Bright lights?

[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.