Rural commute.... Winter..... Any thoughts

[cyberknight]

You know my route along the back lanes of bretby / repton .

I have 3 rear lights , one on the seat post and one on each pannier loop, currrently i am using 3 planet x superflash clones , midwinter i will replace that with a cree rear light which will piggy back on the battery for the solarstorm x2 bike light .
On the front i am currently running the old faithful see me light , a cree p4 along with an xml t6 as its pretty dark at 5 am

Im not even going to start on what colour to wear , i tend to have wrist slaps along with a reflective pipped day glo gilet .

 

[Arjimlad]

Moon XP300, decent rear light x 2, Alpkit headtorch and off we go !

Marvellous. I look forward to this every autumn.

 

[raleighnut]

Moon XP300, decent rear light x 2, Alpkit headtorch and off we go !

Marvellous. I look forward to this every autumn.

I love misty mornings when the front lights make it glow in 2 'cones' in the air.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I love misty mornings when the front lights make it glow in 2 'cones' in the air.

Light sabers

 

[SuperHans123]

I cycle for pleasure through the year on my hybrid, including the winter.
As regards a front light recommendation, here is mine:-
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Izone-ARC-8...vVRSvU-47Eqmt4PyYWiyYKkqmINJwKl9kaAhCS8P8HAQ#
850 Lumens
3hr run time
USB Chargeable which is great as you can put it on charge whilst in work.

Fantastic alternative to the blinding Cree knock offs from China which tend to blind oncomers.

 

[Kingy]

I commute in the Peaks. Good part of that is on unlit rural roads. I set off at 4.30am and usually ride for just under an hour and a half so it's been a dark commute for a while now.
I use two front lights (Hope R2i and Knog Blinder Kid Grid) and two rears (Moon LX70 and Knog Blinder Mr Chips). Have the two Knogs set to 'flash' and the other two as 'solid' lights. The Hope has 6 settings, but I just tend to leave it on 'cross country' setting one which is 400 lumens according to their literature. This gives a good, strong beam and plenty of light. There are two higher settings, but I haven't needed them on the road.
All the lights (apart from the Hope) are USB so easily rechargable at work. They need recharging after two rides. The Hope will see my 'week' out with battery life to spare (three mornings at present / approx 4.5 hours) so is very convenient.

I also carry a spare tube and a CO2 'pump' as there is nothing worse than trying to replace a tube and then mini pump air into it in the depths of winter.
I'm running 'summer tyres' at present, but will soon be putting the Schwalbe Durano Plus (smartguard) back on as so added puncture protection.

I've recently bought a Go Pro Session after some daft car manouvres and a punishment pass too many because I've filtered through traffic (usually on my 'long' evening commute). The Go Pro has a flashing red light when recording which is very visible in the dark, so gives me some peace of mind recording and adds to visibility in the dark.

I got through last winter without too many issues (snow / ice), but there were a few days I had to avoid one part of my ride where there had been no grit at all. I just made the mileage up elsewhere. (I live 2.5 miles form work, but usually ride 20+ on the way in and 15+ on the way home).

 

[Slick]

I carried on commuting all last winter but chose my days carefully to minimise exposure to the worst of the weather and reduced it to twice a week. I only have two fairly cheap lights front and back, but embarrassingly, I bought this at last years bike show.

https://www.visijax.com/products/led-jackets-and-gilets/the-commuter-jacket/

Never worn it yet.

 

[MickeyBlueEyes]

@ACS Ay up lights, oh yeah
@simon the viking commuting through the country lanes around us in the dark is superb, love it about 04:45 when it just you, your bike, your light, and not a soul for miles, great stuff.

 

[simon the viking]

Thanks for the replies since I last commented, I'm going to try and do it at least a couple of times a week or it'll be long winter off the bike......

 

[mustang1]

One if my training routes has just a 1 Nile unlit section. I used to really like it but these days it gives me the creeps.

Having said that, I'm with the others on this one: get good lights, hi viz, and appropriate tires.

 

[mjr]

Having said that, I'm with the others on this one: get good lights, hi viz, and appropriate tires.

Good lights if you want battery ones are currently on special in Lidl for a tenner.

Hi viz is ugly and unnecessary - just put enough lights and reflectors on your bike. You'll always have the bike with you and if they can't see all that, they won't see a yellow star jacket on top.

Appropriate tyres, OK.