Making my bike safer after falling off

[SavageHoutkop]

Grren lights are used elsewhere and I have seen them but I guessLondon has more people with video recording devices.

Hm. Quick google suggests doctors registered with GMC are permitted to use them but there's no exemption from any part of the road traffic act by having them on - unless you're doing blues and greens like in that video. I presume it's more useful if paramedics are far away and a doctor could respond faster - somewhere rural perhaps? (No, I have no idea how that excuse ties in with the London vid you posted, just musing )
Also Royal Park Estate Wardens are permitted to use greens...

 

[oldstrath]

Very little some road users do would surprise me.


We have medics on bikes in towns and cities for emergency calls around here, but so far I've only seen them with blue lights (which I think are blue covers over common white flashers). I don't know if that's because they're ambulance-style or because some nobbers are already riding bikes with flashing greens...

Blue probably because they are actually paramedic responders, rather than 'doctor on callout'. I think blue still implies some exemption from traffic regulations, whereas green is simply a 'courtesy light', carries no exemptions, and does not require the person seeing it to clear the path (just 'asks for a clear path'). Since the TT light is only ever seen from the rear, that has no meaning anyway - at most, it might presumably prompt a driver to be 'too careful' in overtaking, whatever that might mean.

Also, there is a major difference between riding around a town with a continual flashing green light showing in all directions, and using a particular tool for the specific purpose of attempting to achieve a (small) increase in safety on a rural B road, when riding alone, with (too) fast traffic, in very specific lighting conditions.

But anyway, I give in - you clearly believe that anything illegal is the province of evil cretins, and that we should rely only on legally approved lighting and (so far non-existent) improvements in driver skills and training. I hope it works.

 

[RichardB]

I thin you may be slighlty mixing up two things - as you correctly say maximum breaking is indeed mostly front wheel just about when the back wheel lifts - however that's not at all the same as deliberatley shifting weight forward to cause a "stoppie" which is essentially a stunt. Keep your weight back and you'll have even more force on the front, thus even more breaking before reaching "stoppie" territory. Shifting weight forward allows pulling the stoppie stunt with less severe breaking.

All the above based on physics rather than bike handling skills - and though I have a (rather fine) motorcycle I doubt I've the skills or balls to try a stoppie.

I don't think I am mixing anything up, and I did acknowledge that the stoppie is a stunt. (No, I have never done one, and have only ever done wheelies by accident!) The fact remains that the further back your weight is, the less traction you have on the front contact patch - hence the comment about choppers where the weight is all at the back and the front wheel is relatively useless for braking. A good reason to shift your weight back when braking *on a bicycle* is that a cyclist's weight is relatively high up, and shifting rearwards reduces the likelihood of an 'over the handlebars' moment. Perhaps using a motorcycle wasn't a good comparison, as the distribution of weight is very different. Interestingly, though, modern motorbike design puts the engine higher in the frame than it strictly needs to be, as this is the way to generate greater downforce on the front wheel when braking. Probably more for MotoGP than your average commuter bike, but they do it for a reason, and it wins races.