Thank you for this video. I was hit by a car while on a cross Canada tour. I had the Reelight Nevo contactless dynamo light at the back, I was wearing a high visibility vest and had a bright yellow bag on the rear rack. None of this helped. The driver "did not see me". Sometimes, it comes down to drivers not paying attention - there is no light for that problem. But I do agree with the research and your assessment that daytime running lights are helpful in increasing visibility.
Sometimes, no matter what we do, we will remain invisible to those who are more concerned with incoming cars and trucks. Hope you were not seriously injured on your trans-Canada journey.
excellent video and advice. I am a car driver and cyclist. As a car driver, I must admit that sometimes it's difficult to see cyclists in the distance.
I live in Germany and you are right, flashing lights are technically illegal. It's a bit more complicated though. They're not specifically illegal for bicycles, it's just that there's no distinction in the law between cars and bicycles. Cars are prohibited from having flashing lights, which makes sense, but since bicycles fall under the same law, flashing lights are automatically prohibited on bikes as well. Luckily, cops are mostly aware of this and it's extremely rare to get in trouble over it. There's even a simple loophole; you just mount the flashing light on a helmet, backpack or yourself. Then it suddenly becomes legal since it's not attached to the "vehicle," despite making near zero practical difference. This is sadly a relic from some old law that hasn't been updated yet. I personally always use flashing lights (with radar) on my bike and I notice a big difference in how cars overtake me. The fine, if you were to get one, is only 20€ and my life is worth more than that.
@@2Bikes4Adventure Ah, that's a shame, I'm way down south at the Neuschwanstein Castle. Also worth a visit if you can manage it someday, beautiful region. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun, can't wait for the video!
I use a garmin rct715. It’s a radar, camera and rear light. Pros - i know when a car is coming and can adjust. Always recording cam. Vehicles detected changes the pattern of the rear flasher. The rear flasher uses an optic which throws the beam far. I can even see it in the day reflecting off things. Cons-big and heavy. Camera barely adequate but that is the industry standard of crap lol(battery limitation etc) With that said. Act as if you’re invisible. I’ve had cars act as if I am not there despite they pass me. They just don’t care. What the problem is is shoulders and bike lanes. This should be mentioned in the video or a new video. Most cars when they are already in the inner most lanes don’t check for traffic because they don’t expect it. They are already by habit in the lane to make a turn. So they ignore shoulders and bike lanes which are next to it. I act as if they don’t see me and i go at a speed i could stop suddenly. At times. I even run the front light as a strobe(daylight). Yes a strobe in notorious bad areas where cars will ignore you and pull out in front or into you. I find that the strobe, basically freezes the driver. I also run 2 types of bells. A normal ting bell for gentle indicator for pedestrians and other cyclist and also a 110db digital bell for motorists. With that all said, crossing the sidewalk was the most dangerous encounter I’ve had with a red light running truck which would have been certain death. Also my only accident is from a mechanical failure in which i flew over my bars and had multiple fractures 😅
You are raising very good points. It could indeed be interesting to expand on cycling safety in future video(s). This one was done mainly to focus on daytime running lights. Besides the cost, how would you compare having a radar vs a simple mirror? Does the loud digital sound get the expected reaction from motorists? Sorry to hear about the accident. Hopefully no lingering after-effects.
Please note in France, front blinking lights are forbiden by law, unless it's not so bright. Instead, rear light blinking is accepted. For front light, I use nitecore BR25, as it shut the upper stream of light, to not dazzling pedestrian or cars. Plus it lights the bike and the user, so I'm more visible for others.
I like how the episodes are presented, plus the very professional-looking graphics and animation. That said, I use a Rockbros tail light which flashes while in motion and automatically freezes bright red when the bike stops. As a front light I use the Rockbros 400 lumens, gives a decent illumination at night but I mainly use it to be seen rather than to see by.
Hey folks I use a Cateye rear light on my brompton in the daylight plus a HiViz, every little helps when allot of drivers still have their head locked on their phones, great video.
Bicycle Network in Australia did a more complex study and found that there was a significant risk of premature death if you DIDN’T cycle (or to be fair do an equivalent amount of exercise, problem is as people age they don’t do equivalent exercise as running etc gets much harder than riding). If you sit on the couch you will accumulate health issues more likely to kill you as risk of crashing your bike…….
Interesting point. It is often raised when discussing mandatory helmet regulation as well. Is it better for a society to have more cyclists (with no helmet restrictions) or fewer cyclists with helmets? Safety in numbers is probably the solution. The more cyclists the safer (and healthier) for all of us. Personally, we will continue to feel better wearing our helmets (this could be the subject of a future video). PS As for sitting in the couch, the fatality per km statistics will likely be pretty bad unless the couch starts moving.
I use a titanium emisar D4v2 with 4 SST20’s in deep red behind a narrow carclo optic in the bike flasher setting mounted underneath my saddle. It uses 18650 cells. Very bright but not blinding. This flashing pattern is always on with Added brighter irregular flashes/pulses. The front light is the same but in 2700K , on top of the screw with a twofish lock lock. This one only flashes during the day and never at night. I sometime vary the front light depending on needs.
The D4v2 is good value for money as far as lumens goes (up to 3000lm for the SST-20 2700k if we are not mistaken). Can also be used off the bike. Great multipurpose solution.
Great video ! So important. I have a Busch+Muller Lumotec IQ Premium Cyo T Senso Plus Licht24 (daytime) front, and a Busch+Muller TopLine Plus rear, connected to a Schmitt SON dynamo, always on, in New York City. I am a fan of the German law ban of flashing lights, as I find them highly disturbing, day & night, especially when riding in groups. German studies determined that flashing lights' distance cannot be estimated properly and can distract drivers. Small detail: lumens do not measure how much light reaches the road surface; I prefer lux (1 lumen per square metre), a unit used a lot more in Germany, and a true measure of how much light illuminates the road. Cheers !
You raise an excellent point concerning lumen. Clarifying the difference between lux and lumen (when buying a bike headlight for example) would make a good subject for a future video.
Nice content. I have the SV-8 hubs that supplies power to front and rear LED lights. Kept it on even daytime, especially when riding in heavy traffic cities. During night rides, I have the Gaciron W12R rear light which is activates the bright steady light during braking. It has this motion sensor which is cool.
This was excellent! Very helpful. I just got a Cateye light that is designed to attach to the seat on my Brompton C Line, and another Cateye (very bright, this one) that fits down on the front fender, under a bag I commonly use for errands and shopping. I'll be sure to turn on these lights, even in the daytime.
Great video and review, as always! The only thing that is bad about such flashing lights is that they can provoke seizures in people with epilepsy, those being pedestrians or drivers themselves.
Couldn't agree more about having flashing lights on a bike day and night - Knog Cobber Mid Front & Rear lights at total weight circa 90g are also a great choice.
I'm not sold on strobing at night. Tracking lightning bug fireflies while camping is not easy and I'm wondering if that also applies to cyclists. I'm also concerned about colour temperature of the light and intensity perhaps being blinding.
All my 4 bikes (2 Bromptons) have generators in the frontwheel. I'm riding permanently here in Germany with light on at daily use and on bike trips in France and just as in the US (2006, 2009).
Around 7 years ago I was sideswiped by someone texting. No broken bones but a busted handlebar. I found the brightest light available. The dinotte daytime red flasher. They don't state the lumens but I asked and they told me 800 lumens. After installing it I noticed people moving away from me in the lane from quite a distance away. A friend tells me that he can notice the light from over a mile away.
I use a Cycliq Fly6 rear light, which also has a camera. It has about a 6 hour run time in flashing mode. I use a Cateye 400 on the front. My wife uses a Garmin Varia rear light, which has a radar and warns of traffic approaching from the rear.
Great video. Saw few similar ones, but yours gives all relevant data and studies in one place. A great link to be sent to all those disbelievers who claim that using a flashing light is pointless or using any light during daytime makes no sense. Thank you and keep up the great work!
@@2Bikes4Adventurethat is why I use a Bintrager City Flare on auto flashing mode during day and night and add a Knog Mid Cobber at nigdy cause it has a huge light surface and awesome side visibility. My backup rear light is a Cateye Viz300, which also has a great daytime flashing mode and cool side visibility. For my front night rides I add a Knog Mid Cobber to my stready 1200 StVZO light which also has a Bontrager flash pattern for daytime riding. Stay safe!
I use the Busch & Müller Toplight View Permanent, which perfectly fits Bromptons with the (classic?) rack. This light replaces the factory rear reflector and is a simple reflector as well as a light at the same time. Addendum for those interested: It doesn't flash. It isn't perfectly waterproof under extreme conditions. It failed due to water incursion after I went down a mountain at night in a winter rainstorm - but since it is lower to the ground on a Brompton than on a regular bike it may have been exposed to a lot more salty water than the manufacturer expected...I still like it though and replaced it with a new version of itself) (Beware that there are at least two versions: Toplight View Permanent is battery powered, Toplight View (without the "Permanent") requires an outside power source/hub dynamo)
Some of these close passes in this video are horrific, and yielding to that truck at the end... drivers are horrific. It shouldn't be your responsibility for them to be paying attention and not to knock you over!
A very interesting and informative video. And one that could help cyclists avoid harm or worse when cycling on roads (roads/driving behaviour as they exist in the real world today). Many thanks.
Always love seeing the statistics and studies. I run my rear light all the time, day or night. The headlight I sometimes run during the day but typically only if it's overcast or raining; it just doesn't last long enough for me to run it all the time with how long I'm out (I also bring a small power bank). I would definitely consider a small solar-powered flashing headlight if that's a thing.
The battery free/magnetic lights from Reelight could be a solution (we haven’t try them ourselves)
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Une nouvelle chouette vidéo trés informative 👏 Merci pour ces recherches! Je pense que je dois m'équiper de ces lumières aussi de jour, et super la lumière de devant dual avec Garmin. J'ai tellement eu peur au Portugal que mes prochains achats seront ça et un rétroviseur. À bientôt!!
Very informative and well-produced video. Thanks for sharing! One question - do either of the lights that you use have user-replaceable batteries? I'm trying to be more conscious of this - I do not like the idea of having to throw away a device because its battery can no longer hold a charge. I have been using the Portland Design Works "Danger Zone" taillight for years with rechargeable AAA batteries. I am looking for a headlight with a user-replaceable battery but have not found one yet. Thanks again. I enjoy your channel.
The Flare and FR160 do not have easily replaceable batteries. As far as front lights are concerned, Decathlon offers the ST110 which accommodates 3xAAA batteries ($). A more powerful solution could be the Magicshine ALLTY1500S which has a proprietary quick-removable battery ($$$)
I bought a vest after watching your videos. Flashers for night but now I am upgrading after this one. I am finally emulating both of you. I convinced two people to fly to Porto with me and take the camino to Santiago. Why did you pick the costal route? Internet viewing so far says it is a shorter walk on the central than the costal route, more services and cuter towns. Do you know a way to ship the Band W cases to other cities when you travel ( I would use Greyhound in the US, trying to see if similar operation in Portugal)? I want to fly to Porto go to Santiago then direct to Lisbon and leave from Lisbon? Looks like you used the IKEA bag method on that trip. I made your devices with a "Neutral Politician's Poster" just not confidant that it is sturdy enough.Trying to find a RU-vidr who filmed the central route to see what the conditions on the road are as there is steep climb that keeps getting referenced. You mentioned having to leave the costal route and taking a work around. Where did you do that? Do you have a another way of communicating other than this channel. Your video has been shown and Canadian spouse wants me to investigate both routes and not wing it. I love your content and discuss it often at my work. You are both famous in my corner of the Bronx.
Hi Jonathan, We basically chose the coastal route because of its topography (flat). We don’t know how easy it is to find places to “stamp” the daily credential on the central way, but it was not always obvious on the coastal route. We are not aware of shipping companies. We left our “neutral political signs”/Dimpa in our Porto accommodation and picked it up on our way back (by train) prior to our return flight (Porto->Montreal). Maybe it would be easier to leave the B&W at the arrival/departure hotel. We diverged from the planned route for short distances on some occasions because of poor trail conditions (for a Brompton). Cobblestones or eroded dirt paths were usually the problem. We enjoyed our Portugal trip. Having a Compostela at the end was a bonus. Hope you have a wonderful trip. You can reach us at 2bikes4adventure@gmail.com
Excellent video as always! I have a M3R and a Swytch electric kit which I'm just about to install, so no spare room on the handlebar. Just wondering what are the options for fender mounting that would not foul a front mount bag. Also, do you remove the Bontrager when folding? Did you consider mounting under the saddle?
For the front, the Brompton light (AMPP 500) in daytime HyperConstant mode could be an option (mounted on the front brake calliper). For the rear, we do leave the Flare on the seat post when folding the bike. As for saddle mounted lights, the Brompton CatEye was 25 lumen when we last looked, quite less than the Flare.
Great vid! I've been giving thought to being seen especially after more and more incidents here in the Toronto area. DRL has been my preferred mode of operation for a few months. I think strobe during the day is good but at night, steady may be better or having two where one strobes and one is steady. I saw a video from Nitecore about their BR25 bike light adapted from their tactical lights. There's a reflector to cut the beam from travelling upwards as well as reflecting light back towards the bicycle. Their video contrasts a brilliant reflectorless bike light dazzling and coming towards the camera and their BR25 which you can see the wheels, frame and legs of the cyclist. The former is just a bright light coming towards the camera while the latter, you get a good idea of cyclist's trajectory. I've been interested in doing some testing on my own with a home modified light reflector and uploading results sometime this summer.
It can be difficult to evaluate distance to a flashing light at night. Having 2 lights (one steady and one flashing, as you suggested) is an excellent solution. A subscriber mentioned having a BR25 and being pleased with it. The special reflector design seems like a brilliant idea (pun intended).
The CatEye location on the Brompton is not optimum. The daytime running light study done in Denmark had the flashers installed on the front and rear forks (not necessarily optimum either as mentioned in the research paper). Having said that, a flashing CatEye is better than no light at all.
The subject of Nights Lights could be a video on its own. It can be difficult for a driver to evaluate distance to a flashing light, so it is often suggested to have more than one rear light at night (a mix of steady and flashing). Maybe something to elaborate on in a future video.
Ref: www.radonline.de/beratung/fahrrad/wie-ist-mein-rad-stvzo-tauglich/ “Blinkende Lampen sind allerdings nicht zugelassen, da sie andere Verkehrsteilnehmer irritieren könnten.”
@@2Bikes4Adventure It was ment as a rhetoric and funny question ... more or less. Most German Riders know it but enough People don't care, mostly Racebike riders. They constantly break laws and themselves because of it. 😒 Only the extrem safety riders are on the same level. Everything in Hi- Visibility Stuff and because of it, they ride with the mindset of "they see me, they stop for me." Even if someone else got the Priority on the street. And if they got an Electric Bike .. oh shit, its even worse. Thinks I've seen. Thinks they tried because it's just a folding bike etc ...
Better bike infrastructure is better than lights. I don't believe that riding bikes is inherently dangerous, riding on the sames roads as cars is dangerous. Other studies have shown that high visibility vests don't work that well either, as the car drivers think you know what you are doing, and drive closer to you than if you just wore regular clothing.
This is a quite strange video. You film outrageous traffic situations, that shouldnt even be. This is a f*cked up traffic planning issue. Sure, under the circumstances you should do what you can to protect yourself. But you don't mention the big problem with even a sentence. You drive a car, right?
Safe bicycle infrastructure has a way to go in North America (where most of those “close calls” were filmed). Cars (SUVs and pickups) unfortunately rule the land. Other channels (@OhTheUrbanity or @Shifter_Cycling) have more expertise than we do to tackle the subject of sustainable transportation infrastructure. The scope of this video was more limited (daytime running lights).
Okay… but you seem to think you have a solution to the problem. You can definitely lead with a “this is a sub-optimal status quo”, and disclose your biases, that you are drivers. With a bias it makes you partially blind to systemic problems. “Mass-carism” have to go away, for a number of reasons. All of us have to fight for something better!