bicycle lightsIt’s coming to the time of year that there is a good chance that you will be commuting it the dark. So it will be a good idea to check up on your lights to see if the batteries are fresh and if they are still working. I’m pretty sure that you haven’t touched them since early spring.

Over the last few days I have seen plenty of cyclist without lights or with lights but very weak batteries or lights not pointing in a direction where they would be to any benefit.

Classic ones I see daily …
Lights on your helmet but pointing right into your backpack.
Lights on your seat post but your coat or rear panniers are covering them.
Lights on but but pointed into your handle bar basket.
Lights on but lighting up the road below you.
Lights on but you have to your head right next to the lights to be able to see it is on.
And so I could go on.

It doesn’t take long to check if your light, just don’t look into them when you turn them on, now of days they are pretty bright. If you do mostly city cycling even a cheap set of lights are good enough if they have fresh batteries and fitted somewhere where others can see them. Yes if you are using dark tow paths or country lanes and can’t rely on street lights, it would be a great idea invest in some better light since you need to see where you are going.