BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

this is like a missed connection

my mom says the best thing for cyclist visibility at night for her eyes is a huge retroreflective stripe across the shoulders/back. I pointed to my helmet blinky, rack blinky/solid, pedal blinkies, she said "nope, can't see 'em. not like that silver reflective stuff, that I can see."

your sighting reminded me of that.

my lights are visible enough, but i count my obnoxious yellow windbreaker as the most important piece of my visibility-improvement kit. it does have some thin reflective strips on the back and shoulders, but it's a bloody bright yellow, even when it's covered in grime.

Sorry, Erok! Not a missed connection at all. I've been watching cyclists to get a better idea of the visibility set up that I want for myself on my bike. So, when I see a rider on the street, I try to assess what I like and what I don't about their visibility. This was a particularly good set up.

As for the hi vis yellow reference by HV, I did a quick check of the true "visability" of hi vis yellow and bright orange during a Flock outing at the Highland Park loop. I was amazed how quickly some hi vis colors faded to "barely vis" in the the low light environment. That changes back to hi vis again with the sweep of an approaching headlight. My personal concern is more for safety in low light conditions than in truly dark conditions, if that makes sense.

Sometime on a ride we should take photos of peoples set-ups, post them, and rate them.

Actually, Erok, I take back what I said. My original post was (thankfully) exactly like a missed connection, in that I intentionall missed (hitting) the cyclist, thanks to his lighting rig and lots of advance notice of his presence.

Sometime on a ride we should take photos of peoples set-ups, post them, and rate them.

I like that idea. If we do it up nice and pro, it might be a good addition to the Safety area of the site.

Sometime on a ride we should take photos of peoples set-ups, post them, and rate them.

visibleornot.com doesn't have quite the same ring as hotornot

Reflective strips rule. I upgraded my jacket after my accident when the lady I collided with told the insurance agent that she didn't see me. Even if every light went dead I would still feel pretty confident at night with that jacket.

Also not visible in that shot are the reflectors on my pedals and the reflective surfaces on my panniers. I look like I came from the Tron set at night.

@dwillen: I was thinking litornot. Same diff.

I purchased a black and gold jacket from a police supply catalog. It is essentially the same jacket that the Pittsburgh cops wear except that the colors are reversed. It has a highly reflective stripe across the chest and back where the yellow shoulders meet the black body.

The coolest thing about having a cop jacket is that I have actually been mistaken for a cop (which was my intention all along). I pulled up to an intersection and a guy stepped out into the cross walk against the light. He looked at me. Back at the light. Then back to me. He said "Oh, a cop" and stepped back to the curb.

My hope is that, in looking like a cop, there is that moment when the driver might think I actually am a cop and not run me over.

"I didn't see him" is an overused excuse. It almost never works for cars, why does it almost always work for bikes? Even when they are lit up like christmas trees.

Yes highly visible please thank you

finally! kordite - linky to the catalog or the name of the company or a phone number or something? Model number? My googling revealed lots of stuff that seemed totally not what I want (all black inscribed with retroreflective "POLICE" which I believe is inappropriate). What I want is exactly what you describe.

I usually wear a hi-viz reflective vest

I have reflective tape all over the bike, helmet, shoes, gloves and panniers

I have a blinkie attached to my rear rack and one on the back of my helmet

I use two separate lights up front, one pointed toward the road and a less powerful one pointed straight ahead. And I almost always have spare batteries with me.

On the other hand, I passed a kid on a dark road last fall who was totally ninja –dark clothing, no lights, no reflectors- with only those little ¾ x 2 inch reflectors that are built into some rubber pedals. Even with those two tiny little reflectors I could see him far enough back to allow my brain to process what he was. I think you see what you are looking for, and if you see something that you are not expecting it takes longer for your brain to process what it is. That’s why brighter is always better, but it’s no guarantee.

Remember

My wife bought me a 2nd blaze orange vest. The one I usually wear (which I wore on the first Flock ride) is cloth thin, but very visible in low light [photo]. This one has some heft to it, so I will use that whenever it's cold.

@kordite - I love that you mention "I didn't see him" as the excuse so often used by motorists after hitting a cyclist or nearly hitting a cyclist. That's EXACTLY why I started thread. My new year's resolution is to be visible. If someone hits me, I don't want them to be able to say "I didn't see her." So, when I see a cyclist that I think I want to emulate in that regard, I intend to make a note of what it was that I liked, and why. I liked that I could clearly pick this guy out as a cyclist on a cold wet night from a distance of 3 blocks.

New excuse:" I was distracted by the lights and bright reflection. It blinded me momentarily."

There are some LL bean coats that have jsut an inch of reflective stuff on the back and sleeves. I'd like to get one of them. Sometimes I use, but strongly dislaike, a little orange bib-vest. I'd like to get rid of it.

There is some evidence that motorists perceive horizontal lines better than vertical ones. Or, more precisely, they are trained to discount vertical lines by the flash flash flash flash flash flash flash of all those telephone poles, guardrails, and signposts just drilling into those neurons ignore ignore ignore ignore ignore ignore until eventually those vertical lines become practically invisible.

@ejwme

LawPro Deluxe Bike Patrol Jacket from Quartermaster, $89.99

http://www.qmuniforms.com/Product/lawpro-deluxe-bike-patrol-jacket/P1135/200301405

Actually, I have the previous/older version of this jacket that lacks the inside pockets and zipper cover but it is pretty much the same thing.

Kordite, you are awesome, thank you!!! My current high-viz jacket tends to steam me in my own juices on hills - your description of that one indicates it is exactly what I'm looking for. Now I just have to find an online supplier of Courage to get out there these AMs.