# Advice for a new type of bike light



## LukeEngineering (10 Oct 2019)

Hello, I'm looking to create a new type of bike light, Would you please reply to this thread with your wants and needs from a bike light 
I've made a list of requirements I'd like you to refer to:

Size
weight
Anthropometry
wider issues such as social, ethical, sustainability

Any photos/videos of existing products relating to this would be greatly appreciated
Thanks for your time any response is extremely helpful


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## Yellow Saddle (10 Oct 2019)

I'll have mine with red and green anthropometry please.


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## vickster (10 Oct 2019)

I'd like one that doesn't turn itself on in my rack bag and then get hot. However it also needs to be easy to adjust while riding in gloves if needed. Otherwise I'm quite happy with my current moon meteor light

I've no idea what anthropometry is and I can't be arsed to google it.


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## winjim (10 Oct 2019)

Not too bright. Visible from a wide angle. Integrated reflector. Proper mounts, not just a rubber band round the seatpost.

Dim. As dim as is legally permissable. Dim dim dim dim dim.

Very much like the Vistalite VL-300.


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## G3CWI (10 Oct 2019)

There's a zillion different types already. You would need to have some really unusual USP to catch anyone's attention - and we have probably seen them all before.


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## ianrauk (10 Oct 2019)

Anyone who uses a word such as anthropometry to try to make and sell a humble bike light is a no from me.


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## Phaeton (10 Oct 2019)

Possibly have a remote switch which can be operated by a thumb to switch between 2 outputs like a car has


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## KneesUp (10 Oct 2019)

Lights on vehicles have two functions:

1) To let you see where you are going
2) To let other road users see you

With the space available on the front of a car (as well as the power available) lights can do both jobs reasonably well with one unit (per side) although separate is still better - the main beam on my Fiat Multiple used lights under the windscreen and could illuminate a path from here to the sun - it was one of the best things about a car with many good features (unfortunately the bad feature - the fact that it was made from biscuit tins and soap - outweighed all of them)

On a bike a light can realistically only fulfil one function properly. What sort of light are you after designing?

(I'm probably going dynamo powered with my next lights as I think they will be better for everyday use, and the semi-permanent fixing will mean I don't have to remember to take them off and put them on all the time as well as remembering to charge them)


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## Milkfloat (10 Oct 2019)

I want mine tiny, lightweight, durable, never needs charging, but also with varying brightness and great sideways viability. For bonus points make the rear built into the seatpost (like the 'Lightskin' post) and add a camera. I have £5 waiting!


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## Heltor Chasca (10 Oct 2019)

I would like a smart-light that vaporises anything like thorns, glass, etc before I ride over it. Perhaps MII could do the same to errant drivers and wandering sheep. 

So long as that fits in with your anthropometric one-upmanship.


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## Heltor Chasca (10 Oct 2019)

Phaeton said:


> Possibly have a remote switch which can be operated by a thumb to switch between 2 outputs light a car has



I have a B&M one and a Fenix that does this. So it has been done, but it is handy. Assuming you have a thumb. I have a mate who doesn’t, and being from Liverpool, he would be offended if he got left out.


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## Phaeton (10 Oct 2019)

Heltor Chasca said:


> I have a mate who doesn’t, and being from Liverpool, he would be offended if he got left out.


Are you sure I would have thought he would have worn it as a badge of honour


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## MichaelW2 (10 Oct 2019)

German standard B&M Lumotec lamp powered by a Shimano dynamo-hub.
No human-machine interface required.
You fix it place, rotate dial to Senso. Furgettaboutit. It goes on and off when required, you can even leave it on all the time.
It lights the road up and lets you be seen.


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## KneesUp (10 Oct 2019)

MichaelW2 said:


> German standard B&M Lumotec lamp powered by a Shimano dynamo-hub.
> No human-machine interface required.
> You fix it place, rotate dial to Senso. Furgettaboutit. It goes on and off when required, you can even leave it on all the time.
> It lights the road up and lets you be seen.


A combination of German and Japanese design, engineering and manufacture and you end up with a product that works both well an reliably. Who'd have thought?


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## Threevok (10 Oct 2019)

Phaeton said:


> Possibly have a remote switch which can be operated by a thumb to switch between 2 outputs like a car has



This is something I miss too - like on my old Cateye ABS30 lights


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## Heltor Chasca (10 Oct 2019)

Lezyne have an app that connects to your light operation. Honestly, do we need to whip out our phone every time? Or can Siri do it?

Haven’t got a telly, but I’ve got bike lights that get me through an entire night of riding.


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## Sixmile (10 Oct 2019)

I can't be the only one who read this thread and initially thought " flip me, B&M bargains do decent bike lights?!?!"


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## Slioch (10 Oct 2019)

I miss these for their sheer versatility and design excellence.







Can you redesign one bringing it up to current day standards? Say, 800 lumens and a couple of flash modes?


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## Heltor Chasca (10 Oct 2019)

Slioch said:


> I miss these for their sheer versatility and design excellence.
> 
> View attachment 488610
> 
> ...




Can’t be the genuine article. Not an inch of masking tape in sight.


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## fossyant (10 Oct 2019)

Take a look at the Ding Light - great idea, shame the construction was poor. Badly sealed against water (actually mud got inside) and the mount snapped off the case. Self contained, reasonably bright, and lit the ground under the bike - great idea for commuting and off road, but shocking quality (after all the R&D). I liked that light until it broke.


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## Bazzer (10 Oct 2019)

I should like a light like my Cateye Volt1300, with an easily adjustable (for tightness) universal joint. That way in normal riding I can have it tightened sufficiently so as not to move on our poorly surfaced roads. However, if a motorist decides to burn my retinas with their car's full beam, I can easily move the light, to "remind" them to be more considerate.


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## andrew_s (11 Oct 2019)

I do dynamo lights (Edelux 2).
This is a good equivalent of a car's dipped beam, but what I'd like is the equivalent of a car full beam, at the flick of a switch, from the same light unit.
The same standard of construction woyld be good too.

Currently, I sometimes use a separate torch (Fenix PD35), which gives an additional full beam on the tail switch, but it's an extra light, and not exactly instant.


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## Drago (11 Oct 2019)

Have you considered designing bike lights with indicators built in? There's an untapped gap in the market if ever there was.


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## G3CWI (11 Oct 2019)

Drago said:


> Have you considered designing bike lights with indicators built in?



Indicators on bikes! You could be onto something there... Genius.


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## classic33 (11 Oct 2019)

Drago said:


> Have you considered designing bike lights with indicators built in? There's an untapped gap in the market if ever there was.


Summat like this?


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## kynikos (11 Oct 2019)

I'd like one with three switches:
ON/OFF - obviously
LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH - brightness, so as to accomodate different ambient conditions
COOL/HOT - former for using whilst on the bIke; latter so it can be used to barbeque my favourite meats


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## tom73 (12 Oct 2019)

What ever you come up with if it don't match the bike I won't be buying.


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## Drago (12 Oct 2019)

classic33 said:


> Summat like this?
> View attachment 488689


Dammitall. I was just about to order a new Bentley on the strength of my forecast profits.


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## cyberknight (12 Oct 2019)

tom73 said:


> What ever you come up with if it don't match the bike I won't be buying.


@vickster wants a black one i heard


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## Blue Hills (12 Oct 2019)

A rear flasher which if it has a blinding macho mode/level automatically senses when it's fastened to A helmet (easy i would have thought, distance from ground) and if it is matches the rear facing light with the sound of a hammer on an anvil directed forwards. If attached lower down, to bike, vibrates in order to sexually excite rider/confirm to them that they are god's gift to whatever they fancy and ever so gradually undo any bolts/fasteners.


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## rogerzilla (12 Oct 2019)

I'd like one with the lumens of LED but the light colour of halogen. Bluish LED light gets swallowed up by wet roads.

I'd also like an STVZO shaped beam with horizontal cutoff, but a bit longer and narrower.


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## Drago (13 Oct 2019)

A thermonuclear brought flasher that flashes out the outline of a bike instead of concealing the outline of a bike?.


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## RoadRider400 (13 Oct 2019)

Ethically produced bike lights. I have heard it all now.


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## Drago (13 Oct 2019)

I've,often thought there's a market for crochet bike light covers.


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## Skanker (14 Oct 2019)

Drago said:


> I've,often thought there's a market for crochet bike light covers.


Dammit, I should have got my Nan to teach me to crochet all those years ago! 
I thought she was just trying to be funny, but it looks like she could see a market opening up 35 years in the future!


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## rogerzilla (14 Oct 2019)

I miss my old Schmidt E6. Ok, it needed a new bulb occasionally and the beam was so pencil-thin that tight bends were terrifying, but it didn't half throw light a long way down the road. Unfortunately LEDs are far from a point source of light (a halogen filament is very small in comparison) and can't be focused in the same way.


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## annedonnelly (14 Oct 2019)

One that I can leave on the bike without worrying that it will be stolen. I get tired of taking them off & putting them back on each journey.


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## Drago (16 Oct 2019)

How about lights built into a bike, or lights that clip onto universal fittings that are integrated into all new bikes? The battery lack could be hidden inside the frame or under the seat, and could power the lights through the fittings. Genius, eh?


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## Blue Hills (16 Oct 2019)

First already been done, second - that's why i mostly use cateye.


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## mjr (16 Oct 2019)

Universal light fittings already exist on all good bikes: front fork crown and rear rack. Nuff said.

I'd quite like ones that are easier for the recyclers when they die but it's hard to think how else they could be ethical.

Above all, dynamo compatible and road-legal beam shape.


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## classic33 (16 Oct 2019)

Drago said:


> *How about lights built into a bike, *or lights that clip onto universal fittings that are integrated into all new bikes? The battery lack could be hidden inside the frame or under the seat, and could power the lights through the fittings. Genius, eh?


Vanmoof!


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## Blue Hills (16 Oct 2019)

Yes, that's what i was thinking of.
Looks stylish but ultimately pointless i think.


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## Drago (17 Oct 2019)

Stylish? Sit astride that and itll look lo,e the rider is resting a semi on the YouTube.


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## palinurus (17 Oct 2019)

What I want is a front & rear _wireless_ dynamo light.


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## palinurus (17 Oct 2019)

palinurus said:


> What I want is a front & rear -wireless- dynamo light.



I wasn't being very serious with this but it'd be good not to have to route cable for a rear light
on a bike that doesn't have an internal conduit for the wire.

Also I just thought of Reelights so this sort of exists, but I'd want something good-enough for winter commuting.


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## Drago (18 Oct 2019)

I got it. Bluetooth bike lights controlled from your phone. There could be an app on the phone, and when the accelerometer in the phone senses you've had a crash the lights can blink SOS in Morse code.


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## classic33 (19 Oct 2019)

Drago said:


> I got it. Bluetooth bike lights controlled from your phone. There could be an app on the phone, and when the accelerometer in the phone senses you've had a crash the lights can blink SOS in Morse code.


see.sense ?


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## Mike_P (19 Oct 2019)

Re the lights that you can keep on the bike, all they need to be are ones with Go Pro mountings attached, fitted to a bolted on Go Pro mount and the Go Pro fixing bolt replaced with a bolt and locking nut, that way as secure as the rest of the bits of the bike unless attacked by Allen keys. Halfords do such a front light while for ebikes their is the Light and Motion set.


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## Blue Hills (19 Oct 2019)

Easier by far to just take lights off.
Doesn't attract then frustrate, with possible consequences, a thief.


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## andrew_s (21 Oct 2019)

palinurus said:


> What I want is a front & rear _wireless_ dynamo light.


Been done:

https://www.magniclight.com/en/


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## andrew_s (21 Oct 2019)

rogerzilla said:


> I miss my old Schmidt E6. Ok, it needed a new bulb occasionally and the beam was so pencil-thin that tight bends were terrifying, but it didn't half throw light a long way down the road.


I've still got mine somewhere. It was pretty good as one half of a twin headlight setup, paired with a Lumotec Oval aimed a bit shorter. 
The wider beam of the Lumotec avoided the problem of going into a bend unable to see anything other than a small square patch of hedge on the outside of the bend.

It did prompt me into considering the design of a swiveling mount, that would aim the light further left as you steered left.
Maybe the OP would like to consider that rather than a light - he could sell it to all the people who've already got a light.


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## mjr (22 Oct 2019)

Blue Hills said:


> Easier by far to just take lights off.
> Doesn't attract then frustrate, with possible consequences, a thief.


I've seen that happen once in 40 years and I suspect bike lights are now cheap enough that your derailleur and disk brake callipers are more at risk as more profitable and removable.


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## Drago (23 Oct 2019)

How about lights that are powered by the motion of the bicycle? Something like a car alternator, but smaller and with a lower output, could be used to harness the rotation of the wheels and generate electricity for thr lights. We could call them Alternator Lights.


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## davidphilips (28 Oct 2019)

Heres an idea, make a self contained led light that is usb rechargeable, same as the whats made by Lezyne, Moon etc but have a battery that can be replaced, know i am fed up with replacing lights when its just the battery wont hold charge any more or lights that have sat unused for a wile and batterys done.


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## Ming the Merciless (8 Dec 2019)

Can I have a light that only emits light waves and not light particles?


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## mjr (9 Dec 2019)

YukonBoy said:


> Can I have a light that only emits light waves and not light particles?


Surely a clever person like you can fit a mesh cover that has holes too small for the photons to fit through.


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## blackheart (29 Dec 2020)

Recently me and my brother decided to take a car for rent. We wanted to see new places and to meet new people.(We wanted to escape from our families and clear our mind). So we said that we are going to a conference in the near city. So when we were on our way suddenly we started to argue. My brother always behaves like he knows best. Anyway he went without me and i had no other way but to rent a bike (all money were in brother's car). After that accident i started to ride bike more often, and it's very important that bikes light have longer Battery life, check site.Who knows maybe i need to ride at night again


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## Fab Foodie (29 Dec 2020)

MichaelW2 said:


> German standard B&M Lumotec lamp powered by a Shimano dynamo-hub.
> No human-machine interface required.
> You fix it place, rotate dial to Senso. Furgettaboutit. It goes on and off when required, you can even leave it on all the time.
> It lights the road up and lets you be seen.


This.
Simply take bike out of shed and ride....day or night, zero faff, brilliant illumination.


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