This morning's commute and other commuting stories

Reflective marathons and mudguards on my commuter. Almost need to get someone else to ride it past me to see how visible it is.

During the various iterations of my commuting bike I got someone else to ride it (at night) whilst I drove past in a car. Helped me understand how it looked from the front/back/side.

Also spoke reflectors are cheap and really stand out in car headlights.

My commuting bike ended up as:-

• Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres with reflective sidewalls
  
• 20+ spoke reflectors in each wheel
  
• Front dynamo powered light was a B&M Ixon or similar - solid beam, angled down
  
• Rear dynamo powered light (B&M D'Toplight plus) had a built in reflector and capacitor to continue to run after stopping, solid light and not eye-searingly bright at all
  
• Shimano double sided SPD Click'R pedals (with built in reflectors) - easy to use with normal shoes
  
• Generic cheap relatively-dim blinky lights front and rear
  
  

Next step would have been reflective tape on the tubes/forks/mudguards but I stopped commuting before I got to this stage.

General questions were:-

• What do I look like from behind
  
• What do I look like from in-front
  
• What do I look like from the side (assuming I'm waiting at a junction or waiting to turn into a side road)
  
• What do I look like when signalling (especially turning right)
  
• For all of the above, what do I look like when stopped
  
  

Dynamo lights are great, but if you don't get the ones with built in capacitors then they simply turn off when you stop.

Reflectors may look a bit shit in daylight but IDGAS, they do help.

IMHO (based on what I see when driving), flashing lights are better for being seen (since they seem to stand out more) but too powerful and they piss off everyone. But it's much harder to judge how far away a blinky light is, so I used a combination of brighter/solid lights and dimmer/flashing lights. The flashing lights were also a backup should the dynamo have problems (my shoddy wiring).

I've driven behind plenty of cyclists with such bright rear lights that I've been almost blinded, especially on rainy days where the light appears all over the windscreen due to the rain. I've certainly had to drop back further than I normally would but I guess I'm not the typical moton. I certainly wouldn't want to be doing that to a less attentive or more aggressive driver behind me.

Having done years of night-time riding on Audaxes you quickly get told if your rear lights are obnoxious to other riders.

Retroreflective on moving bits (wheels/pedals/feet) are great for grabbing attention and saying "BIKE" to other road users rather than going "hmm, odd light ahead, might be some kind of street furniture, no need to move out".

Most of my cycling kit has some reflective trim somewhere. SPD shoes have reflective patch on the heel. Reflective trim/patches on sleeves/gloves make signalling more obvious.

Then again, I'll occasionally ride home half pissed on a bike with no lights. There but for the grace of the SkyFairy go I.