Lights on bikes? Stupid people

Mapman

Shout LIGHTS at offenders Forcfully but without maliace

BentMikey

Not bad, but a less confrontational way might be to call out in a friendly voice "Your lights are broken mate". Credit to someone else on here for that one.

always_tyred

I have one of those little back up rear lights in one of my helmet vents. Oh no - the controversy.

And I'm a firm believer in reflective gear. Don't know about anyone else, but when I'm driving blinkies and reflective gear = cyclist.

Why is it that cycling clothing manufacturers are so stingy on reflective bits?

always_tyred

BentMikey wrote:

whome wrote:

H*lmets, are (thankfully) not a legal requirement and their usefulness is highly controversial (and only relevant in an accident, not in avoiding it).

Yeah, I usually laugh when people point at "no-helmet" and use that to indicate an irresponsible cyclist. Lights, fair enough, but helmet? Don't be ridiculous.

I read the C+ article about commuting and I thought they had it pretty close. Ironic group test, though.

always_tyred

Cunobelin wrote:

My daily commute varies between a total of 40 minutes to 2.5 hours depending on site, however I know that I have a safe 8 hours on the Dinottes and 10 hours on the USE in ride mode. If the worst comes to the worst I can make most journeys with these on flashing mode.

What batteries have you got with those DiNottes, and how have they performed? I have the rear light, because I cycle on some twisty and unlit lanes at night, but its not been reliable for me.

I have a Li-ion battery pack, which plugs straight into a transformer. One battery pack failed pretty quickly and now the light engine has gone - looks like the water seal may have failed - anyway, it thinks its overheating.

I should say that the customer services at DiNotte have been really good (a replacement is en route), and I think I've been unlucky. They are quirky products with some foibles, other than reliablility, to iron out, but I'd like the company to do well, because they seem to try hard and seem to have the right idea.

always_tyred

SmellTheGlove wrote:

I believe that there is a law that demands that every new bike must be supplied with a bell. But not lights. If true, it seems odd to me to demand one but not t'other.

You don't need lights because your pedals, by law, have reflectors on them. Although partially shielded by your feet, they are clearly visible to all Ferrari drivers.

BentMikey

Always Tyred wrote:

SmellTheGlove wrote:

I believe that there is a law that demands that every new bike must be supplied with a bell. But not lights. If true, it seems odd to me to demand one but not t'other.

You don't need lights because your pedals, by law, have reflectors on them. Although partially shielded by your feet, they are clearly visible to all Ferrari drivers.

This bit is blatantly wrong. You only need lights during lighting up hours.

BentMikey

Always Tyred wrote:

I read the C+ article about commuting and I thought they had it pretty close. Ironic group test, though.

Are you suggesting that it's irresponsible to cycle without a helmet?

always_tyred

BentMikey wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

SmellTheGlove wrote:

I believe that there is a law that demands that every new bike must be supplied with a bell. But not lights. If true, it seems odd to me to demand one but not t'other.

You don't need lights because your pedals, by law, have reflectors on them. Although partially shielded by your feet, they are clearly visible to all Ferrari drivers.

This bit is blatantly wrong. You only need lights during lighting up hours.

They do have to be supplied with reflectors on the pedals, though, which I've always thought was a token gesture, a bit like pinging a bell at an approaching bus.

I've kept all of mine over the years and soon I'm going to build a composite frame out of them. It will be super safe.

You'll know the answer to this one Mikey - has the law on blinkies changed yet?

Used to be that you couldn't have them (which I ignored), then you could have a flashing light on your person but not on the bike (which I also ignored). Last I heard, a pragmatic relaxation to allow blinking lights on the bike was in the works.

T800

Laws have changed, but are still pretty crap in that they allow flashing lights (that flash at certain frequencies and at or above a given minimum brightness -- "light may flash at least once and not more than four times per second with a brilliance of at least four candle-power") only if those lights don't have a steady mode!

See Cunobelin's post referencing RVLR LEDs above.

always_tyred

BentMikey wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

I read the C+ article about commuting and I thought they had it pretty close. Ironic group test, though.

Are you suggesting that it's irresponsible to cycle without a helmet?

No - I meant the commuting article you contributed to. But I just checked again and I have my wires crossed - I was actually talking about the helmet group test intro. The intro is pretty balanced I thought. Pretty much summarised where we ended up at the end of the monster helmet thread. Could have saved myself a lot of typing.

I do think its irresponsible to cycle at night without lights though.

Cunobelin

Always Tyred wrote:

Cunobelin wrote:

My daily commute varies between a total of 40 minutes to 2.5 hours depending on site, however I know that I have a safe 8 hours on the Dinottes and 10 hours on the USE in ride mode. If the worst comes to the worst I can make most journeys with these on flashing mode.

What batteries have you got with those DiNottes, and how have they performed? I have the rear light, because I cycle on some twisty and unlit lanes at night, but its not been reliable for me.

I have a Li-ion battery pack, which plugs straight into a transformer. One battery pack failed pretty quickly and now the light engine has gone - looks like the water seal may have failed - anyway, it thinks its overheating.

I should say that the customer services at DiNotte have been really good (a replacement is en route), and I think I've been unlucky. They are quirky products with some foibles, other than reliablility, to iron out, but I'd like the company to do well, because they seem to try hard and seem to have the right idea.

MIne are in their second season.

I have the 5 watt Li Ion for the front and the rear tail light.

I had to rewire the rear after the led came off, but apart from that they have been reliable.

My only ualm was that the rear is advertised (still) with a long lead that does not exist. I ridea recumbent and wanted to use a single battery [ack.

Both on-on and Dinotte promised the lead but nothing came.

I ended up buying a second battery pack.

I use the 4 cell ones.

Porgy

Mapman wrote:

Shout LIGHTS at offenders Forcfully but without maliace

I recommend being sensitive to the context - realise that there may be a very good reason that someone doesn;t have a light on their bike.

A white van swiped me on purpose - he'd been harrassing me for some time already, knocked me flying while I was on a busy roundabout, and then drove off at great speed without checking I was OK.

So I was laying on the tarmac on a very busy roundabout. I stood up, picked my bike up and got onto it - all the time being beeped by motorists - and cycled to a safer place. I noticed that my rear light had been crushed and was lying in bits on the road. As I reached the exit of the roundabout a cyclist passed me and shouted "lights".

I could have killed the twat!! :twisted:

dav1

I have had a good few near-misses with people riding on a cycle path with no lights.

I chave a set of cateye flashers on the front abc back with a 4LED solid on the front as well so you think these people would see me from a mile away yet i still hate to take evasive action at the last second...