to do or not to do

native lane

lookin for a bit of advice on cycling at night time..
the reason i ask is some days i dont have the time to get the bike out..
last night i seen a guy on one of the main roads he had all the gear on and had 2 lights on the front one looked like a head lamp and one on his bike he also had 2 lights on the rear one i tought looked like was on his jersey and one on his bike..
how many of use do cycle at night and would use advice to do it or not,,
is it safe..

regards alan!!

Wishbone Ash

native lane wrote: »

.how many of use do cycle at night and would use advice to do it or not!!

To and from work in the dark several times weekly. Also regularly do leisure spins at night. With proper lights it's no problem.

native lane

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

To and from work in the dark several times weekly. Also regularly do leisure spins at night. With proper lights it's no problem.

thanks for ur addvice mate

Ole Rodrigo

I regularly train at night. In the city, some flashing LEDS are perfect. While the ambient light of the streets is enough to see around you, the LEDs ( as well as reflective surfaces on your cycle clothing ) are enough for motorists etc to see you.

If you're outside an urban area brighter lights are a good idea and there's a few threads on that here. Plenty of choice out there with a lot of power for your buck. Personally , I prefer not too bright as it keeps my eyes sharp and doesn't blind other road users.

Cycling at night is one of the pleasures of bike riding imo - not too much traffic and on longer rides it can be a bit other worldly or something. Some of my best spins have been at night in bad weather with some good sounds on the headphones.

CramCycle

Perfectly safe but just to say when you get a decent front light, try and angle it that it doesn't blind oncoming traffic, just lights up a large section of road in front of you so you can see potholes in time. For the back, I use at least two decent red LEDs spread apart to give approaching drivers the impression of a vehicle/getting closer, one on each seat stay and for me an extra one on either the collar of my jersey/strap of my helmet/attached to saddlebag.

jober

i do the majority of my mid-week cycling at night and i like it,
just bring spare batteries for your lights

but i do tend to take a different route and stay in lit up areas
my normal route which is up blessington rd is a dodgey road at night

thebouldwhacker

Start slow, once you know the roads you'll be just as quick regardless of where the sun is
Full power front light, rare to find one much less than €100and light up yer arse. Enjoy

cdaly_

I use a flashing rear light in urban areas but switch it to steady for the empty, dark country roads.

native lane

great info there guys thanks very much for the feed back!!

Muckers

Just took delivery of this from the UK, for less than €55. Great light.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007ZXWWBK/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item

Ole Rodrigo

I see a lot of cyclists around Dublin with new lights for the Autumn / Winter. Man, it looks like an alien ship landing as they approach.

IMHO, there's only so many Lumens you need before you start to become nuisance on the road. Less power and a better design/ build is better than a zillion lumen for 70 quid or whatever.

Just my two cents.

CramCycle

+1 to that, who'd have thunk it but the day that I would complain about a cyclist using lights. 2 people on the goatstown road the other evening, one so bright it was worse than full beams in my eyes and the other had a strobe disco going on behind me as I turned onto Beaver Row, so bright that I could not see behind me. Everytime I looked behind me al I could see was a wall of pulsating white.

Ole Rodrigo

Glad I'm not the only one !

I came around Howth the other night to see some fellow with lights on his forks , bars, helmet, seatpost and seatstays. Could have been a brilliant white christmas tree making its way up the hill in the distance for all I could tell. Plenty of street lamps around too.

Out of control gadget lust - tut tut

feck sake lads

i have 2 lights up front cateye EL500 for distance works great, the other is a wee little thing called lizyne mini drive i use this one on the left pointing at the ditch lovely set up,on the rear cateye again TL-LD1100 excellent light couple hi viz on the ankles,and i'm all set.
remember lights on wet roads are next to useless.

native lane

Muckers wrote: »

Just took delivery of this from the UK, for less than €55. Great light.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007ZXWWBK/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item

looks a great light..thanks for the link i must invest in one,,

Wishbone Ash

native lane wrote: »

looks a great light..thanks for the link i must invest in one,,

If you read the reviews, the battery life seems to be very poor.

native lane

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

If you read the reviews, the battery life seems to be very poor.

well spotted mate thanks for the heads up!!