Is black cycling gear dangerous?

[Recycler]

We've also seen it argued that Hi Viz acts as camouflage against a crop of flowering oil seed rape and I'm sure that an argument can be made for any colour against certain backgrounds. The real question should be, overall, which is the best colour?

Either that, or we change clothing every few hundred yards!

We all need to make up our own minds and live, or not (!), with the consequences.

 

[Recycler]

The gear is only as dangerous as the wearer

Decidedly not so! Other road users have an impact (literally!) on our safety.

 

[Norm]

The real question should be, overall, which is the best colour?

IMO, any single solid block of colour is best. We are attuned to recognise shapes by their outlines and a single block of any colour will identify a cyclist as such. Whilst dark or muted colours might be less easy to instantly pick out in shadows or at night, compared to hi-viz, they will, in general, not camouflage us in the same way that kit with vertical stripes does.

 

[ufkacbln]

Show off ..................... .

This is showing off!

I have 5 Rohloff machines..

Birdy Grey, Thorn Raven Tour, Thorn Nomad, Catrike Expedition and a HPVelotechnik Gekko!

 

[Accy cyclist]

If i felt safe wearing black i'd buy this. http://www.prendas.co.uk/details.asp?ID=2761

 

[ufkacbln]

If i felt safe wearing black

Which is the point abut all of this.

Motorists too lazy to look want you to wear HiViz, helmets etc because they are too lazy to actually look properly, and to many people have bought in to this "need" to protect themselves form the stupidity and negligence of the other road users

Cycling is and should be an activity that is simply not as dangerous as some would have us believe and does not really "need" specialist clothing and equipment.

People don't feel safe because they are misled by the claims of danger

 

[Dan_h]

I have to say that when I am driving I have never noticed a cyclist more because they are wearing a high vis jacket. I seem to spot cyclists the same distance away whatever they are wearing, even in the dark or bad weather.

The one exception was a guy riding along a country lane in the morning with the sunlight dappling through the trees. He was on a mountain bike and dressed head to toe in camoflage gear - that stuff works really well!

 

[GrumpyGregry]

No matter what you wear, if they ain't lookin' they won't see you. The one's who are lookin' will see you no matter what you wear. QED, albeit based on anecdata, what you wear makes no difference to your safety. That's just the way the pothole crumbles.

I wear black, mostly. But not always. Dark brown, dark green, deep red, light blue, dark blue, white and grey all feature in my cycling wardrobe. I even have some old Audax UK tops in white, hiviz green and purple that I bought in a moment of weakness because they were ridiculously cheap.

I avoid hi-viz like the plague for aesthetic reasons, because hi-viz doth offend mine eye.

 

[Nihal]

My cycling gears is black!

So are most peoples..................

 

[Nihal]

I like bright red. In winter time, my colleagues call me Santa. My staffing manager cannot look at my tomato red waterproofs without laughing. Wonder why

Are we all sure he is'nt laughing at ................................ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm






















You

 

[sidevalve]

Surely the point is not just to the rider but to everyone else too. Ignoring vehicles for a bit, in an urban area on a dull day you are quiet, you are black, you are ninja, and the muppet crossing the road and taking a quick glance looking for cars wont see you, it requires a bit of old fashioned common sense. As above black is NOT dangerous unless taken to silly levels or at silly times, I find it is movement that catches the eye, a black rider with a bright light wil stand out well.

 

[Recycler]

Which is the point abut all of this.

Motorists too lazy to look want you to wear Hi Viz, helmets etc because they are too lazy to actually look properly, and to many people have bought in to this "need" to protect themselves form the stupidity and negligence of the other road users

Cycling is and should be an activity that is simply not as dangerous as some would have us believe and does not really "need" specialist clothing and equipment.

People don't feel safe because they are misled by the claims of danger

You seem to be contradicting yourself there.

either cycling is safe and there is no need to worry about visibility
or cycling is not safe and we therefore need to be concerned about visibility.

You seem to be saying that cycling is not safe because of idiotic drivers, but that it shouldn't be like that.
In a sense you are right, but in reality we will never live in Utopia and therefore we need to act accordingly.
Personally, I don't care what other cyclists wear and I can understand people saying that they don't like the look of it but, beyond that, I think that some of the arguements against the use of Hi Viz gear a little bizarre.

 

[Dragonwight]

Some years back when I first joined a cycling club there was always a bit of chatter on the club runs about other cycling clubs in the area and for some reason which I can't remember (but may have something to do with not having stuffed enough food into my jersey) I got the idea that the Icknield Road Club were a fearsome bunch of grizzled hard men who wore plain black lycra. I imagined that if riding alone there was a chance I'd be overtaken by a whole pack of them, they'd eyeball me as they passed, their cold deep-set eyes looking out from under their black cycling caps, perhaps one of them would push me into a ditch and others would dismount their bikes, leap in and give me a shoeing.

Anyway, it turns out that the Icknield Road club don't look like that at all. They aren't even a bit dangerous, and they don't wear black. Not uniformly anyway.

Disappointing.

Were they wearing these?

http://www.dealbyethan.com/bmz_cache/4/46d8fe2109e47ae13273332f3d3cad37.image.500x463.jpg

 

[ufkacbln]

What I am saying is simple.....wear normal clothing

The numpty that will knock you off will not see you if you were naked, wearing HiViz or a Spiderman outfit ofr a dress.

 

[HLaB]

What I am saying is simple.....wear normal clothing

The numpty that will knock you off will not see you if you were naked, wearing HiViz or a Spiderman outfit ofr a dress.

Not that I'm looking forward to being knocked off but I 100% agree.