About 50% of my riding is at night. I never count on just one rear-facing light, particularly LED lights, because they are highly directional. I have a NiteRider taillight (the brightest taillight made as far as I know) on the rear rack.
Behind it is a highly-reflective Slow Moving Vehicle triangle. On my Camelbak are two blinking LEDs, one is most visible when I’m down in the drops, the other is higher, where it can be seen when I’m in a more vertical position.
In addition to the active lighting, I’m a big fan of reflector tape. I have strips of it on my cranks, frame and rims. In addition, my Shimano sandals have a large reflective dot on the back that is highly visible.
The manufacturer has some reflective material on my helmet, but I’ve added some tape to it, also.I find that motorists give me more room and respect at night because I don’t blend in with the visual noise present during the day.
Interesting idea of the triangle. Any chance of a photo of it fitted to the bike, Surly I assume?
Thanks
Andrew
Andrew,
I put the triangle on my Camelbak. Here’s a shot my wife took when my kid and I were headed down to dip our front wheels into the Gulf of Mexico after riding across the state of Florida.
Because we were on the last, short leg of the trip, I had taken my panniers off. Normally I have a similar triangle attached to my left pannier.
In this case, I was experimenting with one of the floppy flags on a stick. You can see it above my left knee.
Oh, yes, sorry to disappoint you. I’m riding my Trek 1220 in this shot. I hadn’t bought the LHT yet.
(The orange and yellow stripes below the SMV sign are on my jersey. I didn’t realize how visible they are until I pulled up this picture.) The glowing light on my bike is a generator-power taillight. The camera must have caught my RealLite and Nightrider taillights in mid-blink.
Interesting idea of the triangle. Any chance of a photo of it fitted to the bike, Surly I assume?