Bicycle lighting

[fly boy3]

I need to spend some money on cycle lighting now the dark nights are here. Last time I did this I bought a dynamo. LoL perhaps Geoff Sleath may see this.What,s the latetest gear out there that's reliable and is not silly money. Thanks

[Frank Skilbeck]

Loads of good high power LED lights out there for all budgets, much more light and battery life. Is it to see with, i.e. night time offroading, or to be see?

[Geoff S]

Sorry, I'm a bit out of touch with lighting but I know some of the modern stuff is incredible. I wish it had been around when I was cycle commuting 28 miles/day minimum.

I used to use a quartz halogen 6v headlamp powered by a 6 v Lead acid Cyclon (3 x 2.5 AH) fitted in a water bottle. I used to commandeer a suitable bench power supply at work to charge it each day. We had 2 battery sets and my wife and I swapped each day (she commuted the opposite way).

We have hub dynamo with rare earth magnets on our tandem. It supplies an LED headlamp which has a big capacitor to store energy so that the light stays on when you stop. The lamp was about £50 the hub dyno was standard on the bike when we bought it. It works well. Battery LED rear light.

I think it's a case of you pays your money and takes your choice. If you really need good lights to ride in the pitch dark then you can pay £100s. LED rear lights were probably the best thing to happen for safe cycling when they were introduced. I had a couple of the early ones to test when I edited a national cycle club magazine and I ended up using 2 on my bike and 3 on my trike. I remember the old Never Ready rear lights that were only occasionally on despite being packed with bits of cardboard.

Geoff

[Phil 9]

there are two types of cycle lighting. lights that will enable other to see you and lights that enable you to see where you are riding.

to be visible to others the mini silicone type are very handy

to see where you go I have one of these **LINK**

for the money they are very good. but I would say avoid using the strobe setting and on the road be carful how you angle the light to avoid dazzling other road users because they are very bright (but it does have 3 brightness settings with the lowest most suitable for the road)

[fly boy3]

Hi Frank, it's for my grandson who cycles a few miles a day from work. As you say more or less to be seen. Cheers

[Ian Jones]

I hate flashing bicycle lights, they are so distracting, especially now they are so bright. (Highway code only recommends flashing lights in built up areas). If you do decide on flashing lights then it would be a good idea to fit a steady light front and back too. If you wear lights on your head then when you turn your head sideways or up and down then your lights might not be seen.

[fly boy3]

Hi Geoff, the cardboard thing brought back memories and a laugh LoL. Thanks for the info.

[fly boy3]

Phil, lamp is supplied with re chargeable batteries. I assume you have to provide your own charger ? Cheers

[Phil 9]

Posted by fly boy3 on 17/10/2016 22:48:00:

Phil, lamp is supplied with re chargeable batteries. I assume you have to provide your own charger ? Cheers

no plug in charger is included

[Alan Thorpe]

Best light I've seen Lenzyne Deca.

I cycle 50 miles to work on dark roads and its perfect. As good as car headlight.

Not cheap, but really worth it with a spread beam and about 2 hours runtime between charges Li Ion battery.

I broke lens after dropping it like a dope and they sent me new lens free which was very decent.

For a rear light they also do an 80 lumen unit great in day or night to stand out on road.

ill post the links next sure

[Alan Thorpe]

Sorry stupid tablet will not paste link but they're on wiggle if you search Lenzyne.

Let us know how you get on!

Forgot to mention that they are USB rechargeable, so its easy!!

They also do smaller units if it's mainly to be seen, very good they are, machined casings and good battery life between charges!

[Martin Whybrow]

Further to what Ian said, the only flashink bicycle lights that are legal are ones that have an even on-off rate and flash between 0.5 to 1 flash per second (basically the same flash rate as a car indicator); anything else is illegal to use, not thta you'd know it by what I see every day; some of the lights I've seen flash at about 5Hz causing a visual disturbance that makes it impossible to work out where the cyclist is when it's dark, I was behind a cyclist a while back using one of these and I had to cover my eyes with my hand to block his rear light from my vision!

Edited By Martin Whybrow on 17/10/2016 23:37:00

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Right - I am most definitely NOT a cyclist - so no axe to grind there. I AM a car driver and I do about 20K miles a year - not massive but reasonably active.

And I think flashing bike lights are excellent! They stand out - can see them amongst the visual clutter. I'd encourage any bike rider to use them.

But hey-ho - that's just me!

BEB

[Devcon1]

I use these and I'm extremely happy and terrific value from Halfords at the moment.

[Alan Thorpe]

Ah that's great value for the pair of Lenzyne lights. I have the rear one its fantastic.

They are very well made its worth it!

[Ernie]

I wonder Flyboy, if you are planning to cycle on country roads, ie no street lighting. It's a very different kettle of fish.

The problems are that many car drivers will not dip their headlights, so the poor cyclist is temporarily blinded. Solution is to organise the front lamp so that you can flash the b........

Then at night, with the bike lights on, you really can't see too much because your vision is concentrated on the pool of light. Solution is to ride with the front light off, Its not really mad, because you can see an oncoming car miles away, and switch on

ernie

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

Pop in to ALDI. It was their cycling event a week or so ago. They may have some lights left which were excellent quality and value. They also had flashing arm bands which are brill for visibility.

Edited By Andy Symons - BMFA on 18/10/2016 09:43:51

[Cuban8]

I seem to recall reading that cycling without steady lights after dark is an offence. Is that still the case, as I see many cyclists just relying on strobes?

As for being blinded by car headlights.......... when driving, I am regularly left with disturbed night vision by some cyclists on the unlit country lanes where I live, who clearly have set their very powerful LED front lamps with no consideration for anyone else. I suppose there is no dipping option as on a motorcycle?

It takes two to tango, and a little consideration from everyone wouldn't go amiss.

Edited By Cuban8 on 18/10/2016 09:46:38

[The real Ron Truth]

Ive just ordered a set of lights from mtb batteries having seen a pair in use.

http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain-bike-lights/

You want to look for the new XML U2 led bulbs which are very powerful and if combined with a lithium ion battery, give astonishing run times.

Mine cost just over £100 for a set but they do others . 2000 lumens power is like a car at full beam. commuting is fine with 500-800 in light streets but not in dark country lanes. Good lights also get noticed by drivers!

[The Wright Stuff]

Agree with the comments that with modern high-brightness LEDs, cyclists can give as good as they get when it comes to dazzling oncoming traffic. It's not so much about how bright it is, it's where it's pointed - it should be dipped slightly down at the ground below the driver's eyeline.

[Shaunie]

I have two points to make, hopefully without going to far OT.

So many bicycle lights (or more accurately, lights used on bikes) are just basically torches. They have the wrong beam pattern for road use with no cut-off at the top, thus causing dazzle to other road users. Sometimes this can be adjusted out, sometimes not.

How many motorists "dip for oncoming headlamps" and have been taught this is the proper way. By inference this means they don't dip for cyclists, pedestrians, wildlife or people waiting to pull out of side roads. What they should have been taught is to dip for anything with eyes that could be dazzled. Every night I pull out of a T-junction turning right which sits at the top of a small rise and on a slight left-hander. Now the dark nights are here you can guarantee that several times a week I will be waiting for a car from the left that strafes me with its main beams as it approaches, pointless, thoughtless and destroys my night vision when I need it the most.

Rant over, Shaunie.

[Brian Spearing]

Is that the dipped beam that's dazzling you? A combination of the slight rise and the bend might account for it if the approaching car is also bending to its left. If it's to the right it's obviously a Dutch car (they never fit beam deflectors).

Brian

[Shaunie]

Brian, Been driving since 1976! trust me I know the difference between dipped beam and main beam! The bend and rise is not severe enough to cause dazzle on dipped headlamps. Typically it always seems to be drivers with additional main beam lamps that do it.

Shaunie.

[John F]

There was a media "storm" last year in our local rag after many cyclists adopted the "blind the car driver" method of being safe on the roads by having their lighting angled horizontally! Some of the LED lights sure are bright!! Can't wait for the silliness to all start again this year.

I have used the Cateye lights up until recently where I converted to Moon Comet which is rechargeable and is excellent on the country roads around me. **LINK** It doesn't blind other road users yet illuminates plenty of road in front.

I also have a Moon LX560 which is also rechargeable but have not yet needed it.

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

I mentioned the Aldi lights earlier, see **LINK**

£10 for the pair. I have them as a second set on both my bikes as "be seen" lights rather than see where you're going lights. Great value, rechargable via mini USB too.

My local store in Huddrsfield still has some in.