winter and darknes

[HJ]

A look set of lights is a must, there is a useful review of bright front lights here. For the rear there is no substitute for a DiNotte not cheap, but then how much is your life worth?

 

[silverbow]

I use 2 front lights and 2 for my rear!

Front: Tesco 3w LED torch + Cat eye EL320 on flashing.

Rear: Cat Eye LD300 + Blackburn Mars 3.0 on Flashing.

The Mars is a bit irrating as small screws need to be undone to get to the batteries. I bought it last winter as every morning I would see ths guy in the distance with really bright lightflashing rear light. So rather than do the obvious thing and get up early and wait for him I pedalled like the clappers to catch him up and ask what it was!!!

I run all my lights on rechargeables with rechargable spares. Plus a set of duracells for one front and one back light just in case!!! But I can easy leave the office at 2am during busy periods so you've got to be sure.

goo_mason is right with reguard to the hi-viz, well worth investing in. Where I cycle around 10% of the traffic is tractors and HGV's and they just can't see you without the Hi-viz so I've been told by one HGV driver, and he was talking about day time!!!

 

[tordis]

Got myself a set of Cateye lights finally - the front light from my previous one (a cheapo one from Lidl) only lasted for a week. Hope the new ones are much better. For over 30 quid, they should be
And a hi-viz jacket/gilet is a must.

 

[purplepolly]

cycling in proper darkness probably carries its own perils.

Not necessarily, I've got the bike lit up so much it could probably be seen from outer space, against a dark background this actually makes me more visible than during daytime because the contrast is much greater.

There's two hope vision 1 front lights - one for the road and one flashing and directed towards left hand junctions, oh and the hub dynamo light, and three red lights - a light/reflector on the rack, a cateye ld300 on the seatpost and a blackburn mars on the back of the helmet. And also reflective bits on the panniers and a two-tone yellow/orange hi-viz waistcoat and my winter gloves have reflective bits on them for hand signals. Sorted.

 

[goo_mason]

Not necessarily, I've got the bike lit up so much it could probably be seen from outer space, against a dark background this actually makes me more visible than during daytime because the contrast is much greater.

There's two hope vision 1 front lights - one for the road and one flashing and directed towards left hand junctions, oh and the hub dynamo light, and three red lights - a light/reflector on the rack, a cateye ld300 on the seatpost and a blackburn mars on the back of the helmet. And also reflective bits on the panniers and a two-tone yellow/orange hi-viz waistcoat and my winter gloves have reflective bits on them for hand signals. Sorted.

So you're the reason why there's a sudden jump in reported UFO sightings during the winter months !

 

[silverbow]

Just thought I'd say that I'm just about to leave the office with lights, Hi-viz and reflective bits on bike. So no, it isn't too early to think about lights.... too late to see my son though

 

[Twanger]

You can get Hi vis vests for £1.50 from construction suppliers. Evans sell them for 20 quid. Is there any reason to get the Evans ones?

 

[Plax]

I don't want to be a doom-monger it's only August I know and hey the weather's been great.

However I'm looking as the nights draw in and thinking 'cycling in winter darkness, now that's a whole different story.'

How does one prepare for the dark evenings? Rain's not a problem I'm used to that, but cycling in proper darkness probably carries its own perils.

Eh? Are you being sarcastic. I think I missed the summer when I blinked.

My 2p worth - in winter I use an Electron 5w and 10w rechargable lighting system http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Electron_5W_10W_Double_Lighting_System/5360025995/
CRC seems a lot cheaper;
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=15442
Really good bit of kit (and I managed to get it for £45 in the sale, prices seem to have shot up since I bought mine and that was only a year or so ago!). I cycle on a lot of dark country lanes and they do the trick for me.

Rear lights I have a couple of these;
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Smart_1~2_Watt_3_LED_Rear_Light/5360026001/

I've had a complaint before now from a cyclist cycling behind me they are too bright, so they work a treat.

Hi-Viz wise I've seen yellow and orange hi-viz workwear t-shirts and jackets in JJB sports, and I myself picked up their version of the running hi-viz gillet in the sale a while back and it's a decent one (with pockets). I have a yellow berghaus waterproof for winter but it hasn't really got as much reflective bits on it as I would like.

 

[Plax]

You can get Hi vis vests for £1.50 from construction suppliers. Evans sell them for 20 quid. Is there any reason to get the Evans ones?

Not really. Construction ones will be just as good, although maybe not as breathable as the cycling specific ones (which aren't really all that breathable anyway). I'd go with the £1.50 jobbie.

 

[HLaB]

When it starts getting dark I go with a minimum of a flashing + solid fronts and a flashing + solid rears, its worked for me. At the moment I'm running the Smart Bespoke half watt set on flashing and a mars blackburn 4.0 (rear) and cateye EL-510 (front). I'f I'm going by dark lanes I supplement with tesco 3 watt and the el 410 (helmet mounted) on the front and may clip on extra lights on the back.

 

[silverbow]

A note about HiViz. It only works if you remeber to take it out of the utility room and into your pannier.... D'oh!

Poor form old man.

 

[Glow worm]

Get a good set of lights. Cheap lights are a false economy. Only buy a set of cheap lights as a back up to your main set.

Dead right. It's definately worth forking out a little extra for good ones. I have some dynamo lights fitted to my bike but always carry spares too as of course the dynamos go off when at traffic lights etc. I do find the dynamo lights bulbs go quite frequently, so I always carry spare bulbs too.

You can put as many lights on as you like though and there's always be some motorised muppet who won't see you, so you just have to take a bit more care I tend to find - especially if it's wet. Theres' definately a positive correlation between amount of rain falling and levels of motorised idiocy.

On a bit of a tangent, hereabouts one of my favourite routes home is along farm tracks for 4-5 miles and I can get along fine at night without any lights on there especially if there's a moon. It's amazing how quickly your eyes adjust. Wouldn't try it on any roads though!

 

[Cubist]

Tesco 3w for me, plus a pair of their Micro Leds. They cost lest than £4 for both, and have an unmissable strobe setting. I have a pair of red ones taped to the seatpost on my hybrid, and a white one on the bars. They also fit neatly in to the vent on the back of my helmet (matron!)

 

[fossyant]

I've just posted a link to some lights on Dealextreme over in the MTB forum....

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=40874&page=2

P7 LED bike light - $80 for a serious light....probably waaaayyyy to bright for the road.......

 

[HJ]

Eh? Are you being sarcastic. I think I missed the summer when I blinked.

Do they have summer in Wales?? I thought that was just a legend....