picture via Rian Flynn
As any city cyclist knows, safety and visibility are inseparably linked in the context of city cycling, and any way to make yourself more visible is definitely a bright idea. So let’s shed a little light on the subject of visibility, particularly at night, specifically with reference to what is of course a legal requirement for a bicycle – front and rear lighting.
The important advice in relation to lights is ‘always use them’. If the streetlamps are on, your bike lights should be on. You will feel much safer around other road users if you know you are visible to them. This is part of your presence on the road, which increases your safety no end.
What lights and when
So I’m sure we’re all familiar with bike lights – white at the front, red at the rear. Flashing or constant... always with a view to visibility in relation to other road users. Bike lights are a safety device, alerting other road users to your presence, and suitable lighting will give them ample warning to give you a sufficiently wide berth.
Long gone are the days of incandescent bulbs, dear cyclists. We are in the age of the LED, a far superior device in many ways, having a longer battery life and smaller size. The LED, or light-emitting diode, is bright and clear, and is readily available from a variety of sources.
Your local bike shop (LBS to hardcore devotees) will stock a variety, and you will be more than able to find something to suit your needs there. However, there are other options available as well. If you are looking for budget lighting solutions and aren’t too fussy about quality, then a pound store or perhaps that shop founded by the son of Mr Wilkin will be a safe bet. But for all the lower quality and slightly lower prices you aren’t going to get the biggest bang for your buck here.
My personal recommendation is Ebay. For under £5 you will easily be able to locate a pair of lights that are bright and durable. Six AAA batteries will set you up nicely, so after the postage period is up and the package drops through your door you will be on the road and chuffed to bits with your purchase.
Quality vs quantity
Now there is an argument that Ebargain lights aren’t of the highest quality and may not last the lifetime of your bicycle. This argument has much merit, and truth be told the units will deteriorate significantly over time. However, this is not the end of the world; the main thing that fails is usually the on/off switch on the front light – not sure why this is, but there you go. Currently I’m running a front light that has had to have the switch unit entirely amputated, and the light is switched on by the very sophisticated method of pressing the two bare ends of the wires together; switching off is simply a matter of pulling a battery away from its contact.
While this sound less-than-satisfactory, I have to confess I don’t mind it at all. For the price I paid, I’ve got what I bargained for and my lights work, one way or the other. Even if I go through a couple of sets in a year, I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth. At the same time, there’s probably not a lot of difference in finding yourself a really good set of lights for around £15 from a decent retailer, which will last for a few years perhaps. The choice is yours!
A note on durability, while I think of it – I was distinctly impressed with the hard-wearing of these very cheap units from Ebay. I managed to dislodge one from my handlebars at 30mph on a metalled road once; the unit sustained no damage whatsoever. So be prepared to experiment with cheaper options, as they can often turn out better than expected.
Taking care of your lights
Of course dropping your lights at speed onto a hard surface is not to be recommended. The lifespan of the lights will vary according to your care of them. Leave them out in the rain and they will slowly die an agonising death, usually petering out at the most inconvenient of times. Treat a cheaper light like a more expensive light, and it will react like one. At the end of the day, although it may only have cost a very small amount, it is responsible for your safety during night-time cycles.
Riding without lights
Riding without lights is very much a less-than-ideal solution. In fact it is against the law and I certainly can’t recommend it – all I shall do, then, is explain a few things that I have seen being done in such a context, and you can glean what ideas you will from them!
When traversing the city at night, the main road users who need you to have lights are those motorists emerging from a side-road. Their headlights will not illuminate you in any way, whether you have anything reflective or not, as the beams will be directed across the road rather than along it. For this reason, it has been considered that the front light is the important one if you have to choose one or the other. Further, if no lights are present on a bike, it is considered good sense to dismount at junctions.
The best advice is to walk with a bike with no lights, in preference to the dangers caused by dark-riding. And get on the net when you get home, order yourself a pair of cheap and cheerful LED lights and be safe and visible every time you ride the city by night.
Buy some lights!
Happy Cycling :)