Night rider

While there are some issues surrounding cycling safety that are clearly up for debate, nighttime visibility is really an uncontroversial Good.  For those whose personal preferences tend toward the subtler end of the spectrum, then, this can seem like an area where practicality must trump style.  Fluorescent triangle vests for everyone!!

But it needn't be so.  Recall the lovely Cordelia:

in daylight

One of the things that attracted me to the KHS Green in the first place was that its look was so basic, so unassuming, it was as if it were trying to look like a silhouette of a bicycle.  Cool.  The bad thing about silhouettes though?  Hard to see in the dark.  So:

with flash

Here Cordelia is sporting a Bright Bikes kit in "Black Caterpillar."  As you can see, what is essentially invisible in daylight becomes quite noticeable under direct light, adding a layer of safety that doesn't scream, "yooooooooo! check out all my neon fluorescent reflective decals!"   The $18 kits come in a variety of colors and are super easy to apply in almost any kind of configuration you would like, so you can be as subtle or unsubtle as you please.  I immediately felt more confident about riding my bike at night after I got her taped up good and intend to give Frida a similar treatment in the near future.  I highly recommend checking them out.