Neil: Famous sag driver Lee Mitchell, who spent countless (thousands?) of hours following cyclists day and night, used to say that the single most effective piece of reflective gear is an ankle band. The reflectivity and the motion capture a driver’s attention and immediately say, “This is a bicycle.” Lee would advise that ankle bands work better than vests or taillights.
My favorite is this one from Rivendell Bicycle Works: https://www.rivbike.com/products/ankle-reflector-rar <https://www.rivbike.com/products/ankle-reflector-rar> The two ends of the band attach to each other in a way that they create a “flag” that sticks out to the side for more visibility. And, SINCE YOU ASKED, please give me a second to step on my soapbox and say a word or two about superbright taillights: THEY SUCK!! Here in the US, we’ve gotten caught up in a taillight arms race, in which rear-facing lights are now as bright as front-facing lights were just a few years ago. A bike with a superbright taillight is impossible to ride behind—all you can see is a big red glow in front of you. This forces the poor following rider to ride out to the side (not safe) or far back (not very sociable, and makes drafting impossible) or out ahead of the rider with the superbright light (not very fair to the rider who’s just trying not to be blinded). Lights this bright aren’t needed. Really, you don’t need much light to be visible from pretty far away on a dark road. I note that when I was riding PBP this year, the vast majority of cyclists (from outside the US) had reasonably bright taillights. The arms race hasn’t taken hold over there … yet. And don’t get me started on riders whose taillights are pointing upward, rather than straight back, making them more effective at blinding fellow riders and less visible to motorists. --Eric Norris campyonly...@me.com @CampyOnlyguy (Twitter/Instagram) > On Sep 27, 2019, at 11:09 AM, Neil Doran <neil.h.do...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Over the last few weeks I've had two close calls with automobiles during my > morning commute that really seem to come down to 'I didn't see you'. > > I currently have a dyno hub with full-time lights front and rear, and try and > ride predictably, but seems like I need to up my visibility game. I'm > thinking a very bright and loud reflective vest. Needs to be pretty light > weight though, maybe even a mesh. > > Any suggestions from the group mind on either vests you have been happy with, > or other tips n tricks for daytime visibility? > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com > <mailto:rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b4e51010-5a27-44ff-9458-640f27453e61%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b4e51010-5a27-44ff-9458-640f27453e61%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/427D57BE-0493-4398-A6A3-F8172AC1670B%40me.com.
