Painfully bright Chinese lights

[KnackeredBike]

And it isn't "a bit bright"; it's often worse than xenon car lights on high-beam.

Try standing in front of xenon headlights on full beam and ask yourself, "Is this less bright than a £5 light from China".

It's just not. Never. Just... no.

 

[mjr]

Have a look around on here and see what high regard Hope are held in. They may not be your favourites but saying they're shoot is total bollocks.

I've seen the Hope lights and I know they're held in mystifyingly high regard but I wouldn't buy one for road use. Maybe I'd like them better for MTB if I did that much. You can do better for less.

 

[Mugshot]

You can do better for less.

Well we certainly agree on that!!

 

[Lonestar]

I'd like to take that CREE crap off the front of their bike and stove their face in with it.

I'd feel the same about invisible cyclists and pedestrians.

Though with pedestrians they are probably more unaware they are invisible during the night (then again so are some of the cyclists) and cross like they generally do during the daytime...without looking properly.

Not that I condone violence to them anyway.It's just a figure of speech nicked off of you.

 

[Jody]

I did the maths a while ago (possibly in a post on here) and I don't think it's possible to aim a Chinese boil down enough not to dazzle oncoming traffic without it being pointed something like 2m ahead of the wheel and I've never seen one used like that. .

That's about where I run mine if on the main roads. Usually allows you to see about 10-15 feet in front of the hotspot. Basically the hot spot just glances the top of the front tyre.

 

[GilesM]

I've seen the Hope lights and I know they're held in mystifyingly high regard but I wouldn't buy one for road use. Maybe I'd like them better for MTB if I did that much. You can do better for less.

No mystery, they are just good, you can turn them to the lower settings, which are fine for most road riding, up the power a wee bit for dark descents, and then full power for more technical off road stuff.

 

[Racing roadkill]

A typical Xenon HID car headlight has about 3200 Lumens.

A cheapo Cree boiler puts out 5700 Lumens, on full whack. That's 56 % brighter.

 

[Mugshot]

A typical Xenon HID car headlight has about 3200 Lumens.

View attachment 377066

A cheapo Cree boiler puts out 5700 Lumens, on full whack. That's 56 % brighter.

Have you tested one or are you believing what they tell you on ebay?

 

[AndyRM]

Is boil/boiler part of the swear filter?!

 

[Jody]

A typical Xenon HID car headlight has about 3200 Lumens.

View attachment 377066

A cheapo Cree boiler puts out 5700 Lumens, on full whack. That's 56 % brighter.

Absolute b#llocks

 

[GilesM]

A typical Xenon HID car headlight has about 3200 Lumens.

View attachment 377066

A cheapo Cree boiler puts out 5700 Lumens, on full whack. That's 56 % brighter.

Sounds like a load of old horseshite, the measured output of Hope's top of the range 8 LED light is 3000 Lumens, perhaps, as already alluded to, there maybe some dodgy advertising somewhere.

 

[oldstrath]

Where do I go to buy a cheap light that *really* puts out 5000 lumens?

 

[Drago]

Of course, but it is far more common with the Chinese boils - I suspect it's somewhere over 99% dazzling. It's a design flaw that they are very easy to use dangerously badly. Good legal lights are easier to use correctly than not because if you point them up high enough to dazzle many then the beam centre is usually too far up the road to see where you're going properly.

Having done the physical experiments myself (I used to cycle home on days in the dark just as my Step daughter was driving the other way to go to work, so I'd get daily reports on the blindingness or otehrwise) I have come to the conclusion that it is perfectly simple not to dazzle with the Chinese lights.

I have yet to see any empirical date at suggests Chinese lights are more blinding out on the road, but if we assume that is the case then combined with my own practical experimenting (using a human observe in a car and a sharpie to mark the position of the lamp) then the logical conclusion is that the people who buy cheap chinese lights are the sort who take elss care with thei positioning, not that they are physically more inherent to dazzle.

As things stand this entire discussion is a chimaera based upon an assumption, and there is no data that cheap lights of chinese manufacture are any more likely more to dazzle.

 

[Threevok]

Where do I go to buy a cheap light that *really* puts out 5000 lumens?

Probably nowhere

I seriously doubt that my two Solarstorm X3 combined come anywhere near the 6300 lumens quoted for each

I did see a Solarstorm X10 on ebay once - it was huge. they don't seem to sell them no more though

 

[Racing roadkill]

Where do I go to buy a cheap light that *really* puts out 5000 lumens?

This claims 5200 at full whack.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0...cle+lights&dpPl=1&dpID=51UE-siGS4L&ref=plSrch