Winter jacket colours

GyatsoLa

I've been looking to invest in a good all weather jacket for autumn and winter, mainly at the Gore Phantom which seems to get good reviews. There is a range of colours including black, grey, white, yellow, red, blue, etc.

I'm trying to decide on the colour to get but... leaving aside fashion considerations I'm reluctant to get a 'bright' colour as in my experience they get tatty quite quick with oily fingers, road muck, etc. As I will use it for touring, as well as commuting, day rides etc., I do want a jacket that will look reasonably presentable if I walk into a cafe or restaurant.

For safety, I want to avoid the blacks or greys, but I can't quite bring myself to go for yellow flouro. And white doesn't seem practical.... The other options are a sort of brick red and an electric blue.

I'm tempted by the red because a while back while walking in a park during twilight (a misty wet day) I saw two cyclists, one with yellow flouro and one in a deep red. Surpriingly, the red cyclist seemed much more visible.

Ok, so this is a roundabout way of asking - is anyone aware of research or practical experience on which 'darker' colours are safest and most visible at night or in low light conditions?

Fat Head

Buy whatever colour you want then just stick an LED on whenever it gets remotely murky.

chriskempton

I'd go for red. Visible to traffic without being fluo yellow which I hate the look of.

cougie

I've got a black jacket and a cheapo fluo JJB gilet that goes over the top on murky days. They cost buttons to replace when dirty and in my experiences on the road stand out far more than any other colour.

pabloweaver

surrounded by some of the busiest rat runs and main roads...I have NO problem at all wearing flo yellow...there are already to many excuses ( opportunities ! ) for drivers to claim they did not see me without me cycling through the winter murk in stealth mode!

amaferanga

Red or blue isn't stealth.

cougie

In my experience - fluo stands out far more than red or blue do. If it didnt - all the safety jackets would be red or blue ?

amaferanga

Apparently the best color for a flouro jacket is pink....

pabloweaver

amaferanga wrote:

Red or blue isn't stealth.

...im just thinking the brighter the better for my journey through the traffic - garrish i agree but yellow jumps out at me more than the red or blue jackets that i have seen ( no pun intended ! )

Im after one of the altura jackets but im not sure if they come in anything but yellow for me to compare.

I do a lot of night riding and the obvious commuting in the dark ( sounds like an 80's group! ) and yellow works for me from all angles ..but as I say ..happy to re asssess the red /blue if I can find the right jacket.

nferrar

I have a red Gore Phantom, it looks reasonably presentable but I wouldn't wear it to a restaurant... It also has a few oil marks on it and some mud staining (I use it when MTBing to) that doesn't seem to come out. I wouldn't avoid black just because it's less visible, attaching an LED + the reflective strips make you just as visible at night as someone in a flouro yellow top.

giant_man

Green and black for me, love green in the winter.

GyatsoLa

Thanks for the feedback.

I agree that LED's and yellow flouro are the way to go for darkness - but from my experience of driving sometimes the most hazardous time is at twilight or on drizzly days and I think stronger colours are better in those conditions. Most of my kit is quite dark or high contrast (black with reflective patches). From personal experience, I think red stands out really well against a background of trees or hedges or concrete so I think its pretty good for winter riding.

So.... I'll have a think and consult my personal fashion advisor (fussy ex-gf).

Mark Alexander

Think about this, you say that fluorescent gets dirty with oil etc. Just think how oily grubby and ripped other dark colours will gt when you get knocked off?

andy_wrx

cougie wrote:

I've got a black jacket and a cheapo fluo JJB gilet that goes over the top on murky days. They cost buttons to replace when dirty and in my experiences on the road stand out far more than any other colour.

I drove up behind a cyclist like this last week.
It was dark, but he had lights, reflectives and a yellow jersey or jacket on, so he was plenty visible enough.
But the jacket had black sleeves...

I was catching him in the car but I could tell he was turning right, I could tell from his road positioning, so I eased off a bit to let him turn before I caught him.
When I got really close though, only yards behind him, I could see he was indicating right - right arm out horizontally, classic right-turn signal
...but because he had black sleeves I'd not seen this until right up behind him, his arm out was totally invisible, he might as well have not been signalling.

Mark Alexander

enough said me thinks

maddog 2

andy_wrx wrote:

When I got really close though, only yards behind him, I could see he was indicating right - right arm out horizontally, classic right-turn signal

the 'cycling proficiency test' way of turning right is clearly stupid IMO, and anyone thinking otherwise is asking to get wiped out, yellow arms or not.

cougie

Good point - thats why I ride with my illuminite gloves at night. Reflective all over the back.

Bit like these.

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/leg ... 399-75.jpg

Mark Alexander

My club kit is yellow so yellow gloves, arms shorts helmet... we've ben dubbed the telletubbies

redjeepǃ

I always wear bright flouro colours (mostly yellow), but my brother who commutes by bike all year around swears by black, as long as it's got loads of those reflective strips on it as he reckons it stands out more in the dark.

Mark Alexander

surely having both bright and reflectives would be best or is he playing the 'black contrasts the reflectives' card?

sicknote

As a driver and cyclist, I would say that its the bright colours that I see first when I am driver or cycling.
I have a bright yellow jacket or Hi-viz to wear.

Mark Alexander

Do you think that this could b due to the area of the material? I'm not a driver so can't answer for both sides but surely as a cyclist, the drivers here are more likely to notice a cyclist irrespective of the kit being worn because you're more aware that we're out there.

redjeepǃ

I know that I always wear bright colours on the bike as I reckon being seen is the only defence you have.

I won't even wear dark colours in the middle of summer. Besides, when else do you get the chance to go outdoors in flourescent pink lycra ?

cougie

I dont think its just down to the area of material. Just go out on the bike this weekend and you'll find that the fluo cyclists are visible before the other colours.

Even when they're too far away to make out what they are -you can see a fluo jacket on a bike.

By contrast - I've ridden past my mate on the opposite side of a dual carriageway when I was looking out for him. He was in black and it was dull.

bompington

Just bought a red jacket at Aldi (see threads on Aldi sale) so if I'm still alive in May you'll know the definitive answer on this one.
More seriously, I prefer to rely on really, really bright lights in winter - making sure your rear LED has bright sideways flashers too; twilight conditions are easy - just put your lights on anyway; I've used my rear light at midday before now.
I've pondered the "black sleeve" problem a lot, usually when turning off the main A94 on my way home, the only main road right turn I do regularly; my usual LS top is a stonking bright golden yellow - with black sleeves; that just happened to be the one in my size that was going cheap on ebay (Tacx boy, are you reading this?)

GyatsoLa

I have some fairly luminous Altura gloves which are great for visibility in poor weather. From my experience driving, I think the most important place for luminous bits are feet and hands, because when they move (pedaling, waving at passing girls), they catch the eye better than anything else.

I'm not sure I agree though that hi viz is necessarily the best for most conditions. I think it has become so ubiquitous that it doesn't catch the eye anymore, especially in twilight conditions. I find personally that strong colours like red are more eyecatching, but that might just be me - I assume the choice of yellow in high viz is based on some sort of research.

bompington

Worst case of bad visibility I ever saw was a cyclist on the A90 Perth - Dundee (fairly busy dual carriageway), at rush hour, in the dark & heavy rain, wearing dark clothing & (I think) only a dim old-fashioned rear light. I only realised he was there after I passed him - he was hidden in the spray of the lorry in front. I intuitively followed the lorry as it pulled out, if I hadn't the guy would have been killed without a doubt.
But the question in this particular case is, if he had been wearing hi-vis, would it have made any difference?

BE1

If the OP wants to know what colour jacket to buy we are missing one crucial piece of information.......what colour is the bike?

Mark Alexander

Bloody Hell! I can't believe I overlooked that!!

Mark Alexander

Bloody Hell! I can't believe I overlooked that!!

Riding in full yellow club kit stops you thinking about coordinating

cougie

I've seen a fair few idiots who have blocked their rear lights by putting their luggage racks in front of them, or bags, or let their coats hang down over them.

Frankly its quite a good sign that I've seen these people (usually as I'm walking home from work) - they survive long enough at least for me to see them.