High Visibility - Always Good or Not?

[staehpj1]

Since the consensus is obviously in favor of bicycle tourists having high visibility for safety, would anyone like to recommend some specific products to increase visibility?

For example, is there a good set of head/tail lights that won't be blocked by gear on a fully loaded bike?  What other items would you suggest to increase visibility, and where can they be purchased?

Personally I don't go overboard on that.  If I were buying new panniers and the choice was a high visibility model vs a low visibility version of the same model.  I'd lean towards the high visibility ones, but I wouldn't go out and buy new ones just for higher visibility.

For clothing I don't worry that much about it except for my wind breaker that I put on when it is foggy.

Lights...  I just use a $5.99 blinkie and a led headlamp that I mostly use as my light in camp.  I only ride with them on when it is dark.

If you want to add visibility a set of fluorescent pannier covers are highly visible.  There is a gal who has some custom hot pink ones and people mentioned seeing her when I talked to them hundreds of miles after they passed her.  They are very quickly seen and really make an impression.

[EnduroDoug]

My trips so far have been with a bright yellow Burly Nomad cargo trailer and though I typically ride out in front of my wife due to pacing differences, I always fall in behind her if we're on a road with increased traffic. I also fly the orange Burly flag that comes with it.

Which brings up another point. Since bicycling in the US has somehow, for some unintelliglbe reason, been warped into a Red vs Blue point of contention, I fully intend to fly a small 6" USA flag on the cargo trailer's flagpole during our upcoming trip this summer. I'm not a wrap-myself-in-the-flag kind of guy, but I can't help but feel showing a little patriotism might actually be an important safety measure these days while cycling.

So I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think it's enough to be seen while on a bike. You have to be seen as one of them.

[csykes]

Flying the flag is a great Idea...same reason I always feel that my son is safer on his bike when he is wearing his Air Force Jersey!  My bike club's junior racing team was sponsored by the Teamsters for a few years, so we had a large Teamsters logo on our club jerseys' middle pocket, I felt better on the road with that logo showing.

[BikingBrian]

One downside of relying on visibility on your person rather than the bike/gear is if you need to add/remove layers due to changes in the weather. Similar situation with gear, you might find yourself riding unloaded for some reason. Therefore, I always focus on the bike. Even if I don't plan to ride at night, I always have a rear LED flasher and a small front LED lights, and they are useful for tunnels too. Though hi-vis jersey and gear in addition to front/rear lights can't be a bad thing.

[rabbitoh]

This article was just publised in our local paper today. Probably not so much use for touring situations, but none the less, a pretty good idea I think.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/cartech/lasermade-bike-lane-could-save-lives-20110615-1g2oi.html

[CharlieR]

As far as recommended 'products' I use two LightMan white strobes (http://www.lightmanstrobes.com). One front, one rear for daylight use on busy roads. Think camera flash every 1 1/2 seconds.

Downside is they are too bright for night time use and 3 hours continuous use is really pushing the batteries. I generally won't use the front one unless in urban traffic or on the rare occasions when it is necessary to ride on the wrong side of the road.

[Tourista829]

This is an excellent item and great for daylight visibility front and rear. I like that they offer different colored lights. If they use this to identifiy drop zones it should work great for cycling. Thank for the info.

[ChromolyWally]

..... is there a good set of head/tail lights that won't be blocked by gear on a fully loaded bike?

You can add a short piece of PVC pipe to to the front rack.  The headlight mounts on that since there's no space on the handlebars with the handlebar bag attached.  Same can be done on the rear rack for the blinky or tail light.

[litespeed]

I have yellow Ortleibs which are quite visible, especially with their super-reflective silver patches. The sidewalls on my Shwalbe tires are also highly reflective. I have a blinkie which I take off the seatpost and, using the clip, attach to the top of my shorts in back (the duffle blocks it otherwise) when it gets dark. I use a headlamp for tunnels or whenever necessary after dark. I have a bright yellow gore-tex rain jacket. My normal apparel is MTB shorts which only come in black or dark patterns and long sleeve underarmour jerseys which, unfortunately, only come in gray, dark blue or white. I wear the gray. White would be impossible to keep looking at all respectable on the road.