Dear Ninjas

[Matthames]

Don't be a cheapskate, buy a set of lights. Just as you were coming down the hill, I was turning right. You were so invisible that I only saw you at the last moment and took evasive action to avoid taking each other out. Continue to ride in that way and your life will be pretty short, because it might not be a cyclist that right hooks you!

 

[Nebulous]

I was driving very early yesterday morning in pretty crap conditions and I was surprised at how difficult it was to see some cyclists, even one with lights on! He had dark clothes and a dark bike, and his batteries might have been down a bit, but he had a rear vertical light on flash, which wasn't doing very much.

I intend having a good look at my lights and possibly adding in another rear one.

 

[John the Monkey]

I intend having a good look at my lights and possibly adding in another rear one.

Two lights is good practice, ime - have one on flash, and one on constant.

 

[MickL]

Waiting for the bus home last night, lots of Ninjas cycling past on the pavement, 3 of them on mobile phones and one of them decided to get on road while on the phone

 

[fossyant]

I had a 'go' at someone on Monday. Let's say he looked like an 'experienced' roadie - good bike/kit etc, but he had a tiny dim little flasher on his helmet at the back - he'd just gone past a regular commuter who was well lit, but this 'roadie' was almost invisible - he was riding down the A6 near Stockport - four lanes of traffic.

I shouted over to him 'get your rear lights sorted they are crap, I can't see you'.


I don't normally bother, but this little flasher was crap.

 

[Beebo]

It was foggy foggy foggy in south east london this morning, it's amazing how many cyclist either dont bother with lights in the fog or have one sub standard rear light. The latest crazy seems to be those frog lights which are useless once the battery starts to go.

 

[gentlegreen]

I only used to ride on quiet, well-lit suburban roads, but I still get a shiver down my back if I think of me just having a couple of two cell never-ready lamps for the first more than 5 years. I suppose it was because the motorcycles I'd ridden up till then only had single 5 watt tail lights.
When I finally got my finger out I went straight to a 21 watt car fog-lamp on the rear.

So many of those flashers disappear off-axis - even if they etch your iris if you get stuck directly behind them.

My current DIY one is inspired by the 10 LED Cateye ones with the side LEDs, but I reckon I get near-hemispherical coverage from 48 LEDs - about 3.5 watts .. I reckon size does matter sometimes...

I would never use it on a shared path of course so I have a nice little diffused one I can switch over to.

 

[marafi]

Even through the park that has alot of light you would still need lights.

 

[Melonfish]

i look something like blackpool illuminations when i get my lights going. 4 rear lights, 2 front and those bands from aldi with the little flashing led's liberally scattered about my person.
put music to me and you could have a rave.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

A264. Dual carriageway. Fog. Dark. Crappy single LED piece of garbage rear light aimed at the floor, set to blink mode with an off-on ratio of four-to-one meaning for seconds at a time he was invisible. No reflectors on the bike/pedals, no other lights front or rear, dressed in black with no reflectives.

Some people must have a death wish....

 

[gaz]

I was amazed how many cyclists didn't have their lights on this morning. thick fog on my route

 

[Scoosh]

I'm interested/ distressed at the number of cyclists whose (particularly) rear lights, need new batteries.

I suspect that, when switched on/checked in the garage/workplace, they light up nicely. 5 mins down the road, however, the batteries are feeling a lot more tired than the cyclist , who then becomes a danger to him/herself and to other road users as well.

My advice :

1. have a good look at the brightness of your lights when you finish your ride
2. replace all batteries at the beginning of the 'dark season' - they're cheap enough

 

[MattHB]

I nearly hit a guy the other day who only had a head mounted light on. You'd think this would be fine, but as we were on a cycle path slightly lower than the adjacent road his light was exactly the same level as the more distant car head lights.

Was so close!

 

[martint235]

I had full lights on this morning in SE London. Hope vision1 on steady and a cateye flashing at the front, a Blackburn on flash and a Smart on steady at the back and I still felt invisible. I passed quite a few cyclists that I could hardly see on the Old Kent Road which isn't known for its cyclist friendly nature at the best of times.

That said, there also seem to be a lot of cars unwilling or unable to light up properly in thick fog.

 

[potsy]

One of the lads at work has been riding around for ages with a really dim rear light, no amount of 'advice' could prompt him to sort it, seen him on Monday with a decently bright light so I said "new light mate?"
"No, just put some new batteries in, had these in since January"

Cut thru the unlit park last night and caught up with a guy just as we got there, thought he had no front light as I got along side, offered to light the way for him, turned out he had one of those £3 Tesco lights that are 'green' totally useless, hope he wasn't going far on the road with it.