Poor man's Down Low Glow?

[Eden]

First commute using all my new lights. I stopped to see what the total effect was and I'm pretty pleased. 1 flashing tail light, 1 flashing front light, 1 red and 1 white Frog Knog on my messenger bag, my bottle light and a head light that I usually only turn on when there are no street lights. (from looking at other cyclists I've decided that flashing lights are better for being seen, while a steady light is good to see by)

[KnottedYet]

Wow! That bottle really shows up great! Is that just one LED in there?

Thanks for the pics, Eden!

[RoadRaven]

Very cool pix all, thanks...

Eden, from a drivers viewpoint, the best cyclists at night are the ones with a flashing light AND a steady light on the front. The flashing one is def the most visible, I know it is a bike, and I never mistake it for a tin or road marker like I have with one steady light.

However, the flashing lights give no easy perspective until I am close to the cyclist. Because the light flashes, there is no constant point of referral to judge distance or how quickly the bike is moving.

I strongly recommend you use both

[Eden]

Wow! That bottle really shows up great! Is that just one LED in there?

Thanks for the pics, Eden!

I'm pretty sure there are 3 leds. I do have to make sure its turned all the way up - its got a dimmer.... (for mooooood lighting when you are camping)

Raven - around here in the city, where there mostly is a fair amount of light from streetlights, I've found as a driver I don't always notice a steady light unless its a really, really bright one that overpowers the ambient light, but a flashing one gets my attention right away and I know its a bike (as opposed to a scooter or a motorcycle). I think it also helps that most flashers are white, while the streetlights are orangish sodium vapor lights. I turn my steady headlight on when there aren't many street lights around, but I've had it run out of battery charge right in the middle of my darkest section of commute, so I've taken to shutting it off during the lighter portions.

[RoadRaven]

Ah - good point Eden.

I live in the country, so when I drive home I am on country roads with no street lights! There is no ambient light. (My work is on the edge of town so i rarely drive in town at night...)

You do what you have been doing - of course you know how bikes look in the city cause thats where you drive.

[Tri Girl]

Wow, Eden, that looks really great! Really looks like it puts a lot of light out. I may go ahead and buy one of those.
When I rode the other day, I had two headlights on the handlebars (overkill, maybe: nerdy, certainly ). One was flashing and one was steady. I needed the steady one to see the ground, and the flashing one was so people would hopefully notice me.

Thanks for posting the pics, Eden. It really helps to see them on someone's bike before buying them.

[Eden]

Wow, Eden, that looks really great! Really looks like it puts a lot of light out. I may go ahead and buy one of those.
When I rode the other day, I had two headlights on the handlebars (overkill, maybe: nerdy, certainly ). One was flashing and one was steady. I needed the steady one to see the ground, and the flashing one was so people would hopefully notice me.

Thanks for posting the pics, Eden. It really helps to see them on someone's bike before buying them.

I do the same thing (two head lights). From observing other cyclists I've decided that around here with the streetlights a steady headlight is fairly poor for being noticable to drivers, but a flashing one screams bike. In fact I have 2 flashies on each end. If anyone ever hits me in the dark, I didn't see her will be a poor excuse.... the Knogs I put on my messenger bag are so bright I'm always looking up to make sure low flying planes don't think I'm the runway at seatac....

[KnottedYet]

I just bought one of these 60 LED shop lights. ($25 at Fred Meyer) www.feit.com

There is no way this critter can fit safely on my downtube or chainstay. It will fit on the top tube or the pannier rack. I'm thinking of putting it on the pannier rack at an angle so it shines both at the ground and to the traffic side. Then I think it would shine beyond my pannier (which would block it otherwise) It is a VERY bright little critter. I'll have to see how it goes.

It might do better on the top tube if my legs don't block it too much. Hard to tell just in my dark apartment.

Fred Meyer had a great selection of LED blinkies and safety lights. A 4 pack of 1 LED blinkies was $8. A single 5 LED blinkie was also $8.