wedgee

Hi guys.

Newb here. I'm sure it's been covered, but can you lay out the basics for night riding safety?

I've seen helmets w/ lights in them, but wonder about the weight and battery storage.

I've seen reflective tape vests, but they look like Cal-Trans road crew gear.

What's the cool (BUT SAFE) set-up?

Thanks all and Happy Holidays

Machka 

The basics of night riding safety ...

1) Headlight
2) Taillights
3) Helmet light (optional)
4) Reflective vest
5) Reflective ankle bands
6) Reflective tape all over your bicycle

.

schnee

Safety isn't 'cool'. Note the fixed gear kids with no helmets and dark clothes with no lights that blast through stoplights.

Personally, I've given up on being cool. When I ride at night, I blaze like a little star. I want to look like an extra from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I want local observatories to write me hate mail because I'm interfering with their work. I want primitive cultures to worship me like a god.

I dress as if I'm anticipating getting hit, going to court to sue the driver, and having every single in the room immediately take my side because 'there's no way that idiot didn't see you'.

Your mileage may vary. I don't think it's necessary if you're tooling around quiet suburbs with no traffic, but I commute so I tend towards, uh, 'bright'.

Sasquatchula

Light yourself up like a Christmas tree and ride with the assumption that the average driver still can't see you. In other words, ride defensively.

I have headlight, taillight, reflective bands on my jacket sleeves, reflective ankle straps and tape on my helmet. I've had three "close" ones this year alone. Two of the drivers pulled over to apologise, they hadn't seen me! Third yelled something unintelligible and drove on.

NaBlade

I'm not a commuter but I ride all year round. So in winter when days are shorter so it's unavoidable to ride in the dark. My rides are mostly on bright city streets with street lamps, so my lighting requirement is simply "to be seen", instead of needing to see the road. I wear a cycling jacket with reflective stripes. My bike has a headlight and taillight. I built rubber mud flaps for my clip-on fenders and attached a reflective tape on the rear one. I've got front and rear lights on my helmet. I find the front light on the helmet is useful for cars coming up from side streets since I can "aim" it at the driver who may not see the reflective trim on my bike until its right in front of his car.

carpediemracing 

Helmet light (battery in hip pack or in pocket) works great. Look at anything you consider a potential danger (cars, trucks, people, etc). They will back down quickly because the light is bright and it catches their attention. I use an older NiteRider (10w, perhaps 2-2.5 hours burn time). You can't look at your riding friends because they won't be able to see for a bit. You get used to talking to others while looking at the ground. My light will illuminate 75 yards of country side or get the attention of a car 50+ yards away in busy urban traffic. I just shake my head so the light keeps hitting the car.

Blinky tail light. This is the thing that always keeps a light out in the back. Your main light should be your helmet light as you turn around to look at cars behind you. Blinky light is fine as a reserve but it doesn't really give the driver an idea of distance. The helmet light lets the driver judge a bit better (or at least realize they're not sure of the blinking light's distance).

I just got but haven't ridden the Down Low Glow lights (think Fast and Furious neon under-car lights). When you have your own personal halo escorting you around, it'll be harder to miss you. I hope to get a ride out in the next snow storm or shortly after it ends.

Reflectors, at least normal ones, require quite a bit of light to hit it and the right angle. Since a lot of moronic or absent minded drivers forget their headlights in even pitch black conditions (saw a pick up yesterday at 11 PM with no lights on, cruising obliviously down the highway), I would not rely on reflective gear. It isn't as effective when the sun is "behind" your silhouette either (pre-dusk). If you have a bike you can do this to, I'd put tape on the sides of the frame (or fenders as NaBlade points out).

cdr

MulliganAl

Man this is so true, I work at a college and I ride behind some of these kids on the way home and most either have only one small blinky that is tucked inside the folds of their backpack or they have no light at all. Around 6pm I can't even see them after they get about 15 feet away from me so I know a car sure can't see them.

I know lights aren't cool but being a hood ornament isn't either. I travel with these lights:

NiteriderMinewt - front
Cateye 600 - rear
Planet Bike super flash -rear
and I also have a small rear red blinky on my helmet

I don't care what anyone says, my Specialized Tarmac still looks cool, but now it's cool and visable.

Tri-FatBoy

https://gizmodo.com/gadgets/heading-t...rce-332669.php

I cant wait for that to make it into safety gear. But, before then, light yourself up like a star/x-mas tree, and ride like they still can't see you.

kster

Check out: https://www.dinottelighting.com

They make the brightest taillight (140L) on the market and it's fairly small. I use this along with their 200L headlight.

Another option are HIDs but these aren't as compact: https://www.lightandmotion.com

nitropowered

Get a PlanetBike SuperFlash for the rear. Its MSRP $25 and its super bright. Head light is a must too.

Weight? you shouldn't worry about weight when your safety is on the line. For my headlight, I have a Light Motion Stella-L. Its a small, but powerful LED headlight with a total system weight of 300g. Battery lasts 5hrs on fullpower. MSRP is $300. I use this for mountain biking and commuting/riding in the dark. For a cheaper option, look at the Dinotte series lights.

I personally like helmet mounted lights because the light points where you look, which is really nice when you are mountainbiking. But if you are riding road, a bar mount is probably fine.

ChunkyB

The cool setup is whatever setup keeps you from getting hit by cars. If that includes Cal-Trans vests, then so be it.

Honestly, though, the first thing you need to do is be very aware while you cycle at night. You can also get lights. Some bright white ones on front, and some red ones (blinking and not) on the back. You can find reflective clothing that doesn't look too weird, but a lot of times the less weird it looks, the less reflective it is.

The rule I live by: The more ridiculous I look, the more motorists will notice me.


P.S. Never ever ever wear an iPod at night. Just don't do it.

Boudicca

+1

Cool does not equal safe at night. I recommend safety over coolness.

alanbikehouston

Yup. You are exactly right. When I've ridden late at night using ALL of the methods you suggest, I can hear the folks in passing cars laughing and making comments such as "It's an F'en UFO"....but the yucks and comments make clear that they did SEE me.

I've found pedal reflectors to be especially helpful. I ride in the inner-city where neon lights and such can make it look like the Las Vegas strip. A static light is lost in the flood of bigger, brighter static lights. The revolving circles of pedal reflectors make it obvious: there is a moving bike in front of your dang car.

The Rivendell website store sells some HUGE reflective ankle bands. They weigh less than air, but car headlights will pick them up from six blocks away. A pair is less than $10, a tad less than a trip to the ER or the cemetary.

ejm876

Expensive (300+) lights are pimp.