Bright enough?

[leemo]

I have got CATEYE TL-LD270 lights http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/321 front and rear which have 4cd brightness. Its small enough to fit easily in the pocket which I like. It does seem fairly bright if you look into it, but not very bright from the side.

Last night a car failed to see me. I was going along a dual carriageway about to turn right into a side road. They were turning right from the side road and so needed to give way to me. They did stop and give way but only at the last second when they had entered the dual carriageway and this forced the traffic coming the other way on the dual carriagway to break hard.

I was also wearing a hi viz jacket so maybe they are were just a bad driver. But do you think my lights are bright enought be seen by, when I'm commuting in London this winter?

Maybe I should get a backupz mini light attached to the front of my helmet too so that it points where I'm looking? But maybe whatever lights you have there will be a smidsy!

 

[Arch]

I've seen one of those (found one in a recycling bin minus bracket, use it as a little torch), and I suspect it's bright head on, but not very large, and easily lost among lots of other lights and urban visual mess.

That said, the car driver has two whacking great lights on the front to their car, which ought to help show up the rest of you - I bet they just didn't look properly.

Back up lights are always a good idea anyway. But yes there will always be smisdys, and those who see, but fail to think.

(BTW, have people noticed how many people who are approaching a main road to turn right, do so while looking left? I would always think to look right first, since that's the first stream of traffic you'll encounter. It's a bit worrying when someone is coming up out of a side road, and looking away from me as I approach from their right.)

 

[hackbike 666]

I have more than one light on the front anyway...which was lucky as one of them went a bit dim last night....and usually one flashing....I was using the Audax 2007 which has a CREE on the RH forks...A lamp I bought from Hong Kong (which is on the handlebars) and a small flasher I bought from Evans which seems very effective as it lights up the street signs...Also now thinking of putting an LED Lenser on the LH forks as the CREE takes 18650 batteries which are not so common and the LED Lenser takes AA's.I don't really have too much of a problem though.(touchwood)

(BTW, have people noticed how many people who are approaching a main road to turn right, do so while looking left? I would always think to look right first, since that's the first stream of traffic you'll encounter. It's a bit worrying when someone is coming up out of a side road, and looking away from me as I approach from their right.)

I see that and it's worrying...

 

[fossyant]

Not being funny, but they are bare minimum lights. Crap. I'm a bit OTT with lights, but that's down to having been run over with 'good' lights (I had 6 lights on the bike at the time).

 

[hackbike 666]

Not being funny, but they are bare minimum lights. Crap. I'm a bit OTT with lights, but that's down to having been run over with 'good' lights (I had 6 lights on the bike at the time).

Who me or him?

I haven't a problem with cyclons who have lots of lights on.

 

[fossyant]

Who me or him?

I haven't a problem with cyclons who have lots of lights on.

Not you Hackers - the OP - those Cateyes are basically a 'backup' he needs something better

 

[SquareDaff]

I have more than one light on the front anyway...which was lucky as one of them went a bit dim last night....and usually one flashing....I was using the Audax 2007 which has a CREE on the RH forks...A lamp I bought from Hong Kong (which is on the handlebars) and a small flasher I bought from Evans which seems very effective as it lights up the street signs...Also now thinking of putting an LED Lenser on the LH forks as the CREE takes 18650 batteries which are not so common and the LED Lenser takes AA's.I don't really have too much of a problem though.(touchwood)

I see that and it's worrying...

+1 on that. I always slow down and cover the brakes!! Always expect an idiot and then the surprises are pleasant ones!!

 

[barongreenback]

I'm looking forward to December when I can claim I'm just another festive decoration! I have a fibre flare for side visibility.

As a regular driver, those little cateyes can easily get drowned out by ambient light and aren't immediately obvious when you've got other things to concentrate on.

 

[RedBike]

In a word NO.

By the time you've got car brake lights, street lights and lights from shops etc those small cycle lights just don't stand out.

You will always get smisdy no matter how bright your lights are but you can avoid a lot of them by having lights / clothing that really grabs drivers attention.

Put your lights on in the daytime, walk 100-200yrds up the road. Can you still see your lights even when they're not pointed directly at you?
If you can't clearly see your lights then its unlikely that the lights will stand out at night against car brake lights/ headlights etc.

 

[Arch]

Put your lights on in the daytime, walk 100-200yrds up the road. Can you still see your lights even when they're not pointed directly at you?

I must add...

Put your lights on in the daytime, lock your bike to something, walk 100-200yrds up the road.

Yeah, my lights are great, but a chav is riding them away in the opposite direction....

 

[Bird Brain]

Agree with redbike.

 

[downfader]

I'll add to the daytime test...

Do it at night on the street (and again, lock it up! unless you have a mate to hold it) and walk some 100m away. Does it stand out at a distance. Walk around to the side, whats the side viz like? Does it project a beam in front of the bike to alert before hand, or does the light glow from the side?

Do you have reflectors on the bike (legal requirement at night).If the lights fail and you dont realise they are an important back up of their own. Moving reflectors like those on pedals, and optoinal wheel ones convey movement and help others realise theres a bike up ahead.

You say hiviz? Do you mean reflectives? Hiviz is actually bright coloured fabric, usually luminescent yellows, pinks and greens.

 

[leemo]

Thanks for the responses. I'm persuaded that my lights are not appropriate and I should upgrade. Off to read the which-lights threads....

 

[2Loose]

Better than upgrading, leave those on flash and add something with a beam. Stock up on the N-Type batteries too, they can be hard to find when you need them. I had some of those lights and they had a nasty habit of turning themselves on and off when they got wet, so adding something else alongside them is very important, especially at your rear.


Also, as others have said, reflectives make a great deal of difference to night time visibility. Probably more than you expect.

 

[Jaguar]

As a regular driver, those little cateyes can easily get drowned out by ambient light and aren't immediately obvious when you've got other things to concentrate on.

A driver complained to me about a night cyclist who only had "those little flashers" on his bike. Yeah, but you saw him didn't you? That's the point.

The flashers are good enough for the dark back streets round here in rural-ish Norfolk, but round town I have the Altura Night Vision jacket, 2 flashers on the front, 2 on the rear, reflective gloves, reflective wheel rims, reflective pedals, blah blah ...


... all my crashes have been in broad daylight. I much prefer night riding, I feel more visible.