Make Yourself Known on Your Bike
8 April 2007 | how-to | No Comments
There are many techniques to make yourself know while on your bike. First, I’ll cover lighting. There are two ways which you can light your bike: You can light the bike to see, and you can light the bike to be seen. Now, why would you want one scenario over the other? The only real reason to light your bike to see is if you plan on doing a lot of night riding in an area with little or no street lighting. If you are mostly riding during the day and occasionally riding at night, then you’ll do fine with just having enough lights to be seen by traffic. What’s the difference between the scenarios? Obviously, to see, you want a greater light level. But to get the greater light level, you will have to pay more, and you will probably need a much larger and heavier battery.
A Good example of a light to really see the road is the Light and Motion ARC NiMH Light System (which is currently priced at $319.99 on our site). This is only one example of a style of Nickle-Metal Hallide Battery Powered lamps that have become very popular in the last 5 years. The light is fantastic. You won’t miss any weird bumps on the road while riding with this. The light also comes with multiple output levels, so always use the lowest that allows you to see because this will conserve the battery. The battery length on these things run about 3-31/2 hours, and should probably be used sparingly. There are cables involved as well. The light cable goes down to the power supply that takes up one of your water bottle cages. The battery is rechargeable and very heavy. My analysis is to only buy these lights if you really think you’ll need it because it’s taking up precious space and weight on your bike.
An example of a light to “be seen” is the Cateye EL210 Headlight. The price is currently 19.95 on our site. It’s your standard run-of-the-mill bike light. It mounts to your handlebar, the 4 AAbatteries required are internally stored, and the light source is produced with multiple LED lights and a shiny reflector. The light is weak compared to the Light and Motion light, but they’re not really comparable. The Cateye EL210 light can easily be seen by traffic and provides a very small but adequate area of light in front of the bicycle. There are also different modes of energy consumption on this light. The steady mode goes for 100 hours while the conservation mode allows for 200 hours of use. Obviously, there is a great difference in power consumption, and the weight of the Cateye is almost negligible compared to the Light and Motion.
As a matter of preference, I simply use a Mini Maglight and a really strong rubber band. This works by making a saddle shape with the rubber band, wrapping the saddle underneath the handlebar, and slipping the Maglight between the rubber band and the handlebar creating a tight fit between the handlebar and the light.This works ideally if there is a bit of electrical tape wrapped around the Maglight at the place where is sits on the handlebar. This creates a bit of a friction point to hold the light. The Mini Maglights are extremely durable, and only require two AA Batteries. Like I mentioned before, I rarely ride at night, so I would only need this in very rare circumstances. The reason I like using the Mini Maglight is it does triple duty as a camping torch, a flashlight, and a bike headlight. The beam of the Maglight is also fully adjustable, so you can make it wide or narrow.
The tail lights available area all just about the same to me. The prices are all reasonable (about 10 bucks). I usually bring two tail lights on trips. One tail light goes on my seat post, and one goes on my helmet. The seat post light can sometimes be blocked by your stuff, so you may also want to consider a tail light put on the end of the rear rack. My general rule is to use a tail light that is up high, and that flashes so people notice them easier. There are other cool tail lights that fit in your bar ends if you use drop bars. I’ve never used these, but they would seem to help define the perimeter of the bike pretty well.
On top of this, reflectors can come in handy. I prefer the reflector tape over the plastic clamp-on reflectors. Good places to use reflector tape include fenders, top tubes, and even on the back of your jacket.
Finally, being heard can be very useful when drivers might not be able to see you. The most common sounding devices are bells, but horns, and electronic chirpers are also good. Actually, the electronic chirpers may be the most effective because they are the easiest to use and the loudest. The latest addition the the horn selection now includes a compressed air horn called Airzound (currently $21.99). If you are serious about being heard, this would be the choice for you. It is seriously loud. It may even scare or distract a driver. It’s pretty cool, though.
I hope I’ve provided you a strong framework to make your trip safer and more enjoyable. Please feel free to send me some feedback about any other tips you may want to let people know about.
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