Lights on trail courtesies

[jabberwocky]

@Jason B 68292 wrote:

I wouldn’t use it on the WOD and the such, but for back woods and dark open roads, this cheap knockoff gets pretty good reviews http://www.amazon.com/Lumen-Bicycle-HeadLight-Flashlight-Headlamp/dp/B006QQX3C4/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A5WO6IE2K5AZW
My buddy has it and likes it and for $20 I ordered one.

Thats one of the magicshine knocks offs. I have a similar one. The build quality (especially on the battery) has a bit of a “built in a garage” vibe, but it works fine. I find the beam very narrow to use by itself though. Its very much a spotlight rather than a flood. Some people sell diffusing lenses, but I’ve not used on personally.

[Amalitza]

@CPTJohnC 68272 wrote:

I wonder a bit about the blinding factor of bike lights versus the apparent tolerance of car headlights — unless those folks never ride on dark streets? Yes, I understand the lack of shaped beams on most US bike lights, but in terms of actual brightness (which seems to be a large part of the concern), car headlights out shine every bike light I’m aware of…

http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?6086-Night-Blindness

Headlights in an area already reasonably lit by streetlights I don’t find too bothersome, but headlights on an unlit road are quite blinding.

[mstone]

@jabberwocky 68290 wrote:

For reference, your average halogen car headlight is generally in the 800-1500 lumen range.

Yeah, mine (2003) has 2×1400 lumens or 2800 total. And the beam pattern on a car headlight tends to be much more useful (less wasted light) than most bike headlights.

[cyclingfool]

@jabberwocky 68294 wrote:

Thats one of the magicshine knocks offs. I have a similar one. The build quality (especially on the battery) has a bit of a “built in a garage” vibe, but it works fine. I find the beam very narrow to use by itself though. Its very much a spotlight rather than a flood. Some people sell diffusing lenses, but I’ve not used on personally.

I’ve currently got the same type of light as my main headlight, AND I have one of the diffusing lenses, which I picked up for $5 on eBay, shipping included. I just put the diffusing lens on at the end of last week, which means I haven’t ridden it in the dark dark yet, just but with this weekend’s time change, the evening commute today should be a good test.

Generally, these certainly are more in the spotlight category than the floodlight category. I can report back to what extent the lens helps with that. A couple customer-posted comparison pics on Amazon, though photographing lights can be deceiving, and the Amazon customer didn’t specify that they kept the aperture and shutter settings the same for both pictures, so…

[TwoWheelsDC]

On Friday, I had a thought on what I’d consider to be a good rule of thumb for blinkies on the trail…if you can tell that your blinkie is on without looking directly at it, it’s probably too bright. For example, my Knogg Blinder is so bright, it causes shadows and reflections when I use it at night. My BikeArlington blinkies, however, are easily visible to onlookers, but unless I look right at them, it’s difficult to tell if they’re turned on. Of course, there’s a lot of subjectivity here and everyone has to do what they think is safe, but I think there’s a decent-sized middle ground where everyone can at least be not angry.

[CPTJohnC]

@cyclingfool 68298 wrote:

I’ve currently got the same type of light as my main headlight, AND I have one of the diffusing lenses, which I picked up for $5 on eBay, shipping included. I just put the diffusing lens on at the end of last week, which means I haven’t ridden it in the dark dark yet, just but with this weekend’s time change, the evening commute today should be a good test.

Generally, these certainly are more in the spotlight category than the floodlight category. I can report back to what extent the lens helps with that. A couple customer-posted comparison pics on Amazon, though photographing lights can be deceiving, and the Amazon customer didn’t specify that they kept the aperture and shutter settings the same for both pictures, so…

I have one of the diffuser lenses on my clone and it distinctly alters the beam pattern, making it a wide, flat beam instead of a round spot. It still bleeds some light up, but far less than the original spot. I like it for general use in the dark, so it is on my bars. I have a more ‘spot’ like (Fenix BT20) on my helmet, which is supposed to have a ‘dual hot spot’ pattern (bright up close, and a second bright area further out) which I like for directing at potential hazards, uncertain terrain, etc… Also for cars that don’t appear to see me…

[cyclingfool]

@CPTJohnC 68308 wrote:

I have one of the diffuser lenses on my clone and it distinctly alters the beam pattern, making it a wide, flat beam instead of a round spot. It still bleeds some light up, but far less than the original spot. I like it for general use in the dark, so it is on my bars. I have a more ‘spot’ like (Fenix BT20) on my helmet, which is supposed to have a ‘dual hot spot’ pattern (bright up close, and a second bright area further out) which I like for directing at potential hazards, uncertain terrain, etc… Also for cars that don’t appear to see me…

Good to know. Thanks! I look forward to seeing it in action tonight. Also good to know, topical to this thread, that it helps with some of the vertical bleed of light, so I might be a little less annoying/blinding to those for whom that is an issue with oncoming bike traffic.

[mstone]

@cyclingfool 68298 wrote:

Generally, these certainly are more in the spotlight category than the floodlight category. I can report back to what extent the lens helps with that. A couple customer-posted comparison

Before my brain interpreted the giant tire, I was thinking “holy $!#%@, is that thing attached to a helicopter?”

Also, the helicopter-mounted light seems to illuminate the distant mountain range in contrast to the other shot (further to your point about the utility of photos of lights).

[cyclingfool]

@CPTJohnC 68308 wrote:

I have one of the diffuser lenses on my clone and it distinctly alters the beam pattern, making it a wide, flat beam instead of a round spot. It still bleeds some light up, but far less than the original spot. I like it for general use in the dark, so it is on my bars.

After last night’s commute, from 5:45-6:30, I would concur with all your statements about the performance of the lens. I was worried it was going to scatter the light too much and make it less bright to an unacceptable degree (based on a few online comments), but those fears turned out to be unfounded. My only wish is that it threw a little more light further up the trail to help me see the ninjas, but the lens is nice. Much better light coverage than before, and in the dark of the evening commute during Eastern standard time, it is plenty bright.

I partially covered my light with my hand for oncoming cyclists and got a few thanks for that. Maybe it was other forum members…

[Hancockbs]

Received a shout of “Blinding” this morning, but I wasn’t willing to cover my bar mounted light while the yeller pointed his helmet mounted light in my face.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk – now Free

[bobco85]

@Hancockbs 68532 wrote:

Received a shout of “Blinding” this morning, but I wasn’t willing to cover my bar mounted light while the yeller pointed his helmet mounted light in my face.

So, this guy decides that he’s going to “help” by blinding you, too? Good thing there weren’t any other trail users near you guys, now that he’s effectively made 2 cyclists blind with his action.

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” – Mahatma Gandhi

[Dirt]

Wearing a cycling cap and slowing down a bit when I encounter oncoming cyclists with very bright lights solves the problem for me. Folks who have their lights mounted low don’t blind me. I’m able to block out the ones who have their lights mounted on the bars or helmet without inhibiting my vision in front of me. Since looking far down the trail/road is blocked by the brim of my cap, I tend to slow down a little so that I can have plenty of time to deal with any obstacle that might be ahead of me.

I tend to ride with a little less light than most. I ride a little slower and more carefully. That gives me enough visibility to see stuff ahead of me and deal with it while not blinding people ahead of me…. even if I’m not able to shade my light for safety reasons. It also cuts down on causing problems for the folks whose vision is affected by having someone come up from behind them with a very bright light. I do a lot of endurance riding off-road and at night. I have quite a few lights that are capable of vaporizing a human target from space. They all get left at home when I’m commuting in favor of something a little more friendly. On the road, when I need it, I run the light at 600 lumen. On the trail where there’s no street lights, I run it at either 275 or 175 lumen depending on my speed and the traffic.

Some folks won’t ever cover their lights or look away. I accept that and it is okay. The ones that I find funny are the passive/aggressive light coverers. They will be polite and cover or dim their lights if and only if I cover or dim mine first. If I am not able to do so because I’m approaching an intersection and doing so would make it difficult to be seen by oncoming or side traffic, they get very aggressive and yell at me and/or flash me in the face with their lights.

I love everyone anyways. I just think the “I won’t cover my light because you didn’t cover it first” thing is kind of silly.

Pete

[americancyclo]

I’m still rocking my MiNewt 250 that I’ve had for years, and I only use the brightest setting for the part of my commute on the W&OD that is unlit before I get to ArlCo. Then I switch it down to low power. I know I can get a lot more lumen power for the $100 I paid for this a few years ago, but it’s more than enough light to comfortably ride around 15+mph on the local paved bike trails.

[jabberwocky]

I’ve never really had an issue with being blinded by bright bar lights. Its annoying, but I do the same thing I do in a car: look at the right edge of the path and relax pace until they’re past. The only real issue is if a ninja happens to be in front of me as I’m passing, things can be a little dicey. But I’d put the majority of the blame on the ninja for that.

Helmet lights are another matter entirely. Its rare that I pass someone with a helmet light that they don’t shine the goddamn thing right in my eyes. People just can’t resist the urge to glance over at the person in the oncoming lane.

[Dirt]

@jabberwocky 68554 wrote:

People just can’t resist the urge to glance over at the person in the oncoming lane.

Instincts that I’ve developed from years of leading night mountain bike rides helps a little with not looking people in the face when wearing a helmet light. You’re right… to look at folks is the natural instinct.

[Author]

Posts