbed into the NBA in '76 but most of the league didn't and the colorful ball disappeared.





YELLOW or ORANGE, highly visible with reflective material IS ALWAYS A GOOD THING for being easily noticed from a distance. You definitely do want that if you are riding a bicycle in the streets with automobile traffic.
You want them to SEE YOU, so that they don't only notice you after their Chevrolet has already hit your bike and sent you flying through the air.
It is personal safety attire, it isn't necessarily a "cool" or fashion statement that you wanna make. You wanna live to ride again tomorrow.
There are too many drivers that are distracted and unattentive. You have to be seen by them before it is too late for them to do anything to avoid smashing you.
A flashing red light attached to the rear of your helmet, rear of your seat, rear of your fender, or rear of your jersey/jacket/vest is also probably highly recommended.
I 'd also recommend a helmet color other than a carbon fiber looking, number 2 pencil lead dark grey.......perhaps a bright yellow helmet, or something people will really notice.....not something that looks similar to the color of the asphalt on the roadway. Whatever you do, wear a damn helmet, even if it is charcoal grey, as your hair color might look lovely but just an unhelmeted head will likely crack like an egg dropped on the floor or like a watermelon dropped on to the roadway from a height of just 36 inches. You don't wanna be humpty dumpty. You don't want to be road kill. RIDE SMART! Live To Enjoy Riding Again Tomorrow and The Next Day & The Next Day.....