The Chainlink

Query about lights on your bike . . .

Last night I did a leisurely round trip between Rogers Park and Pilsen, to meet a friend for a beer and to put some miles on in the nice weather.  On the after-dark ride home (Halsted to Clybourne, Clybourne to Racine to Clark, Clark to Argyle, Argyle to Glenwood to Loyola) I saw ten or twelve cyclists riding without lights.  No front light, no back light, nothing.  About half of them were decked out in serious lycra-and-aerodynamic gear, the other half in more mundane fenders-and-chain-guard rides with racks and panniers.  All were dressed in dark colors and so, without lights, practically invisible.

So, my question: if you don't have lights on your bike, why not?  It seems so basic and common-sense, yet riders who obviously spend a lot of time and money on their bicycles don't have lights.  It just makes no sense to me.  Trying to figure it out.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on October 22, 2012 at 1:02pm

Sorry, lights are dirt cheap. 

Tricolor said:

Lights are expensive.  After dark I see two types of people with no lights:

1. Students

2. Painters/Drywallers/other laborers

Both are usually on older bikes and a strict budget.  What's worrying is they're riding up Sheridan Road in the dark rather than using Winthrop and Kenmore.

The commuters and spandex types are lit up like Christmas trees.  And the spandex types still ride up Sheridan.  Sorry if I fixate on this but it's a real pet peeve for me both on the bike and in the car.

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on October 22, 2012 at 1:04pm

I hate those ultra-bright lights.  I think they're actually a danger: if you blind a cyclist in the opposite bike lane, you're also blinding oncoming drivers. 

Tim S said:

bike lights are not expensive, perhaps some of the idiots that have the billion candle-watt lights that blind fellow riders may have expensive lights, they are cheap enough options for any budget.

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on October 22, 2012 at 1:06pm

Also, to everyone with the Removable-Then-Forgotten pattern: I don't remove my removables.  I've never had one stolen either, though I've broken a few over the years.  I just leave 'em on the bike.  If/When one is stolen or broken, I'll buy another of the same model and put it on the already-mounted rig. 

Permalink Reply by djm on October 22, 2012 at 1:51pm

S said:

 The lycra/spandex crowd probably didn't want to mess up their awesome race bike with something as pedestrian as blinking lights.


...as evidenced by the XXX racer boy riding fast in full stealth mode on a dark section of the LFP one night last week. A head-on collision would have been ugly.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on October 22, 2012 at 2:11pm

I fear the stealth bike kids whether on my bike or behind the wheel of my large automobile.

I rarely drive my car these days but when I do at night the stealth cyclists give me the most scary moments.   Car drivers have limited visibility inside and behind the windows and roof pillars, and at night it is even worse.  

How many Chicagoland urban bicyclists are not drivers and just don't realize this?  It must be a pretty high percentage by some of the crazy unpredictable things many do around car traffic.  They must think that somehow a driver can see and react to stuff that happens in their blindspots -especially in the dark by black-clad kids without lights or even a reflector.  

Maybe I'm just getting old, but christ...  as bad as Chicago auto drivers have gotten over the past few years (for whatever reasons) a very small but oblivious 2% of cyclists are even worse.  Most drivers are a-holes, but they are almost always predictable a-holes on the road.   Ninja stealth riders who are cutting between cars going sideways to traffic, salmoning, doing their circles and S-shaped courses through intersections on red lights, and generally being invisible on the road just tend to scare the hell out of drivers at night.  They can simply appear 6-foot in front of you out of the shadows from any direction, in any part of the road going at a random course.  There is almost no way to predict where they may come from or which direction they might be going once the materialize out of the dark.  Invisible and unpredictable -a bad combination.

Either they have death-wishes or just don't understand how dangerous this is. 

It's hard to tell during the day if the crazy 2% minority of cyclists have lights or behave that way at night -but at night it is the unlit riders who pull 98% of the stupid stuff on the road in my experience watching other bicyclists in this city. 

Permalink Reply by Gene Tenner on October 22, 2012 at 2:41pm

Lights are cheaper than emergency room visits.

Permalink Reply by Sarah D. on October 22, 2012 at 3:17pm

Maybe it's where you live or park your bike. I've had an average of two lights stolen every year (usually in spring/summer) - I am terrible at remembering to take them off. I park in front of my work and it's been either there or at music venues/bars/restaurants that I've had them taken. I also always carry lights on me though, and at this moment have two white front lights with mein my bag. I can't stand when cyclists aren't lit - and if you ride by my Damen Ave. home, I will be the one shouting "get some lights!" if I've had a particularly bad day...

I'd support a police sting operation citywide about this. It helps ALL of us when drivers feel they (we) can see cyclists!


Bill Savage said:

Also, to everyone with the Removable-Then-Forgotten pattern: I don't remove my removables.  I've never had one stolen either, though I've broken a few over the years.  I just leave 'em on the bike.  If/When one is stolen or broken, I'll buy another of the same model and put it on the already-mounted rig. 

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 22, 2012 at 3:55pm

Much cheaper.

Gene Tenner said:

Lights are cheaper than emergency room visits.

Permalink Reply by Crazy David 84 Furlongs on October 22, 2012 at 4:17pm

Call me paranoid, but I am well lit-up when I ride at night.   Bike Planet 1 Watt (in high power constant mode) and one of those USB rechargables in Blink Mode on the front, a steady red on the back and a USB rechargeable in blink mode on the back.  And I carry in my bag, the two prior front lights (old Cateyes) and one spare rear light so that I will have lights even with failures.   Its the only sensible thing to do.

Permalink Reply by Matty Ice on October 22, 2012 at 4:25pm

"I'd support a police sting operation citywide about this. It helps ALL of us when drivers feel they (we) can see cyclists!"

I like the idea of a sting but I would prefer it end with giving cyclists a warning and coupon for a light; not a ticket.

Lights and reflective gear can be cheap, and I do like the ER visit comment. I bought a reflective vest at IKEA for $4, and probably spent under $30 for all my lights, including a nice headlamp.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on October 22, 2012 at 5:01pm

Rather than ticketing these riders I would love to be able to give them a light.  I am going to propose to EBC to consider a blinky give away action. As many of you know, the club uses the proceeds of the North Shore Century for charitable bike related causes. I don't know if they will agree to this but I will be proposing it.  Does anybody here have a line on where a decent tailight can be found inexpensively with a bulk purchase?

Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on October 22, 2012 at 5:24pm

try dealextreme: http://dx.com/c/sports-outdoors-1699/cycling-1607/bike-light-1644

David Barish said:

Rather than ticketing these riders I would love to be able to give them a light.  I am going to propose to EBC to consider a blinky give away action. As many of you know, the club uses the proceeds of the North Shore Century for charitable bike related causes. I don't know if they will agree to this but I will be proposing it.  Does anybody here have a line on where a decent tailight can be found inexpensively with a bulk purchase?

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