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Someone’s been reading too many forums

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  • January 14, 2013 at 10:00 am #17662
    nostromo

    Was out on Saturday and still trying to come to terms with how much the Christmas break has affected my ‘performance’.

    Anyway, I’m trundling up some 5% behind my co-rider, Kev, when I hear voices behind. Soon the first guy gets up to me and starts chattering away about “dayglo black” and “you can’t be seen”. I realise he’s referring to the fact that both me and Kev are wearing black jackets, whereas he’s wearing some kind of dull red colour.

    I hear another guy get in behind me and exclaim: “I’m going to stick behind this!”- obviously a reference to me being a sizeable unit on the bike.

    So my mood isn’t exactly great and it gets worse as I reach the next junction behind them all and hear red-jacket giving a perplexed Kev yet more words of wisdom about “Can’t be seen”, “dangerous”, “SMIDSY” etc. He’s an older guy and probably means well so manfully I resist the urge to tell him to butt out and spotting a gap in the traffic, decide to be very zen about the whole thing and ride on.

    Kev catches up and says: “That guy’s been at the forums a bit,” which cracked me up.

    So, here I am, on the forum trying to figure out if there is a bit of anti-black jacket angst out there. Personally, I don’t see that wearing black is inherently dangerous and I only ride in daylight on quiet roads anyway. If it’s particularly dull or overcast I put my lights on. TBH I’m the size of a small car so if a driver can’t see me then there’s no hope for any of us, daglo jackets or no.

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  • January 25, 2013 at 2:08 pm #711843
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    nostromo

    It’s been a good discussion
    It’s been a good discussion for sure, with some very reasoned comments.

    I’ve zero interest in being hit by a car but I also hate the idea of it being mandatory to wear hi-viz or fluorescent clothing.

    Personally, I think lights are the way to go, particularly as modern LEDs are cheap and discrete when worn/carried and effective. I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that lights should be on at all times during the winter months.

    From memory, Ron Hill clothing for running developed jackets featuring carry points for lights (rear). You’d think with all the technical advancements in LED lighting that shaped panels could be incorporated into jackets, maybe even light sensitive so that they come on when light levels drop.

    I shall continue to wear my black winter jacket though and balls to anyone who tells me different.

    January 25, 2013 at 12:14 pm #711841
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    seabass89

    I only wear reflective
    I only wear reflective colours when cycling during rush-hour, and/or during low-visibility condictions such as night or poor weather.

    But for christ sake, let people wear what they want.

    As long as you don’t wear all black with no lights or reflectors during the night you should be fine 😛

    January 23, 2013 at 11:29 pm #711839
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    FMOAB

    To the “real cyclists don’t
    To the “real cyclists don’t wear hi-vis” school of thought, in a radio discussion a few weeks ago, Graham Obree said that he would personally ban shops from selling black cycling gear. Good luck trying to destroy that “flashing budgie” if you meet him on the roads.

    Personally, I think hi-vis is useful in town and in unlit country roads as I want to have a passive back up to lights, but dont want to rely on reflective materials that depend on a drivers headlights being properly aligned and working. However, when you have as many lumps and bumps as I do, black is definitely an attractive option for jerseys.

    In short, I wear what I want and anyone who tries to impose an orthodoxy on what cyclists should wear, one way or the other, can [insert expletive of choice] off!

    January 20, 2013 at 9:20 pm #711837
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    Wardy74

    I always wonder which comes
    I always wonder which comes first, the sighting of the cyclist or the colour they’re wearing. Did you spot the cyclist because he/she was wearing hi-viz, or just notice they were wearing it?

    January 16, 2013 at 9:13 am #711835
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    Tour Le Tour

    I yelled a torrent of abuse
    I yelled a torrent of abuse at a moron dressed in all black two nights ago. I have to say it wasn’t just because of the black, more to do with the fact that he had no lights, nothing reflective, and was on the wrong side of the bike path. Wearing dayglo yellow would have been a step up, but not as big a step as having lights on would have been.
    On the other hand, last night, as it snowed, the guys in black stood out more against the white background than the guys in light colours did. But still, people with lights stood out more.
    So I say make sure you are visible and ride in the right place, but visible doesn’t have to mean dayglo.

    January 16, 2013 at 1:14 am #711833
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    Squiggle

    I have 1 item of bright
    I have 1 item of bright yellow clothing, an ultralight windproof jacket that squashes up smaller than my fist. My favourite cold weather tops are all black but if it’s dull then I’ll often pull half of the dayglow sleeve out of my back pocket so that it flutters behind me like a drogue chute. Cool or uncool?

    PS “I’m just going to sit behind this!” =))
    That’s asking for a bitch-slap!

    January 15, 2013 at 5:25 pm #711831
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    hairybiker

    We see plenty of ‘real’
    We see plenty of ‘real’ cyclists enjoying the roads locally, camouflaging themselves into the gloom of hedgerows and overhanging trees.
    Perhaps they enjoy the thrill of the oncoming vehicle overtaking and driving straight at them, or the buzz of a near miss from a vehicle passing too close?
    Making an attempt at being visible gives other road users the option of forward planning rather than reacting to something in an instant.
    Unfortunately, given the choice of hitting an on-coming vehicle or getting too close to the cyclist you haven’t seen ’til the last minute, most drivers will take the latter!

    January 15, 2013 at 5:12 pm #711829
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    cborrman

    Crosshouses wrote:I want

    Crosshouses wrote:
    I want drivers to see me and, before reading this thread, thought they were more likely to if I wore bright colours.

    Now, to add to all my other feelings of inadequacy on the bike, I’ll be fretting that real cyclists are viewing my hi vis jacket with contempt.

    And I don’t like black :”(

    finally people in high viz jackets start to get it… 😉

    January 15, 2013 at 5:08 pm #711827
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    cborrman

    you have to ask yourself:
    1)
    you have to ask yourself:

    1) if you crash into a black cab would you think of saying “sorry guv, didn’t see your cab coz it was black”???

    2) how many times have you, as a cyclist, nearly gone into the back of another cyclist because they were wearing black?

    If you are looking where you are going and going at a sensible speed without distraction of music, phone, talking, daydreaming, etc: you will see a cyclist no matter what they are wearing! the “could not see you” excuse is as poor as the “she was asking for it” argument!

    Another myth is that all cyclists are nice people… they are drawn from the same pool as motorists, politicians and bankers, in fact a lot of them are the latter!

    January 15, 2013 at 4:39 pm #711825
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    Kapelmuur

    I want drivers to see me and,
    I want drivers to see me and, before reading this thread, thought they were more likely to if I wore bright colours.

    Now, to add to all my other feelings of inadequacy on the bike, I’ll be fretting that real cyclists are viewing my hi vis jacket with contempt.

    And I don’t like black :”(

    January 15, 2013 at 4:19 am #711823
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    koko56

    Yes a brighter colour will be
    Yes a brighter colour will be more visible than black but it’s not the whole picture.

    Just ride – it’s too easy to get literally brain washed into thinking what’s “good/bad” that you start to forget what is actually happening. Some people will have cult like behaviour about it or anything else – component, bike, clothing. More of it will be to justify their commitment to the delusion than actual sense. Looking at it that way you would have more inclination to feel sorry in a non-malicious way.

    January 14, 2013 at 7:28 pm #711821
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    spongebob

    From my experience driving
    From my experience driving high vis clothing is much easier for me to see both at night time and during the day.

    As such I always wear high vis clothing, I wouldnt go giving out grief to dark clothed riders though.

    If someones lights are out I would say something though for the riders safety.

    January 14, 2013 at 6:40 pm #711819
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    farrell

    I always agree with people
    I always agree with people when they start banging on about what cyclists should and shouldnt wear, coercing them towards the suggestion “maybe all people who own bikes should be forced to wear a special logo, something like two dayglo yellow triangles perhaps” and then see if/when the penny drops for them.

    For the record, I wear plenty of hi-vis gear, I dont own anything fluorescent.

    January 14, 2013 at 5:35 pm #711817
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    Leviathan

    I have several different kits
    I have several different kits with different colours, like blue, red, yellow and black (primaries, no messing around.) The main reason is less wear on any individual kits means they last longer; I can bung anything in the wash and still have plenty in the rota. I object to fluro yellow mainly because I don’t want to look like a clone (clown.)

    The idea that all cyclists should dress the same is preposterous and dare I say fascist. The Government would loose a lot of VAT of Rapha for a start

    In my experience drivers often look but don’t see anyway. I can be going along in bright sunshine, someone on the left is trying to pull out. They look at you then pull out anyway as if they looked because that is what they were supposed to do but could not register you or what speed you are doing because they didn’t do it for long enough.

    And lets not forget the classic, overtake then turn left immediately.

    Good lights and good road position are more important.

    January 14, 2013 at 5:21 pm #711815
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    MattT53

    Essentially, if I remember my
    Essentially, if I remember my lectures on it correctly, the way the eye works is to really highlight areas of contrast within its field of view (although other factors like size matter too). As such whatever provides the most contrast to the surroundings will be most likely to draw attention. What colour this is will obviously depend on your surroundings. I’d probably avoid grey though …

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