summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
I believe that for my own safety it's better NOT to blind the person driving a big lump of metal (or a bike on a bike path), in case as they look away from me to avoid the glare.
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andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
There was someone killed by blinding a car, back in the early days of HID lights.
A Cateye Stadium user, on a pavement cycle track facing the oncoming traffic, and the blinded motorist tried to pass to the left of the light, as would be normal if it was a motorcycle on main beam, and was diverted enough by hitting the kerb at a shallow angle to go straight into the rider.
RoubaixCube
~Tribanese~
- Location
- London, UK
@tallliman
If you havent made your move yet, Evanscycles currently have 10% off on their lights. They are partnered up with British Cycling too so you might be able to get a further 10% off if you go pick it up in store providing you have BC membership
If you havent made your move yet, Evanscycles currently have 10% off on their lights. They are partnered up with British Cycling too so you might be able to get a further 10% off if you go pick it up in store providing you have BC membership
bikeman66
Senior Member
- Location
- Isle of Wight
Totally agree! I think a lot of people just go down the "get the brightest lights on earth, I'm bound to be safe" route. You have to appreciate how to use those lights safely too. The brightest lights (aimed correctly) are still going to get you seen, and are probably going to do infinitely more for your safety than momentarily blinding the driver of that great hunk of metal heading straight in your direction.
Looking straight at my 400 lumen front light hurts the eyes enough, so I'd pity anyone subjected to a 1200 lumen set-up while trying to avoid other road users. The beam of my light hits the ground about 10 metres in front of me, but still provides enough peripheral light to cycle safely without putting me at risk by dazzling oncoming drivers.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
I hate those bloody things. I'm sure they're a fine light, but having been blinded by several that were either poorly adjusted, or encountered when the owning rider/bike was at the wrong angle, I developed a distinct dislike for them. Especially on flashing mode.
so yea.... I use (and will always use) very bright bike lights
I think I may have seen you (or someone with much the same approach) and then not seen much else other than the afterglow of your lights on more than a few local cyclepaths. Bright lights, fine, whatever, but angle them properly, or buy some designed for road use rather than illuminating overhead branches, local parachutists &c
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
How did you know what kind of light it was, if you were blinded?
I imagine the "blinding" issue is common to all handlebar mounted lights where you can swivel the light up and down, even those with shaped beams like the Ixxon (sp?) can probably be positioned to do so. The Hope isn't an especially bright light, I don't think.
I sometimes wonder if you could get a handlebar mounted battery pack to run fork crown mounted lights to get one of the advantages of dynamo lights without the hassle and expense of a dynohub.
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
It was at the height of their popularity (particularly, god help us, mounted in pairs) and there was little else available that was similar. (Pre the influx of cheap crees &c)How did you know what kind of light it was, if you were blinded?
True, although it's less likely with a shaped beam. (Mounting it intuitively (i.e. more or less "flat") results in the light going, for the most part, on to the road, whereas the round beamed lights will spill more).
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
The Hope is great run at the lower settings on road.
dim
Guest
- Location
- Cambridge UK
I've been looking closely at the Garmin Varia front light as I will be buying the Garmin Edge 1000 at the end of this month .... a bit expensive though, but if I do get it, I will still use my Cree Solarstorm on my headband aswell:
Just a note on the chinese ebay lights, mostly the light units themselves are actually quite good but let down by pretty dodgy battery packs. I've never had one explode on me, nor have I had a light quit either. The battery longevity is where they fail and the claimed lumen output. They will be bright but "chinese lumens" tend to be about half the official ANSI rating so if it's quoted as 1500 lumens, you're probably getting 600-800 ish, more than enough for most people's needs.
The answer is to buy a dedicated battery charger and some quality batteries then fit them in a unit like this.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterproo...697909?hash=item2369f7b975:g:yOYAAOSwNSxVNh9w
The answer is to buy a dedicated battery charger and some quality batteries then fit them in a unit like this.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Waterproo...697909?hash=item2369f7b975:g:yOYAAOSwNSxVNh9w
summerdays
Cycling in the sun
- Location
- Bristol
The Hope light on flashing is at the lowest light level of the four levels... or at least on the old version.
dim
Guest
- Location
- Cambridge UK
I'm on the 2nd year with my Solarstorm (mine has the 3 lights) .... The battery charges fine and the battery holds the charge fine. I only use it on the low setting (mine has 3 settings) .... The low setting is very bright compared to other lights that I have seen. I use it for 2 days/nights in a row (approx 70 minutes), then charge it. The charger came with the light and has a red and green light. When the green light comes on (after approx an hour), I disconnect it. I would most probably be able to use it for much more before charging, but this s the way I do it and it has never let me down.
And by the time you sort all of that out you could have probably bought a branded light as mentioned elsewhere. Sometimes it's just a false economy buy cheap buy twice ! Of course you may just get lucky !
- Location
- London
Anyone got any news on a possible new version of the vision 1?
I live in fear of it being reborn/reinvented in plastic with a built in battery you charge from your wifi connected toilet or whatever.
I would like a redesign of the mount though - something that would allow easy swapping between bikes.
