Lights: how bright is too bright?

[summerdays]

Do you think with time the lens's will become more shaped?

 

[fossyant]

They are only too bright when they melt the tarmac....

 

[fossyant]

TBH, mine are angled slightly so that the main 'spot' is about 10m in front of the bike, and that the spot is at number plate height when behind a car -i.e. it's not aimed into the vehicle. I run my Hopes on medium 99%...just whack them up for the last mile as that's when I encounter some of the idiots on the back streets.

 

[GrasB]

From personal experience an Exposure Joystick aimed horizontally is about as dazzling as the quad-source HID setup of the Alfa in full melt your eyeballs at 50 paces mode (a mode I've never actually felt the need to use in anger on public roads)! However the Joystick's after effect is actually worse. That said you don't have to move that far off the centre of the Joysticks beam & you've got just annoyance, the Alfa however is still dazzling at 60 degrees off centre!

Really I don't think the problem is brightness it's aim/lensing, in terms of lumen headlights of motorbikes & cars knock bike lights for 6 but are less of a problem because they're appropriately lensed. I find that if the Joystick is aimed high enough for a decent warning of surface problems on a fast descent it's aimed to high for other road users, a distance of illumination which both the Alfa & Exige exceed with dipped beams but don't cause the same dazzling.

 

[AlanW]

Its not really a case of how bright they are, its how the light is distributed onto the road/track.

My Lumicycle HID lights are awesome lights, but there is far to much light scatter. So if I have them set to afford me maximum illumination then it will dazzle oncoming traffic. To the point that it really does annoy drivers, and I have had all sorts of abuse in the past.

But even if I angle them right down, cars will still stop at junctions or islands coz they "think" that its a car or motorbike coming. To make it worse I could be that I am a couple of hundred yards from the junction. Then when they realize that they have been sat there waiting for "just" for a cyclists to peddle past, that get really pissed off.

Its not that funny really....B)

But in saying all that, once you get into the country lanes and angle the critters back up again, you can ride as fast at night as you could in the day, they are that good.

 

[tightwad]

Hope 1 on Max - 240 lumens- all the way home; swivel it left and right as I approach junctions where I know there's a chance of a car driver pulling out.

 

[Baggy]

But even if I angle them right down, cars will still stop at junctions or islands coz they "think" that its a car or motorbike coming. To make it worse I could be that I am a couple of hundred yards from the junction. Then when they realize that they have been sat there waiting for "just" for a cyclists to peddle past, that get really pissed off.

Its not that funny really....

But in saying all that, once you get into the country lanes and angle the critters back up again, you can ride as fast at night as you could in the day, they are that good.

As another Lumicycle HID owner, this is a familiar story B)
I use the spot version which doesn't give too much spill, so haven't had much grief from drivers. When two of us ride together cars etc often pull over to give way on lanes, thinking we're a car.

Though it's brilliant on unlit lanes etc, in the past I've had verbal abuse from cyclists on the unlit bike path I use on my commute (some whom had such cr*p lights I'm amazed they've not yet ended up in the canal) so on this stretch I either rotate it down or use a backup light for that section.

This year I've notice people using some seriously bright lights - it's difficult not to stare into them. It's a tricky balance if your ride takes you through a mix of paths/lit areas/unlit areas.

Have recently had loan of a lumicycle system 4 LED which is amazing, and has a "dip" switch...it's on my lighting wish list now.

 

[hackbike 666]

Don't have the brightest of lights but I have any problems.

Blackburn quadrant for flashing and an MR 16 (21 LED) steady.

My lights both front and rear have been commented on recently including a rather puzzled moton at Stratford trying to work out my MR 16 light.

 

[AlanW]

in the past I've had verbal abuse from cyclists on the unlit bike path I use on my commute

Yes, I get exactly the same, I forgot to mention that.

 

[hackbike 666]

Are megabright lights needed though unless you are off road?

 

[Baggy]

Are megabright lights needed though unless you are off road?

On unlit, potholey roads, yes.

 

[Baggy]

That said, if I still lived in a town/city I'd commute with a "get you noticed" LED, something like the HID would be overkill.

 

[HelenD123]

On unlit, potholey roads, yes.

+1 My Cateye can't cope with unlit country lanes.

 

[Norm]

On unlit, potholey roads, yes.

That said, if I still lived in a town/city I'd commute with a "get you noticed" LED, something like the HID would be overkill.

+1 My Cateye can't cope with unlit country lanes.

+1 to all of that. I have Cateyes and even Knog Frogs to use when I'm staying urban.

 

[fossyant]

Are megabright lights needed though unless you are off road?

I'd say yes..they make the dozy buggers take notice........

Mine is a fast, but constant traffic commute, there isn't too much 'filtering' like in London, say.