Black is the new Hi-Viz Yellow

[Jake]

lol.

 

[hackbike 6]

Thanks for that link.im after more reflectives for night time cycling.will check later.

 

[Auntie Helen]

I went out cycling last night and was attired as usual:

Altura High-vis yellow jacket
Altura overshoes with reflective markings
1 cateye 530
2 flashing forward-facing LEDs on the mudguards to show the width of my trike
Lamp on my head which shines where I'm looking
2 rear lights - solid red
2 flashing rear lights on my rear-view mirrors (to show the width of my bike)
Warning flag with reflective tape

So I'm pretty obvious.

As I wound my way through the parked cars on the Ipswich Road in Colchester I saw a car coming towards me with no lights whatsoever. It was a black car, a Supra or something like that. Ninja driver! And they complain about cyclists being hard to see when I'm lit up like a Christmas Tree/UFO!

 

[zacklaws]

Lit up like that perhaps the driver thought it was daytime

 

[robz400]

Lit up like that perhaps the driver thought it was daytime

lol

 

[BentMikey]

Perhaps I'm utterly hypocritical in my stance against hiviz? Riding a recumbent has the effect that we all want from HiViz but mostly don't get. I reckon that ten times as many people see a recumbent as do an upright.

 

[birdie1]

black is new hi viz....

Wot a total dumb cluck...!!

 

[Mr Pig]

Once you've passed a certain minimum standard, then all that extra stuff doesn't make you any more visible, or any less likely to be hit.

I don't agree with that. I think the brighter you are the better. There are some pretty dozy drivers out there. I've been in cars with people who drove with their windows frosted up, steamed up inside or filthy. A guy at our work was knocked off his motorbike by guy who'd scraped a four-inch square of his windscreen clear, the rest of the windscreen and side windows were totally frosted up!

 

[BentMikey]

I bet the motorcyclist was wearing hiviz. It's not going to help with frosted windscreens.

 

[tdr1nka]

HAHA that was me last week except for one small light at the back!! even had black socks on!

I felt stupid riding like that on the commute so bought a hi viz yellow cycling jacket. 1st ride with it on and old boy pulled straight out in front of me, luckily next to a dip on the kerb that i escaped up! then when i questioned him at lights he said the classic SMIDSY

Maybe i'll go back to the ninja uniform!!

You don't do the Old Kent Road by any chance, there's a ninja cyclist I see quite often going thru New Cross.

 

[rnscotch]

What we need is for someone to invent some kind of electromagnetic force field.. that envelopes you in a bubble and if a car touches it bang goes there engine...

 

[PBancroft]

I don't know why they make so much cycling stuff in black. Hides the dirt I guess.

I was looking for a new cycling top a few months back. Everything the LBS had was in grey or black.

I asked why. Apparently the brighter colours don't sell.

Says it all, really.

 

[J4CKO]

Once you've passed a certain minimum standard, J4cko, then all that waaaay extra stuff doesn't make you any more visible, or any less likely to be hit. It does however, encourage you to rely on drivers avoiding you more than you perhaps should, and that does increase your likelihood of a collision.

A certain minimum standard ? I have been driving for 20 years and riding (less frequently it has to be said) since I was three, I did commute for a few year as a young lad so my "noob" claims are probably overstating my case, I have got into my groove now, I am always learning but feel confident in my abilities, I will always take the less risky option as I am not in that much of a hurry, the strange thing is that I drive better than I did, not that I was a liability before.

I will always state my abilities as adequate, as when you get to a situation where pride is involves, thats when you have a fall, claim little, deliver lots.

 

[zaid]

And if like me your dark skinned, drink lots of Sunny-Delight or Tango Juice.

 

[Maz]

I was looking for a new cycling top a few months back. Everything the LBS had was in grey or black.

I asked why. Apparently the brighter colours don't sell.

Says it all, really.

The only hi-viz cycling shirt I've seen is one made by Polaris.

I haven't bought one yet. I've been using hi-viz football shirts of late...