Carrots, white stick or better lights?

[MissTillyFlop]

Last week I had to go to work before it got light. I set off with my Argos commuter light attached, and it soon became apparent that, although it makes me visible to other road users, I can't actually see very far ahead. Having been on many defensive driving courses and such, I'm used to looking at the horizon while I'm on the road. It's most unnerving pottering about on an unlit road like someone who's lost a contact lens. And I'm concerned for the rabbits.

I like the idea of dynamo lights - but are they bright, and do they cause major drag? And if that's a non-starter, are there any good super-bright lights that run off a rechargeable battery pack that can be bought on a sub-£50 budget for front and rear?

I use lights from deal extreme, about £30 and VERY bright - you can see quite far with one of these:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-ass...te-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82508

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I've had a dig around and found that the drag effect is much less than I reported. Have a look at http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schmidt.asp

"One way to think about the added drag of the Schmidt is to compare it to​

climbing a hill. Well, a really not so very steep hill. When the light is​

turned off, the drag from the hub is roughly equivalent to climbing one foot ​

every for mile you ride. With the light turned on, it's about the same as ​

climbing five feet every mile. That's why (in the daytime) you can't really​

tell that it's on, except at very low speeds (2 - 3 mph) when you can feel​

the hub pulse just a bit."​

GC

 

[kedab]

I like the idea of dynamo lights - but are they bright, and do they cause major drag? And if that's a non-starter, are there any good super-bright lights that run off a rechargeable battery pack that can be bought on a sub-£50 budget for front and rear?

not quite sub £50 but it is the complete package...i've been using these lights for over a year and working shifts, they need to be able to light up unlit country roads well enough for me to be able to be seen and as you say, see far enough ahead to know where im going and not just watch my front wheel - for the price i'm not sure you can get much better

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/exposure-flashflare-light-pack-with-rechargable-batteries/

 

[daSmirnov]

Magicshine 808 front light should do the trick, more like £70 though. Or maybe about £100 with a 818 rear light too. Actually after just having a look around they're a fair bit cheaper than that now.

 

[gaz]

Don't be blinded(!) by the numbers. Much of the usability comes down to the reflector or lens design and the beam patter they guve, not just the beefiness of the LED and the mathematical end figure you get from calculating the LED efficiency against power input.

I get to test dozens of lights a year for work, and this was easily the most effective around the £50 benchmark, but I'm equally pleased our eagle-eyed brothers and sisters have spotted them for sub £40, which makes them a performance bargain indeed!

I have a hope and an exposure light. The lenses and reflectors in them are good.

The blackburn isn't a touch on my Dinotte 1200L which uses 8 of the CREE XPG emitters compared to the blackburns 1
But the blackburn is an 1/8 of the cost.

 

[kedab]

hey gaz - not to hijack the thread but....subbed to your new site...very nice on the subject of lights tho' - how much was that rear light the bus driver complimented you on?

 

[gaz]

hey gaz - not to hijack the thread but....subbed to your new site...very nice on the subject of lights tho' - how much was that rear light the bus driver complimented you on?

including import duty, around £150.

 

[kedab]

including import duty, around £150.

wow - i'm gonna stick with my little flash/flare combo for now - did me proud last winter but if i push the commute then an extra pair of lights won't go amiss. you have a couple of sets on each of your bikes don't you mate? two front/two back?

 

[gaz]

wow - i'm gonna stick with my little flash/flare combo for now - did me proud last winter but if i push the commute then an extra pair of lights won't go amiss. you have a couple of sets on each of your bikes don't you mate? two front/two back?

In total I use 3 front, 3 rear and 2 side.

Front - Dinotte 1200L, hope vision 1 and exposure joystick
Rear - Dinotte 400R, 2x red fibre flare
Side - 2 x orange fibre flare

This time of year I only use the dinottes.

 

[kedab]

all good for future reference. cheers gaz

 

[DrLex]

[QUOTE 1971716, member: 45"]Nothing wrong with a Shimano hub dynamo. You can get one built into a wheel for about fifty quid from Germany. In fact, get the lights as well from over there and you'll save yourself a packet.[/quote]

Agreed; Shimano basic hub dynamo on my Pometamine runs a Philips LED front and a B+M rear, both sourced from rosebikes.de, and barely noticeable drag. Makes a winter commuter a fuss-free ride.

 

[BentMikey]

including import duty, around £150.

Lucky save there Gaz. When I got the same light about 3 years ago, it was closer to £220. Such an incredible light, it left Jonny on here with a headache.

On the front I have an Exposure MaXx-D. It's an older one, but still 960 claimed lumens. Maybe next time I'll get the new equivalent Exposure 6 pack. It'll probably be three times as bright.

Do we need such bright lights? No, but they do significantly change the behaviour of drivers towards us.

 

[wmtlynx]

I quite like this on the front
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330613242405&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:GB:1123

It's blindingly bright on high (if you look directly at it you WILL be blinde - try not to take out any car drivers coming towards you )

Around town, leaving it on flashing mode or low is adequate. I consider it's Medium setting to be more than enough to potter around at 20-25mph on and if I have a big downhill I'll turn it to high (which does drain battery).

Each battery (comes with two, and they're normal 18650 batteries so you can pick up more on ebay cheaply - read this first) lasts about 1hr20m-2 hours on medium with a bit of "high" thrown in when I'm travelling at particular speed. Battery changes take about 15 seconds though so not too bad even for long commutes, have done battery changes at lights in the past.

The circuit behind the torch is very very simple so any issue can be sorted out by taking the whole torch apart and giving it a clean generally

On the back I use a CatEye TL-AU100 which I bought as I saw it was a British Standard compliant light. It is adequately bright in all directions which I like.

Got myself one of the above-mentioned lights. Fantastic creature it is too! Thank-you so much for the advice :-)

 

[Hawk]

Got myself one of the above-mentioned lights. Fantastic creature it is too! Thank-you so much for the advice :-)

No worries. Just make sure it's all screwed in tight. When you unscrew the top (e.g to change battery) the switch housing is actually screwed in from the inside. So looking where the battery contacts this housing, there is a bit sticking out for the battery and behind it is what appears to be a flat plate. This plate actually screws/unscrews as there are two small circular ridges that you can dig a screwdriver in to to screw this plate in or out (this is what I needed to clean when it started going a bit wonky, mine was a bit loose). Make sure that's screwed in tight. Similar for the actual LED and it's surrounding circuitry, in to the body of the light - this you can turn clockwise with your hands to tighten.