Right & Wrong

[Fab Foodie]

One thing not mentioned is that you could make a simple 'peak' for the light to give a flat or flatter light cut off at the top of the beam. A bit of playing with some light plastic would sort it and allow you to project the brightest part of the beam further up the road without blinding.

 

[mjr]

A bit of playing with some light plastic would sort it and allow you to project the brightest part of the beam further up the road without blinding.

Good idea, but dark plastic would be better and it'll still need to be aimed downwards. The key thing is for a line between the bottom of the lens (or the reflector behind it) and the front of the peak to be below the horizontal.

 

[Mr Peps]

Which means you're going to be riding into the brightest spot in half a second at 10mph, doesn't it? That's why such O-shaped beams are pretty rubbish for seeing where you're going compared to shaped beams.

That's the brightest spot in half a second but the less bright area ahead of it is still clearly lit so not a problem for me, especially on city streets.
Yes the beam is far from perfect but it's cheap and Chinese Standards are more than adequate for my commute.

If I was riding at night on rural roads I wouldn't choose that light but the op is just using it on a commute

 

[Hypermind]

Why? It's dearer than the Smart (£17 instead of £9), less bright (15 lux v 60), I can't tell if the battery is replaceable (Li-Ion v AAs), looks like less side illumination. The only thing it might be better on is battery life on constant, claiming 9h instead of 6h. Can't help some people.

Apologies, the only reason I looked elsewhere was because I thought the deal had ended yesterday. I'll get this instead. Thank you!

 

[mjr]

Apologies, the only reason I looked elsewhere was because I thought the deal had ended yesterday. I'll get this instead. Thank you!

Oh I see. The deal has ended but that just means it's now back up to £8.99 instead of £5.84 (assuming PX's website behaves).

 

[Tin Pot]

I'm curious, why are bike lights designed with Strobe mode if almost everyone I speak to says they shouldn't use it? It seems to be a big selling point when shopping around for lights, both front and rear.

Because people are crap at practically everything they do.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

The Volts have a rubbishy torch beam, don't they? The GVolt has similar good points, plus a decent beam, although the naming changes from random lumen numbers to lux.

Not in my experience, my volt 300 is my main light on the Brompton, it sees me right at normal riding speed through Clayton Vale (pitch dark, unlit, tree clad countryside park) before dawn and well after dark. I've got complete confidence in it

 

[mjr]

Not in my experience, my volt 300 is my main light on the Brompton, it sees me right at normal riding speed through Clayton Vale (pitch dark, unlit, tree clad countryside park) before dawn and well after dark. I've got complete confidence in it

Not what I meant: I meant the Volts have a near-circular beam shape which too easily dazzles oncoming road users, rather than the aimed-at-the-road beam of the better-lensed GVolts.

 

[sykes179]

You say you're wearing a "fluorescent yellow jacket". Is it a high visibility jacket? As in with the proper reflective stripes. I think they're better for making you visible than lights, especially in the dark. Get a hi vis and switch the strobe off.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

Not what I meant: I meant the Volts have a near-circular beam shape which too easily dazzles oncoming road users, rather than the aimed-at-the-road beam of the better-lensed GVolts.

Gotcha. Not had abuse from drivers and I calibrate my lights with Mrs SB in the car driving towards me to be sure they work for both me and the people driving tons of metal at me, the intense beam is used for me on the floor and the lesser light throw upwards and outwards is not appreciably different from my Trelock dyno light on my Ute bike. Neither quite match the boxy profile of the fresnel glass I've put in my magicshine-a-like off road blitzer though.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I have a Cree T6 light, which has both a wide angle lens and a fixed swivel mount, so its angled down and to the left slight, the strobe is a bit fast so is only ever used during daylight in poor visibility though I have tended to use it less in favour of a fixed beam.