More lights needed?

[Matthew_T]

I was thinking about installing all the lights I own on my bike.

I currently have a bright Cateye on the front and a bright LED on the rear. However I have got another rear LED and two front LED's which I could put on my bike.
Some of the mounts for them have been broken/lost so how would I attach them?

I was messing about with the batteries for them last night and they all seem to work fine and brightly now. How do I attach them and where?

EDIT: One of the front LED's has orange lights so I might put that on the back as well.

 

[Davidc]

Lights have to be red at the back and white at the front.

Althought there's little chance of being done for orange at the rear you might have problems if an accident led to a court case.

 

[marinyork]

I would not describe the vast majority of cateye front lights I've seen as 'bright'. I would certainly describe them as adequate or the higher up ones not bad. At this time of year people put christmas lights on their bikes and it does work quite well in a pleasant way. I wouldn't recommend doing it all year though and to stay away from using blue.

If you want something with a bit of oomph I would go for fibre flares or some such array of cheap lights like smart 7 on the rear.

 

[Matthew_T]

Thansk guys. I went out for a ride this evening and secured the rear light on my saddle bag. I am happy with just having that on for now. Plus it was cold and wet this evening so I dont think I will go messing about with the mounts. I will have a look at some cheap reflective stuff as well.

 

[gaz]

At this time of year people put christmas lights on their bikes and it does work quite well in a pleasant way. I wouldn't recommend doing it all year though and to stay away from using blue.

 

[Matthew_T]

They look festive but how would you power them? Extension leads for miles?

 

[HovR]

Using tie wraps to attach lights to your bars through the clothes clip bracket seemed to work well with my previous set of lights!

 

[MrJamie]

I've probably gone a bit OTT, but good lighting has just got so cheap and makes me feel so much safer on country roads... Up front ive got a magicshine mj-872 (£90) on the bars and T6 mj-808 clone (£30) helmet mounted (1600+1200 chinese lumens respectively . The rear has the Cateye L1100 (£25) on the bag and 2 ridiculously bright Smart R2s (2*£13) on the seatstays. Ive got them 3m spoke reflectors on the side and just added some NiteIze SpokeLit (£8 each) spoke lights. I like that its okay for foggy country lanes, night forest trails and urban cycling

 

[fossyant]

Bloody hell Gaz - Xmas lights as well.

 

[Arsen Gere]

I've got a couple of descent flashing white lights on the front, one is a cateye and the other is equally as bright but I had 3 near head on misses in a week. One started to turn right across my path and stopped half way, I missed him. I was on a roundabout and a car joined from the left without stopping, I missed him. For the third I was in a cycle lane on a wide clear road when someone in the stationary traffic heading in the opposite direction decided to do a u-turn. He completely blocked the road, I braked hard the back wheel locked and hit the kerb, I scraped through a gap between the car and the kerb taking a lay of plastic off his bumper with a pedal.
But I have noticed people look at bikes with one solid bright light on and they hesitate. I think they are not sure if they are looking at a bike or motor bike so give it more consideration as one makes a much bigger dent than the other.
So I'd go for a big bright light rather than more smaller ones, because even if they see you, they can't judge your speed or distance but the big bright light causes them to pause long enough for them to realise they have to wait.

 

[BSRU]

No guarantees but it seems two different types of lights creates enough confusion.
I have the bluey white LED lights and the yellowy white halogen lights, motorists just do not know what I am and usually wait.

 

[jim55]

no but really ..how are they powered

 

[gaz]

They look festive but how would you power them? Extension leads for miles?

no but really ..how are they powered

Battery... Unfortunately I didn't read the the specs before i bought them. I thought they would be AA like the other units I've had in the past, they turned out to require 3x D batteries :|
But the system is designed to be used outside, so no worries about rain etc..

 

[Davidc]

I've got a couple of descent flashing white lights on the front, one is a cateye and the other is equally as bright but I had 3 near head on misses in a week. One started to turn right across my path and stopped half way, I missed him. I was on a roundabout and a car joined from the left without stopping, I missed him. For the third I was in a cycle lane on a wide clear road when someone in the stationary traffic heading in the opposite direction decided to do a u-turn. He completely blocked the road, I braked hard the back wheel locked and hit the kerb, I scraped through a gap between the car and the kerb taking a lay of plastic off his bumper with a pedal.
But I have noticed people look at bikes with one solid bright light on and they hesitate. I think they are not sure if they are looking at a bike or motor bike so give it more consideration as one makes a much bigger dent than the other.
So I'd go for a big bright light rather than more smaller ones, because even if they see you, they can't judge your speed or distance but the big bright light causes them to pause long enough for them to realise they have to wait.

I stopped using flashing lights at the front a couple of years ago. My experience is that bright steady lights at the front seem to get the best reaction from other road users. That ties in with German research results and also my observation when driving. They do need to be sensibly bright though.

The best results in terms of drivers giving me plenty of room having noticed me at the back seems to be one or more steady lights plus a bright flashing light. That doesn't tie in with the last set of German results I read, but does with a number of articles I've read.

I always try to make sure that drivers know exactly what I'm doing and where I am so they have the best chance of acting correctly, and nearly all do.

Sadly there are a small number of drivers who are asleep, looking the other way, or suffering from the looking but not seeing problem, who wouldn't notice if the sun was in the road straight in front of them. An RPG would sort them out, but it's illegal.