Dimming lights

[dim]

well .... I've given my views on lights based on my own experience and based on a cheap budget, and based on the dark roads and the distance that I cycle ...
take my advice or leave it .... no-one is forcing you to buy one .... thats what I use.... if you don't like the solarstorm, then buy whatever pleases you

 

[fossyant]

Mate of mine asked where he could get a bank of super powered lights for his car roof as he'd been blinded by someone with a super bright light on his helmet.

Helmet lights are for off road.

 

[freiston]

well .... I've given my views on lights based on my own experience and based on a cheap budget, and based on the dark roads and the distance that I cycle ...
take my advice or leave it .... no-one is forcing you to buy one .... thats what I use.... if you don't like the solarstorm, then buy whatever pleases you

But it isn't as simple as personal choice - you are promoting a light that is undoubtedly a decent off-road light but on the road it is a danger and a nuisance to other road users - you yourself have even said that you need to look away if another road user is approaching (which, given the speed and darkness, cannot be a safe act and I suspect that a quick glance away is never enough). I and others are simply saying that there are better tools for the job and that they are safer.

 

[dim]

But it isn't as simple as personal choice - you are promoting a light that is undoubtedly a decent off-road light but on the road it is a danger and a nuisance to other road users - you yourself have even said that you need to look away if another road user is approaching (which, given the speed and darkness, cannot be a safe act and I suspect that a quick glance away is never enough). I and others are simply saying that there are better tools for the job and that they are safer.

good .... well then buy those ..... no-one is forcing you to buy what I (and many others) prefer to use

 

[Tim Hall]

good .... well then buy those ..... no-one is forcing you to buy what I (and many others) prefer to use

No one is forcing people not to ve dazzled by your extremely bright, badly focused, sixteen pound light. Oh wait a minute, that's right, they don't get a chouce.

 

[andrew_s]

Those lenses work well. You can also buy self adhesive tape.

Those lenses are poor for avoiding dazzle. They spread the light out wider, but do nothing to keep it down. For the oncoming rider it's the same as having the light turned down one setting, and if you then pick a brighter setting so you can see as well as you could before fitting it, they are no better off than before.

 

[andrew_s]

I travel long distances in pitch dark on unlit cyclepaths and roads. The difference that it makes is that with another light, I'd be cycling between 12-15km per hour vs 25-27 km/hr with this solarstorm.

Out in dark, unlit country lanes, you need LESS light than you do where there are many other light sources (short of actual street lights).

If you get a brighter light, all that happens is that your eyes adjust to the extra light. In fact they adjust so much to the very brightly lit road & verges immediately in front of you that you often can't see as far as you could with a dimmer but more appropriate light.

I was riding round unlit country lanes at 25-27 km/h (or faster, downhill) back before white LEDs were invented, and all lights were uinusably dim by your standards.

 

[screenman]

I stopped my car for a few minutes last week after some dippy on a bike had his light pointing directly into the eyes of this oncoming motorist.

 

[mustang1]

Due to the lens shape, sometimes even if you point the light downwards, a part of the light will still shine forwards. Depends what kinda light you have.

I use a lezynne microdrive and macfodrive and I have them pointing quite low down. I also have a Strada 1200 which is supposed to point the beam spread out on the ground in front of you; it generally does a good job.

 

[MontyVeda]

good .... well then buy those ..... no-one is forcing you to buy what I (and many others) prefer to use

Do you drive a car?

If so, do you drive around with the headlights on full bean on all the time?
If not, do you think it's OK for car drivers to use their headlights on full beam all the time?

 

[MontyVeda]

What light do you have? I have seen other cyclists' B&M Cyo headlamps and whilst they appear very bright, they do not dazzle; the led cannot be seen directly from the front of the lamp - it is mounted at the top of the lamp pointing to the rear and the light is reflected down and forwards - the housing for the led helps provide the cut-off in beam pattern - the top lamp in this diagram:

A moon 'thingy' with it's LED pointing facewards (or almost front tyrewards in my case). I used to use a cree 'thingy' from China but put the diffuser i linked to earlier on that, which gave the round beam a flat wide spread, but even still it's quite glaring from the front. Yours looks like a good design.

 

[si_c]

My headlamp has a cut off at the top that angles the light downwards, preventing blinding. If you look directly at it then it is awful, but if your eyeline is even slightly above the handlebars it's fine, as the lens angles the light downwards. It's not as effective as a B&M dynamo light I'll admit, but it's not far off.

Even so I still angle the light slightly downwards, the last thing I want is to completely dazzle traffic driving at me. It's about being responsible. I also don't run it at full power, it's rated to 1200 lumen and is proper f*ck off bright at full power, but it's perfectly fine to ride at 25mph on the 200lumen setting, because the beam is angled correctly.

The biggest advantage that I see to multi thousand lumen lamps is that you can run them at lower power and have longer battery life. Or take them out on MTB trails at night.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I spent days researching dynamo lights and have opted for a Son 28 dynamo hub, Lumitec IQ-X front light, Toplight Line Brake Plus rear light, E-Werk charger.

I will see how that works but from looking at photos of the front light operating in the dark, I doubt that it will be much better than my cheap Chinese Solarstorm on a headstrap

It's better for those around you and, ultimately, for you too as you won't blind the drivers coming towards you or pulling out ahead. High-powered lights on a headstrap have no place on the roads.

My last setup was almost the one you have opted for (minus the E-Werk) and I can vouch for its efficiency, reliability and safety.

 

[Inertia]

This is the sort of light these kick out, which on road is down right dangerous. It's why I used Hope 1's on low for the commute as the beam is quite tight, and I even aimed them down. Below is a 2x LED tiny Yinding (same as the 2x Solarstorm), and my lower powered Ding light (that lights up the ground under the bike as well). That on flash is blinding !

View attachment 149192

Hi Fossy, Im looking for a new light as a lot of my commute is unlit, yours looked good, is this the light?

http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_126086.html?wid=21

What is the lowered powered light you use? Thanks

 

[oldstrath]

Hi Fossy, Im looking for a new light as a lot of my commute is unlit, yours looked good, is this the light?

http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_126086.html?wid=21

What is the lowered powered light you use? Thanks

It's a reasonable off road light, but there are many better for commuting, even on unlit roads - the Ixon IQ Premium works well on my 12 mile unlit trip