Safety flags? Who uses them?

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

Ken

Okay REALLY bad typo in OP. First sentence should be "I have seen some
riders use them, but most do not."

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

["Followup-To:" header set to alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent.]

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I
think I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and
on what kind of bike / trike.

I use one on a low recumbent trike, but mainly to address one
particular location on my commute.

At this location, two one-way lanes of traffic come alongside each
other for a while, but with a long raised kerb between them, so
traffic from one can't cross to the other lane. After a while, the
raised kerb stops and traffic merges from one to the other. I think
the plan is that the traffic streams do their lining up and matching
speed while they can't merge, then merge once that's all sorted out.

The problem is, lots of drivers don't really look before doing the
merge - they've just established out of the corner of their eye that
there isn't something alongside, and drift across. My trike is lower
than window height, and if I were alongside, I might not get noticed.
So I have a flag at just above eye level.

Occasionally, I forget it, and I don't feel less noticeable without it
- though I might be a bit more cautious at that one junction.

regards, Ian SMith
--
|\ /| no .sig
|o o|
|/ \|

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

Ken

There are two kinds of safety flags. The one at
"http://www.flashback.ca/products/accessories.html" is very useful for
non-recumbents.

Ken -

Organized multi-day rides in MI require these flags. At least the one
I was thinking about going on.

Put me off the whole deal. I'm not about to strap one of those fredly
flags on my ride!

Trikes, benties, ok, they NEED flags for safety, but I'm as tall on my
bike as standing. Plus, since I ascribe to the "louder is better"
clothing theory, I'm that much harder to miss!

D'ohBoy

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ken M said:

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

**********
I cut that dumb orange safety flag off the pole. I got me a pirate flag,
baby!

Interestingly enough it gets far more attention.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Ken M said:

Okay REALLY bad typo in OP. First sentence should be "I have seen some
riders use them, but most do not."

**********
I've never seen one on a bike that wasn't ridden by a small child.
Allmost all of the (very few) trikes I have seen have them. One even had
2.

The token tricyclist
http://community.livejournal.com/tricycles_unite/

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. >

I prefer to wear one of these:

http://www.alertshirt.com/higvisshirfo.html

and if it's cold one of these:

http://www.alertshirt.com/wiflli.html

which seem to work just as well as a flag, but are maybe a teeny tiny
bit less dorky. Maybe.

Mort

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

Ken

I just put one on our newly acquired Screamer. I am not too concerned
about our visibility when we ride our upright tandem because we wear
high visibility jerseys. However, on the Screamer my stoker's back is
completely hidden by the black seat and only her arms and helmet are
visible from behind.

If we rode mainly in town I might feel differently, but most of our
riding is done on country roads. Traffic usually approaches us from
the rear at a high rate of speed and I wish to draw attention to our
presence on the road as early as possible.

Harry

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

I will be -- and I'd like to know if anyone's got any experience
customizing theirs.

I want to put up all kinds of funny or odd stuff, from the obvious like
skull and bones and lightning to a baby bottle or a carrot or a middle
finger....

On 25 Jan 2006 13:39:02 -0800, "NYC XYZ" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

I will be -- and I'd like to know if anyone's got any experience
customizing theirs.

I want to put up all kinds of funny or odd stuff, from the obvious like
skull and bones and lightning to a baby bottle or a carrot or a middle
finger....

Here's what I use:

http://stores.musictoday.com/store/product.asp?band_id=2&dept_id=55&pf_id=BFAM01HIPPO&sfid=2

It's a six inch tall stuffed hippo doll, bright red and wearing a
beret. I keep one zip-tied to the handle strap of my seat bag on my
Tour Easy recumbent. The bright red is similar i color to a stop sign,
and my hope is it will help alert the drivers to my presence.

Indiana Mike

"Mike Rice" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 25 Jan 2006 13:39:02 -0800, "NYC XYZ" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

I will be -- and I'd like to know if anyone's got any experience
customizing theirs.

I want to put up all kinds of funny or odd stuff, from the obvious like
skull and bones and lightning to a baby bottle or a carrot or a middle
finger....

Here's what I use:

http://stores.musictoday.com/store/product.asp?band_id=2&dept_id=55&pf_id=BFAM01HIPPO&sfid=2

It's a six inch tall stuffed hippo doll, bright red and wearing a
beret. I keep one zip-tied to the handle strap of my seat bag on my
Tour Easy recumbent. The bright red is similar i color to a stop sign,
and my hope is it will help alert the drivers to my presence.

Indiana Mike

From some of the accidents I've read about it seems some drivers are
attracted to what they are looking at. Why else would people drive into
large objects like trees, cars, busses, houses? Instead of a flag that would
attract a drivers gaze and possibly his car, I wonder how a black arrow
pointing into the lane, surrounded by a bright field would work? A bright
thing to get attention and the arrow causing a reflexive avoidance
maneouver.

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

Violet Tigress said:

I got me a pirate flag,

Cool idea.

I've used the orange flag with my DF bike. Pole mount goes on the rear
through the QR skewer. Around U.S. Independence Day I put a U.S. flag
on the pole.

It's been a couple of years since I've used that setup. I have no idea
if it's beneficial or not.

RFM
http://www.cyclelicio.us/

gotbent said:

From some of the accidents I've read about it seems some drivers are
attracted to what they are looking at. Why else would people drive into
large objects like trees, cars, busses, houses? Instead of a flag that would
attract a drivers gaze and possibly his car, I wonder how a black arrow
pointing into the lane, surrounded by a bright field would work? A bright
thing to get attention and the arrow causing a reflexive avoidance
maneouver.

Rear-ending stationary of police cars (with flashing blue and red
lights) by other motorists is surprisingly common. Newer light bars use
"moving" [1] yellow flashing lights to indicate to approaching traffic
which side to go to. I have not seen statistics to indicate if this is
effective or not.

I slowly overtook a tadpole trike on a set of short rolling hills. The
rider's head was about 3½ feet/0.9-meter above the ground and the flag
was about 7 feet/2.1-meter from the ground. There was a visual
disconnect between the two, and they appeared to be at different
distances away until I was close enough to see the flag pole.

[1] Stationary lights that are sequenced to provide the illusion of
movement.

--
Tom Sherman - Fox River Valley

In article <[email hidden]>,

NYC XYZ said:

I will be -- and I'd like to know if anyone's got any experience
customizing theirs.

********
Customizing the dorky orange flag or using the pole to put up something
else? I juust cut it off the pole & attatatched a cheap little pirate
flag with electrical tape. I need to replace the flag soon though
because it's torn. You can also just tie on those flags that are made to
hang outside....a little more expensive but they seem durable. A
windsock would be cool but might create too much drag.

The token tricyclist
http://community.livejournal.com/tricycles_unite/

"NYC XYZ" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I will be -- and I'd like to know if anyone's got any experience
customizing theirs.

I want to put up all kinds of funny or odd stuff, from the obvious like
skull and bones and lightning to a baby bottle or a carrot or a middle
finger....

Well apart from the standard flourescent yellow & retroreflective flag for
my trice, I have a windsurfer.... Not a picture on a flag, but a miniature
windsurfer on a miniature board... I save it for use on summer days. Gets
noticed for some reason ;-)

Cheers, helen s

In article <[email hidden]>, NYC

XYZ () said:

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

I will be -- and I'd like to know if anyone's got any experience
customizing theirs.

I want to put up all kinds of funny or odd stuff, from the obvious like
skull and bones and lightning to a baby bottle or a carrot or a middle
finger....

Back in the Elder Days, the works Wincheetah gang eschewed those foam
practice tennis balls which were at the time the most common Things On
Poles, in favour of plastic fruit.

Latterly, my grate frend gNick intended to go one better with his fully-
faired machine. Obtaining the cable drive from an old Huret mechanical
speedometer, it was proposed to run this vertically from the rear wheel
and through the top of the fairing, there to cause to revolve an example
of the large plastic lobsters so beloved of the BRITONS' fishmongers.
Alas, no fishmonger was prepared to sell him a plastic lobster and in
those pre-Internet days, tracking down a supplier was an Herculean task.
So - no lobster. Bah!

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
My other motto is in Latin.

Dave Larrington said:

In article <[email hidden]>, NYC

XYZ () said:

Ken M said:

I have seen them used on some riders use them, but most do not. I think
I will probably use one on my recumbent. So who uses them and on what
kind of bike / trike.

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

I will be -- and I'd like to know if anyone's got any experience
customizing theirs.

I want to put up all kinds of funny or odd stuff, from the obvious like
skull and bones and lightning to a baby bottle or a carrot or a middle
finger....

Back in the Elder Days, the works Wincheetah gang eschewed those foam
practice tennis balls which were at the time the most common Things On
Poles, in favour of plastic fruit.

Latterly, my grate frend gNick intended to go one better with his fully-
faired machine. Obtaining the cable drive from an old Huret mechanical
speedometer, it was proposed to run this vertically from the rear wheel
and through the top of the fairing, there to cause to revolve an example
of the large plastic lobsters so beloved of the BRITONS' fishmongers.
Alas, no fishmonger was prepared to sell him a plastic lobster and in
those pre-Internet days, tracking down a supplier was an Herculean task.
So - no lobster. Bah!

Yet another example of Brit humor. I laughed.

Ken
--
You never have the wind with you - either it is against you or you're
having a good day. ~Daniel Behrman, The Man Who Loved Bicycles

Homepage: http://kcm-home.tripod.com/

"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, NYC
XYZ ([email hidden]) wrote:
Latterly, my grate frend gNick intended to go one better with his fully-
faired machine. Obtaining the cable drive from an old Huret mechanical
speedometer, it was proposed to run this vertically from the rear wheel
and through the top of the fairing, there to cause to revolve an example
of the large plastic lobsters so beloved of the BRITONS' fishmongers.
Alas, no fishmonger was prepared to sell him a plastic lobster and in
those pre-Internet days, tracking down a supplier was an Herculean task.
So - no lobster. Bah!

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
My other motto is in Latin.

Dave, take a look here for plastic lobsters:
http://www.nauticalsupplyshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=N&Product_Code=N305

OTOH, if you want a ROCK LOBSTER, you need to buy the B52's album.

Google, baby, Google.

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

oldslowbenter said:

"Dave Larrington" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, NYC
XYZ ([email hidden]) wrote:
Latterly, my grate frend gNick intended to go one better with his fully-
faired machine. Obtaining the cable drive from an old Huret mechanical
speedometer, it was proposed to run this vertically from the rear wheel
and through the top of the fairing, there to cause to revolve an example
of the large plastic lobsters so beloved of the BRITONS' fishmongers.
Alas, no fishmonger was prepared to sell him a plastic lobster and in
those pre-Internet days, tracking down a supplier was an Herculean task.
So - no lobster. Bah!

--
Dave Larrington - <http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/>
My other motto is in Latin.

Dave, take a look here for plastic lobsters:
http://www.nauticalsupplyshop.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=N&Product_Code=N305

OTOH, if you want a ROCK LOBSTER, you need to buy the B52's album.

Google, baby, Google.

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Unrestricted-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

I always fly my flag, and I just bought new flags and mast for
www.wheelerwhip.com. I ordered a florescent orange and orange checkered
flag on a black mast.