Actually, the Illuminite that I have is not stiff and noisy. I wonder if it's possible that your experience with it is with an older version of the stuff.

I am not riding at night, but I do walk at night. And given that there either aren't sidewalks or they are ice-covered, I usually walk in the road. I think some of what I use may translate into cycling.

I start with an Illuminite jacket. Then I wear a reflective belt that I got from www.roadid.com. Attached to the reflective belt in the back is a flashing light I bought from TE: http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=13124. Clipped to the flont of the belt is a Firefly Supernova (flashing blue) light. And then I wear an armband on my right arm - the side facing traffic as I'm walking in the road - with another Firefly Supernova light. The belt, armband, and lights from roadid.com can be seen on this page: http://www.roadid.com/firefly.asp. And while the forward facing lights don't work as well for cycling as they do for walking, backwards facing lights are a good thing.

I agree with Irulan that the brightest of the colors is probably neon yellow. But having reflective stripes in addition to a bright color is a good thing.

I have seen cyclists on the road at night who were very visible, and those who were not. In my experience the cyclists who were visible had flashing lights in addition to their neon colors. I know you said you don't want to deal with lights, but I really think adding a light or two would make it easier for you to be seen.

--- Denise