Do you guys commute in the winter? - Page 3 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

11-07-2003, 08:36 PM

"Rich Clark" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...

<snip>

>Lots of people commute in the dark routinely. Many of them actually
>feel safer, because their lighting and reflectors make them visible to
>other traffic to a degree not really achievable in daylight. I'm one of
>them.

I agree. I enjoy riding at night and I'm much more visible
than in the daytime. But this is because I make a point of
using adequate lights. I see lots of cyclists riding at night
with no lights at all, or with very poor lighting.

Your front lights appear to be sufficient but your rear
lights may not be as most LED blinkers are inadequate.

If you want to stick with LED blinkers, look into getting
one of the Real Lite Blinkers,

"http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/reallite/"

though a better option is one of the Lightman bicycle
Xenon strobes, also designed for bicycles:

"http://www.southwestpublicsafety.com/ligbasbikstr.html"

I suggest that you check out the very excellent bicycle
lighting web site (my site) at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] .
It's mainly instructions on how to construct a homemade
lighting system but it also has information on commercially
available front and rear lights.

Steve
Bicycle Lighting Academician
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

11-07-2003, 08:48 PM

> <snip>I'm wondering if anyone is brave enough
> to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I being
> sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite and a
> bunch of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.

I live in London Ontario, Canada and am a year-round transportational
cyclist.

I cycle toured most of June, July, August and September ( and bit of
October) so my weekly totals were higher than transportational cycling.
Temperatures would be about +10 Celcius to +35 Celcius
Typical distances per week at that time are about 350km
Usual Transportational cycling distances would be about 150km/week

My rides shorten in October and November
That would be about 0 Celcius to +10 Celcius
Typical distances per week at that time are about 100km

Rides shorten more in December, January, February and March ( depends on
weather)
That would be about 0 Celcius to -15 Celcius
Typical distances per week at that time are about 60km

I use recumbents for all trips.

It is dark from 5pm until 8am daily in fall/winter.
At night- I tend to light up like a UFO with piles of lights and reflectors
from all angles and heights.
White/yellow at front sections and red at the rear.

Frequently the roads are wet, to centre bare to track bare.
Secondary and occasional primary roads tend to be used most because less
frequent roads are so caked with snow as to be very difficult to use.
There are about 5-6 days every winter where I seriously consider if the trip
is worth it by trike/bike.
In those cases- I either don't go, carpool, catch a cab, catch a bus, walk
or something else.

****That is 360 potential cycling days a year!****

11-07-2003, 09:48 PM

"Steven Scharf" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] m...
> "Rich Clark" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
> news:[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]...
>
> <snip>
>
> >Lots of people commute in the dark routinely. Many of them actually
> >feel safer, because their lighting and reflectors make them visible to
> >other traffic to a degree not really achievable in daylight. I'm one of
> >them.
>
> I agree. I enjoy riding at night and I'm much more visible
> than in the daytime. But this is because I make a point of
> using adequate lights. I see lots of cyclists riding at night
> with no lights at all, or with very poor lighting.
>
> Your front lights appear to be sufficient but your rear
> lights may not be as most LED blinkers are inadequate.

This was in my next paragraph, which you failed to quote: "I use
bright (15- or 24-watt) headlights, multiple blinkies, lots of reflective
tape, and a large reflective triangle."

Are you really suggesting this is inadequate, or are you just shilling for
your site?

RichC

11-07-2003, 10:50 PM

>This was in my next paragraph, which you failed to quote: "I use
>bright (15- or 24-watt) headlights, multiple blinkies, lots of reflective
>tape, and a large reflective triangle."
>
>Are you really suggesting this is inadequate, or are you just shilling for
>your site?

al long as they are good blinkies I see them from a long a ways away on other
cyclists.

11-07-2003, 11:30 PM

>though a better option is one of the Lightman bicycle
>Xenon strobes, also designed for bicycles:
>
>"http://www.southwestpublicsafety.com/ligbasbikstr.html"

I have one and it is so bright. easy to mount and comes with a lot of mounting
options. but at most 5 hours on a set of batteries. I am trying high end
rechargables on it right now. another one called sparky gives you a choice of
three colors and three speeds.it does not have as much side visibility but it
goes about 22 hours on a slow blink.

11-08-2003, 05:22 AM

"Rich Clark" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message

> This was in my next paragraph, which you failed to quote: "I use
> bright (15- or 24-watt) headlights, multiple blinkies, lots of reflective
> tape, and a large reflective triangle."
>
> Are you really suggesting this is inadequate,

Without seeing your blinkies it's impossible to know much. While
driving I've had a hard time seeing bicycles with dual blinkies
if they were the cheap ones made with the non-high brightness
LEDs, and lacked a reflector behind the LEDs. There is a big
difference in the quality of Blinkies.

I got an e-mail from the importer of Real Lite who informed
me that the unit he imports uses very high brightness LEDs,
while the defective similar large blinkies (that I bought
from another source), use the lower cost regular brightness
LEDS. There is a huge difference in cost, a regular LED
probably costs less that 2 cents in volume, while the high
brightness LEDs are about ten times as expensive. Still no
excuse for $40 versus $10, but he's got no competition in high
end blinkies.

> or are you just shilling for your site?

I don't get anything for people visiting my site. I pay for the
hosting and I don't sell anything except Flash Flags (at a loss
so far!). I put it up because I was dismayed at seeing (or not
seeing) so many cyclists at night. When I initially wrote up the
instructions (paper) in the 1980's, good commercial lights were
just becoming available, and a lot of people were still using
those hopelessly bad 2.4W generator lights, though at least the
Belt Beacon provided an option for a good rear light.

11-08-2003, 08:35 AM

"Steven Scharf" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
news:4f153f94.0311080622.243ab237@posting.google.c om...
> "Rich Clark" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message
>
> > This was in my next paragraph, which you failed to quote: "I use
> > bright (15- or 24-watt) headlights, multiple blinkies, lots of
reflective
> > tape, and a large reflective triangle."
> >
> > Are you really suggesting this is inadequate,
>
> Without seeing your blinkies it's impossible to know much. While
> driving I've had a hard time seeing bicycles with dual blinkies
> if they were the cheap ones made with the non-high brightness
> LEDs, and lacked a reflector behind the LEDs. There is a big
> difference in the quality of Blinkies.
>
> I got an e-mail from the importer of Real Lite who informed
> me that the unit he imports uses very high brightness LEDs,
> while the defective similar large blinkies (that I bought
> from another source), use the lower cost regular brightness
> LEDS. There is a huge difference in cost, a regular LED
> probably costs less that 2 cents in volume, while the high
> brightness LEDs are about ten times as expensive. Still no
> excuse for $40 versus $10, but he's got no competition in high
> end blinkies.

Though not normally used alone, NiteRider has a pretty high end blinky. I
use the Vistalight 300 and it is more than adequate. I base this on my
track record of being seen as well as having seen them in action. Do you
have bad vision?

While I understand that more light is better, it isn't, always. Consider
that HID lights as overkill for commuters or street riding (not to mention
automobiles) in general. They also create hazards by blinding other
drivers.

>
> > or are you just shilling for your site?
>
> I don't get anything for people visiting my site. I pay for the
> hosting and I don't sell anything except Flash Flags (at a loss
> so far!). I put it up because I was dismayed at seeing (or not
> seeing) so many cyclists at night. When I initially wrote up the
> instructions (paper) in the 1980's, good commercial lights were
> just becoming available, and a lot of people were still using
> those hopelessly bad 2.4W generator lights, though at least the
> Belt Beacon provided an option for a good rear light.

Robin Hubert

11-08-2003, 08:41 AM

On 8 Nov 2003 06:22:29 -0800, [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] (Steven Scharf) wrote:

>Without seeing your blinkies it's impossible to know much. While
>driving I've had a hard time seeing bicycles with dual blinkies
>if they were the cheap ones made with the non-high brightness
>LEDs, and lacked a reflector behind the LEDs. There is a big
>difference in the quality of Blinkies.
>

there is nw LED coming out that puts out as much light as a halogen watt per
watt. i may be awhile before they are out though.

11-08-2003, 01:35 PM

Steve Knight <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote in message news:<[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]>. ..
> On 8 Nov 2003 06:22:29 -0800, [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] (Steven Scharf) wrote:
>
> >Without seeing your blinkies it's impossible to know much. While
> >driving I've had a hard time seeing bicycles with dual blinkies
> >if they were the cheap ones made with the non-high brightness
> >LEDs, and lacked a reflector behind the LEDs. There is a big
> >difference in the quality of Blinkies.
> >
>
> there is nw LED coming out that puts out as much light as a halogen watt per
> watt. i may be awhile before they are out though.

This may be already available. The problem is that it will take a lot
of LEDs to equal the same light output of a halogen. Already you see
multi-LED flashlights. The problem then becomes that it is not possible
to focus multiple LEDs like it is a single halogen bulb.

11-08-2003, 02:11 PM

"Rick Onanian" <spamsink@cox.net> wrote in message
news

d1nqvot0m0jnp5nvg488a8n0sdsvoomlq@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 07 Nov 2003 03:54:14 GMT, "Slider2699" <juuiiniy@kuim.com>
> wrote:
> >I live in Florida, so winter weather isn't a problem, but it gets dark at
6
> >PM or earlier during the winter. I work a 9 to 5 so it's dark when I get
> >home. I have a 20 mile commute, and I'm wondering if anyone is brave
enough
> >to commute 20 miles in the pitch black. Am I being a wuss or am I being
> >sensible by not riding in the dark? I have a dual beam Vistalite and a
bunch
> >of blinkies but I'm not sure that's enough.
>
> I'm taking bets on how long before this becomes another lighting
> war.
> --
> Rick Onanian

You were right dammit!

You win a blinkie and a 25 watt NiMH, Night sun with dyno hub, dual
headlight. Still probably isn't enough. Someone will tell you though.

Good call,

Kerry