Right & Wrong

[Scoosh]

From the Found a Bargain thread - but you'll need to be quick !

 

[mjr]

Am I not supposed to have a flashing light while cycling on the road?

You MAY use a light that flashes 1-4 times a second, but you do not have to. I don't unless I'm running out of battery because I want the less observant motorist to mistake me for a moped rather than recognise me as a squishy cyclist that will probably do them no harm if they cut me up.

Strobe mode is a definite no-no and I'd ask you to ingest it too.

I'm aware the light I have is pretty intense and point it towards the ground so that it isn't dazzling oncoming traffic or other drivers, so i'm not sure what I am doing wrong?

It's probably still dazzling, which is illegal. Unless you fit a road-specific lens, it will probably need to be aimed less than 2m ahead of you to avoid dazzling other road users.

Anyone any suggestions for a good cheap ish light for road use?

Axa Greenline or Cateye GVolt. Someone in the bargain thread linked a Smart 60 Lux which might be OK but I've not checked whether it's legal (StVZO most likely).

 

[User16625]

Hi, I'm commuting to work 2 days a week and have a hybrid bike. I'm using the following lights:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00XMCJA9U

I have a fluorescent yellow jacket and backpack cover on so that I'm seen by as many people as possible as it's always been a concern of mine while cycling on the roads.

On the past two commutes I've been shouted abuse at by motorists. I'm not sure why on all occasions.
One comment was "That's illegal, unless your a copper" - I have no idea what he was talking about, I simply had my light on flashing as per usual, wasn't cutting in and out of traffic, and was sat waiting behind a car waiting for the traffic to move. This person was on the opposite side of the road coming towards me. I suspect he's just a mad man.

Then twice tonight coming home, I got abuse for having my bike light flashing, one woman shouting "I've got a F*cking headache, turn your light off" - again oncoming traffic, and a car I was overtaking while he was in traffic shouted "Turn off your flashing light, D*ckhead".

Am I not supposed to have a flashing light while cycling on the road? I'm aware the light I have is pretty intense and point it towards the ground so that it isn't dazzling oncoming traffic or other drivers, so i'm not sure what I am doing wrong?

Any advice would be appreciated. I might be doing nothing wrong and they may all just be mental where I live (Bradford, so it is possible! )

Ha ok, I don't need telling twice, I'll stop using it on the roads and certainly stop using the strobe mode. Anyone any suggestions for a good cheap ish light for road use?

Thanks all, I accept the abuse I've got on the roads and lesson learnt!

I agree. A few more times again seemed to have sufficed.

 

[ufkacbln]

The problem is not the brightness itself.

Car headlights have a pattern that (when aligned properly) cut off the top of the beam to stop the light dazzling oncoming traffic

With the exception of a couple of German lights, the bicycle light is a full circular beam

This means that even when tilted down, there will be a bright forward beam

I note that your light also has lower power options.

Before ditching this light, try pointing it further down and using a lower power setting ... with the advantage of a longer battery life

 

[ufkacbln]

The other point is that drivers (and pedestrians) have little or no knowledge of lighting legislation

I remember being harangued in a pub once for my flashing rear light and how I was going to kill someone because it would trigger a fit in an epileptic

Waited until he was finished and pointed out

Photosensitive epileptics are triggered by a narrow range of frequencies- the light is outside those so will NOT trigger a fit... In exactly the same way as his flashing indicators were safe


A driver who was photosensitive to that extent should not be driving as other triggers could also cause the fit

There is only one recorded incident of a fit being caused by a bike light and that was an LED being installed and the trigger was the intensity at close distance

Was there anything else he needed to know?

Apparently cyclists are " all the same" and jump red lights.....

So no coherent argument then?

 

[Ihatehills]

@Hypermind, I've got Tha light and use it on roads, mainly country lanes where I am so I need to be able to see, but it definitely needs to be pointing down, I actually twist it down on the handlebar mount when a car is approaching ( my version of dipped beam) when I first started using it I too was dazzling people, but like you they soon let me know via the medium of abuse and general nobberishness. I don't think mine has a flashing mode or if it does I don't know how to select it

 

[Origamist]

The problem is not the brightness itself.

Car headlights have a pattern that (when aligned properly) cut off the top of the beam to stop the light dazzling oncoming traffic

With the exception of a couple of German lights, the bicycle light is a full circular beam

This means that even when tilted down, there will be a bright forward beam

I note that your light also has lower power options.

Before ditching this light, try pointing it further down and using a lower power setting ... with the advantage of a longer battery life

There's well over 20 lights that are now StVZO compliant - so the range is much wider than it was 10 years ago.

 

[Hypermind]

@Hypermind, I've got Tha light and use it on roads, mainly country lanes where I am so I need to be able to see, but it definitely needs to be pointing down, I actually twist it down on the handlebar mount when a car is approaching ( my version of dipped beam) when I first started using it I too was dazzling people, but like you they soon let me know via the medium of abuse and general nobberishness. I don't think mine has a flashing mode or if it does I don't know how to select it

Thank you, I will give this a try until I can afford a new light. You can select flashing mode by holding down the rubber button.

 

[steveindenmark]

Anything Busch and Mueller for the front. Anything Smart for the back.

I dont like strobe lights either.

 

[Hypermind]

I'm curious, why are bike lights designed with Strobe mode if almost everyone I speak to says they shouldn't use it? It seems to be a big selling point when shopping around for lights, both front and rear.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

lots of bike stuff is designed by occasional cyclists, people who participate in one discipline or people who think they know what long term experienced riders want without being one themselves or are out to make a gimmick and cash in quickly.

& as you've found, some places don't have either A) a clue or B) qualms about what they sell to people and whether it will be effective for what they want.

Think how may people you see bouncing along the road pedalling nineteen to the dozen but barely moving forward on a crappy full sus mountain bike that never sees harder action than bunny hopping a kerb.

as for lights - Cateye Volt 300 front and 50 rear. solid, robust, reliable, good battery life and excellent long term VFM, also nice and compact for carrying around off the bike

 

[Hypermind]

I think I'm going to buy this light for the meantime, (money is tight at the moment):

https://www.radialcycles.co.uk/radial-pharos-3-watt-usb-rechargeable-front-light.html

And get this for the rear:
https://www.radialcycles.co.uk/radial-pharos-mini-rear-safety-light.html

 

[Mr Peps]

You don't need to spend money on new lights as pointed out earlier in the thread and the amount of lumens claimed for your light is BS.

I have a very similar light (though mine has an unused flash mode rather than strobe) and it's fine for the road as long as you have it on low or medium and make sure it's really angled down so the brightest spot is hitting the road 6-8 feet in front of you. Anyone in front of you can still see the light perfectly well without being blinded.

I've been using the light for over a year in London without a single complaint.

The main problem is people don't angle them down enough and I've had quite a few problems not being able to see because of other people's lights.

 

[mjr]

I think I'm going to buy this light for the meantime, (money is tight at the moment):

https://www.radialcycles.co.uk/radial-pharos-3-watt-usb-rechargeable-front-light.html

Why? It's dearer than the Smart (£17 instead of £9), less bright (15 lux v 60), I can't tell if the battery is replaceable (Li-Ion v AAs), looks like less side illumination. The only thing it might be better on is battery life on constant, claiming 9h instead of 6h. Can't help some people.

as for lights - Cateye Volt 300 front and 50 rear. solid, robust, reliable, good battery life and excellent long term VFM, also nice and compact for carrying around off the bike

The Volts have a rubbishy torch beam, don't they? The GVolt has similar good points, plus a decent beam, although the naming changes from random lumen numbers to lux.

 

[mjr]

You don't need to spend money on new lights as pointed out earlier in the thread and the amount of lumens claimed for your light is BS.

Sadly, there is no lumens measurement method specified in the British Standards

it's fine for the road as long as you have it on low or medium and make sure it's really angled down so the brightest spot is hitting the road 6-8 feet in front of you.

Which means you're going to be riding into the brightest spot in half a second at 10mph, doesn't it? That's why such O-shaped beams are pretty rubbish for seeing where you're going compared to shaped beams.