Last night I was a 'w*nker cyclist'.

[TheFungle]

Last night I left work just before 4pm as I had to get back to town for a haircut, it was light enough that I could see easily without lights but not nearly light enough to ride without them.

One mile into my ten mile ride home my rear light decided to die!

I took the descision to ride on anyway, my Rapha jacket has a very handy reflective 'storm panel' but I have to say I've not felt that 'aware' on a bike for many a year, it's certainly not something I want to repeat.

A couple of things which did strike me;

Cars gave me just as much room as if I had a light on.

I didn't receive any horn beeping which I was rightfully expecting.

So lesson well and truly learnt, I'm going to buy an emergency back up light just in case it should happen again and thank my lucky stars the drivers were switched on..

[paulmon]

Get a set of these. They are plenty bright enough for you to be seen.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Twin-silicone-frog-LED-M...

[ewenm]

Always have 2 rear lights on the bike and spare batteries in your kit. Glad you got home without incident though.

[944fan]

ewenm said:

Always have 2 rear lights on the bike and spare batteries in your kit. Glad you got home without incident though.

I have three rear lights plus a dual white/red jobby on the helmet.

[scubadude]

I just have a second light in my pocket, I have a cheapo front/rear set I bought in ASDA for backup.

Plenty of reflectors are good though, I also find if I hear a car behind me and I want to be given plenty of space (like crawling up a hill) I'll wiggle the bars and "wobble" slightly, driver seem to give me an extra couple of feet clearance then ;-)

[marting]

Worst ever "My Rapha jacket is awesome" thread

[budgie smuggler]

marting said:

Worst ever "My Rapha jacket is awesome" thread

[TheFungle]

marting said:

Worst ever "My Rapha jacket is awesome" thread

But it's so lovely

[WinstonWolf]

Those Aldi LED lights that loop onto your jacket are handy for emergencies too. The batteries seem to last forever...

[Allyc85]

paulmon said:

Get a set of these. They are plenty bright enough for you to be seen.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Twin-silicone-frog-LED-M...

Ideal, was thinking of getting a cheap set of lights for day use/back up.

[marting]

Allyc85 said:

Ideal, was thinking of getting a cheap set of lights for day use/back up.

I have a couple of these for backups. The only problem is that they run on watch batteries so I'm forever on ebay buying new batteries after I've accidentally switched them on in my pocket.

[TheLemming]

ewenm said:

Always have 2 rear lights on the bike and spare batteries in your kit. Glad you got home without incident though.

^^this^^

I've gone to triple redundancy on the rear - you can't see them if they fail, and having light on the chainstays means if one side gets knocked for whatever reason you've still got the other....

Two lights for the front (normally ones in my jersey as I'm short on bar space on my new bike) AND spare batteries for both...
From my recent experience of a seriously are clenching ride home earlier in the week - bring spare charged batteries.... (I had a flat spare for my main light and no spare battery for the backup light - dangerous epic fail)

[MadDad]

Get these;



They weigh nothing, fit in your jersey or can be left on the bike, are bright as a bright thing and are an ideal set of backup lights.........

[lynus2004]

Those look very similar to the ones I ordered from ebay as backups.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MTB-Mountain-Bike-Bicycl...

They are very good for the money

[Piersman2]

Not being funny here, but the rear light on a bike is not something that stands out an awful lot for a car driver anyways, especially if amongst other traffic. Most drivers would probably see your reflective jacket before a small, slow moving red light anyways.

What I'm saying is don't rely on your rear red light being some kind of shining beacon to those dozy car drivers behind you and make sure to ride with that in mind at all times in the dark, with light or not.

[yellowjack]

lynus2004 said:

Those look very similar to the ones I ordered from ebay as backups.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MTB-Mountain-Bike-Bicycl...

They are very good for the money

Cheers. Added to my watch list!!! (both front and rear. they also do the Cree front lights at c£17 )

I simply cannot fathom how these sellers manage to sell stuff like this at the prices they do. Free postage as well!

Having said that, I caught a glimpse of an invoice for some Lezyne lights at a LBS recently. They were paying £14.50 each (10 units billed at £145.00) - I had a look at their retail stock, and the same unit was priced at £45.00 Now I know they have to turn a profit, but seriously? That's a hell of a margin.

[ewenm]

Piersman2 said:

Not being funny here, but the rear light on a bike is not something that stands out an awful lot for a car driver anyways, especially if amongst other traffic. Most drivers would probably see your reflective jacket before a small, slow moving red light anyways.

What I'm saying is don't rely on your rear red light being some kind of shining beacon to those dozy car drivers behind you and make sure to ride with that in mind at all times in the dark, with light or not.

I tend to combine a flashing rear light with a constant one and always ride ready for a SMIDSY anyway.

Although "slow moving" is a laugh, in cities cycling is often faster than driving

[TheLemming]

Piersman2 said:

Not being funny here, but the rear light on a bike is not something that stands out an awful lot for a car driver anyways, especially if amongst other traffic. Most drivers would probably see your reflective jacket before a small, slow moving red light anyways.

What I'm saying is don't rely on your rear red light being some kind of shining beacon to those dozy car drivers behind you and make sure to ride with that in mind at all times in the dark, with light or not.

Yeah you've not seen a decent rear light.....

Youre 100% correct - if you're talking about a poundshop (or equivalent) light, the decent ones are visible from a mile away or more and throw a six foot puddle of light behind the bike.

Oh and that's one of them - Lots of people recommend several.

I feel more visible in the dark, get less close overtakes etc and I'm sure its due to the lights - front and rear.

[AyBee]

ewenm said:

Always have 2 rear lights on the bike and spare batteries in your kit. Glad you got home without incident though.

No spare batteries for me but I have 2 lights on my seatpost - ride with both on at the same time but safe in the knowledge that if one fails, I have the other to get me home. I'd be pretty unlucky to have both fail at the same time considering my commutes are 7 miles each way and I tend to change the batteries when they go dull rather than when they run out. I see some cyclists who have a rear light but it's so dull you can barely see it when you pass them - pointless to the extreme!

[Watchman]

On my Amazon wish list for Christmas: