Bike visibility idea
Discussion
High visibility jackets are a good idea but don't help people coming out of side roads who can't distinguish a bikes headlight from the vehicles behind and pull out anyway.
How about a small, specific direction light that lives on the bike and points at the chest of the rider (not at the helmet) and lights up the flouro and reflective parts of the jacket.
Possibly another on the rear to do the back of the rider.
Thoughts?
How about a small, specific direction light that lives on the bike and points at the chest of the rider (not at the helmet) and lights up the flouro and reflective parts of the jacket.
Possibly another on the rear to do the back of the rider.
Thoughts?
phrich said:
How about a small, specific direction light that lives on the bike and points at the chest of the rider (not at the helmet) and lights up the flouro and reflective parts of the jacket.
Wouldn't make any difference I'm afraid. The flouro bit wouldn't reflect enough light to be seen far enough away unless the light was so bright it would affect your night vision and probably melt your chest (the flouro bit is only intended for daylight visibility anyway). The reflective bits reflect light back only in the direction from which they receive the light... or least in a very narrow cone. If you lit one with a small light then it wouldn't necessarily reflect in the direction you want. Sorry.paul_tim2000 said:
Never worn a dayglo jacket / belt.
Ride in the right position, ride like you own the road and never assume they've seen you.
All very well but at some point you have to commit yourself to going past a junction with a car in it without giving yourself room to stop if they pulled out or you'd come to a stop just before the junction. Ride in the right position, ride like you own the road and never assume they've seen you.
Dayglo jackets don't do anything at night but the reflective stuff does make a significant difference to how well you're seen. Class 2 is ok but class 3 stuff is better.
paul_tim2000 said:
Never worn a dayglo jacket / belt.
Ride in the right position, ride like you own the road and never assume they've seen you.
Agree 100% Ride in the right position, ride like you own the road and never assume they've seen you.
Ride where you can see the most, anticipate, and scrub off a good 10-15mph in a situation where it could go bad. If someone is flashed out by a car as you filter past no amount of illuminating wear is going to be your saviour.
[quote=dern]All very well but at some point you have to commit yourself to going past a junction with a car in it without giving yourself room to stop if they pulled out or you'd come to a stop just before the junction.
/quote]
Not quite. You reach a point where you are so close to the junction that you decide "even if the car starts to move now, I'll have passed the junction before it blocks my path". At that point you can apply acceleraton, but just don't do so too early.
Yes, you should slow down if there is a car lurking - move out to the white line, cover brakes, try to make eye contact with the driver, make sure you're in the right gear* etc.
(*Dropping a gear can put you in the best position to either rely on engine breaking or maximise acceleration, depending on what happens when.)
If it does start to move, its usually safer to try to go round the front of the car than to aim behind it - most cars that start to move will see you at the last minute and stop / panic brake: suddenly the clear path you expected behind the car is now a wall of steel. (Obviously depends on what's coming the other way etc, just a rule of thumb.)
Dave
/quote]
Not quite. You reach a point where you are so close to the junction that you decide "even if the car starts to move now, I'll have passed the junction before it blocks my path". At that point you can apply acceleraton, but just don't do so too early.
Yes, you should slow down if there is a car lurking - move out to the white line, cover brakes, try to make eye contact with the driver, make sure you're in the right gear* etc.
(*Dropping a gear can put you in the best position to either rely on engine breaking or maximise acceleration, depending on what happens when.)
If it does start to move, its usually safer to try to go round the front of the car than to aim behind it - most cars that start to move will see you at the last minute and stop / panic brake: suddenly the clear path you expected behind the car is now a wall of steel. (Obviously depends on what's coming the other way etc, just a rule of thumb.)
Dave
phrich said:
High visibility jackets are a good idea but don't help people coming out of side roads who can't distinguish a bikes headlight from the vehicles behind and pull out anyway.
How about a small, specific direction light that lives on the bike and points at the chest of the rider (not at the helmet) and lights up the flouro and reflective parts of the jacket.
Possibly another on the rear to do the back of the rider.
Thoughts?
This would ruin the night vision of the rider, surely?How about a small, specific direction light that lives on the bike and points at the chest of the rider (not at the helmet) and lights up the flouro and reflective parts of the jacket.
Possibly another on the rear to do the back of the rider.
Thoughts?
I definitely think that the OP's on to something there though. There are many ways that the visibility on a bike could be made better. How about some flashing LEDs on the front forks? That might even work in the daytime. I wonder if illuminating the rider would work from the top down? Maybe some discrete LED lights on the underside of the helmet pointing down?
Plus, surely nowadays it's possible to make invisible illuminous tape? Stuff that doesn't ruin the look of a bike during the day, but when a light shines on it at night it shows up really brightly?
Plus, surely nowadays it's possible to make invisible illuminous tape? Stuff that doesn't ruin the look of a bike during the day, but when a light shines on it at night it shows up really brightly?
Moulder said:
paul_tim2000 said:
Never worn a dayglo jacket / belt.
Ride in the right position, ride like you own the road and never assume they've seen you.
Agree 100% Ride in the right position, ride like you own the road and never assume they've seen you.
Ride where you can see the most, anticipate, and scrub off a good 10-15mph in a situation where it could go bad. If someone is flashed out by a car as you filter past no amount of illuminating wear is going to be your saviour.
RobM77 said:
Plus, surely nowadays it's possible to make invisible illuminous tape? Stuff that doesn't ruin the look of a bike during the day, but when a light shines on it at night it shows up really brightly?
I got some 3M reflective tape in white and put strips of it on the white bits of the fairing and you can't see it unless you look closely. I also have some 3M reflective patches that are stuck on the shoei bits on my lid... the idea being that they light up when you look at a light source IYSWIM. There are a number of 'attractive' reflective sticker sets available off the web.black-k1 said:
Moulder said:
paul_tim2000 said:
Never worn a dayglo jacket / belt.
Ride in the right position, ride like you own the road and never assume they've seen you.
Agree 100% Ride in the right position, ride like you own the road and never assume they've seen you.
Ride where you can see the most, anticipate, and scrub off a good 10-15mph in a situation where it could go bad. If someone is flashed out by a car as you filter past no amount of illuminating wear is going to be your saviour.
dern said:
RobM77 said:
Plus, surely nowadays it's possible to make invisible illuminous tape? Stuff that doesn't ruin the look of a bike during the day, but when a light shines on it at night it shows up really brightly?
I got some 3M reflective tape in white and put strips of it on the white bits of the fairing and you can't see it unless you look closely. I also have some 3M reflective patches that are stuck on the shoei bits on my lid... the idea being that they light up when you look at a light source IYSWIM. There are a number of 'attractive' reflective sticker sets available off the web.
Buelligan 984 said:
dern said:
All very well but at some point you have to commit yourself to going past a junction with a car in it without giving yourself room to stop if they pulled out or you'd come to a stop just before the junction.
Not quite. You reach a point where you are so close to the junction that you decide "even if the car starts to move now, I'll have passed the junction before it blocks my path". At that point you can apply acceleraton, but just don't do so too early.Yes, you should slow down if there is a car lurking - move out to the white line, cover brakes, try to make eye contact with the driver, make sure you're in the right gear* etc.
(*Dropping a gear can put you in the best position to either rely on engine breaking or maximise acceleration, depending on what happens when.)
If it does start to move, its usually safer to try to go round the front of the car than to aim behind it - most cars that start to move will see you at the last minute and stop / panic brake: suddenly the clear path you expected behind the car is now a wall of steel. (Obviously depends on what's coming the other way etc, just a rule of thumb.)
Dave
Edited by dern on Thursday 20th December 11:16
dern said:
RobM77 said:
Plus, surely nowadays it's possible to make invisible illuminous tape? Stuff that doesn't ruin the look of a bike during the day, but when a light shines on it at night it shows up really brightly?
I got some 3M reflective tape in white and put strips of it on the white bits of the fairing and you can't see it unless you look closely. I also have some 3M reflective patches that are stuck on the shoei bits on my lid... the idea being that they light up when you look at a light source IYSWIM. There are a number of 'attractive' reflective sticker sets available off the web.Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff