Hyper-illumination

tomasrojo

And I thought I was overdoing the night-time set-up.

http://www.helmets.org/lights.htm
Summary: One cyclist's approach to being seen at night.

I am now using neon orange bikes, and may go to neon lime green.

For headlights I use a car light.

For tail lights I started with two leg lights, showing red to the rear and white to the front.

I added yellow blinkers, starting with a 7 inch barricade light.

After the barricade light I added smaller yellow blinkers. The best was something called the Far Out Flasher, sold by Schwinn stores in the 80's and by the late Ed Kearny (Bicycle Lighting Systems). The Belt Beacon was another, and I used those on my helmet, mounted with Velcro, juiced up by adding chrome tape to make a reflector behind the bulb.

Beginning about 1990 I added the now-standard red LED blinkers [...] I had one on my helmet, mounted with hook-and-loop. [...] I bought a very large LED flasher being test-marketed at a Chinese exporter's booth designed for use by cars as an emergency road flasher, and packaged as a "Highway Safety Light." It is 4" x 6", and has 18 extremely bright LED's in three rows.

I have replaced the incandescent blinking Far Out Flasher on my helmet with an Innova 24/7 led blinker. This is an octagonal light about 2" by 3" (50mm by 75mm) that velcros on well. [...] The light has a rectangular LED area with a rotating switch that selects different blink patterns and colors of LEDs. I use the one that flashes rapid red then white then yellow and looks vaguely like a police car flasher.

I got a sample at Interbike of a single yellow led that screws onto a shraeder valve and goes around. [...] At present I am using an Inova 24/7 light on my helmet. It has red and white leds that blink in a very bright emergency light pattern, and runs happily for months on one CR2 photo battery.

In general, I believe in redundancy

[no ****]

I also like to "layer" my tail lights, with one at the level of the wheel axle, one under the saddle, and one on the helmet. The more I observe about urban light clutter the more I favor big, big lights and lights that have a signature. You will find this concept better developed on Ken Kifer's Web page discussion of the Flashing Neon Light Display, although I would not favor his use of a diesel generator to power the array.

Ken Kifer's Flashing Neon Light Display is a parody of obsessive hyper-illumination, but the joke seems to have passed Randy Swart by, despite the humorous suggestion of using a diesel generator on a bike purely to generate light.

In 2010 the battery powering my car light failed once again and I bought a new Magicshine system from Geoman Gear.

For reflectors I use the hottest 3M product I can lay my hands on to add reflectivity to pedals, shoes, cranks (flashes as the cranks go around), panniers, clothing, helmet, anywhere else. 3M markets a "snake" in Europe that weaves around the spoke nipples, and under headlights looks like a ring of white, identifying the bike immediately. [...] I am trying a similar product now from a company called Techflex. [...] I am using one on the front wheel of my night bike, but my panniers obstruct it in the rear.

You can find 3M Scotchlite in many local stores, but for their hotter stuff, you have to go to the Web to places like Itendi-tape. [...] I use it on helmets and some other spots

doozerie

Did his bike once appear in a popular documentary?

tomasrojo