Who doesn't wear fluro?

rhysyd

Who doesn't wear fluro clothing and feels safe riding in lets say all black kit? I usually wear a fluro jacket but today went out in pretty much all black although i felt sexy, i did feel very uneasy when approaching junctions and cars pulling out thinking they wouldnt of seen me?

Is fluro clothing that important or? :?:

MountainMonster

According to Global Cycling Network on Youtube, it does make quite a difference. I wear mine if the weather is pretty bad, otherwise, I just wear whatever I fancy that day. If it gets dark before i'll be home it comes with no matter.

JonEdwards

I don't wear fluoro. Hate the damn stuff. I don't wear black jackets* either, but there are plenty of colours that are decently visible in most conditions, and through the winter I tend to have lights on my bike at all times, so if visibility is getting poor I can turn them on.

Essentially I believe that dressing up in fluoro just marks us out as a target/hazard. We're not. We have a right to be to use the road, and we have a right to be seen by other road users. I don't go and ride into the side of your (the driver) car, just because it's not covered in hiviz. No I keep my eyes open and take notice of what's going on around me. You, the driver, can do the same for me. It's really not difficult to spot a biker IF you're actually looking for them. Fluoro/hiviz is just a bandaid for lazy driving skills.

(I also feel the same way when I see crocodiles of school kids that have been risk-assessed into being hivized up. Sorry but it is really, really wrong that children should have to wear PPE to be able to walk down the street safely.)

*lycra shorts/tights in any other colour than black are just beyond wrong!

Dippydog3

No fluro here. Black rules!

ForumNewbie

JonEdwards wrote:

I don't wear fluoro. Hate the damn stuff. I don't wear black jackets* either, but there are plenty of colours that are decently visible in most conditions, and through the winter I tend to have lights on my bike at all times, so if visibility is getting poor I can turn them on.

Essentially I believe that dressing up in fluoro just marks us out as a target/hazard. We're not. We have a right to be to use the road, and we have a right to be seen by other road users. I don't go and ride into the side of your (the driver) car, just because it's not covered in hiviz. No I keep my eyes open and take notice of what's going on around me. You, the driver, can do the same for me. It's really not difficult to spot a biker IF you're actually looking for them. Fluoro/hiviz is just a bandaid for lazy driving skills.

Yes, drivers should be looking for you, but I'd rather be more visible than less for those drivers that aren't necessarily looking out for cyclists. Yesterday during the day I was wearing my yellow hi-viz outer layer to keep me warm as well as visible. Cyclists coming towards me were seen by me much sooner than those wearing black, so they would be seen much earlier by drivers as well.

diamonddog

No fluor jerseys usually white/black, bright blue and/or red with white, bright colours suffice IMO. All worn with black bib tights in winter.

bsharp77

Ive seen countless floor wearers on my daily commute which is now in the dark - fluro is not a one stop solution, and makes very little difference in low light situations - the 2 important things to use are lights and reflective materials.
Any bright colour of material in general is better than black as it will help increase visibility slightly.

Essentially I believe that dressing up in fluoro just marks us out as a target/hazard. We're not. We have a right to be to use the road, and we have a right to be seen by other road users. I don't go and ride into the side of your (the driver) car, just because it's not covered in hiviz. No I keep my eyes open and take notice of what's going on around me. .

We have a right to use the road, yes. We also have a right to light ourselves up properly and give other road users the best chance possible of seeing us. You don't ride into the side of a car because it has very good lights which means you see it far away, and obviously the noise of the engine helps too.

You, the driver, can do the same for me. It's really not difficult to spot a biker IF you're actually looking for them. Fluoro/hiviz is just a bandaid for lazy driving skills

On a dark road in a car, travelling at any reasonable speed, it can be next to impossible to spot a cyclist who is not appropriately lit up until you are right on top of them. Do you expect all drivers to creep around the roads at 10mph looking into the side of the road for some inconsiderate rider who hasn't bothered to equip themselves properly?

Everyone using the road has a duty to equip themselves properly for the conditions in which they find themselves. Its nothing more than common sense....which seems to be in shorter supply on all sides these days!

Safe riding out there.

type:epyt

Flouro tends to give the city cyclist a mindset of invulnerabilty in my experiences ... They seem to think visibility is the key to safety, rather than the simple theory of if you wouldn't do it in a car don't do it on a bike (motorways and bike paths being sensible exceptions to that rule).

In terms of proper cyclists on proper roads, it just makes the rider look like they can't afford decent kit.

keith57

I don't wear fluro at all, can't stand it!! But most of my kit has contrasting panels of some kind, so does attract attention in daylight. (I do have some bright orange footwear from Giro, not sure if that counts ;-) )

I saw a guy in full yellow flouro kit riding towards me the other night, in the dark, all I could see was his bright light, I only noticed he was wearing the yellow flouro stuff after he passed, even then it was hardly noticeable at all, like a very dull murky mustard colour, absolutely no effect head on as it was obscured by his bright light.

However (i) all of my clothing, winter footwear, even gloves, has the 'reflective' silvery tape stuff on it, so I'm told that at night I light up in car headlights quite nicely.

However (ii) I'm noticing that at night, with my Exposure 'Strada' light, cars are very well behaved, they wait for me to pass before pulling out behind parked cars, approach cautiously when coming round bends on country lanes, etc. So I'm finding night riding quite a bit less stressful than daylight riding at the moment!! It helps that the Strada light has a dip position, on full beam it 's almost too bright, on dip it's far more benign.

secretsqizz

I have spoke reflectorators , pedal reflectorators and dayglo but halfords said it was a nightglo version so cnt drivers can see me from behind.

sloppyschleckonds

Didn't safety surveys show the eye sees an image or outline rather than any colours?

bikes`n`guns

Black rules. With perhaps a flash of red, blue, or whatever.

I do sometimes concede to a flouro reflective buff which I quite like.

simon_masterson

I have a long sleeve jersey that is somewhat that hue (or it was when it was made, anyway), but in general no, and I do not wear it for that express purpose.

If I did own any all black kit however, I would not wear it for actual night riding. I think reflective is the important property here, but nevertheless a bright colour is more visible than all black. Riding with good lights is the key, but I do think it gives a negative impression to motorists if it clearly looks like you aren't prepared to make any concessions to road safety.

TheHound

JonEdwards wrote:

I don't wear fluoro. Hate the damn stuff. I don't wear black jackets* either, but there are plenty of colours that are decently visible in most conditions, and through the winter I tend to have lights on my bike at all times, so if visibility is getting poor I can turn them on.

Essentially I believe that dressing up in fluoro just marks us out as a target/hazard. We're not. We have a right to be to use the road, and we have a right to be seen by other road users. I don't go and ride into the side of your (the driver) car, just because it's not covered in hiviz. No I keep my eyes open and take notice of what's going on around me. You, the driver, can do the same for me. It's really not difficult to spot a biker IF you're actually looking for them. Fluoro/hiviz is just a bandaid for lazy driving skills.

(I also feel the same way when I see crocodiles of school kids that have been risk-assessed into being hivized up. Sorry but it is really, really wrong that children should have to wear PPE to be able to walk down the street safely.)

*lycra shorts/tights in any other colour than black are just beyond wrong!

This is also why I don't lock my front door and advise women to walk home alone in the dark.

MountainMonster

As much as I don't think wearing it makes me a huge amount safer, I still like to think of the one time it will make that difference. My jacket has a lot of reflectives, quite is fluoro, and is a sweatbox.

cougie

Are we talking in daylight or night ? Fluoro isn't much use in the dark.

My riding partner at the weekend likes black. I ride towards his house and he rides towards mine on a Sunday morning. When we meet we head off. One winter morning he wasn't there where we usually mee so I carried on riding, and stopped eventually to ring him to see if he'd overslept.

He then caught me up. Top to toe in black. No lights. I had been looking for him and missed him - so would a sleepy motorist have seen him ? Next week he had a Fluo gilet and flashing light on.

I've not missed him since.

Jonedwards - it's great to be ideological - but we know there are crap, lazy, sleepy, hung over, doped,speeding motorists out there. I'd rather be alive than dead but with the moral high ground.

Bozman

I don't own one single piece of Hi Viz clothing and today I was wearing all black but that's not always the case, but I do tend to wear my helmet more when the roads get a little greasy, plus I'll use a front and rear micro led light which gets me noticed in dull conditions.

simon_masterson

cougie wrote:

Jonedwards - it's great to be ideological - but we know there are crap, lazy, sleepy, hung over, doped,speeding motorists out there. I'd rather be alive than dead but with the moral high ground.

Exactly this - I'm sure the 'right to use the road' would be the first thing on anyone's mind when lying on the slab.

rhysyd

Anybody have a decent long sleeve fluro which isnt completly fluro but still noticeable? in a nice racing fit?

cougie

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sportful-pista- ... ve-jersey/

Probably too thin for winter riding but good for autumn. Very race fit.

jonny_trousers

I only rarely wear fluro these days, but that's purely for reasons of vanity, as I do think it helps you stand out in low light conditions. Isn't the rule, fluro for low light, white and reflective for night? And black for visiting the Rapha cafe, obv.

Monty Dog

The assumption that you are 'safer' in fluorescent is foolhardy, as much as compulsory helmet wear. I wear reflectives for night-riding. IME no amount of bright colours will detract from the willful blindness of some motorists.

iPete

Hope District rear light at all times of the year in all conditions. Then black/white reflective tape hidden on parts of the bike/helment.

Think I've got a fluro Gabba but nothing else.

ben@31

I have a red soft-shell jacket I've been using.

However I live just out of town and aim to cycle on empty B-roads. I avoid busy A-roads like the plague.

I read somewhere that fluro is c*ck all use at night anyway and people have become so used to yellow fluro that they don't tend to notice it as much. One example is I once drove past a cyclist in orange, it stood out only because it wasn't yellow and I thought to myself "I never see cyclists in orange fluro".

ai_1

I'm curious. How many of those who don't make a concious effort to wear bright colours/hi viz are also motorists and how many are not?

DavidJB

I prefer to employ an active lighting system...saying that I do wear the DHB fluro top....its awesome. http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-blok-fluoro ... ve-jersey/

Bozman

Ai_1 wrote:

I'm curious. How many of those who don't make a concious effort to wear bright colours/hi viz are also motorists and how many are not?

I'd say most if not all are motorists.

mikpem

I normally wear red. If it's wet I have 2 jackets, a fluro yellow one for daytime/low light and a white one for night time.
I found when driving that flouro doesn't really show up when it's really dark (especially under yellow street lights) but if something white appears in front of you you tend to notice it! It's jut a pain to keep it clean!

thiscocks

type:epyt wrote:

Flouro tends to give the city cyclist a mindset of invulnerabilty in my experiences ... They seem to think visibility is the key to safety, rather than the simple theory of if you wouldn't do it in a car don't do it on a bike (motorways and bike paths being sensible exceptions to that rule).

In terms of proper cyclists on proper roads, it just makes the rider look like they can't afford decent kit.

Sorry but what a load of crap. Visibility is the key to safe cycling (that and not riding like a nob in town-but thats a given). There is loads of perfectly good quality high vis stuff available. Fair enough high vis isnt for everyone but I think if you are wearing dark colours all the time you are asking for a car to pull out on you unless you have v bright lights on all the time.

iPete

Ai_1 wrote:

I'm curious. How many of those who don't make a concious effort to wear bright colours/hi viz are also motorists and how many are not?

Yup but my effort has gone into good (but responsible lighting) and reflective materials.

jonny_trousers

There seems to be a fair amount of excuse making going on in this thread. If you don't want to wear fluro because you don't like the look of it that is entirely your prerogative, but this cobblers about the way motorists have developed as a species to no longer notice hi-viz, or that in wearing it you are lulling yourself into a false sense of security... really?

Off topic, but I do think using epically bright lights on the bike to be pretty selfish. A guy passed me the other day and it was like I was riding behind a car with a flashing fog lamp. Thoroughly unpleasant.