Poor man's Down Low Glow?

[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.

[Tri Girl]

Good job on the 25 LED, Knot!
Inspired by your creativity here, I bought a little LED light and put it on the bike. It sits in the bottom of the water bottle cage, face down (it's round- got it at Lowe's for $9). I put a full bottle on top of it and it stays put. It shines quite a bit of the ground below and makes me far more visible. Don't know how long it'll last with the batteries, but I bought some rechargeable AAAs, so I'm hoping it'll at least last a few days at a time.
You ladies just saved me a TON of money on a lighting system. Who knew I could buy a cheap light and get creative with it and still be seen. I LOVE alternate ways around things (read: I'm a cheapskate and love to save money to buy more bike things ).

[KnottedYet]

Ow! My eyes!

I charged up my shop light, and man it is BRIGHT!!!! Hurts-to-look-at-it bright!

Played around with it this morning when it was still dark, and I think considering how bright the 60 LEDs are when it is fully charged, I am best off putting it under the top tube. (like a frame mount pump) It is very light weight and not too wide so I think it'll be fine there. Besides, as I was getting it out of the package I accidentally pulled the water resistant gasket thingie off the rocker switch. (oops!) If I put the light under my top tube hopefully it will stay dryer.

I'll do a test ride tonight and ask SKnot if I'm visible.

[Tri Girl]

WOWZER! I misread that. I thought it was a 25 LED. A 60 LED just might blind a person. hee hee I'll bet you'll be quite visible!
And under the top tube is a great idea! It'll light the ground, your legs as you pedal, heck- it might just light the street enough that they won't need street lights anymore.

[KathiCville]

KnottedYet........Glad you nabbed one of the shop lights to try out! I wondered if anyone was able to give it a whirl........If you can post pics, please do......Are you going to add any kind of color covering to tint the light, or leave it as is?

[ElizaJo]

I know of two more night-lighting options. One is the Spoke Sparks or Tire Sparks:

http://www.beseenonabike.com/shopuk/popup_image.php?pID=91
http://www.beseenonabike.com/shopuk/...e.php?pID=126\

The other is the Hokey Spokes:

http://www.hokeyspokes.com/

They are a bit flashy but also a bit of fun. I have a pair of the tire sparks, but I got them just before the daylight started to return so haven't really had a good test run with them. They worked really well. They are motion activated and they blink. They're also a great conversation piece while you're waiting at a light.

The hokey spokes really interest me because they're a bit more artsy and you can display messages. Do a search on YouTube to see some video of them in action. They're just about as much as the DLG, because you need at least 3 for it to work, apparently. I'm concerned they might be more of a distraction and less of a safety feature, but I think they would be great for critical mass rides, etc.

[Geonz]

I have hokey spokes but lost the special nuts to attach them to the wheels, and haven't been able to find anything like a replacement, which seems odd to me.

[csr1210]

I have the tire sparx....

Originally got the purple to match bike trim, but they weren't that bright. Then, got the red/white/blue for hubby, and ended up borrowing (stealing) them because they are very visible!

I do love my down low glow, but I wouldn't have chunked out the money for it myself (I'm kinda cheap-what can I say?). DH got it for me for Christmas, and I must say that I'm really pleased with it.