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> bicyclist by the side of the road can still be seen clearly while other drivers sharing the road can see, too. Ahh yes, my absolute favorite thing, when I'm
by thot_experiment 3y ago
> bicyclist by the side of the road can still be seen clearly while other drivers sharing the road can see, too.
Ahh yes, my absolute favorite thing, when I'm on my bike and drivers turn their highbeams on to see me better, putting me into a situation where I have to stop (which isn't really an option because I have no brakes on my bike) or continue forward on pure faith. Luckily I can cache like 8 seconds of road so it's usually fine, but it does make me want to ban cars even more than normal. While I'm at it, please ban super bright bike lights too, front and rear, they're so antisocial. Very cool that you can see at the expense of everyone around you.
- justinclift 3y ago> I have no brakes on my bike You're riding in an environment where life threatening situations occur... without brakes? Is that as unwise as it sounds, or is the situation not like that?
- isthatafact 3y agoSure it is a silly thing to do, but the important point is that these headlights are intended to be hostile to all people who are not in cars, which makes this a harmful technology. It is already unpleasant enough to be forced to be on or near a road or street at night where low beams are often aimed directly in the eyes of a person walking along a sidewalk.
- justinclift 3y agoNo worries. Wonder if we'll get to the stage where people need to wear sunglasses at night? (like the old song phrase) ;)
- em-bee 3y agowhy do you not have brakes on your bike?
- FireBeyond 3y agoProbably riding a fixie. But to me, basic common sense would imply that riding a bicycle on the road or even in a bike lane without brakes isn't a wise idea. (But also, of all the bicyclist stereotypes, the fixie rider would be the 'worst').
- em-bee 3y agoriding a bicycle without brakes isn't a wise idea in some countries it's also illegal.
- bombcar 3y agoHeh the irony of someone riding an unroadworthy vehicle complaining about other unroadworthy vehicles.
- InSteady 3y agoFor myself and 99.99% of other bikers out there who do use brakes, these headlights are still a massive problem. There's no world in which being completely blinded while riding at speed in traffic isn't a safety issue. Especially on a bike where it's up to you to anticipate and avoid careless drivers who will put thousands of pounds of vehicle into your path without a care for your life on a regular basis. Also, if GP is indeed riding a fixed gear bike then they do have the ability to brake, it's just a different mechanism. Weird that they phrased it that way. Fixed gear bikes are more challenging to ride (kind of like a manual transmission vehicle) but are completely roadworthy in the hands of a competent rider.
- wl 3y agoTrack bikes don't have brakes. You don't need brakes on the track as the bikes are fixed gear without a freewheel, so you can brake by slowing down your pedaling. Stopping fast on the track can cause dangerous crashes, so velodromes typically ban brakes. For reasons that are inscrutable to me, people ride track bikes—lacking brakes—on the streets. It's such a thing to the point where people will buy track-style bikes that include brakes and remove the brakes, even though they never ride at a velodrome.