Bicycle lighting

Illumination devices attached to bicycles Red light on the back of a bicycle Early bicycle lighting: candle lamps, oil lamps and carbide lamps Early bicycle lamps and two early bottle dynamos (1935) Bicycle lighting is illumination attached to bicycles whose purpose above all is, along with reflectors, to improve the visibility of the bicycle and its rider to other road users under circumstances of poor ambient illumination. A secondary purpose is to illuminate reflective materials such as cat's eyes and traffic signs. A third purpose may be to illuminate the roadway so that the rider can see the way ahead. Serving the latter purposes require much more luminous flux and thus more power. Many jurisdictions require one or more bicycle lights to be fitted to bicycles ridden at night — generally a white light in the front and a red light at the back, like with other vehicles. History Fire A carbide lamp The earliest bicycle lamps were oil-fueled and started to be manufactured in 1876 for the Ordinary (High-Bicycle) and solid-tired tricycles. From 1896, acetylene gas lighting for bicycles started to be introduced and later in 1899, acetylene gas lamps for the motor-car became popular.