Lighting for my bike? What should I buy to see and be seen?
By Roland Tanglao on September 13, 2007 - 11:15am
Ray sent me this hilarious look at cycling in Amsterdam. Hilarious because it's written from a naive point of view from somebody who doesn't seem to have travelled much or lived in a non car-dominated city :-) . Also funny because it does have some good insights. I have "new skool" type front and back generator powered lights on my 1997 Swiss bike which uses a cool relatively friction-less generator.
However it's not enough light (but great that it's always on and doesn't require batteries and the back light flashes when I stop) for those Vancouver winter nights and cloudy days in my opinion. What type of supplimentary lighting should I get? Cheap and cheerful $10 helmet mounted front white and rear red LED lights from MEC? Let me know in the comments please.
Just before it was stolen from my locker here a few years ago,
I'd put on a nice battery-powered light system, which had a
fairly large rechargeable battery that was held in a water
bottle type cage on the lower frame. This system worked well
and was bright enough at nights to see alright even if you
rode where there wasn't much other light. Unfortunately,
I can't recall the brand name of it. But I'm sure if you
talk to the guys in SportChek's bike dept., or the guys at
a place like John Henry The Bicycle Man (604-986-5534)
they can recommend something suitable. I ought to take
my own advice, because I don't have any lights on this bike.
So far, it's a "daylight-only" ride.
i read about that in a bike magazine in the 90s but forgot about it until you left your comment!
gotta check it out!
Roland Tanglao
VanEats
Bryght