New bike light :)
- Thread starter gentlegreen
- Start date
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
None, but on the back they are more visible.
Yep sure.
Herbsman.
Nah Lotion, Pet, Nor Powder.
The idea is that they make you visible to other road users, dummy.
What's the point of being visible if you can't see what the fuck is in front of you?
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
You use them in addition to other lighting or in areas with lots of light.
Herbsman.
Nah Lotion, Pet, Nor Powder.
Are you some sort of complete fucking idiot or what?
Can you honestly not see any reason why it's a good idea to make yourself as visible to other road users as possible?
If you use them with other lighting that lights up the road in front of you then I don't see the point of having something additional flashing away.
I live in a city and even the busiest of roads now have yellow street and road lights. They might reduce light pollution but they are crap at lighting up road surfaces, the assumption being that road users will be in a motorised vehicle with extremely bright lights.
Are you the kind of tool who's got the latest flashing LED on their bike then rides into a pothole, or hits a greasy patch in the dark or ...
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
I think your kind of missing the point here. Considering how many cyclists get taken out by motorists and how vulnerable they are, I think anything that improves your chances of being seen are probably a good thing. Speaking as a car driver, you notice the flashing things a lot more easily then most weedy bike lights, which get lost amongst much brighter car lights.
To be honest when I was young and a bit more foolish, I managed to get round town fine with no lights.
You might well be right but I'm a car user as well as a cyclist too so I look out for cyclists. But it still surprises me how many kids I see either on the roads or darting across them with no lights at all. Tonight I saw a kid on a bike with no lights sitting stationary in the middle of the road on a really dark blind corner.
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Dressed all in black as well? 
Not smart, but I did loads of stupid stuff as a kid as well, riding without lights was pretty mild. I never used to ware a helmet, my rents even got me one, but my mates took the piss, so I always use to leave it at home.
Didn't you do the same?
Not smart, but I did loads of stupid stuff as a kid as well, riding without lights was pretty mild. I never used to ware a helmet, my rents even got me one, but my mates took the piss, so I always use to leave it at home.
Didn't you do the same?
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
I've got to confess though I hate bikes (riding them that is), they have always been a mode of transport for me, never derived any pleasure for it. Loads of my mates spend more on them then they're cars, which I don't get (boats on the other hand....)
If I've got some distance to cover, I just put my head down, plug in the walk man and walk fast.
If I've got some distance to cover, I just put my head down, plug in the walk man and walk fast.
Herbsman.
Nah Lotion, Pet, Nor Powder.
No I don't have the latest flashing LED's, mine are two years old. And no I don't ride into potholes or greasy patches because in the city at night there's this thing called street lighting, which is basically a load of lights on top of large metal poles, which light up the road perfectly adequately. Plus I have half-decent vision.
Unless you're some sort of half-blind fucker (in which case you shouldn't be cycling or using any sort of vehicle on the road) or you ride on unlit roads then you don't need lights that light up the road.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
I've always tried to avoid fitting flashing LEDs. I'm not sure if identifying yourself specifically as a cyclist is of much benefit given the lack of awareness of the average cager.
I would think that really bright ones would be useful on unlit roads from the point of view of being noticed from a liong way away.
In town I hate being anywhere near them - especially the über-bright ones that daily blind me on the cycle track.
I would think that really bright ones would be useful on unlit roads from the point of view of being noticed from a liong way away.
In town I hate being anywhere near them - especially the über-bright ones that daily blind me on the cycle track.
bi0boy
Power User
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Got to be careful of those helmets
Annoyingly, youtube doesn't have this Manfred Mann song
Herbsman.
Nah Lotion, Pet, Nor Powder.
Awww, shame. Get some proper lights then, fool.
It's pointless trying to have a conversation with you, so you can fuck off!
Herbsman.
Nah Lotion, Pet, Nor Powder.
likewise, fuckface.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
I think you're much better off having a small, or large, array of constant LED's
Lemon Eddy
Disliked by dwyer
Add me as another vote for flashing LED's being a very good idea around town. They're much harder for drivers to ignore and use less power.
For proper illumination, depends what you mean. Around town/suburbs I use an exposure Joystik maxx. It's my helmet light for offroad use, so I chucked the handlebar mount on my road bike, and it's plenty of light for urban use, even in dark/unlit streets
Country roads, it depends. If it's really poorly lit/dodgy roads then I use my primary light for offroad use - but that's overkill really. It's designed to let me rip around in the woods in pitch black conditions, so throws a flood of a beam that makes most cars think I'm a motor bike.
But for general riding around town, a nice piercing, flashing LED definitely gets my vote for reminding cars that you're around.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Lights update.
I have been getting lots of positive comments from people about my front light so I reckon I'm on the right track.
I have just taken a gamble on 50 hyper-bright 5mm red LEDs from Hong Kong for about £12 which I plan to fit into a second "UFO light" - after taking out the white LEDs. This will be much neater and hopefully even brighter than the two year old back light.
I have also ordered a 40 degree version of the 4 watt CREE LED for a "low beam" the 15 degree version of which makes a pretty good "high beam". These "see where you're going" lights are a bit of a luxury at almost £50 for the two, but at least I shouldn't ever need to replace them in my lifetime - a hundred hours a year maybe with these lamps expected to be good for 50,000 hours.... though I may consider the techie route at some point if I find some better optics and 10 watt LEDs ...
With the configuration fairly stable, I will look at tidying up the whole thing - I may put the front three lamps, plus switches and battery into a single tupperware.
I have been getting lots of positive comments from people about my front light so I reckon I'm on the right track.
I have just taken a gamble on 50 hyper-bright 5mm red LEDs from Hong Kong for about £12 which I plan to fit into a second "UFO light" - after taking out the white LEDs. This will be much neater and hopefully even brighter than the two year old back light.
I have also ordered a 40 degree version of the 4 watt CREE LED for a "low beam" the 15 degree version of which makes a pretty good "high beam". These "see where you're going" lights are a bit of a luxury at almost £50 for the two, but at least I shouldn't ever need to replace them in my lifetime - a hundred hours a year maybe with these lamps expected to be good for 50,000 hours.... though I may consider the techie route at some point if I find some better optics and 10 watt LEDs ...
With the configuration fairly stable, I will look at tidying up the whole thing - I may put the front three lamps, plus switches and battery into a single tupperware.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
48 new red LEDs, fresh off the plane from Hong Kong.
.. and soldered in nicely in series strings of 5.
Can't wait to see it side by side with the old one - it hurts my eyes
£3.99 for the cannibalised UFO light - I will turn the LEDs I removed into some kind of torch.
$17.50 US for the LEDs.
EDIT :-
Flippin' 'eck - less current, significantly more light ...
Not quite as bright as I would like off-axis so I suspect I will experiment with another margerine tub - probably cut down.
.. and soldered in nicely in series strings of 5.
Can't wait to see it side by side with the old one - it hurts my eyes
£3.99 for the cannibalised UFO light - I will turn the LEDs I removed into some kind of torch.
$17.50 US for the LEDs.
EDIT :-
Flippin' 'eck - less current, significantly more light ...
Not quite as bright as I would like off-axis so I suspect I will experiment with another margerine tub - probably cut down.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Fecking hell.
I dug out the 21 watt car lamp I used to use on the back of the bike.
This new 3.6 watt lamp wipes the floor with it - at least twice over - so it's as bright as two standard car brake lights.
A secondary project for this year, but by far the most successful.
It's now putting the front lamp to shame, so I'm finding it very hard to resist ordering 50 of the brightest white LEDs from the same supplier and assembling a new front light.
At approx £17 for each of the "UFO" lamps, it brings the basic lighting system up to approx £74 - but it makes it a system I would be perfectly happy to send someone out in city traffic with.
That said, there are parts of my journey where I can't resist switching on the "see where you're going" lamps just to be sure - though with the new white LEDs, who knows.
I'll probably order 100 and be prepared to upgrade people's cheapie battery lamps.
I dug out the 21 watt car lamp I used to use on the back of the bike.
This new 3.6 watt lamp wipes the floor with it - at least twice over - so it's as bright as two standard car brake lights.
A secondary project for this year, but by far the most successful.
It's now putting the front lamp to shame, so I'm finding it very hard to resist ordering 50 of the brightest white LEDs from the same supplier and assembling a new front light.
At approx £17 for each of the "UFO" lamps, it brings the basic lighting system up to approx £74 - but it makes it a system I would be perfectly happy to send someone out in city traffic with.
That said, there are parts of my journey where I can't resist switching on the "see where you're going" lamps just to be sure - though with the new white LEDs, who knows.
I'll probably order 100 and be prepared to upgrade people's cheapie battery lamps.
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