dark cycle kit!!

[Canrider]

He's not going to be happy when he hears I wear a cheap yellow (non-hi-vis) jacket *and* black rain trousers...

Clearly I'm dead below the waist...
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.
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[subaqua]

Just to be clear, if the sun is shining on your walking jacket, its light is being 'reflected' back to the sun. Fine if you are looking at someone as they ride toward you into the sun, not so great if they are riding into the direction of the sun.

lots of things disappear into the sun, contrast works then not reflectives as you have stated above. which wasn't what you were saying earlier

 

[gaz]

For clarity - HiViz cycling clothing as we know it today is made of two component materials; retro-reflective tape on a flourescent fabric garment. Retro-reflectives work by bouncing projected light back to its source by the use of very many microscopically tiny spheres. Flourescent materials are used because they show up brightly in certain light conditions, specifically the low light conditions around dawn and dusk and overcast days when ultra violet light makes up a larger percentage of the available light. In broad daylight flourescents are no brighter to the human eye than other light colours. In darkness and under most artificial light where there is no ultra violet component it becomes effectively invisible.

I don't surpose you know if there have been any studies which look at the effectiveness of fluorescents during daytime at clear conditions.

 

[Aperitif]

I don't surpose you know if there have been any studies which look at the effectiveness of fluorescents during daytime at clear conditions.

It's best to switch them off, Gaz...waste of electricity.

 

[Chrisc]

I wear hi viz on my motorcycle but not on my bianchi. I don't care what I look like on my motorcycle but my bianchi requires my best attempts, however feeble, at style.
Tonight a white van set off as I was passing slowly in front of him on the motorcycle to my, and his passengers horror. Large BMW, big yellow jacket, bloody great headlamp. Apparently completely invisible.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

No one is arguing against reflective material - the issue is with flourescents.

You sure about that? Greg just said this:

"...any evidence in the form of peer reviewed data you care to present that shows safety is diminished by the choice of wearing dark cycling clothes with reflectives."

And yes, to whoever asked, I do wear reflective bands when I go running in the dark too (with my largely black clothes). This was as a result of testing different combinations and asking local drivers what they could see best at night (we've had a bit of an interesting discussion where I live recently because of the dark narrow roads with no street lights that lead to the ferry terminal).

 

[mickle]

You sure about that? Greg just said this:

"...any evidence in the form of peer reviewed data you care to present that shows safety is diminished by the choice of wearing dark cycling clothes with reflectives."

Yes. He appears to be asking for evidence that dark clothing with reflectives is less safe than flourescent clothing with reflectives.

 

[gaz]

Just got a black helmet to complet my ninja look. my red white and blue one was just a little bit too much.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Yes. He appears to be asking for evidence that dark clothing with reflectives is less safe than flourescent clothing with reflectives.

In which case I would agree.

 

[ComedyPilot]

Black cycling kit generally has reflective elements. Mine certainly does. Unlike dark coloured cars, motorcycles, pedestrians....

....horses, trees, walls, buildings, fences.................and any other of a myriad of objects that drivers innocently crash into.......?

 

[mickle]

In which case I would agree.

Agree with what exactly?

 

[StuAff]

....horses, trees, walls, buildings, fences.................and any other of a myriad of objects that drivers innocently crash into.......?

Indeed so.

 

[GrasB]

A little anecdote from a friend of mine. It's getting towards dusk but it's still quite bright out & 3 cyclists stop at a junction, a police car pulls up beside them. The window drops down & the officer in the passenger seat says something like "Hello there. You know, two of you have hi-viz on, but we saw the other guy miles off!" At this point the driver pulls away. The 3rd person in question was wearing black, on a black bike with a Dinotte 300R & some other supporting lights.

 

[Stu9]

For the same reason that you should choose to wear a helmet and not be required to wear one. People should make their own risk assessments and decide themselves. There is only so far that 'nanny-state' should be allowed to go.

Ditto

 

[bianchi1]

A little anecdote from a friend of mine. It's getting towards dusk but it's still quite bright out & 3 cyclists stop at a junction, a police car pulls up beside them. The window drops down & the officer in the passenger seat says something like "Hello there. You know, two of you have hi-viz on, but we saw the other guy miles off!" At this point the driver pulls away. The 3rd person in question was wearing black, on a black bike with a Dinotte 300R & some other supporting lights.

The point of the thread was never that bright coloured clothing could or should take the place of lights ( especially 150 quid rear lights ). In fact it was never about high vis clothing, just why people choose (and it is a choise that I respect) to buy and wear cycle specific clothing that is dark while riding in low light conditions.

I am not interested in youths cycling around in hoodies, or for that matter business folk commuting in suit trousers. They have not chosen their clothes specifically for cycling. They are inadvertently making themselves harder to see...it's more the bloke who turns out on a dark overcast morning for a winter reliability ride wearing head to toe black Assos gear. The chances are that the kit came in red, yellow, white or blue but they chose to buy the black one. Now did they give more consideration into how appropriate that colour was to cycling or how slimming/cool/ninja it was going to make them look?

The whole 24 pages of this thread highlight that its vanity that dictates most cycle clothing choise ie

Don't want to look like a lemon
Would rather be dead than wear high viz
There is only one rule, that is never wear white kit

Anyway summer is on its way so it's not going to matter as much what we all wear...