Milton Keynes

I normally always ride wearing a bright neon yellow, orange, or green shirt while riding. Then I have a thin windbreaker-style cycling jacket for cooler weather which is also bright yellow with a few reflective strips. It always seems like the cars can see me.

Milton Keynes

Tonight I played around with modifying a bike light I had that someone had given to me. It's one of those small white lights with a rubber strap that looks like this:



I didn't really need another white headlight, and using a single LED it's not very bright at all. I already have a couple of headlights, one very bright one to see by and another I use in strobe mode. So I decided to switch out the bright white LED for a red one and maybe mount it on my seatpost as a secondary taillight.

Well the bright red LED's I have apparently aren't that bright, at least the one I replaced the white LED with was pretty disappointing. I decided to put the white one back in but was looking through my collection of LED's when I realized I had a few multicolor flashing LED's. I decided to experiment with one to see what it would look like. Put one in and it flashes in red, green, blue, and combinations of those colors.

I decided to mount the light on the top tube facing downward, so it lights up my downtube and water bottle as well as the ground below. My bike is white so it should reflect off the downtube a bit to give me some side-to-side visibility. Of course the white LED would have worked OK in this manner but having the different colors flashing is a real attention getter.

Milton Keynes

Just received some spoke lights I'd ordered from Amazon today. Can't wait to put them on my bike tonight. The package came with one red, one blue, one green, and two color changing lights. I'll probably put the green and one color changing light on the front wheel, and the red and the other color changing light on the rear wheel and keep the blue for a spare. Should help with sideways visibility.

Tunnelrat81

I'm a big fan of reflective tape, but it's worth taking a close look at the performance of what you're using. There are significant differences in the reflective performance between colors of the same type. As nice as the black reflective tape is at disappearing upon install, it's reflective performance is poor compared to the lighter colors, with white usually being the best performer. A quick google search will show you charts that compare not just the various colors but also the difference between the various styles/types/grades of reflective tape.

I looked into this some years ago and ended up buying some 1" rolls of Reflexite V92 tape. I installed it on my commuter bike (inside of rims between spokes) and not only is it still securely fastened to the rims after probably 8 years, but it's still shockingly bright. Each type of tape has a specific angle that it's able to reflect light back from, and I believe the higher performance tapes are reflective over a tighter range, which makes them significantly more effective at longer distances. Not only is the reflected light intensity much higher, but the angle is well within the requirement for headlights to reflect back to the driver's eyes.

I recently did some very careful trimming and shaping of the same tape to install some "decals" on my wife's 'nicer' road bike. The installation went well, and they don't look bad at all during the day.

Reflexite V92 appears to be the tape that the Kickstarter brand "Flectr" uses. The triangle pattern of prismatic reflective tape is fairly recognizable. You can buy it much cheaper by the roll rather than buying a pre-cut single wheel application for $15 or whatever they charge.

-Jeremy

Milton Keynes

The stuff I used on my bike is (I think) 3M stuff with diamond shapes on it. It's highly reflective, since when I took a picture of my bike outside on a cloudy day recently the flash automatically came on and you could easily see the tape lit up in the picture.

But of course the tape just augments the lights I have all over my bike.

ETA: My bike is white so the white reflective tape doesn't look bad, and is barely noticeable except the 8 strips on each side of my wheels.

dim

proviz jacket .... thats all you need:

Tunnelrat81

As much as high vis clothing can help, moving items will always catch the eye much better. I did put some blue strips of reflective tape on my frame since they had come in a sample pack and matched perfectly, but once you see how eye catching the wheel tape can be, you'll realize the difference. Tape up the wheels, pull your car out into the road and have a friend ride your bike around 50+ ft. in front of the car with the lights on and you'll see what I mean. Do two opposing parts of the wheel with a big gap in between. Even with my old box section rims, and the v92 installed only on the inside flat part, it is really effective.

-Jeremy

Tunnelrat81

True. I would never trust only reflective defense. Always a high output headlight and at least one quality, well aimed blinky.

-Jeremy

01 CAt Man Do

Lots of good advise from everybody. Personally I like the simple solutions that tend not to be too expensive. I use a set of small wheel lights that I bought off of ebay. Nothing makes a bike jump out from among the crowd like moving lights on a wheel. The down side of wheel lights is that you have to mess with batteries. Mine use a single AAA cell. I use rechargeable NiMh batteries and so far they seem to last for at least three to four short rides. The ones I use create a visible pattern about 3 inches wide as the wheels turn faster. The faster you go the more detailed the pattern but regardless of that they make a person riding a bike highly conspicuous. While these are just cheap Chinese I like them because they are self contained, fairly small and for the most part do the job of providing conspicuousness from the sides

Wheel lights though could be considered overkill. Someone else already recommended the Salzmann ( 3M Scotchlite ) spoke reflectors and I use them as well ( although not on every spoke, I use six per wheel ) The nice thing about the straw like spoke reflectors is they are virtually maintenance free. The tubular form of the reflectors means than they are able to gather light from almost any angle and reflect it back to the source. In keeping with that idea I love cycling clothing that includes reflective piping. Since it too is tubular in form it also reflects light from many different angles.

What I use when I ride road at night; One main front lamp on the bars....one small 4-mini LED flasher mounted to my fork leg....LED torch mounted to my helmet ( used only for high beam purposes or when in a high traffic intersection ) .....one rear red LED lamp mounted to seat post ( Hotshot 150 ) and one mounted to back of my helmet ( Gemini Iris ).... reflective 3M bits on my outer clothing and some typical ( DOT-2 ) rated reflective tape on my wind vest and jacket. Also put some on my left glove so people see my hand better when signaling a turn

Milton Keynes

I put eight strips about an inch & a half long equally around each side of my wheels, and while I've never seen them lit up by car headlights, I've taken pictures of my bike in the dark with a flash, and they really light up. I'm sure they're really noticeable while spinning.

Milton Keynes

I looked at those kind of lights and very nearly came to buying them. But instead I opted for these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. They light up well and my bike should be quite noticeable from side to side, and a little from front to back.

I really don't think so. Having lights moving around in circles along with the headlight & taillight is sure to make drivers know that my bike is a bike. I'd much rather have lights on my wheels so drivers can see me from a distance than have to wait until they get close enough for their headlights to reflect off the tape. We always talk about how important it is to have lights on the front & back of our bikes but without spoke lights the only thing we have for sideways visibility at night are wheel reflectors if we haven't removed them, and maybe some reflective tape if we've put it on. Having lights on the wheels is sure to get noticed.

Tunnelrat81

My reason for two groups with large space is to indicate motion a bit more aggressively. If you put strips all around your wheel, or even spaced them on and off all the way around, at high rolling speeds they may become glowing hoops, which are less conspicuous than 'spinning asteroids' as your wheel goes around. It would be an interesting test to run though, to objectively compare the two.

My hesitation with wheel lights is that many of them are low powered and although they'd be helpfully in a dark pedestrian walkway, I simply doubt their ability to compete with all of the other lights out there, and when in the headlights of a car, my guess is that they nearly disappear. Where reflectors will simply perform better as the light source increases.

-Jeremy

Tunnelrat81

^^ For example. How many times have you had someone show you their great new bar end blinkies that weigh almost nothing and will surely improve their safety...only to do an evening ride and realize that you can barely see them from a bike 15 ft. behind. Or those weak integrated helmet lights that get people all excited, but they can't be seen at all at the distance required for safety. Compare that to a directional hotshot tail light that can be seen in daylight from 1/4 mile back.

-Jeremy

01 CAt Man Do

I wouldn't be so bold as to rate all wheel lights as mediocre. Yes, I've seen some that are not real bright but even those are better than nothing. I use two of these on each wheel. Like all lights the darker the environment the more they stand out. What makes them so noticeable is that they are rotating. If they were just mounted to the frame they would not be as conspicuous although I'm sure they could still be seen easily from say 500 ft. if you were viewing them from the side. When viewed on a rotating wheel and viewed from the side, even with no other lights being used the wheel lights I use would be almost impossible not to see, even if some ambient light were still present.

That said I saw a guy using wheel lights like mine one day. This was on a road with full street lighting and I was about 200 ft away to the side. Yep, the little lights were not real bright but I did noticed them. Of course with full street lighting you don't need side lighting but that's just my opinion. BTW, I didn't notice if the guy had a front light or rear light. If he did I didn't notice. I did notice the wheel lights.

Yes, I've seen folks using mediocre lights. Seen one just the other night. Guy was using a simple head type mounted LED lamp ( no helmet ) that couldn't of been more than 50 lumen. Guy had no rear lamp and was riding the wrong side of the road. Completely dark rural road. He did have some typical Walmart type rear reflectors. The point I'm making; I still saw him. Even with the lamp not pointing at me and riding the wrong side of the road. Any light is better than no light . Funny but the guy was going to the same convenience store I was. I was wishing I had one of my many ( not being used ) rear blinkies to give him. On the road he was on he really needed it.

Milton Keynes

Oh no, these glow quite bright and are highly noticeable. They even light up the ground underneath each wheel. Any brighter and I'd almost consider them a nuisance. Of course that's with a brand new battery. Not sure how they'll look when the battery starts to go dead, or how long a battery will last since I just got these, but time will tell. But they're definitely brighter than my wheel reflectors would be, which I removed. I likely no longer need the reflective tape strips on the wheels any more, but I'm leaving that on. But I can guarantee that you'll notice my wheel lights from several blocks away.

noglider 

Have you used them yet, and how do you like them? They're a lot cheaper than the Nite Ize brand, and it seems they use two CR2032 cells. The Nite Ize is designed for two CR2016 cells, so I might like these no-names better. When I'm out of 2016s I use a single 2032, so it lasts longer, but the light is dimmer.

As I think I said before, wheel lights don't need to be bright! The motion makes them noticeable. But they are not a substitute for a tail light. They are a supplement.

Milton Keynes

Yes, I've got them on my bike right now, and they work quite well. And these lights all use a single CR2032 battery. All you have to do is install them, then to turn them on just squeeze them. They have three flash modes, fast, slow, and steady on. Then the multicolor ones change colors and flash on steady on mode. In flash mode they flash kind of a light blue. I've found that they seem to work best when they're all on steady mode. In flash mode, even the solid colors tend to only light up partway around the wheel, and seem to be more noticeable when on full time. So I turn the green on front and the red on back on in steady on mode, and the multicolors do their own thing flashing & changing colors which makes a nice, noticeable display.

01 CAt Man Do

I think reflective tape has come a long way since the introduction of the original 3M type tape. Not sure what brand was the first to manufacture the prismatic type ( Reflecite ? ) but when you see it action you know it right away. Such prismatic type tapes will usually have a DOT-2 rating and is the same type used on school buses and on tractor trailers. There are now many brands the utilize the same technology and have the same DOT-2 rating.

I think the most conspicuous night bicyclists I have ever seen are usually wearing one of those "road construction type" reflective vests with the 3" wide reflective DOT-2 tape used over the entire vest. Looks a little gawdy but damn it show-nuff' gets the job done. I've seen riders riding with just this type of vest ( no lights ) and I always see them well before I reach them.

The wheel lights with the CR type batteries are fine but CR type "coin cell" type batteries tend to be expensive. If you decide to buy that kind of wheel light you need to buy spare cells in bulk so they are less expensive to replace. Don't buy the cheap Chinese coin or button cells in bulk. I tried that once and found out that they don't have half the charge of the good brand name cells. Go with the good brand name lithium cells and you should be fine. You can get good deals for bulk cell purchases on Amazon or just off the web. Just remember all small cells have a limited shelf life so best to buy from a reliable source. I bought button cells from the local battery store one time and found out that most of what I bought was total sh**. ( not to mention I paid a premium price ) I won't make that mistake again. Buy enough to get you through a season but don't over-stock and have the stuff just sitting around during the winter.

noglider 

Good button cells offer a good value. I buy them five or ten at a time, because if I get more, they go stale.

Thanks for the report, @Milton Keynes. I can't stand having a light in my front wheel, as it distracts me too much, so I just use a spoke light in my rear wheel.

01 CAt Man Do

The best button cells are made with Silver Oxide. The best coin size cells usually are Lithium based.
Tom, not sure why you would considered a front wheel light distracting unless somehow it was overly omni-directional, or simply bright enough to reflect off the ground and thus back into your eyes. All the wheel lights I've ever used never did any of that. The only time I had that problem was when I mounted my 60 lm mini flasher onto my front fork. I had to create a small hood using some electrical tape so when I aimed the light the way I *wanted ( *tilted slightly up so not to reflect off the ground ) the upper LED's didn't shine back into my eyes.

noglider 

I don't know why a front wheel light distracts me, but it does. I seem to be more sensitive to some visual stimuli than others. That's why round headlight beams are bad for me, especially if they have a hot spot in the middle. I look at the hot spot instead of wherever I need to look.

Milton Keynes

Interesting. My front wheel lights don't distract me except when I'm looking down at them to see how good they look. But I think having lights on both front and rear scream "bicycle!" to motorists. At any rate, even just having lights on the rear wheel will get you noticed better than not having them.

noglider 

I use these little reflectors on the spokes of my front wheel. Actually, I put one on every fourth spoke. They look like straws. They just snap on the spokes.

01 CAt Man Do

These are similar to the Salzman ( 3M Scotchlite ) spoke reflectors that we were talking about before. Interestingly when I looked at your link I see below that they now sell spoke reflectors in colors. That got me thinking; If you bought some in red ( or yellow ) you could mount some on stationary parts of your bike like fender struts, cables...etc. You might have to modify them if the opening is not wide enough or use tape to hold them on if used on a cable but I thought it an interesting idea. I might just have to buy some colored ones just to mess around with. I have a set of Atozi spoke wheel lights that are green. I don't use them too much because they use non-rechargeable button cells but I like the idea of using them along with the green spoke reflectors. If I used the Atozi's and both the green and white spoke reflectors I think that would look really cool going down the road. I know, I know, over-kill.

Actually the *Atozi spoke lights I speak of are my favorite because they are not only bright but are easily attached or removed in seconds, not to mention they are very small. ( I use two on each wheel when I use them ). Down side of the Atozi's is that they use a series of three button cells. The ones that come with the Atozi's are sealed together. They last for several rides but it sure would be nice if the websites that sell these would also sell you as many replacement ( 3 sealed in series ) batteries as you want. Otherwise the best loose replacement cells are the Sony ( Silver Oxide )392 ( or SR41W ). I bought these in bulk from Battery Junction. The silver oxide cells should last almost twice as long as the standard Alkaline cells. If you use something like the Atozi's it's best to carry a spare for each wheel already to go with fresh batteries so if one poops while on a ride you don't have to mess with loose cells. Just pop the one off and one on and you're back on the road in seconds.

( * You can buy the Atozi's either from Amazon or ebay. About $6 each. They usually come with two sets of batteries. Twist to turn on or off. They clip on just like the spoke reflectors.. You would think they might fall off but they don't. I've not lost one yet. I like the green but they come in white, yellow, orange/red and blue. They operate only in flash mode, no steady mode. )

TimothyH

For the record, this is what Oracal 5700 (Reflexite) looks like with the light from an iPhone 6S shining on it at a distance of about 16 feet.


It can be purchased by the foot from H & H Sign Supply.


-Tim-