Turdus philomelos
Guru
- Location
- West Lothian
Saw a chap using these this afternoon, I was so impressed I to find out what they were and share with you guys.
Lighting!
- Thread starter RoubaixCube
- Start date
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OP
OP
RoubaixCube
~Tribanese~
- Location
- London, UK
In my honest opinion, I think they've just over-engineered the over-shoe......
Overshoes dont need to be that fancy. reflective print or piping would be a nice feature to have, If not then its not exactly the end of the world as its not really required. If you really had to put flashing lights on them then you might as well put them at the front too so drivers who are driving down the road towards you can see two beams/balls of flashing light floating up and down one after another.
Not to forget the two lights you already have on your bar and possibly one on your helmet. and the two or three red blinkers located on the back of your bike, helmet or bag/rucksack somewhere.....
I think you're better off heading down maplins and buying an LED strip and a few other bits and peices and follow internet guides on how to make your own functional flashing LED strip so you could place them where they would be more likely to be seen and attract a drivers attention.
I 100% would not buy this product but im sure there will be some that would,
Jimidh
Veteran
- Location
- Midlothian
I just use two Chinese Cree lights on the front which I only put on full power for a few miles of unlit road. I have v bright rear on my saddle plus two flashing rear lights on my helmet.
Flying Dodo
It'll soon be summer
Nice in theory, but of course overshoes tend to wear out after a year or so, when the material goes underneath.
Turdus philomelos
Guru
- Location
- West Lothian
You have a point there
OP
OP
RoubaixCube
~Tribanese~
- Location
- London, UK
Holy Lord......
Holy Lord......
Blimey! You could toast crumpets with that!!
flake99please
We all scream for ice cream
- Location
- Edinburgh
Holy Lord......
I'm assuming these are plugged directly into the national grid?
Northern Cycler
New Member
If you're looking for a non proffesional but powerful solution to bike lighting, you can buy 2200 lumen cree torches for a little over a tenner. A pair of these along with a couple of cheap mounts comes to around about £25. The equivelant "proper" bike product would be in the £100s.
http://northernlifemagazine.co.uk/avoid-paying-for-expensive-bike-lights/
MOD NOTE: The Poster works for the magazine in the reference but the information could be of use to some in this thread, so has been approved.
http://northernlifemagazine.co.uk/avoid-paying-for-expensive-bike-lights/
MOD NOTE: The Poster works for the magazine in the reference but the information could be of use to some in this thread, so has been approved.
Last edited by a moderator:
tincaman
Guru
- Location
- Chudleigh, South Devon
Please don't be sucked into the lumens scam, the torches offering over 1000 lumens are just plain lying. The Cree XML LED would need to be driven at over 4 amps to get that output, the probable output for a good one would be 7-800 lumens max. Still a lot of light, but a trusted brand such as Cateye will have been tested by a 3rd party such as MTBR to be very close or just over their lumens rating. With the torches you also need to budget for batteries and a charger, buy these from China and its a lottery with your safety on the line.
shouldbeinbed
Rollin' along
- Location
- Manchester way
+1
I'd also add to that, the orange pedal reflector is very long established in drivers minds by its colour and low down uppy downy motion as totally unique to a being a nearby bike. Lights down that low doing that motion do not immediately say Cyclist near and/or in motion in the same mamner & could be a kid with a light or jogger with ankle bands or wobbly head dog with a light up collar etc on a pavemen or be misinterpteted as just regular lights but a long way away.
They could have simplified the overshoe design, production, purchase cost and likelihood of component failure by putting an orange reflector at toe and heel, getting over the problem that most cleated road pedals aren't conducive to holding a reflector.
As also pointed out, overshoes are limited life items, I think people would be less wary about buying these with a low tech reflector added than thinking they're buying lights just to throw in the bin.
shouldbeinbed
Rollin' along
- Location
- Manchester way
Holy Lord......
Top quote image for beam pattern - would you like to be cycling or driving towards that or be a vulnerable Cyclist blitzing the vision of the person driving 2 tons of metal towards you.
+1 to tincaman & This beam worry goes for the massive output torches and variable quality Chinese import / less bike specific stuff : fabulously bright but no sophistication and consideration of other users and their part in your safety.
Cost to do it well and right: Smart 700, apparently kicks out nearer 800 lumens, for £30 = single unit USB charge integraded long life battery, a trusted name, plenty bright enough & in a better managed beam for my 9pm last night pitch dark peeing it down unlit countryside park ride route.
If people do go the cheap route, I'd very much recommend the magicshine clone type over a torch shape simply because a few quid puts a Fresnel glass into those and makes the light work better for you to see by (without having to compromise and angle it more to the ground and losing yourself some distance illumination) and is less blinding to those around you,
As much as I like Sealskinz stuff, they are talking bullcrap saying it's a world first. I have a pair of Pearl Izumi over shoes which I bought about 5 years ago which do exactly the same thing.
OP
OP
RoubaixCube
~Tribanese~
- Location
- London, UK
Took delivery of a Fluxient U2 Mini today. Very happy with my purchase! Puts all my cree lights to shame! Only minor niggle is that the beam isnt as focused as my Crees which means that anyone to my immediate left or right might get a little 'lit up' also.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
None on the bar. Axa Pico Steady on the fork crown, Riff Steady on the rear rack. Good for urban or not. Pretty much any legal light's OK for urban near me.
If you use a torch instead of a real lensed headlight and aim it down, you need to multiply its lighting by 0.6 at least. See http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/index_en.html#licht_bundel_verlies
If you don't aim it down, you're a light polluter and (if on road) probably illegal.