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My word, I received a safety vest that is battery-operated with blinking lights. :o
Now my honey is a dedicated cyclist. But wow....
I also work at a construction site where I must walk to and from worksite through lots of machinery, cranes...would like them to see me.
So not just cycling. But if i could be visible without shouting my presence. :cool:
Coooooooool! Can you supply a brand and model??? Maybe a link?
Both TE and Google are your friends . . .
http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=27706
http://www.ledtronics.com/markets/sa...ndex.htm#row-2
Last year I bought a lighted vest that had a bar all the way across my shoulder blades. I thought it was a Nathan that I bought from TE, but I can't find it in the moving box chaos.
Ah, here we go.
http://www.branfordbike.com/reflect/reflect1.html
If you're going with the blinking vest - please make sure that the lights are on the vest in a spot where they will be seen if you are riding on the drops - if you ride in the drops, that is! (As in, I believe the lights should extend close to the bottom of the vest.) Some of the examples that SadieKate posted look OK, but at least one looks to me like the lights don't extend far enough. (It's just a picture though, I could be totally off base here!)
I was out walking just after sunset one day when I saw a cyclist who was wearing a blinky on his vest. Unfortunately he had the light clipped close to the top of his vest and he was riding on the drops. From the back he was pretty much invisible.
If the lights are properly placed, these vests look like a great idea.
I don't ride after dark, but I do walk. I've been using Firefly Supernova lights from Road ID, and I've had people stop me in the street to tell me that they thought I was a police car. Hmm... I guess my lights are visible! (And yes, I did say lights - I wear 2 red blinkies facing to the rear, and 3 blue blinkies facing forward, and I am walking facing traffic).
--- Denise
Absolutely agree. That's why I like lights positioned across the shoulder blades. But if you're just running this isn't quite as critical.
Ooh, these LED bands look nifty
http://www.ledtronics.com/ds/led-band/default.asp
I bought vests from a woman in the UK who sells them for equestrians. I think they're made by Kitt, and mine are hot pink. The LEDs run the length of the vest, and are quite visible from all sides.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FLUORESCENT-TA...QQcmdZViewItem
I saw athe blinking vest in the LBS last Saturday. The owner said he's sold a few but they haven't been flyin' off the shelves... the geek factor's pretty high!
I got these LED bands from planet bike http://ecom1.planetbike.com/planetbike/media/3030.jpg for my surrogate nephews.
Don't count on anything above the waist in terms of reflective material - the headlights just don't hit it up there. All the reflective stuff should be below the waist - on the pants, shoes, frame, cranks, wheels etc. Movement catches people's eyes, so if you can put reflective material on the moving parts of your bike and body you will be seen and noticed.
LED's above the waist are fine - but honestly most of those little LED's in these vests are not really bright enough to be seen from a distance in the dark - I have a lighted vest like this but I don't wear it. There are a number of reasonably priced headlights and tail lights out there that will serve better. I found at the local hardware store, a 6 LED headlamp which I can wear on my helmet, on the bike or use as a red rear light that is so bright it casts actual beams of light, even in the red mode - I bought three of them - they were less than 20.00 each.
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Technotart - are you riding with streetlights or without? I think that makes a huge difference. Our Nathan vests with the entire LED strip can be seen a long distance off. It's nice to have a riding partner because you can critique each other's light/reflective efficacy.
We were riding in and out of lit areas -- reflective material for lit areas and LEDs for dark areas. We met others with similar vests and it made a huge difference in dark areas. The more of everything the better and who cares about the geek factor.
Denise.....Thanks for the tip on the Firefly Supernovas!.....I just ordered a blue one on a wristband and a simple red clip-on to put on the lower back of my jacket or undersaddle bag to supplement my flashing tail-light.
Oh absolutely the more the better! Just don't expect an LED vest to be the only thing you need to be visible is all :) I don't care about looking like a geek - I have a pair of short tri bars on my bike just for hanging gadgets and lights on! LOL.Quote:
Originally Posted by SadieKate
Here is a video of some night light products - we are planning on shooting something similar in the next few weeks:
http://jasonagar.blogspot.com/2007/1...lectivity.html
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Thanks for posting the link to this video. I found the footage to be quite frightening from a standpoint of how poorly most of the cyclists were lit. Maybe in person the lights were more visible, but watching the video tells me that people are not using enough lights - let alone bright enough lights.Quote:
Originally Posted by Technotart
I know they exist; I've see a couple of cyclists here (at night) who were lighting up the night, but I've seen many more who were pretty close to invisible.
--- Denise
When I first saw that video, I too was surprised by how invisible most of them were. I think most of us probably are less visible than we think we are, no matter how good a job we do of lighting up. I did notice that reflective tape on the rims seemed to be more visible than anything else - just have to be careful to keep it off the braking surface.
I was thinking about trying out some tires with reflective side walls.
That's a great video to show me that I need to wear at least 10 taillights and 5 headlamps plus put reflective tape all over my bike and on my clothes. :p None of the cyclists were really lit up. To me, almost all of them were invisible. Shocking. :eek:
Now I want to video myself to see if I'm as lit up as I think I am (I have a blinky on my rear stay, my seat post and my helmet- one bright headlight on the bike and a dimmer one on my helmet, and reflective tape on all the chrome parts of my bike). I'll bet I'm dimmer than I think I am (although DH says I'm probably a distraction to motorists because I'm so blinky). ;)
I just got a handful of 10-LED strings for $1.50 a pop at teh grocery store. (No, the 2 AA batteries were not included.) They're visible from lots of directions, they're not totally distracting (when more than one car hits the curb I knwo I've gone too far... but that took the pig-snout helmet cover :-) ) ... if I could only juice 'em from the generator!
Now for this snowy rain to clear out...
My husband was the victim of a "right hook/ sideswipe" on Dec 5. He spent 5 days in the hospital with a broken rib and pneumothorax (collapsed lung). The driver of the full size pickup stopped long enough to yell at my husband and then he took off. We don't know if visibility was a factor or if the driver was aggressively passing my husband. My DH is a healthy 47 y.o. and has recovered very quickly, thanks to his cycling fitness.
After viewing the above video I am going to go out and follow him in my car (he plans on resuming his commute next week - atta boy!). I want to check out his visibility. He wears a reflective vest (rides fairly upright), uses a large tail blinky and a so-so headlight. I think we might get one of those geeky triangle things. In addition I am thinking of building some BRIGHT homemade headlights that we can use mountain biking also. They rival the uber-expensive HID lights being used offroad.
Please everyone be careful out there!!! We don't want any more ghost bikes around.
If you are interested here is a link to his story in our newspaper:
http://www.venturacountystar.com/new...-hit-and-rant/
Yowwww, just read the article about your husband's accident! Incredibly warped response from the driver, even if he was spooked by what happened! Here's wishing your DH a speedy and complete recovery from his ordeal. Your idea of tailing him to check out his on-the-road visibility is a great one.......
Thanks to Denise's plug for the Firefly lights I ordered two and received them this morning. WHOA! Wonderfully, wonderfully eye-catching when set on blink mode. I'll definitely carry both with me from now on. The red seems to be brighter than the blue, but I figure the dual-combo will jump out more at drivers than an all-red set-up. Might even get one of the green ones just to make things even livelier........;)
I've just *gotta* get me a set of these: http://www.rockthebike.com/lights/downlowglow Maybe I'll order them today.
There is no way to be too visible. We are planning to shoot some high-qual video of the various things people use when riding at night to see if we can really show what's most effective.
I think a lot of us (myself included) are not as visible as we think.
I bought a couple pair of these this week. I figure they will serve well as turn signals of sorts - they don't offer a lot of warmth, so order a couple sizes up if you are wearing heavy gloves underneath. I was actually thinking about cutting the palms out of mine to allow my bike glove grips to be accessible. (They are mens so they are pretty good sized anyway)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000F1OZ46
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...2L._AA225_.jpg
We went out and tested the night vision stuff -
Conclusions -
* Most headlights are either way too bright or far too dim (Blind a motorist or make yourself barely visible)
* The LED vests are VERY visible as long as they have good batteries - the lights dim rapidly as the batteries wear. This goes for pretty much all the LED stuff.
* Reflective sidewall tires allowed the bike to be easily identified as a bicycle.
* The reflective piping on tights near the ankles is also very visible, hence the more of it, the better.
* Illuminite fabric does NOT light up - it barely glows at all, but gives the illusion that the person is wearing a light colored garment - so more visible than other garments to a small degree, and definitely more visible than someone in a black hoodie!
* Red blinkers sold in most bike shops for cheap are barely bright enough to be seen and should not be used as a single light - again some of that depended on how new the batteries were, if you are going to buy 5.00 blinky lights, buy 5 of them and since you are going to spend more money anyway,just give it up and spend the money on a good one.
Many of us never ride at night, but it could occur that due to a flat or other event, that you end up out on the road at dusk or after dark. Carry a spare flashlight and a velcro strap if nothing else.
oh...and the gloves above ROCK!
This light (welp, *and* the blinky on my helmet and the one on my backpack) got me commendations from a passing truck driver. Big fat thirteen dollars and shipping, though installing it was a little tricky. (you can spen$40 for one with a cycling mount at www.reallite.com ) http://www.gulfcoast-solutions.com/s...fety&ppinc=T1b
http://www.gulfcoast-solutions.com/s...s/RedLight.gif
I LOVE that light - it is the one I use on the back of the GoBug - a little plumbers tape took care of installation
one trick I have used to install lights at least temporarily - stick em in a plastic bagggie and duct tape or velcro wrap the baggie to whatever you want to light up. Not ideal, but I pretty much always have a baggie and a small wad of tape or velcro strips in my backpack.
My dogs are each getting one of these and they don't even ride bikes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Geonz
Those LED bands were my Christmas present. Nothing says love like safety bling!
After watching that video, I'm getting out the reflective vest and getting more, more, more, more lights.