Video: Essential cycle safety gear

5 comments
By BikeRadar UK | Thursday, Feb 9, 2012 8.00am

Thanks to UK newspaper The Times' Cities fit for cycling campaign, it's hard to get away from cycling safety at the moment in the UK - and rightly so. It's an issue that deserves the attention it's getting and the more that's done to protect cyclists in our towns and cities, the better.

But while the details of how are hammered out, there are a number of essential measures you can take to protect yourself, as explained by Cycling Plus Editor Rob Spedding in the video below. From age old equipment such as helmets and bells to more modern solutions like video cameras, these are our recommendations to help keep you safe on our roads.

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User Comments

There are 5 comments on this post

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  • Why the old school porn music?

  • ELVIS!?

  • I'm tempted to state that the information presented should be very obvious to anyone with half a brain.

    But to be honest I find myself constantly shaking my head in disbelief at some of the cyclists I see cycling around my local area at night. Head to toe in black, some with no lights at all - even where there are no street lights. Even those with lights are often nearly out of charge or not properly aligned - I'm amazed there isn't a weekly fatality!

    So...bravo....maybe the obvious does need stating.

    P.S. It's definately 70's porn music :^)

  • you're forgetting a couple of things......one probably the most important, day or night.

    a) mirror. it's dorky, i know. but it's probably the best way to keep abreast of your 6. it's like my seatbelt in the car, i never go anywhere without it. and no, hearing what's coming doesn't compare to what you're seeing behind you. you'll probably say, "you can just look back." wrong. i've had situations were just a simple turn of my head for a second, i start drifting a foot or 2 to the left. with especially tight roads and motorists trying to squeeze their way between you and the next lane over, a foot can make a big difference. AND, that's one second that you take your eyes off of what's in front of you, and a lot can happen within a second. you think you're good and that you can turn your head safely, but you're NOT.

    b) earplugs. you have to protect your hearing. people don't realize that noise pollution is very very detrimental to your hearing. this is why you see road crews wear hearing protection. and no, you can still hear sirens through earplugs. in fact, you can hear them better than a person in a car. today, cars are so sound proofed that people can hardly hear the outside environment. and this is through experience. people always respond with: "well, how can you hear a car coming at you from behind?" and i answer back: "dude, if you hear that car, it's already too late." if you're worried, that's what the mirror is for.

  • Some great comments. darth_geekboy Interesting comment about the mirror - I've never used one and you don't see many riders with them in the UK, but a good call. Wiggle have a big range http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cycle/bike-mirrors/

    Not sure about the earplugs though but then I've never really thought about noise pollution so interesting.

    And as for the music - yep 70s porn sprang instantly to my mind. (Not that I, erm, know what porn is...)

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