beng1

When I ride with a large group of local roadies I always try to get out in front and stay there because they all have blinking, strobing LED lighting going so they look like a group of airliners taxiing down a runway. It is a fact that flashing lights can seriously affect some people's health, and of course it makes spots in your eyes which is unsafe. I usually never ride with lights at all, I just have a reflective strip on my messenger back that works great. I do have one small LED light I ride with on the back I may use sometimes if I have to ride before or after sunset, but if I am in a group I shut it off. I agree the lighting on bicycles is ridiculous. I strive to ride like it is 1980 and shun as much of what happened in cycling and in society in general that came after that year as I can.

Troul 

could be worse; be a hamburglar. I think Grimace would lose there fries if someone tried copying them.

terrymorse 

Wait, was that me?

• wannabe roadie - harsh
• 350 lumen blinking taillight during daytime - check
• 1100 lumen blinking headlight during daytime - check
• on a bike path - nope

Phew, not me.

There are too many riders getting flattened by cars around here lately. I really don't care if someone finds my lights annoying. They're for my safety.

genejockey 

This is also why all the jerseys and jackets I've purchased in the last year have been brightly colored, with large swaths of a single bright color, in addition to the front and rear flashies and the Varia.

icemilkcoffee 

Does the OP get all bent out of shape by the glare off of water too? Our eyes are well adapted to ignoring small bright points of light (a chief failing of almost all bike lights incidentally). Just look away from the light.
I do share the same burning anger towards people who wear all black riding black bikes though.

terrymorse 

^ This.

The current fashion of dark and muted earth-toned jersey colors seems just so dumb. Not for me--I seek out only the brightest, eye-popping kits.

I was wearing this old Climb to Kaiser jersey with Team USA bibs the other day, and a guy on the roadside was pointing and laughing, waving his arms and shouting "Ole, ole, ole":



Laugh all you want, roadside guy. At least you saw me.

genejockey 

"You must be the worst pirate I've ever heard of!"
"But you HAVE heard of me!"

Iride01 

Yesterday during the group start of the Century ride that the city puts on every year, there were more than a few people with obscenely bright tail lights flashing on the rear of their bikes. I secretly wished I could wave them the middle finger as I passed by them. Since that's not a proper thing to do, there was no wave for them. Others I'd say hi to or briefly strike up a conversation.

I wondered if it'd be acceptable to ask them to put their lights on a low setting till they got out of the crowd of the group start. But I figured that would only start a fight as most take so much personal offense to the slightest criticism.

I also favor bright colors for clothing. I almost ran over a someone on the trail one time that was dressed in dark clothing that matched the pavement when he'd decided to do push-ups in a very dark shadowed spot in a depression on the trail that was part of a rise that was twisty making the view ahead difficult. Especially since the day was very bright sunlight and going in and out of those shadowed areas plays heck with some of us that have old eyes slow to adjust.

livedarklions

Being told to look away from the very bright flashing light directly in front of you on a path is incredibly idiotic if the point of these lights are supposed to be promoting safety. And no, the human eye is not suited to dealing with very bright strobing. There's no way your pupils can adapt that fast. I can deal with other sources of glare, but putting the stupid light on the front of the thing you want me to avoid hitting is all kinds of stupid.

Lombard

OK, Boomer.

terrymorse 

Hashtag not all Boomers.

(But I’m still not convinced disc brakes on road bikes are a good thing.)

livedarklions

Shunning 43 years of everything has got to be a full time job.

indyfabz

I would never join a group that would have you as a member.

mschwett 

i don't really have a "fashion" preference about my cycling tops, but it does seem the current fashion limits the choices somewhat if you like fitted technical shirts rather than jerseys proper.

i LOVE these shirts for long road rides in typical norcal weather, but they only come in dark colors, so i only wear them for weekend daytime rides. https://www.ornotbike.com/collection...40002394259521 or https://www.ornotbike.com/collection...32315172290625

the rapha equivalent isn't quite as comfy or effectively anti-stink (the ornot ones NEVER seem to smell no matter how much i sweat in them) and occasionally come in brighter colors, but not now. https://www.rapha.cc/us/en_US/shop/m...uct/TLT01XXAMC

obviously this is because the powers that be think these are only used for riding off road, where you'd rather the bears not see you.

Rogerogeroge

Then why in tarnation do you feel the need to come on here to push your beliefs and post all the nuances about how you feel?

I'm a big time believer in running daytime lights, both front and rear. I had a friend that was going 30 mph and was hit head on by a car turning in front of him. I have no doubt that a front light would have prevented that collision. I've had more than two motorists comment about how visible my rear blinky was. Go ahead, do your thing. Darwinism at work.

Rogerogeroge

Duplicate, duh.

rsbob 

because the summer temps are rising in Wa I bought 3 mostly white jerseys for visibility and to help keep me a bit cooler. I scratch my head when I see people wearing all black or dark gray in the heat. Maybe that’s why I don’t drive a fashionable black vehicle as well. But then I never got the black “aggressive” thing anyway

livedarklions

So getting back to OP, I took the point to be that he finds it offensive that people will use lights in a manner that is entirely inappropriate to "increase visibility" on a bike path while wearing dark clothing, which definitely does not promote visibility. Since the effect of these lights when used inappropriately on a bike path is to hurt other people's vision, the contradiction is clearly fair game.


Wear what you want, but if you shine your friggin light in my eyes, I'm going to say something.

GhostRider62

I find bright flashing lights to be very disorientating and actually nauseating.

I can't wave to you because one hand is shielding my eyes from your gawd awful offensive 20 dollar POS light and the other is on the bar.

Pratt

All that asphalt in the OP,I thought it was going to be about road rash.

shelbyfv

Hard to picture. I'd guess your antics would be about as welcome as Larry's.

DaleDee

I took the Experienced Rider Course three times in ten years, and each time they told us to use high beam in daylight. I ran like that for years and never had anyone flash me or approach me about it. I was actually considering a headlight modulator just before I quit motorcycles.

As for the guy who told you it was rude, obviously he didn't like it, but he didn't know why you did it. I put my safety before other people's ideas of how I should ride. Florida changed everything because people here either don't see your high beam, or they're drunk or playing with a phone. It's the reason why I quit motorcycles.

DaleDee

You probably weren't joking but har, har, har, anyway.

Paul Barnard

Your instructor steered you wrong. There may be times that using your high beams is recommended. Doing so on a narrow 2 lane roads with minimal separation between vehicles can adversely affect motorists vision.

aaronM46

You, sir, are the type of person I wouldn't pee on you if you were on fire. How pompous can someone get!! You will rot for your ignorance of sensitivity! I have never felt such disdain for someone. You are the worst!