[*BCM*] October riders can light up the night!

[Tom Revay]

At 12:14 PM 10/12/2004 -0400, Heidie wrote:

... what amounted to an ad for a commercial product manufactured by the 
company she represents.  So I think it's reasonable to question this ad here.

She wrote about Hokey Spokes, an LED wand that attaches to bicycle 
spokes.  She said:


>This unique item, the *only* side mounted safety light for bicycles, is a 
>great way to be seen during the fall/winter months, when the sun goes down 
>early.  Check it out!

I had a conversation at the Redbone's party a in May a few years ago with a 
Hokey Spokes promoter.  I asked him about his safety claims, specifically, 
how they determined that these side-mounted lights could be sold as "safety 
lights."   Turns out, he had no evidence that cyclists were safer with 
them.  He just made the assertion.  And he seemed pretty annoyed that I 
would ask for evidence to back up his safety claims, as though none should 
be necessary.

Their website claims "they also provide important side visibility, which is 
mostly unavailable in today's standard bicycle lights."  And it's true that 
side lighting isn't used much in bicycling -- because it's mostly 
unnecessary.

Side mounted lights, as well as those dumb spoke reflectors that come on 
new bikes, are minimally useful because the motorist who's approaching you 
to make a left across your path won't be able to stop in time if his first 
warning is seeing your illuminated wheels in front of his car in the 
intersection.  At night, motorists entering from side streets and parking 
lots need to see your headlamp beam out ahead of you, or they're more 
likely to cut you off, or hit you.  But the spokes or wheel reflectors 
don't shine forward.

Their demo videos confirm this.  You'll see bikes with many, many 
illuminated spokes become nearly invisible when the bike is seen head 
on.  But that's the direction you most need light.

Hokey Spokes won't let you see the potholes, stones, puddles and poodles, 
either.  That's another good reason to get a headlamp:  what you don't see 
can get'cha!

Anyway, I think Hokey Spokes are plenty fun.  But I think their claims of 
these things as "safety lights" displays an ignorance of bicycle safety -- 
at best.  Unfortunately, they ought to know better, and to do better by at 
least mounting headlights to their demo riders.

Get a good, steady white LED headlamp (like the Cateye 5-bulb OptiCube) 
first.  Then go get the whiz-bang spokes.

................................Tom