Maybe chill out a little

[Hancockbs]

@drevil 196948 wrote:

These Salzmann spoke reflectors are awesome, and I have them on all my wheels. I just use a couple on each wheel, 1 on each side of the tube valve. They’re relatively inexpensive, work really well, and don’t look as bike geeky as regular spoke reflectors (NTTAWWT).

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20838[/ATTACH]

Why is the package of (36 Pieces) so much more than the package of 36 pieces? Thanks for the linky!

[DrP]

@dasgeh 196910 wrote:

I have biked a lot for a long time, and I do not think a blinking light helps identify bikes. It just makes it hard to tell how far away you are.

This is a sign of the overall problem – we all find different things helpful and not helpful or annoying or whatever it is that isn’t just how we each like it. I like the blinking lights and the solid lights (don’t cover them up and disappear – did you fall? were you attacked? are you hiding to attack me? is there a problem in the trail that I need to worry about? (on parts of the W&OD, people seem to cover them way before I can see the person with my light so these thoughts run through my head. On the Custis, there are too many turns and street lights)). You and others do not like these for all sorts of different logic-based reasons. Is it right or wrong? I doubt we can find something that makes everyone happy. At some point we all just need to deal with everyone else to keep surviving.

[drevil]

@Hancockbs 196953 wrote:

Why is the package of (36 Pieces) so much more than the package of 36 pieces? Thanks for the linky!

That’s funny, I’m not sure. Needless to say, I get the ones without the parentheses

[huskerdont]

For all the angst about front lights blinking on the trail, and I get that some of them strobe too much and sometimes I do have to resist getting annoyed, yesterday morning the sun angle was so low that, even with my cycling cap pulled down, the only reason I saw one cyclist coming the other way was their (he/she–who knows?) blinking headlight. The cyclist was completely invisible to me at about 15 feet except for that blinking. I had slowed down anyway since pedestrians don’t typically come with rear blinkies, plus there was debris on the trail to dodge, but it was still a shock to realize just how blind I was riding at a particular angle of vision.

I mention this because we sometimes may tend to get into you’re-doing-it-wrong mode just because someone is doing something differently than we might, but there could be perfectly reasonable reasons for the difference, which brings me back to the OP’s title of chilling out a little.

[Starduster]

@drevil 196948 wrote:

These Salzmann spoke reflectors are awesome, and I have them on all my wheels. I just use a couple on each wheel, 1 on each side of the tube valve. They’re relatively inexpensive, work really well, and don’t look as bike geeky as regular spoke reflectors (NTTAWWT).

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20838[/ATTACH]

Excellent option. These will not throw your wheel balance off at speed. And even StVZO approves.

[Starduster]

Do I dare stick my beak in…? :rolleyes:

I come at this from a motorsports-influenced background. Many decades ago, I was something of an outlaw and ran European Code headlights from the legendary French automotive lighting manufacturers CIBIE and S.E.V. Marchal. In defiance of the sealed beam requirements in this country at the time. For more downward range and better light distribution *without* blinding an oncoming motorist. DOT eventually allowed and adopted that technology in the 90’s. I am also influenced by the kid’s bike my Dad bought for me while we were in Frankfurt, West Germany, 1960. A 20 incher from Rixe that was unlike *anything* sold in the U.S., even from Schwinn. I am unsure if Mel Pinto ever imported one of these. Fully lugged and brazed frame, cool smoked oyster paint highlights, cottered crank, fully pneumatic Continental tires- a downscaled German commuter bike, right down to a generator powered light setup with the StVZO “squiggle” & alphanumeric approval code. Good enough to actually see the road in front of me.

So by now I am probably famous/infamous for the businesslike and powerful dyno lights I run on both my 40 year old Trek and the rescued Kettler CityShopper. The beauty of the Busch + Muller headlights on both bikes is that they are like a good automotive low beam light- usable light on the road *without* blinding the oncoming cyclist. Properly and precisely aimed of course. You may thank the German StVZO traffic regulations for this. Also powering a tail light that is bright enough to safely be a part of street traffic. My wife’s Breezer Uptown did not come wired for dyno lighting, so I installed the battery & rechargeable equivalents on hers, so we can be romantic and ride into the night safely. To me, a bike is not complete until it is set up for night work. How I roll…

On blinkies [braces for impact]… I have always, from the first VistaLites on, considered blinkies a *defensive* gesture, ranging from “Gee I hope they see me” to “See me DAMMIT!”, depending on how bright it is. I mourn that we actually *need* to have to protect ourselves on the road like this, but that’s where it is. But on the W&OD, you no longer have to worry about dump trucks turning across your bow. *You* are now the biggest meanest MF’er on the trail, and can terrify joggers if you chose (we hope you don’t). A defensive mode is no longer necessary here. I have had my share of misadventures with blinkies- when I commuted along the W&OD before dawn, an oncoming rider took exception to my B+M IQ-X headlight, even though my lamp’s cutoff was well *below* his eye level, and I was met with his flashbulb of a strobe square in my face. “Dude!” Another misadventure as a driver reminded me that blinkies are harder to gauge closing distances with. No, I did not hit the cyclist- it was simply a close call.

[bentbike33]

@Starduster 211151 wrote:

So by now I am probably famous/infamous for the businesslike and powerful dyno lights I run on both my 40 year old Trek and the rescued Kettler CityShopper. The beauty of the Busch + Muller headlights on both bikes is that they are like a good automotive low beam light- usable light on the road *without* blinding the oncoming cyclist. Properly and precisely aimed of course. You may thank the German StVZO traffic regulations for this. Also powering a tail light that is bright enough to safely be a part of street traffic. My wife’s Breezer Uptown did not come wired for dyno lighting, so I installed the battery & rechargeable equivalents on hers, so we can be romantic and ride in the night safely. To me, a bike is not complete until it is set up for night work. How I roll…

Agree, love my dynamo-powered B+M Luxos-U and taillight. The setup can also serve as an auxiliary power source for the Wahoo if I forget to charge it. 😎

As I approach oncoming cyclists at a different angle, I’ve decided that a “too bright” headlight or strobe is my problem, not their’s, so I shield my eyes with my hand. Frankly, I’d rather do this and know where the oncoming rider is than have them go entirely dark by covering or killing their light. And if my headlight is too bright for your knees (where the beam cut-off hits), that’s probably your problem, too.

[Starduster]

@bentbike33 211152 wrote:

And if my headlight is too bright for your knees (where the beam cut-off hits), that’s probably your problem, too.

Well, we *do* have a segment of our community running 2 and 3 wheel recumbents, and they’ve always been polite to me.

[bentbike33]

@Starduster 211153 wrote:

Well, we *do* have a segment of our community running 2 and 3 wheel recumbents, and they’ve always been polite to me.

Hey! I resemble that remark!

[GP_Slowride]

We are getting into the headlight required part of the year again for both sides of the commute and there are noticeably more bike commuters on the W&OD and Custis trails this year over 2020. I noticed something this year that I haven’t in previous years.

Early morning commuters (generally between 5am and 6:30am): These cyclists seem to have shaped beam headlights, cover their light with their hand, or turn it off as we approach. This seems almost universal minus a few users (like one has three or four headlights and another who has a blinky red light on the front of their bike).

Evening commuters (generally between 5:30pm and 7pm): A MUCH larger percentage of cyclists with ultra bright headlights and/or strobe flashing lights especially between Rosslyn and the W&OD on the Custis trail. There are some cyclists who cover or turn off their light but many keep that high beam on full blast/strobe even in areas where the trail is well lit.

I thought this was an interesting observation.

[Judd]

It feels like I’m seeing a lot more front strobes on the MVT this year.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ginacico]

@Judd 211604 wrote:

It feels like I’m seeing a lot more front strobes on the MVT this year.

Some may not be aware, but CaBi bikes have strobes by default.

[DrP]

@GP_Slowride 211601 wrote:

We are getting into the headlight required part of the year again for both sides of the commute and there are noticeably more bike commuters on the W&OD and Custis trails this year over 2020. I noticed something this year that I haven’t in previous years.

Early morning commuters (generally between 5am and 6:30am): These cyclists seem to have shaped beam headlights, cover their light with their hand, or turn it off as we approach. This seems almost universal minus a few users (like one has three or four headlights and another who has a blinky red light on the front of their bike).

Evening commuters (generally between 5:30pm and 7pm): A MUCH larger percentage of cyclists with ultra bright headlights and/or strobe flashing lights especially between Rosslyn and the W&OD on the Custis trail. There are some cyclists who cover or turn off their light but many keep that high beam on full blast/strobe even in areas where the trail is well lit.

I thought this was an interesting observation.

This year I have noticed that in the morning there are a lot more ninja pedestrians and cyclists on Custis and the MVT than there used to be. No lights or reflective bits, in fact, usually wearing black or dark gray (and the recent set of full-pack camouflage troops walking on the MVT is particularly bad, although a few have taken to wearing a small red light – keeps their night vision but I can see them before I run into them), and yes a few cyclists too. I have come close running into them, which is especially a problem because so many coming towards me have decided that walking (or biking in one case) in my lane is just fine. I also find a lot of cyclists who turn into ninjas, especially on the Custis. I see that there is a cyclist coming towards me on a curve way ahead of me. Then the light disappears and so I assume they left the trail, but suddenly they are in front of me with a completely covered light.

[GP_Slowride]

@ginacico 211606 wrote:

Some may not be aware, but CaBi bikes have strobes by default.

Interesting. At one point they had always on lights. I can’t imagine that the strobes on the CaBi bikes are particularly bright though. More of a low powered blinky as opposed to a high powered bring the dance club to the trail light.

@DrP 211607 wrote:

This year I have noticed that in the morning there are a lot more ninja pedestrians and cyclists on Custis and the MVT than there used to be. No lights or reflective bits, in fact, usually wearing black or dark gray (and the recent set of full-pack camouflage troops walking on the MVT is particularly bad, although a few have taken to wearing a small red light – keeps their night vision but I can see them before I run into them), and yes a few cyclists too. I have come close running into them, which is especially a problem because so many coming towards me have decided that walking (or biking in one case) in my lane is just fine. I also find a lot of cyclists who turn into ninjas, especially on the Custis. I see that there is a cyclist coming towards me on a curve way ahead of me. Then the light disappears and so I assume they left the trail, but suddenly they are in front of me with a completely covered light.

I have also noticed more ninja pedestrians on the Custis in the evenings this year. Last year I mainly ran into them on the W&OD west of East Falls Church metro.

[Author]

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