Oh no! My girlfriend is insisting that I wear hi viz!!!!

megacityman

im glad i dont have those worries, im always wearing my big yellow storm jacket and hard hat to work 1 mile away when i dont wear the jacket, my boilersuit has those hi-vis stripes on legs and arms, very fashionable

junglist_matty

Should be made the law to wear either a high vis shoulder band thing or a high-vis jacket.

It makes such a difference from a drivers view, on so many occasions I've nearly knocked off a cyclist becase you litterally can't see them... You drive down a street with car lights coming towards you, street lamps, house/shop lights, reflections off cars etc... unless the cyclist is very clear and stands out it can be very very difficult to see them, I've nearly knocked a couple off because of this very reason... if you can't see them till the last minute and going too fast to avoid them its their own fault - so many wear dark coloured clothing you simply can't see them - and thats not me as a motorist making stuff up

I've been hit as a rider because of exactly the same reason - luckily it was only my arm and his wing-mirror - but I went out and got the propper gear the next day.d

artaxerxes

you then be called a chav or a football hooligan

Yeah but, no, but yeah, but no...
Chavs these days wear (what used to be) middle class brands like Berghaus, North Face etc. So I think cyclists should pick up the old chav styles

il_principe

s'not really about fashion when commuting though is it, for me it's about what's practical. I don't wear a Tabard because I have a sodding great courier bag on my back which would render any Hi Viz redundant, the bag always comes with me when I'm out and about in London as my locks are in it and my tools. As it's always with me I've put reflective tape on the back ~(as well as the heels of my shoes) which is very effective at night - far more effective that just wearing yellow. Add that to the fact that as I live in central London, where there's a frankly ridiculous amount of ambient light at night, and I'm extremely safe and visible. As verified by my GF and sister who have a tendency to worry!

If I lived in the deep dark countryside then I would defo consider wearing far more lumo/reflective kit, but as it is I have 4 lights and reflectives and that works for me just fine.

As for weekend and training rides - no way am I ever going to wear a hi viz tabard. I've spent a small bloody fortune on well designed jerseys that are comfy, streamlined and very effective at wicking sweat. Wacking some flappy, cheap boil in the bag hi viz tabard over the top of a jersey would just make it redundant. Besides which I tend to wear red/white jerseys which IMHO stand out far better against the black of the road and the green of the vegetation that makes up the Surrey lanes I typically ride. Add that the fact that much of the kit produced today has reflective parts built in (i.e my castelli bibtights) and I'm perfectly visible.

People get so het up about helmets and high viz when the real key is to ride safely. Down here in London the vast majority of RLJ'ing idiotic and dangerous cyclists I see every day are wearing so much yellow it hurts my eyes. It's not going to stop them getting squashed by a lorry when they jump a red light though.

jonginge

jashburnham wrote:

s'not really about fashion when commuting though is it, for me it's about what's practical. I don't wear a Tabard because I have a sodding great courier bag on my back which would render any Hi Viz redundant, the bag always comes with me when I'm out and about in London as my locks are in it and my tools. As it's always with me I've put reflective tape on the back ~(as well as the heels of my shoes) which is very effective at night - far more effective that just wearing yellow. Add that to the fact that as I live in central London, where there's a frankly ridiculous amount of ambient light at night, and I'm extremely safe and visible. As verified by my GF and sister who have a tendency to worry!

If I lived in the deep dark countryside then I would defo consider wearing far more lumo/reflective kit, but as it is I have 4 lights and reflectives and that works for me just fine.

As for weekend and training rides - no way am I ever going to wear a hi viz tabard. I've spent a small bloody fortune on well designed jerseys that are comfy, streamlined and very effective at wicking sweat. Wacking some flappy, cheap boil in the bag hi viz tabard over the top of a jersey would just make it redundant. Besides which I tend to wear red/white jerseys which IMHO stand out far better against the black of the road and the green of the vegetation that makes up the Surrey lanes I typically ride. Add that the fact that much of the kit produced today has reflective parts built in (i.e my castelli bibtights) and I'm perfectly visible.

People get so het up about helmets and high viz when the real key is to ride safely. Down here in London the vast majority of RLJ'ing idiotic and dangerous cyclists I see every day are wearing so much yellow it hurts my eyes. It's not going to stop them getting squashed by a lorry when they jump a red light though.

What he said.

On the commute my only hi-viz concession is that I wear a predominantly white jersey. Everything other bit of kit has tasteful reflectives built in anyway. Decent wide beam lights (2 fore, 2 aft), not stupid single LED spots and good road sense serves you much better...


EDIT: Oh DDD if you need a GF deflecting reflecting tabard I've got an unused, packaged one that came free with an order from Parkers. Yours for free, gratis, nuffink if you want, I'm never gonna use it.

il_principe

junglist_matty wrote:

Should be made the law to wear either a high vis shoulder band thing or a high-vis jacket.

No thank you Nanny State. That's the thin end of the wedge.

roger_merriman

day glow only works in the day, reflectives work if there is light around ie lights. i at least for my town bike go for lights.


can get lost with all the other lights and reflective signs etc, road postion helps a lot

jonginge

roger merriman wrote:

day glow only works in the day, reflectives work if there is light around ie lights. i at least for my town bike go for lights.


can get lost with all the other lights and reflective signs etc, road postion helps a lot

Big lights there see. Big lights good, small lights bad. Think of the Father Ted sketch or the 'look out for bikes' public information advert. The brain automatically equates small objects with something that is further away, which can lead to, ahem, closing speed misjudgements. Big, wide lights...

JonEdwards

I wouldn't even begin to consider wearing fluorescent stuff around town. All you ever see in London around rush hour is an impenetrable mass of yellow cyclist that's incredibly difficult to pick any detail out from. So many people (in different walks of life) now wear hiviz that actually it's far too easy to ignore now.

It would be a different kettle of fish if it was one cyclist on their own on a busy road, but it just doesn't add up when there are 30+ of them, plus motorbikes, workmen, emergency services, all buzzing around all over the place.

I'm also convinced that the bigger issue is that if a driver is not *expecting* to see cyclists, then they won't, whatever they're wearing. I've done it myself when driving on occasion - even with other cars - looked, but not "seen", then looked again as I'm about to pull out, and realised there's a bloody great car there, where half a second before I was convinced the road was empty. I've always caught it so far, and am now far more careful to "expect " anything.

Reflectives (at night) on the other hand I'm a big fan of. My courier bag has a 2" scotchlite stripe down the middle, I use a scotchite respro mask and all my outer layers have reflective piping on. I quite often use a reflective ankle band too. Plus of course a selection of lights.

lost_in_thought

To clarify my position...

I don't wear much hi-viz. Sometimes I will, 95% of the time I won't. I think I'm plenty visible enough with reflective bits, lights and so on.

However, I have no objection to DDD wearing hi-viz, I object to his girlfriend telling him to and him giving in like the French in 1940.

bluesacs

Just say NO.

If she sulks around, giving you the puppy murderer look, tough it out, she'll come round and admire you for your commitment to your principles; if she dumps you and starts going out with a 4X4 driving arms dealer, then you get more time to go riding. It's a win-win situation.

Clever Pun

jashburnham wrote:

Stick some reflective tape on your bag - works for me. Better than wearing some godawful sweat trap tabard and then covering it up with a bag as so many seem to do.

this... you have reflective bits on your clothes as it is mention studies about how cars give cyclists without hiviz more room blah blah

I get grief about not wearing a helmet but then I warble on about rotational brain injuries etc until her eyes glaze over and I leg it

itboffin

lost_in_thought wrote:

giving in like the French in 1940.

Welcome back

DonDaddyD

lost_in_thought wrote:

To clarify my position...

I fancy Dondaddyd and hate to hear that he can't dress like the cool ninja he wants to be.

If he was with me he could ride my Maxima and fly my plane any day!

Fixed that for you!

wantaway

Must admit I a bit confused by some of the reactions to hi-viz wearing.

I think this subject has come up elsewhere and I was thinking about as I cycled to and from work this week. I am not sure there can be any argument that hi-viz will mean you get noticed. In traffic. In the day. The clue is in the name. High visibility. I’ve taken note of all the use of hi-viz (lollypop ladies, workmen, police cars and ambulances other cyclists) and you know what, you can see them better, and from further away than others. And they are more noticeable within traffic. When people say ‘sorry mate I did not see you coming’ I want that to excuse to be so weak and pathetic that it pains them to spit the words out.

Even Petr Cech wears a hi-viz shirt as his kit sponsor did the tests to show he appears bigger when his is brighter compared to when he is in a standard kit (although this is stretching my point as my commute rarely takes me through the goalmouth of any premiership football stadia), I’ll be citing bees next)

On a more subjective note, I tend to find that when wearing hi-viz gets you that little bit extra respect from car drivers (over FWCs pootling along on mountain bikes in a random assortment of leisure wear). Cars have actually given way to me. They seem more inclined to treat me as an actual road user, not just a mobile speed bump. Then again I am lucky enough not to have to cycle in London which is just appears to be almost full of idiots in cars and idiots on Bikes (preset company excepted)

The only reason I can think for not wearing it is not wanting to sport the hi-viz look. This seems odd. You are on a bike so it difficult to look cool and everyone else using the roads and the pavements probably dislikes you anyway. They might as well see you coming.

DonDaddyD

On a seperate note I quite like the idea of black refelctive jacket.

If any one has any links to jackets of this nature that would be much appreciated.

salsajake

Pearl Izumi high viz Gilet - superlight, beautifully made, totally breathable, adds warmth and is very visible. Adds a stash pocket to your repetoire too. I actually like wearing it!

roger_merriman

i find hi vis vests hot, so don't but most of my cycling gear has reflective bits and my town bike is fairly lit up plus paniers have reflective tape, i assume i'm doing something right as i don't as a rule get near misses etc, i suspect it's more down to the fact i'm a confiendent rider, i'm not in the gutter, even with that bike i'm not that slow, oh and i indicate and look at people ie eyeball them.

NGale

What about one of those hi viz shower proof cycle jackets instead. can be seen but don't look like a complete twat in them. should keep the girlfriend quite...in theory anyway, when can you ever keep us women quite

il_principe

roger merriman wrote:

i find hi vis vests hot, so don't but most of my cycling gear has reflective bits and my town bike is fairly lit up plus panniers have reflective tape, i assume i'm doing something right as i don't as a rule get near misses etc, i suspect it's more down to the fact i'm a confident rider, i'm not in the gutter, even with that bike i'm not that slow, oh and i indicate and look at people ie eyeball them.

*Exactly.

Chewy Cheeks

DDD

Black absorbs light does not reflect, basic physics.

Perhaps I've fallen into a pedant trap......

Maybe a shiny black jacket but you will be looking a bit like a commuter focused S&M service, is that what you want?

I doubt there's a rich vein of comedy here.

bigmat

What I'd really like is one of the ADR shirts Greg Lemond won the '89 tour in - hi viz and retro cool rolled into one. Maybe I'll have a word with Prendas...

jonginge

MatHammond wrote:

What I'd really like is one of the ADR shirts Greg Lemond won the '89 tour in - hi viz and retro cool rolled into one. Maybe I'll have a word with Prendas...

OMG. Just checked prendas and they're going to be doing La Vie Claire tops! At last...

cougie

Chewy Cheeks wrote:

DDD

Black absorbs light does not reflect, basic physics.

Perhaps I've fallen into a pedant trap......

Maybe a shiny black jacket but you will be looking a bit like a commuter focused S&M service, is that what you want?

I doubt there's a rich vein of comedy here.

You used to be able to get something called Illuminite - I've got some winter gloves from it.
Looks black in daylight, but under headlights or flash photography you see its got reflective fibres in it. Works really well. Like these : http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... oves-10791

I dont think they sell in the UK at the moment, but a few manufacturers did similar thing.

Rapha pipe their softshells with a black reflective.

NGale

The only time I wear a hi viz vest when I cycle is when I am on my sustrans rangering duties. I only wear it because of it being the policy of Sustrans to do so. Otherwise I have a 10 quid pink jacket from Primark which does the job nicely (light enough, showerproof and has a bit of a lining)

tiny_pens

Try a football training bib. Cost about £2 on ebay and available in a wide range of colours including yellow and orange. Perfect for riding in the day. Get the perforated mesh ones and you won't notice much difference in sweatiness.

I have one that I wear over the top of my black nightvision jacket on rainy / overcast days.

Tiny

passout

I wear high Viz on my commute - an Endura gridlock Jacket. It's fine...I don't see what the fuss is about.

soy_sauce

i think Hi-Viz jacket is cool. 8)

i wear my hi-viz jacket day and night as long as its dry and warm day, then waterproof jacket with hi-viz vest on top for bad weather.

better be safe than sorry. sometimes you just can't be too sure that other can see you and you should do all you can to get "see".

sarajoy

Chewy Cheeks wrote:

DDD

Black absorbs light does not reflect, basic physics.

He's reacting to my mention of Scotchlite 680 or Black Diamond, I think.

I've so far only found it in the shape of an adhesive sheet - but hopefully soon it'll be available as sheets that can stick well to fabrics too (as the silver stuff is).
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Respr ... 360011877/

Also: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/12/1 ... black.html
And: http://www.doobybrain.com/2008/12/17/wr ... ive-vinyl/

DonDaddyD

Thanks Sara,

I think I'm going to task my girlfriend with finding that sheet in the form of a jacket. That should keep her busy giving me more time to do my manly stuff....