.

I'll be blunt.

It is thoughtless, stupid, and illegal to ride a bicycle at night without a front light and a rear reflector.

Just because one thinks one can see where you are going doesn't mean one can, and it certainly doesn't mean others can see and avoid you.

In a previous career I did conspicuity research that looked at flashing lights and vehicle color and other factors for emergency vehicles, and while I didnt specifically look at bicycle lighting, I think the conclusions can be generalized.

The color of the vehicle, or your clothing in the case of cyclists, is largely irrelevant at night. The human visual system doesn't work that way. Lighter clothing reflects more light, and so is marginally better, and the best color is white. Reflective stripes are orders of magnitude better.

On urban roads, it is helpful to have a non blinding flashing "be seen" light to increase the probability that drivers will distinguish you from all the other lights and reflections in a nighttime cityscape, and to identify you as something distinct from the line of cars behind you or a reflection from raindrops on a windshield.

The flashing should not be random, because that makes it difficult for drivers to determine your trajectory. A repeated pattern is ok. Something like a 1-watt Planet Bike Blaze in conjunction with a brighter, well-aimed headlight is a good combination.

On bike paths, you can put the front light on steady, and your fellow riders will thank you for your thoughtfulness.

A blindingly bright flashing (or even steady) lights can be a hazard as well. Minimize the problem: Get a light designed to be a headlight instead of a retina-scarring Rambo flashlight, aim it at the road in front of you instead of out into drivers' eyes, and use dimmer settings when you're in darker environments.

The same general conclusions apply to rear lights, but the hazard being mitigated by a rear light (getting hit from behind) is smaller. Drivers will usually have time to react if you have a decent reflector. But a rear flasher will provide a lot more reaction time to the inattentive driver (which these days is most of them).

I have doubts about that. IMHO blinking is adding to that "noise". Imagine the scene if/when we actually get a lot of cyclists on urban streets at night - all with bright blinking white lights.

Speaking only for myself, when I drive at night I find the white flashers a pure annoyance and I get in the habit of looking away.

I guess we just agree to disagree on this.

The bluntness was about ninjas.

I agree that overly bright strobes are distracting and possibly dangerous: The research seems clear on conspicuity, but divided about the "moth effect."

I personally hedge my bets by running a dynamo headlight day and night, with a supplemental blinky at night on city streets that I turn off when I'm on trails. Same deal in the back, except the blinky is always on at night because it's a pita to turn it off as I go on and off the trails. The blinkies aren't blinding, and they are well-aimed. Oh, and I wear a reflective vest at night, too.

I'm more cautious than average, but then again I spent tme as a paramedic many years ago and saw some scenes that made an impression.

Understood.

during the winter months I run two low power lights on my fork blades set to flash and a bright steady light on my handle bars. The blinking ones are pointed mostly down and aren't flashing in anyone's eyes. while on a trail I rotate my bright light over to the right one or two clicks to keep it out of folks eyes.

Seems to make the most sense to me.

The idea is to see and be seen - running a decent headlight allows you to see where you are going, a blinky helps warn others. I use a steady beam when not mixing with cars, a blinky when in traffic, and always a use blinky rearward My mom is 80, and I tend to side with her - she realizes I will ride until I cannot, and wants to see us bikers - a blinky is the best thing for her to see, and I use them for the car crowd to help them see me. I use a steady headlight on the trails to avoid bothering the other riders.

You do need a headlight to be legal in tis state, and i like them (have been involved in a crash with a ninja that still bothers my shoulder). Pay attention to things out there, and use lights that allow others to pay situational attention to you.

I was riding with my niterider mounted on my helmet today and realized that the chick with the nice cans could probably tell I was shining a spotlight on them.

Handlebar mounts are nice.

FTFY

Does anyone else chuckle every time they see the title of this thread?

Thanks ebbmart!



Yes because it sounds like an awesome fight that I'd pay to watch.

These are some weird gangs...
"In my day, gangs had cool names like 'Sharks' or 'Bloods' or 'Get Touched Boyz' (?!) or 'From Da Zoo' (?!?) or 'Very Crispy Gangsters' (WTF )

I think that people that don't have lights on their bikes are assholes. Bugs the hell out of me when some idiot is rolling down the road and I'm driving a car and cant see the fool until the last second.

People that do this on bike trails are even bigger assholes.

Yesterday I saw a young man riding his spraypainted, brakeless fixed-gear bicycle the wrong way down Portland on the side where the bike lane used to be (his right). HE DIDN'T HAVE A JACKET OR LIGHTS. FUCKING ASSHOLE.

I realized I'm not legal on my bikes, I removed the factory reflectors to replace them with lights. I have decided I want to make the letter of the law:



This leaves A LOT of room for interpretation...

The most challenging is the pedals, I have clipless pedals (very common), my shoes have small reflective patches on them, does that count?

I'm thinking of something like this: http://www.rei.com/product/808968/lightweights-for-clothing-and-gear-power-reflectors to be sure I meet the legal requirements.

Anybody ever dig deeper into this issue and have advice?