Lights 2015

[mstone]

@Raymo853 123833 wrote:

One thing, this is the Urban 800. I had it running on low, so 175 lumens this morning. Well at about 6:45 on the Mt Vernon trail near the airport a guy, in a Bike Arlington Jersey, gave me an overly dramatic “I’ve been blinded” reaction and blocked his face with his arm gesture. So for people thinking low mounts will stop that drama, think again.

IIRC, that’s a round beam rather than a shaped beam. Mounting low won’t help. Might actually make things worse, because you need to angle it higher to throw far enough.

[GovernorSilver]

@sethpo 123523 wrote:

I have a Cygolite 450 that works really well. I typically put that on my helmet and use the lower setting so I can aim it at drivers as needed. A helmet light, however, is not only useless in fog or rain but dramatically limits your ability to see (which I consider a requirement for bike riding) since the light reflects off the moisture in the air. You simply can’t use a helmet light in those conditions imo.

I rode home in the rain after last month’s happy hour. I didn’t have any problem with my helmet light. I have mine pointing at the ground – a couple of yards or so in front of my bike.

[GovernorSilver]

This looks kind of neat. More expensive than competing wheel light systems (Monkey Lights, Nori Lights, etc.) but can also act as a brake light.

http://revolights.com/

[ian74]

@GovernorSilver 123838 wrote:

This looks kind of neat. More expensive than competing wheel light systems (Monkey Lights, Nori Lights, etc.) but can also act as a brake light.

http://revolights.com/

It looks neat but I think their website is a complete disaster and their designer should be beaten senseless with a canoe paddle.

That’s just…like….my opinion….man…

[Tim Kelley]

@Raymo853 123833 wrote:

Well at about 6:45 on the Mt Vernon trail near the airport a guy, in a Bike Arlington Jersey, gave me an overly dramatic “I’ve been blinded” reaction and blocked his face with his arm gesture.

BikeArlington Rider seems to get around causing trouble!

[TwoWheelsDC]

Primary reason I tend to not wear my BA jersey…

[Tim Kelley]

@TwoWheelsDC 123852 wrote:

Primary reason I tend to not wear my BA jersey…

#BEaPAL

[GovernorSilver]

@ian74 123847 wrote:

It looks neat but I think their website is a complete disaster and their designer should be beaten senseless with a canoe paddle.

That’s just…like….my opinion….man…

I’m not a fan of this style of web design either.

I like the look of the Monkey Lights a bit more – love those 8-bit video game patterns.

[sammel]

STELLIGHT is Biker-friendly, CNC machined aluminum bike lights with unprecedented range of light patterns, customizable and sharable with smartphone
New STELLIGHT is coming! Throughout the past few weeks we have evaluated and fine-tuned the previous product and here comes our preview of new STELLIGHT! The preview will last until relaunch on 14th Sep 15. Can’t wait to see it on Kickstarter again!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grabo/1943476062?token=899be904

https://www.facebook.com/GraboTech?fref=ts

[mstone]

@sammel 124116 wrote:

STELLIGHT is Biker-friendly, CNC machined aluminum bike lights with unprecedented range of light patterns, customizable and sharable with smartphone
New STELLIGHT is coming! Throughout the past few weeks we have evaluated and fine-tuned the previous product and here comes our preview of new STELLIGHT!

Bad beam shape, fairly low power, and its main selling point seems to be that you can program blink patterns via cell phone. I think this is more of a toy store item than something for people looking for a light on a dark road.

[sammel]

I am using blackburn safty light and knog safty light, they do not have ble inside, no burn time estimator, no orientation sensing, no app, can’t customize the light pattern………….etc, so I don’t think Stellight is a toy.

[sethpo]

@sammel 124223 wrote:

I am using blackburn safty light and knog safty light, they do not have ble inside, no burn time estimator, no orientation sensing, no app, can’t customize the light pattern………….etc, so I don’t think Stellight is a toy.

It does seem to be marketed as as “safety light” which is fine for riding in the city where the goal is to be seen but I can’t see using this on an unlit trail or dark county road.

“STELLIGHT has the brightness of 360 lumen (“THE FRONT”) for you to be seen clearly on the road.” [emphasis added]

I like the shape, mount and some of the control features but for the life of me can’t figure out why I would need / want the ability to program so many different blink patterns.

[mstone]

@sethpo 124231 wrote:

It does seem to be marketed as as “safety light” which is fine for riding in the city where the goal is to be seen but I can’t see using this on an unlit trail or dark county road.

Well, the page I read said “to see and to be seen”. I’m sure that someone’s fashion-forward blink pattern will catch attention, I just wonder how long it will be until someone’s resulting target fixation ends the joyride.

Most of the supposed benefits (“auto orientation”, “cell phone control”) boil down to displaying patterns of blinky lights–something I question the safety of in the first place. Much of the marketing is around making sure that your lights are “boring”; well, you know what? I want my lights to be boring–they’re supposed to be keeping me alive, not putting on a show. If, on the other hand, putting on a show is a top priority, then this toy should be near the top of the list. Computer controlled images in the spokes are still cooler.

[jabberwocky]

Yeah, blinkiness is way down the list of things I care about for a taillight, and not even on the list for a headlight. Blinking lights are decent attention getters but suck for judging position and speed. I’ve always had excellent luck with a very bright solid taillight and a supplemental blinky. If I had one taillight, it would be solid, not blinking.

I don’t think headlights should blink at all. Ever. I see zero utility to it.

[dasgeh]

I do like the feature that if you turn on the headlight, the taillight comes on. But that’s about it. And I’m not willing to pay $100 to avoid turning on two lights.

[Author]

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