It's not high tech but it is relatively inexpensive and provides plenty of light.

HL-EL500 $40 (4 U to C) Unless I'm out really late I don't use it.



Being Seen:

HL-EL400 $20 (With this thing strapped to your bars, beleive me cars will see you. You can strap it to your helmet too but I prefer the bars. This thing can be seen at a really good distance.)





SL-LD100 $10-$15 (I like them because there are no switches, just magnets that you 'tap on/off. 3 settings. Small with good brightness)

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"In the blocks you're a prisoner, the gun releases you."

Ditto the HL-EL400. I've been using it and I know cars see me when I'm otherwise in the dark. Reflective tape wouldn't hurt either.

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Your favorite mafia sucks.

Get some screaming yellow Safety Shirts (www.safetyshirt.com) in addition to lights. They're cheap and your back offers a lot more area for visibility than any bike component.

The commuter forum at www.bikeforums.net have had some good suggestions (that's where I found the Safety Shirt site).

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Kendall Frederick

Orange Park, FL

I just ordered one of these:

http://www.bikelights.com/Products/vega.htm

I hate el-cheapo lights and I love my Light In Motion HID, but it is just a bit of overkill for the spring/fall when I'm only riding in the dark for 30 minutes or less. Overkill because I have to ride back in the next morning with the light on, so I pay the weight/annoyance penalty for a full round trip any time I just want 30 min of light at the end of my ride. The Vega model is 218g and is one-piece, so it's less hassle, but it's still rechargeable and I'm assuming it will be pretty bright since the HID is like riding with the sun. I will post again with my evaluation of it.

On another note, I'm heading up to Hood To Coast this weekend, and since this is my 5th relay race with nighttime running, it's about time for me to get a nice reflective vest. I hate all the nylon ones that are highway-worker style. Anyone have any good references/links? There doesn't seem to be too much out there, I found one by Nike that is sold out, one by Asics that looks like it might be a bit small in the arm holes, and one by Nathan that looks pretty klunky. I'm looking for something that won't hinder a race pace effort or do any additional chafing. I have a friend with a fantastic one that looks like it's 20 years old, it's nice and soft and has no velcro, but it's on the small side and she's not in my van this time. TIA.

I ws using a real strong rear strobe thing during day rides also. It fell off a few months back and I have not replaced it. In light of recent events, I will replace it. Anything to make the cars notice you a little more.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

Since you will be commuting you need something rechargable and has a battery life of your round trip commute. You will be wasting lots of money if you go with one of the LED lights above since niether of them are rechargable. And anything that small that is rechargable will not have much life. Plus those light will not let you see anything but onlylet you be seen.

Go with a Night Rider type light but it does not have to be expensive. The expensive lights are very bright and good for offroad but you do not need that much light on the road. A lot of the Night Rider type lights throw a lot of periferal light which is good for off-road but not needed for road riding. You can get inexpensive 10w lights from Performance, etc. I used one for a couple years and the life is 2.5-3 hours. My commute is about 3 hours round trip so I had to milk the light to get both ways.

Now I have a Schmitt DynoHub which has a generator built into the front hub. It runs two 3 watt lights that have a norrow beem which is perfect for road riding. I can ride forever without worrying about running out of batteries. I have ridden thru entire nights without a problem. They do have a tiny bit of drag when on but nothing when off. Of course this is over $200 but for those that ride year round it is worth it.

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Willy in Pacifica

Thank you for the suggestions. Given these ideas, I'm actually thinking about doubling up with both a rechargeable light to light my path and one of the HIDs to be seen by others.

Do most feel the standard 7LED flasher is enough to be seen from the rear (that is, in addition to a reflective vest)?

Again, I do a lot of night riding having done many 200-400 mile rides.

You need a couple rear red blinky lights since you never know when the battery will run out on one. You need the ankle reflective bands (2) so you will be visable from the side. I also have a red light that goes on my spokes so it zips around my wheel when I am moving and makes me more visable from the side. The little Cateye above is straped to my helmet which helps if I flat at dark so I can see what i am doing rather than trying to get the light on my bars pointed in the right direction when the bike is now on the ground.

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Willy in Pacifica

You're right -- it makes a lot of sense for daytime, too. That's the whole concept behind daytime running lights on cars, right? It's not about seeing, it's about being seen.

It is really helpful if you dip into some shadows. Every little bit helps I hope.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

I'm hoping the model I just ordered (which is LED and is rechargeable) will be exactly what you're talking about here, good light output and decent burn time. I expect it to be given what I know of other Light In Motion products (they are fantastic, but their HID systems are $$$.) HID rules the night for off road and on road (if you're doing any kind of serious nighttime riding, why have less light just because you don't "need" it, more is always better in a lighting system provided it meets your burn time criteria and budget.)

We shall see how nice this little 218g sucker is. I suspect it will be pretty sweet for the price point. I see guys riding home with full face helmets, 3 or 4 red flashers, etc, but my Light In Motion HID blows them out of the water. So, if weight and cost aren't an issue, by all means go full bore with an HID system. But if weight and $ are a consideration, check out a rechargeable LED (or wait till I give my review.)

The front hub dynamo is cool, I looked into that, but it's a bit of overkill for commuting, and not enough power for my criteria for serious night riding. It's also not possible to interchange front wheels on bikes which take different wheel sizes (my tri bike is 650c, my road bikes are 700c) and wouldn't work for a recumbent, but these aren't tremendous problems.

I would put Light In Motion's products up against Niterider any time, I think they are every bit as good if not better.

As far as I know there are not any good LED lights yet that will allow you to see the road. They are god to be seen by and the life is long but not good to see by if you are moving at a resonable speed.

Since I do lots of very long distance riding whch cover up to 3-4 days straight I am plugged into the long distance groups and the ultimate for commuting and long brevets are the Dyno hubs. They will light up the road for speeds up to 30 MPH. I have two light on my fork which allows me a high and low beem. If you are commuting then most likely you know the route so you will not be on umfamiliar roads. This allows you a bit of wiggle room and you do not need the blow torch lights that you would want on unfamiliar roads to go at high speeds in the dark.

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Willy in Pacifica

I use Tire-Flys. These are colored LED lights that replace the valve stem cover. They're intended for the low-rider automotive market. They turn on with movement, and blink. Little watch batteries power them. For my bike, I glued in some presta valve covers into the schraeder sockets. The combination of blinking lights and motion is verry attention-getting.

Another thing I do is put reflective tape on the wheel rims. You can even get it in black, which reflects white but is almost impossible to notice when looking at the rim by daylight. Reflectorizing only part of the rim gives a blinking effect.