Flashing headlights on the trails

[jabberwocky]

Flashing anything doesn’t belong on the trail. I always turn the headlights and taillights to constant as soon as I enter any MUP.

[dagamon]

Agreed, except for bikeshare bikes.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

If you’re using lights with a shaped beam (like a car low beam headlight) then the flashing and blinding people is less of an issue. The problem is that these types of lights are not common in the US. B&M lights (German made) are mostly this type of shaped beam.

Here’s an example of an inexpensive battery powered light with a shaped beam: http://www.dontgethit.com/3waledbihe.html

[Phatboing]

@dagamon 97693 wrote:

And if you want to be extra-polite, aim them down and cover them when you pass someone.

As a corollary, when someone forgets to cover their bright headlight, as any human is prone to doing, shining your equally bright helmet light into their eyes out of … revenge? … is not the appropriate response.

[vern]

@Phatboing 97700 wrote:

As a corollary, when someone forgets to cover their bright headlight, as any human is prone to doing, shining your equally bright helmet light into their eyes out of … revenge? … is not the appropriate response.

I think the helmet lights are the bigger problem, even at lower lumens levels because they are at eye level. They seem more common this season, and I am encountering many cyclists with both a helmet and handlebar light. They politely cover the handlebar light, but the helmet light remains exposed, shining right into my eyes (dammit!).

I guess I don’t get why people think they need so much light, espcially on the trail. I use a Mako 200 lumens light and it provides way more visibility than I need for my aging eyes.

[Phatboing]

@vern 97708 wrote:

I think the helmet lights are the bigger problem, even at lower lumens levels because they are at eye level. They seem more common this season, and I am encountering many cyclists with both a helmet and handlebar light. They politely cover the handlebar light, but the helmet light remains exposed, shining right into my eyes (dammit!).

I guess I don’t get why people think they need so much light, espcially on the trail. I use a Mako 200 lumens light and it provides way more visibility than I need for my aging eyes.

I try to point my light into bushes when passing, but the helmet light has proven invaluable at getting attention at intersections. It’s all a crazy dance between safety and obnoxiousness.

[jabberwocky]

I detested helmet lights when I commuted on the trail. Some people try, but its human nature to glance at things that have your attention (like that person in the oncoming lane) so I’d always get it right in the eyes. Always. I really think they have no place on the road.

[Raymo853]

@Phatboing 97710 wrote:

crazy dance between safety and obnoxiousness.

I am so stealing this as a title for a song for my next band.

[mstone]

@vern 97708 wrote:

I guess I don’t get why people think they need so much light, espcially on the trail. I use a Mako 200 lumens light and it provides way more visibility than I need for my aging eyes.

I would guess it’s because they need so much light. I can see immensely better and can ride with far more confidence with a modern level of light than I could back in the days of 6V tungsten bulbs. I have certainly not reached the point of “way more visibility than I need”, though I can only imagine that it must be really nice.

This bellyaching about lights is truly a first world problem, and I remain far more fearful of collision/injury involving an underlit cyclist than an overlit cyclist. Let’s see some more lights out there!

[Supermau]

I use a 750 lumen Cygolite on my bars. It’s switchable down to 350 but I keep it cranked most of the time on the MVT because it’s dark as hell and full power lets me see what’s ahead. Just last week I nearly rode over a large fallen branch in the darkness which would have likely been messy had I not seen it in time.

While I hate blinding people, and I know I have at least once, I also need to see. I try to keep the light pointing at the ground but I understand that it’s still super bright to the oncoming. I have to deal with bright lights too. There’s only so much we can do.

I only use flashing in the daytime.

[timo96]

@Supermau 97715 wrote:

I use a 750 lumen Cygolite on my bars. It’s switchable down to 350 but I keep it cranked most of the time on the MVT because it’s dark as hell and full power lets me see what’s ahead. Just last week I nearly rode over a large fallen branch in the darkness which would have likely been messy had I not seen it in time.

While I hate blinding people, and I know I have at least once, I also need to see. I try to keep the light pointing at the ground but I understand that it’s still super bright to the oncoming. I have to deal with bright lights too. There’s only so much we can do.

I only use flashing in the daytime.

Seriously? You need 750 lumens on a multi-use trail? I hope you realize that you’re going to cause an accident at some point. You’re going to blind someone and they’re going to wreck right into you. But hey, at least you’ll see them coming, right?

[Brendan von Buckingham]

What’s a lumen?

[jabberwocky]

I started commuting on the W&OD with a L&M ARC HID light, which was 600ish lumens, and eventually traded that for a Dinotte 800L (800 lumens). I have ridden with my 400L as well, and honestly wonder how you people with 200-300 lumen lights manage. You must not ride very quickly, because I can override my 400L pretty easily.

I was always good at swiveling the light off to the side when people were coming, assuming I could actually see them coming. People without lights got the “THE GOGGLES DO NOTHING” treatment though.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Brendan von Buckingham 97719 wrote:

What’s a lumen?

It’s the light output of a firefly’s rearend. For example, Dismal keeps 500 fireflies in a mason jar tied to his bars with an old tube. This is the light-output equivalent of a 500-lumens bike light costing $95.

[mstone]

@timo96 97718 wrote:

Seriously? You need 750 lumens on a multi-use trail? I hope you realize that you’re going to cause an accident at some point. You’re going to blind someone and they’re going to wreck right into you.

Really? Do you have any evidence of that actually happening or are you engaging in hysterics over something that annoys you?

[Author]

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