Bright lights?

[lph]

Ok, so this is completely the wrong time of year to start thinking about this, but still, I thought some of you might have ideas from this winter's commuting.

Briefly - what do you think of the really bright bike lighting systems available now? Sorry, haven't read up so I don't know the jargon, but this winter I've seen several commuters sporting BLAZINGLY BRIGHT lights, so bright that I can't see if it's a bike, a motorcycle or a car with only one headlight approaching. A friend of mine just bought one of these (Light and Motion something-or-other), which I thought were designed for lighting up unlighted trails and gravel logging roads, but he doesn't even ride places like this in the dark, he's mainly a commuter like me and is going to use it commuting along roads and bike paths with (some) lighting.

I'm out of lights at the moment. I don't really want to get one of these, since it bothers me when other people use them and I can't see the rider. But there's no doubt that one is EXTREMELY visible and attentiongetting wearing lights this bright. Any opinions, either if you've used them or just seen them?

[crazycanuck]

Ian has one & normally uses it on a night mtn bike ride or for the 12hr mtb event. They;'re great if you are doing an endurance event at night as they last quite a few hours.

I have Cateye double shots & can see well when it's not wet & yucky outside. If i see someone coming towards me, i'll often tilt my head down as not to blind them. I don't know how bright they are as i've never stared into them..

One thing that bothers me is the bright blinky lights. Do people not realize that some of us can't see and blinded when they're blinking?? It's bad enough trying to see when it's dark!!! Bright blinky lights & bells You can't see the person as the blinky lights are overpowering.

Just an observation prior to going to bed..

[tulip]

Crazy, why don't you like bells? I found bells essential (on my bike and on others) when I commuted on the Multi-Use Path in DC. It wasn't that useful on the streets, but sometimes it came in handy there, too, with pedestrians.

I have a NiteRider headlight that I really like. It's a few years old now. It's not blindingly bright, but it's certainly noticeable and lights up the path or road in front of me.

As for blinkies, I use mine on bright blink to make sure the car drivers see me. I want it to be bright to be noticeable with all the distractions that drivers deal with.

[Melalvai]

I've heard blinkies are much more visible than non-blinky. It depends on your commuting conditions. I have a variety of conditions and thus a variety of lights. Some of my streets are well lit, some poorly lit, and some not lit at all. Sometimes it's dusk, dawn, dark, or daylight depending on what meetings I have, how late I slept in, or what critical procedure is scheduled.

To handle all these conditions, including my inability to remember to change batteries, I have blinking reelights front & back, a regular blinkie in back, a hub generator light up front, and a helmet light. Since the helmet light & generator light are steady, I want to get an additional blinkie up front. The nice thing about more than enough lights is that when the battery runs out on my rear blinkie and/or my helmet light, I have plenty of other lights to compensate.

[7rider]

My new Knog Gator is plenty bright. DH and I did some after-dark cruising up and down my neighborhood streets when I first got it. When I watched him coming up the dark hill, he was definitely visible, but I don't think I would have mistaken him for a motorcycle or pididdle (for those who remember Sniglets, isn't that a one-headlight car?). But I tend to aim the light down low - directing the beam about 10-15 feet in front of the bike, not up at traffic.
But other than that trial run, until we "spring ahead" next week, it's been too light for my commute to make much use of it. However, I did use the 1W blinkie yesterday (didn't commute today - fighting a head cold)...and the Knog blinkie I have to say is pretty nice. Not seizure-inducing like some of those out there.

[kat_h]

I think aiming it down a bit is important. I've been blinded by an oncoming bike once when I was in my car and I really don't think that's a safe thing to do to drivers.

I commute after dark on the highway three times a week so need to light up the shoulder in front of me far enough to be able to avoid whatever may be blocking my path, so I'm in the process of switching to better lights then my old light is going on my city bike.

[F8th637]

Those really bright lights are LED lights basically. More and more lights are being made that way. I actually bought my husband a cheap but nice LED light that you put around your head so that he could work on the insides of his computers and I have found that putting that baby on a helmet works out well. I will probably buy myself one as well.

As for the blinky lights, I think they are good when you are on a road with lots of cars. It probably is a little overkill for a trail but I'm all about being seen when there are cars around.

[Pedal Wench]

I have the Dinotte 200L lights -- one for handlebars, one for my helmet, and I LOVE them. They're insanely easy to install (just snap the o-ring around the bars and they're on!) and the run time is great. I used them for a 24-hour race and they were amazing. Not blindingly bright, but more than sufficient to light up the road about 20 feet ahead. I keep the helmet mount pointed down to light up right in front of my wheel.

[Eden]

A group of us got together here in Seattle and did a little night time testing with a variety of lights and reflective equipment.
My impressions from that session

Very bright lights are not necessarily any safer - if you are blinding drivers it actually makes YOU harder to see - as all the drivers can see is a small bright point of light and the rider behind gets entirely lost (as does any signal you might be making)... They are great to see by, but if you choose to use one, be very careful where you point it... (and for petes sake if you ride on a bike trail don't blind other riders with it! turn it down or away from the faces of other people)

Helmet mounting your reasonably bright lights makes them very easy to control - you can put the light where you need it and you can briefly "flash" drivers to get their attention.

Flashing lights say bike all over (this can be good or bad...) and they are more eye catching than steady lights. Just be sure your flashing taillight is not obstructed by any bags or baggage you might be carrying and make sure the batteries are fresh enough that your light is still bright. If you have an old red LED, it may be time to invest in a new one - the new ones are much brighter and more noticable. Those little blinky valve stem lights were a big suprise. They actually worked very well.

Over everthing else reflective items make you noticable. This was surprising to me. I figured good bright lights and lots of them would trump any reflective materials - Nope! The most eye catching thing anyone had that night was one of those standard dorky orange and yellow strap on traffic triangles... Reflective piping and patches on clothing - especially parts that move a lot, like your feet and legs are very good. Colored reflective materials were more effective than plain silver. One guy had his bike covered in orange reflective tape - he was very visible. Tires with reflective sidewalls looked very good from the side, which is often a hard angle to be properly lit from.

Lastly have someone ride your bike - then you can see just how visible you are and see if anything needs to change. I added a whole bunch of reflective tape and sew on strips to my messenger bag after the session.

[tulip]

I came up on a cyclist on the path at night--he had no blinkie, no lights, no reflectors. I had my light on, but I came up on him all of a sudden and I didn't see him at all. A blinkie or even reflectors or a white shirt would have helped.

[F8th637]

That's a lot of great info, Eden, and I think it's awesome you guys got together to test things out. I put reflective tape on my helmet. I bought an orange reflective vest and have yet to use it but after reading what you said about the reflecties I am definitely going to start wearing it when I start commuting again this season. Thanks again!

[Voodoo Sally]

lph, yes, I have experience with the EXTREMELY bright lights. They are the HID type, and they are in general the brightest lights available. They're the incredibly expensive lights. They've been popular in the night mountain biking crowd for several years now. In my opinion they're too bright and not worth the money. I used them for a few years night mountain biking. They were brighter than my companions' halogen lights and I had to take care never to look at my mates' faces during breaks, or I'd really blind them. I also felt that too much light was cast on the trail, the light was too bluish, and I couldn't see shadows very well (I couldn't see the relief of the terrain well enough therefore). The image of the trail I perceived seemed to be very flat and at speed this was a bad thing. I missed the old halogen lights, which gave a duller, yellower, light. I finally said "what is all the hype about" and ditched the HID for night mt. biking.

Then, I did use the HID commuting for a while. At first I liked it, because I thought I was safer. If it looked like a car was about to cross me, I could train the beam at the driver's face. That worked alright, but upon consideration, I realized that this is bad for the driver and kind of overkill for my safety.

Finally I think I have the right kind of light for commuting (and mountain biking). I'm using a much less powerful LED light now, helmet mounted. It's bright enough to light my way in unlit places, bright enough for cars to see I think, and not blinding to motorists.

[Geonz]

+1 on Eden's observations - my experience is similar. Big And Bright helps me see and that's important, but for me to be visible things like position are more important.
I've waxed green enough to really like the idea of generators - and passive-aggressive dwerps can't turn them on while they're parked on the bike rack, either. (Goign to be peeking out there today - it's always on Tuesday or Thursday.) My Busch-Muller is well-engineered and shines a nice light and has that cute feature that keeps a little light going when I'm stopped. I do want to add hokey spokes 'cause they really announce "bicycle," but I lost the special thingies that attach them to the spokes
For my backside I've got a helmet mounted Trek Flare 10 that's visible from a *long* ways and many angles, and because of the height people think I'm something worth slowing down for. I noticed right away that the reaction distance was lots further back when I got this thing on, even when I was on my fast-bike-without-all-the-commuter-lights. There *is* soemthing to be said for not inducing seizures and using up 46 batteries, if I can effectively create a "slow down and figure this out" reaction without it... but I also have a string or two of little Christmas LED lights ($1.50 after the holidays) and my cheaper-than-reallite big red light.

I've gotten lots of compliments on my visibility, both when I was totally blinged out with the full Crhistmas Tree regalia and when I've waxed more traditional. I am also certain that little things like lane position help, too.

[lph]

Thanks all for your feedback, I reckon I'll stick with my usual collection of blinkies and medium-bright LEDs, and let the hype just pass me by Lots of good light tips here for next winter.

Geonz - on your lightswitcheronner: if you have some inexpensive lights you could have a lot of fun boobytrapping one with say, some glue, or a short needle, or preferably something that makes a small explosion. Or starts an alarm ...

Or you could just remove the batteries. Trying to turn on something that won't turn on is BORING.

[Running Mommy]

I just started using the Ironman ILS helmet. It has a white light in the front and a red one in back. Only downside is they don't blink. It's very easy to recharge, and I've gotten lots off comments about it.
I also use a blinky on my camelbak. And if I ride in the pitch dark (vs. at sunset) I use a light and motion helmet mounted light. It works great. But I must say the L&M's are a bit pricey! We've actually had ours for a few years.