Front lights for heavy mist/fog/unlit paths

[RoubaixCube]

No-one makes a light that lets you see properly in thick fog in the dark. If they did then cars would have them. Despite many driving like they already have them. Mabye their cars have radar?

From the sound of it you had too much light, too many lights, and the back scatter would have been huge. You just have to go slow off-road in fog. When I used to do nighttime mtb orienteering we accepted that point scores on foggy nights would be very low, and would run two lights low down on the fork legs, and turn all the bar mounted and helmet mounted stuff off when riding.

an aside - you have a head torch, you have a cree. Do you really think you need a strobing Lezyne to grab the attention of any pedestrians or cyclists?

Probably... Like i said, I had never ridden in thick fog before and it was dark. The only thing that was going through my mind at the time apart from getting home safely was Jeremy Clarkson shouting "POWWWWWWWEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....." its all a learning process. I could have turned the head torch off i guess. as the beam on it isnt as focussed as the Cree

How about if i just bought a pair of these and mounted them to the forks?

 

[winjim]

Don't want to be rude but want to try reading my original post again? I wasn't on the road. Ive already got my set for road riding as i cycle home from work in the dark every day but i need something for unlit or heavy foggy adventures.

I thought the title would of been a hint

You did mention Dunwich, which is a road ride.

So you're talking about a path by a river on which there are pedestrians and other cyclists? We're not talking bombing through the woods on an MTB so again, a double Cree and helmet light is just overkill and will dazzle anyone coming the other way. I would use the same light I use on the road. I've used my Fluxient on the TPT and it's more than adequate, especially as speeds will be much less than on the roads.

Stop trying to see through the fog. You won't be able to and you'll just piss off anyone you meet coming the other way. Just take it slow.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Probably... Like i said, I had never ridden in thick fog before and it was dark. The only thing that was going through my mind at the time apart from getting home safely was Jeremy Clarkson shouting "POWWWWWWWEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....." its all a learning process. I could have turned the head torch off i guess. as the beam on it isnt as focussed as the Cree

How about if i just bought a pair of these and mounted them to the forks?

Though I've not seen them in-the-flesh, as-it-were, they are been-seen lights not see-by lights surely?

 

[GrumpyGregry]

PS. Best not to think about Clarkson when riding a bike.

 

[Dan B]

PS. Best not to think about Clarkson when riding a bike.

Or ever, as far as that is possible

 

[RoubaixCube]

You did mention Dunwich, which is a road ride.

So you're talking about a path by a river on which there are pedestrians and other cyclists? We're not talking bombing through the woods on an MTB so again, a double Cree and helmet light is just overkill and will dazzle anyone coming the other way. I would use the same light I use on the road. I've used my Fluxient on the TPT and it's more than adequate, especially as speeds will be much less than on the roads.

Stop trying to see through the fog. You won't be able to and you'll just piss off anyone you meet coming the other way. Just take it slow.

I have a single Cree on my bar angled towards the road/path ahead. 80lm on the helmet and leyzne Micro XL doin the flashy business.

Though I've not seen them in-the-flesh, as-it-were, they are been-seen lights not see-by lights surely?

True - I was getting ready for work and had a quick browse to see if i could find a solution sadly not.

 

[mjr]

How about if i just bought a pair of these and mounted them to the forks?

"Cateye have squeezed a whopping 50 lumens into this small light ... Output(Lumens): 100 Lumens" Evans have no clue about lights. Why does anyone still buy lights from them, or most UK shops?

Even if it's 100 lumens with an excellent lens, that's not usually enough to see on unlit roads, let alone fog. The weakest of my lights that I trust to travel at ordinary speeds on unlit clear roads is 120lm with a very good lens (resulting in a German measurement of 20 lux I think but not checked right now).

If you really want a Cateye, I think only the "Econom Force" and "G Volt" ranges are headlights worth the name, but I think most UK shops would prefer to sell crap lights - is it because then people will keep buying and buying in the hope of finally finding a decent one?

 

[Dan B]

"Cateye have squeezed a whopping 50 lumens into this small light ... Output(Lumens): 100 Lumens" Evans have no clue about lights.

But apparently it has a "vibrate" mode, and you can punch people with it. My Cyo 60 has neither of those features, I want one

 

[RoubaixCube]

"Cateye have squeezed a whopping 50 lumens into this small light ... Output(Lumens): 100 Lumens" Evans have no clue about lights. Why does anyone still buy lights from them, or most UK shops?

Even if it's 100 lumens with an excellent lens, that's not usually enough to see on unlit roads, let alone fog. The weakest of my lights that I trust to travel at ordinary speeds on unlit clear roads is 120lm with a very good lens (resulting in a German measurement of 20 lux I think but not checked right now).

If you really want a Cateye, I think only the "Econom Force" and "G Volt" ranges are headlights worth the name, but I think most UK shops would prefer to sell crap lights - is it because then people will keep buying and buying in the hope of finally finding a decent one?

Its a copy pasta from the Cateye Rapid X Rechargeable Front Light

I dont want one per se~ im just trying to find a solution that might help me see a little better at night on unlit towpaths in thick fog. I already have a Cateye Volt 300 on standby.

 

[totallyfixed]

Has no one ever travelled in a car in thick fog at night? Main beam is useless, dip is much more effective, it is exactly the same for bike lights, so your wonderful zillion lumen front light is pretty much a waste of time in thick fog because even if angled downwards the beam throw is non directional, effectively you are getting an eyeful of what someone approaching you in normal conditions experiences albeit at a lower intensity, not pleasant is it? As @mjray has pointed out, virtually the only lights on the market that can deal with these situations are those with German optics [incidentally @GrumpyGregry, you also have one such], we have several of these lights, one of which actually emulates a car fog light in that it has the widest spread of any light I have ever used.

 

[Darren Gregory]

As most people have already said in the fog you are going to struggle regardless of what light you have, same as when driving a car. Ride (drive) to the conditions.

That being said I would second @winjim and suggest you check out Torchy the Battery Boy. He has a website here reviewing a number of well known lights and lesser known lights and seems to be well regarded on forums. He also sells lights on his ebay page. I own and ride with a Fluxient U2 mini which I find to be very good for most conditions. I do also ride with a solarstorm which is a good bright light but you could probably do better as it is quite old and purcharsed before I learnt about some of the horror stories of cheap ebay battery packs. I will run them as a pair for redundancy and only use the solarstorm on very dark country lanes pointed down so i can see oncoming pot holes.

 

[flake99please]

I think you may have already found the answer in the lighting thread...

Holy Lord......

With the exception of fitting an actual lighthouse to your bike, I think the photo you posted above may solve your issue.

 

[flake99please]

I have those Cateye X lights on my front forks. Theyre ideal as flashers 'to be seen', due to the excellent all-round illumination. On the negative side, the all-round illumination doesnt really light the way ahead sufficiently to use as 'to see' lights.

 

[flake99please]

"Cateye have squeezed a whopping 50 lumens into this small light ... Output(Lumens): 100 Lumens" Evans have no clue about lights. Why does anyone still buy lights from them, or most UK shops?

Even if it's 100 lumens with an excellent lens, that's not usually enough to see on unlit roads, let alone fog. The weakest of my lights that I trust to travel at ordinary speeds on unlit clear roads is 120lm with a very good lens (resulting in a German measurement of 20 lux I think but not checked right now).

If you really want a Cateye, I think only the "Econom Force" and "G Volt" ranges are headlights worth the name, but I think most UK shops would prefer to sell crap lights - is it because then people will keep buying and buying in the hope of finally finding a decent one?

The original Cateye X had a 50 lumen output. The X2 has a 100 lumen output. I can only assume the Evans website 'gurus' merely copied and pasted the original X description, and ommitted to change the values?

 

[RoubaixCube]

I think you may have already found the answer in the lighting thread...



With the exception of fitting an actual lighthouse to your bike, I think the photo you posted above may solve your issue.

not helping.