Do those make a bicycle as visible as a car or motorcycle and from the same distance? Somehow I don't think so.
Yeah those reflectors aren't much. If I were going to ride at night I'd have a blinky light to grab attention and a solid light for something fixed to look at and get a sense of where the bike is, a blinky light or a solid light on their own aren't enough IMO.
You are definitely under-illuminated if you're riding a bike at night without lights. It's stupid to ride a bike at night without lights. I'll usually have at least a small headlight and sometimes a tail light as well. But sometimes I turn them off.
If I am riding at night, I use a standard bike rear light, then a 1000lumen torch on the front. If I am on the road, I crank it up to 1000l* (and angle it further downwards than normal) , if I am on a path, I turn it down to 300l so that I am not blinding pedestrians as much. Since your eyes can still see a long way ahead at 300l in the darkness. I have heard that 1000l is roughly equivalent to a car light, but not from a reliable source, so I don't know how accurate that is. I should also note that cars have two front lights, and that lumens add up. So two 100l lights would have an output of 200l. It is good practice to also have a helmet mounted torch for seeing around corners. But I don't tend to bother with that. *It's a Convoy S2+ from China, so whether it really reaches that value and stays there is an unknown value. But they do have a fairly good reputation.
As far as I'm concerned, bicycles are the exception unless ramps are involved. But you already know that's not the main reason I don't ride anyway.
Depending on the bulb type yeah that's about right, but modern LEDs and Xenons are usually brighter. The light is focused down though (at least it should be) with only a certain amount bleeding upward for reading signs and the like, so probably a good idea to aim your light down like you do otherwise it can look like a mini lightbar.
Thanks for the clarification. In the UK we have to put stickers (headlamp converters) on our headlights when we go abroad so that we don't blind other drivers. The beam shapes and angles that work for RHD vehicles would blind oncoming traffic on LHD roads. Same goes for any LHD cars in the UK. If you don't have them fitted, you get fined. In France its a €90($100) fine that you must pay on the spot. I don't think police are allowed to do that in the UK(?), but you will be fined and will be given a date to pay by.
So repeatedly you get proven the odd one out. Hmm. Good chance you're the one that's wrong as per usual
It's fine to not be into bicycles, but what's the problem with car enthusiasts also having taste for them too?
A million people can be wrong just as easily as one. See below. Say what you want, but having this many bicyclists around is a pretty horrid fall from what car culture used to be. Once upon a time, we conquered the mountain roads because they were there to be conquered. Now, we ride bikes on the mountain roads because they're there to ride bikes on, and scream "SELFISH FASCIST, GET YOUR OWN ROAD" at anyone who wants the old way back. There are certain roads where you just plain can't walk or ride, especially at night, without doing damage to car culture in the process. Car culture in general seems to have a lot of people these days who don't really care about its future as long as they can still autocross or something. Non-drivers taking over all the best driving roads? "The road's not a racetrack, they do have a right, I would know because I'm one of them." New cars having their style and tunability wrecked by heavy-handed regulations? "Well, people are still getting hurt in accidents, and [massively overcrowded metropolitan area] has developed a smog problem so..." Electric and automated cars cooking to golden-brown imperfection in the authoritarian oven? "Well, it'll reduce emissions/traffic accidents, so it's automatically a good thing." The other thing is, if you're a car enthusiast, then shouldn't you try to make life easier for other car enthusiasts? Turning the road, especially the nighttime mountain pass, into a giant, poorly-marked, moving game of The Floor is Lava doesn't seem like it would contribute to that goal.
I actually enjoy a rough road. One of the reasons I hate racetracks is because the surface is kept too smooth and too "perfect".
Look, I don't like cyclists, I'm not into bikes, nor do I feel that we should "share the road," but this argument is making me lose brain cells. Let people like what they like ffs. If they want to ride on the road and be the perfect target for me to earn bonus points, let them.
