A question for roadies

[RobynE]

Genuine question. 
 

Why do so many roadies not ride with front and rear flashing lights? 
 

Some ride with no lights at all 🫤 
 

Some ride with rear lights 🙌 
 

I very occasionally see a roadie riding with both front and back flashing lights 🏆 
 

Many roadies ride in black kit 😬
 

I feel that lights save lives and no-one in my family is allowed to ride on a public road without front and rear lights. Even though we mostly ride on the pavements (mtbs) if we do coffee rides etc. 
 

Some mtb people ride with front and back lights when on the road. Not a lot, but more than roadies. 
 

I am genuinely curious as to why so many people don’t ride with front lights? 

[SoloCyclist]

I can proudly say that I always use both front and rear.......

As someone who rides motorcycle I know that lights DO HELP

[cadenceblur]

Likewise 

[SwissVan]

16 minutes ago, RobynE said:

Genuine question. 
 

Why do so many roadies not ride with front and rear flashing lights? 
 

Some ride with no lights at all 🫤 
 

Some ride with rear lights 🙌 
 

I very occasionally see a roadie riding with both front and back flashing lights 🏆 
 

Many roadies ride in black kit 😬
 

I feel that lights save lives and no-one in my family is allowed to ride on a public road without front and rear lights. Even though we mostly ride on the pavements (mtbs) if we do coffee rides etc. 
 

Some mtb people ride with front and back lights when on the road. Not a lot, but more than roadies. 
 

I am genuinely curious as to why so many people don’t ride with front lights? 

IMO there is less place on a roadbike for forward facing lights. Rear facing light on the seatpost is easy peazy.
 I suspect that they already have a computer mounted on their bars and don’t want to add additional attachments for a forward facing light. MTB‘s tend to have more space on their bars.

 

[Spinnekop]

13 minutes ago, RobynE said:

Genuine question. 
 

Why do so many roadies not ride with front and rear flashing lights? 
 

Some ride with no lights at all 🫤 
 

Some ride with rear lights 🙌 
 

I very occasionally see a roadie riding with both front and back flashing lights 🏆 
 

Many roadies ride in black kit 😬
 

I feel that lights save lives and no-one in my family is allowed to ride on a public road without front and rear lights. Even though we mostly ride on the pavements (mtbs) if we do coffee rides etc. 
 

Some mtb people ride with front and back lights when on the road. Not a lot, but more than roadies. 
 

I am genuinely curious as to why so many people don’t ride with front lights? 

Obviously you need lights for riding at night.

So talking about DAYLIGHT time.......:
I see the French have banned all flashing lights.
And Germany implemented law that only allows for lights below a certain lumen count.

Lights can be both good and bad.

As for safety. 
Having ridden for 30 years plus mainly as a roadie covering around 15 000km a year, I can honestly say a light dont mean diddly squat.
It is not that cars dont see you........their attention is just not out on the road.....light or no light.

Cellphones made it worse and uber in SA doubled the problem.

Again.  Talking about lights use during the day and these are just my experiences as a roadie

[SoloCyclist]

22 minutes ago, SwissVan said:

IMO there is less place on a roadbike for forward facing lights. Rear facing light on the seatpost is easy peazy.
 I suspect that they already have a computer mounted on their bars and don’t want to add additional attachments for a forward facing light. MTB‘s tend to have more space on their bars.

 

VERY poor excuse....... these front lights are not that big

[Bub Marley]

54 minutes ago, RobynE said:

Genuine question. 
 

Why do so many roadies not ride with front and rear flashing lights? 
 

Some ride with no lights at all 🫤 
 

Some ride with rear lights 🙌 
 

I very occasionally see a roadie riding with both front and back flashing lights 🏆 
 

Many roadies ride in black kit 😬
 

I feel that lights save lives and no-one in my family is allowed to ride on a public road without front and rear lights. Even though we mostly ride on the pavements (mtbs) if we do coffee rides etc. 
 

Some mtb people ride with front and back lights when on the road. Not a lot, but more than roadies. 
 

I am genuinely curious as to why so many people don’t ride with front lights? 

Many mtb’ers dont ride with lights. Many mtb’ers wear black as well. You should ask them the same question as well.

 

 

[Shebeen]

44 minutes ago, SwissVan said:

IMO there is less place on a roadbike for forward facing lights. Rear facing light on the seatpost is easy peazy.
 I suspect that they already have a computer mounted on their bars and don’t want to add additional attachments for a forward facing light. MTB‘s tend to have more space on their bars.

 

agreed.

pretty sure majority of Car v Bike issues it's from behind.

 

I got a whole heap of these for the family. 

https://www.rookiesports.co.za/product/fluir-rechargeable-bicycle-taillight-rear-light-ultra-bright-red/

 

keep them charged up at the door, easy peasy to swap between the bike fleet. great bang for buck

[MORNE]

9 minutes ago, Bub Marley said:

Many mtb’ers dont ride with lights. Many mtb’ers wear black as well. You should ask them the same question as well.

 

 

These are all roadies riding their ‘xc weapons’ on the road instead of the gravel shoulder👀- boggles my mind every time i see it.
God forbid you go 1km/h slower by riding on the gravel shoulder with your OFFROAD tyres🤣.

[ChrisF]

https://www.forzatrading.co.za/collections/bike-accessories/products/integrated-gps-stem-mount-v2-garmin-wahoo

 

Garmin on top.

 

 

Bontrager light below it.  Good for many hours in flashing mode.

 

 

Very slim line and neat setup.

 

 

Garmin Varia at the back.

Edited yesterday at 04:00 PM by ChrisF

[ChrisF]

3 minutes ago, MORNE said:

These are all roadies riding their ‘xc weapons’ on the road instead of the gravel shoulder👀- boggles my mind every time i see it.
God forbid you go 1km/h slower by riding on the gravel shoulder with your OFFROAD tyres🤣.

 

Missed you yesterday.  Heal up and get out there again 

 

 

Just remember your lights ....

[MORNE]

3 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

Missed you yesterday.  Heal up and get out there again 

 

 

Just remember your lights ....

Passing roadies on the gravel shoulder again were we? 😉

[Titleist]

59 minutes ago, Spinnekop said:

 

As for safety. 
Having ridden for 30 years plus mainly as a roadie covering around 15 000km a year, I can honestly say a light dont mean diddly squat.
 

Again.  Talking about lights use during the day and these are just my experiences as a roadie

I can honestly say that a front light makes a huge difference, especially in the afternoon or during congested traffic where a car must cross a intersection and a bicycle comes into the intersection. That light helps the motorist see the cyclist in time

I also use front and rear lights all the time as the only thing I can lose by not doing it is a few limbs.

Those who don't do it have never surfed on a car's bonnet. It's not fun....

 

[Rudii]

3 minutes ago, Titleist said:

I can honestly say that a front light makes a huge difference, especially in the afternoon or during congested traffic where a car must cross a intersection and a bicycle comes into the intersection. That light helps the motorist see the cyclist in time

I also use front and rear lights all the time as the only thing I can lose by not doing it is a few limbs.

Those who don't do it have never surfed on a car's bonnet. It's not fun....

 

Front light definitely makes a difference when passing slow moving traffic.

[Spinnekop]

11 minutes ago, Titleist said:

I can honestly say that a front light makes a huge difference, especially in the afternoon or during congested traffic where a car must cross a intersection and a bicycle comes into the intersection. That light helps the motorist see the cyclist in time

I also use front and rear lights all the time as the only thing I can lose by not doing it is a few limbs.

Those who don't do it have never surfed on a car's bonnet. It's not fun....

 

I've had my fair share of crashes.  Went through windscreen and bonnet once.  Another time went through a windscreen and over.
Hell knows how am I still alive.  

Motorists dont care.  They dont look.  

That said, as cyclists, we should do EVERYTHING in our own power that we can do to keep safe out there.
If that is doing a front light, sure, do it.
For me, commuting hundreds of km a month, I cant say that the front light helped.  Every time a car dived in front of me was when they were $()%$# around on their phone or just did not give a @$(@# about you and "you can break for me" mentality.

The radar helped ME in seeing roughly what is approaching from behind but as for cars passing close by........I cant say that having a light makes the motorist give me more space.
 

Edited yesterday at 01:59 PM by Spinnekop

[sirmoun10goat]

To everyone saying front lights make a difference, how was this conclusion reached? Everytime you made it through an intersection unscathed, did you stop and ask the approaching drivers if the lights made the difference?

 

It doesn’t matter if you are visible if drivers have a no care about cyclists attitude