What equipment must a bicycle have when used at night?

What equipment must a bicycle have when used at night?

Raiding bicycle at night may fun but it is dangerous as well.

Without using some basics safety equipment riding at night will be more dangerous. In this cycle article, I will talk about what are the basics equipment you need when you are cycling at night.

Because of low visibility at night, it is hard to navigate and more importantly hard to get seen by others. If others can’t see you there’s more chance of an accident.

That’s why you need proper lighting as well as some other equipment to get seen by others and be as safe as possible.

the bicycle near the sea

Here are some essential equipment must a bicycle have when used at night

Bicycling at night

Lights

Lights are a must at night when you are cycling.

For a bicycle you basically need two types of light:

  • Head light
  • Tail light

You can use more lights if you want but these two are a must. You can also use ankle lights. Many researches show these types of lights are very eye-catching when moving.

Helmet light can be also a good choice. It will put light on where you are seeing. You can all these light together for better performance. You can have backup batteries if needed.

You can get a large variety of lights on the market. Head light that is visible to 500 feet and tail light that is visible to 300 feet is enough. In the market, you can get 800 lumens light which is more than enough.

You can also get red tail light which can easily be seen by people behind you. My advice on tail light is to get the big and bright light you can get. So that people can easily spot your bicycle.

Don’t forget to consider the battery when buying lights for your bicycle make sure to it last long. And before bicycling make sure they have sufficient charge for the journey.

two bicycle have a strong wheels

Reflective Gears

Reflective gears will make you more visible to others at night. The reflective gears you can use at night are:

  • Reflective jacket
  • Reflective helmet

The main concern at night is to be seen by others. It is one of the most causes of accidents. Because of low light and low visibility at night crashes and accidents can happen. So it is better to wear reflective clothes and gears to maximize the possibility of seen by others.

You can wear high visibility neon-green jacket and other accessories like reflective helmet at night. You can also use reflective tape on your bicycle, helmet, and other equipment.

You can cut and stick it to your regular helmet or jacket to make it refective. But it will not as effective as the reflective gears themself. 

By using reflective gears you can reduce the chance of an accident. Reflective gears with lights are better than just using one of them and they can make you more visible to others.

Reflective gears will also save you in case your lights fail on the road. They can make you still visible if light gets on them.

the bicycle is near the wall

GPS 

You should choose the routes that you know properly at night. It will not only help you in navigating but also you will know the road’s pros and cons ie. potholes, gravel.

These can be dangerous when you are cycling on a new road at night but if you are familiar with the road you can easily avoid these.

But not all the time you will travel on a well-known road. Sometimes you may need to travel on a new road. For new routes, you need to research first and better to have a GPS that will help you with navigation.

You need to check the road’s condition. Is it under construction or is there cycle lane? And also other factors that you may need of. For this, a GPS can be a useful tool.

With GPS you can not only navigate your route but also you can get street view for better understanding of that road.

You can get street view on Google Maps for important and famous routes.

You can use your smartphone’s GPS app or you can get a GPS device for this task. Even some of GPS device doesn’t require Wifi or cellular data to be accessed.

Also Read: How to Find a Master Link On a Bike Chain?

These are the essential equipment that you need when you are riding bicycle at night. Make sure you have safety equipment when cycling because safety is the first priority while riding bicycle.

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Do you have any more equipment suggestions let me know that also. Don’t forget to share this post with your friends and family. And help them to know the essential eqqipment that they need while riding bicycle at night.

5/5 - (1 vote)

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top
Scroll to Top