JRA
Well-Known Member
I see people here in Portland all the time using minimal lighting systems to none. There are signs around the city telling folks to use reflectors on their bikes but reflectors are way less effective than a good lighting system that is the same system of lights that others use on the road.
My vision for lighting for e bikes is a complete system that includes head (hi/lo), tail (multi function), brake (decelerometer in the tail light makes light go solid and brighter the more you brake), laser lane (multi function) and turn signals (amber, front and rear). All operated wirelessly via a remote control pod that can be placed anywhere on any size bar. The main headlight running off the e bikes battery will have the only wire yet have a rechargeable battery for regular bike use also. I have put together such a lighting system pretty inexpensively, with the exception of the aforementioned battery in the head light and front facing amber turn signal lamps.
I am using a Roxim X4 head lamp because it plugs directly in to my Cycle Analyst and vis a vis the main battery. The 400w in pitch black conditions would make a good low beam but a 1000w high beam/400w light is not available at this time and I am getting by at speeds up to 30mph on pavement, 20 on gravel and 10 on trails.
Also I prefer a steady headlight beam. I don't get the flashing headlight, I can see, I can't see thing many people using. Other vehicles only flash their lights for certain situations and a steady beam shows up just as well.
Partial success, needs a hi/lo beam and rechargeable battery.
The taillight that I have is an eBay item that met my criteria and was cheap and had all the above listed features required of it:
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
As a gift from the eBay seller they sent me a packet containing some very thin plastic sleeves that I couldn't quite make out what they were for due to the fact that I don't read Chinese and set them aside. After receiving the light and control module and adding a CR2032 battery to that, said included but not. A 4 pack was $7. The taillight itself is rechargeable using a mini-dvd port, the flatter kind. Upon re-examination of the first package I finally figured out that they were meant to go over say a tv remote control and hit it with a hair dryer to aid in its protection. I might try to fit one to my CA actually.
It is a wireless system from the control module to the taillights functions. A button to turn on the multi flashing tail light, a button to turn on the 2 function (flashing and steady) laser lane and a toggle switch to activate the turn signal which is an arrow that scrolls across the light (the other flashing lights are all vertical) in either direction desired. Funky yes, functional, hard to tell but there is possibly a better way to accomplish turn signals in the works. There is a decelerometer in there but it only works intermittently according to a friend that followed me around one night to see.
The laser lane function I have saved for last specifically because although I have seen them available for quite awhile I have yet to see anyone using one on the road, and I live in a very bicycley area. I too have thought them to be kind of a whatever but after having actually used one I won't go out on the road without it again. It is the single most noticed feature that stands out to pretty much all that see it. And that is a good thing when "sharing the road", a concept that some bikers think gives them carte blanché to ride 2-3 abreast on 50 mph country lanes, to more importantly the cars going 50 mph and not willing to share that much of their road that they pay tax dollars to maintain by buying fossil fuels.
The picture doesn't really show that the laser line starts 3' off the bike in line with the rear axle and then angles about 10 degrees outward. Shines back like 25' in ideal conditions. Also has a blinking function which I have also tried and is effective also.
The tail light I have my eye on has a few more laser features also.
Along with a multi function flashing light, decelerometer braking, and even turns itself on when it detects darkness and is rechargeable.
Tail Light: Partial success: Cheapish reflected by the price quality yet works for the most part and turned me on to the Laser Lane concept. Needs a better brake function. New light should fix all issues with better quality and features.
Losing the turn signal from the cheap light is the only thing I can't replace at this time although there are several systems out there none meet my criteria. I am working on a solution, basically an integral system including all my target features that can mount to any bicycle. Details as they emerge.
Please share your solutions if you will to better help all of us make it through the darkness ahead, well at least those above the 45th parallel anyway.
Here is what it is looking like at this point and also the handlebar setup that I have:
My vision for lighting for e bikes is a complete system that includes head (hi/lo), tail (multi function), brake (decelerometer in the tail light makes light go solid and brighter the more you brake), laser lane (multi function) and turn signals (amber, front and rear). All operated wirelessly via a remote control pod that can be placed anywhere on any size bar. The main headlight running off the e bikes battery will have the only wire yet have a rechargeable battery for regular bike use also. I have put together such a lighting system pretty inexpensively, with the exception of the aforementioned battery in the head light and front facing amber turn signal lamps.
I am using a Roxim X4 head lamp because it plugs directly in to my Cycle Analyst and vis a vis the main battery. The 400w in pitch black conditions would make a good low beam but a 1000w high beam/400w light is not available at this time and I am getting by at speeds up to 30mph on pavement, 20 on gravel and 10 on trails.
Also I prefer a steady headlight beam. I don't get the flashing headlight, I can see, I can't see thing many people using. Other vehicles only flash their lights for certain situations and a steady beam shows up just as well.
Partial success, needs a hi/lo beam and rechargeable battery.
The taillight that I have is an eBay item that met my criteria and was cheap and had all the above listed features required of it:
(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
As a gift from the eBay seller they sent me a packet containing some very thin plastic sleeves that I couldn't quite make out what they were for due to the fact that I don't read Chinese and set them aside. After receiving the light and control module and adding a CR2032 battery to that, said included but not. A 4 pack was $7. The taillight itself is rechargeable using a mini-dvd port, the flatter kind. Upon re-examination of the first package I finally figured out that they were meant to go over say a tv remote control and hit it with a hair dryer to aid in its protection. I might try to fit one to my CA actually.
It is a wireless system from the control module to the taillights functions. A button to turn on the multi flashing tail light, a button to turn on the 2 function (flashing and steady) laser lane and a toggle switch to activate the turn signal which is an arrow that scrolls across the light (the other flashing lights are all vertical) in either direction desired. Funky yes, functional, hard to tell but there is possibly a better way to accomplish turn signals in the works. There is a decelerometer in there but it only works intermittently according to a friend that followed me around one night to see.
The laser lane function I have saved for last specifically because although I have seen them available for quite awhile I have yet to see anyone using one on the road, and I live in a very bicycley area. I too have thought them to be kind of a whatever but after having actually used one I won't go out on the road without it again. It is the single most noticed feature that stands out to pretty much all that see it. And that is a good thing when "sharing the road", a concept that some bikers think gives them carte blanché to ride 2-3 abreast on 50 mph country lanes, to more importantly the cars going 50 mph and not willing to share that much of their road that they pay tax dollars to maintain by buying fossil fuels.
The picture doesn't really show that the laser line starts 3' off the bike in line with the rear axle and then angles about 10 degrees outward. Shines back like 25' in ideal conditions. Also has a blinking function which I have also tried and is effective also.
The tail light I have my eye on has a few more laser features also.
Along with a multi function flashing light, decelerometer braking, and even turns itself on when it detects darkness and is rechargeable.
Tail Light: Partial success: Cheapish reflected by the price quality yet works for the most part and turned me on to the Laser Lane concept. Needs a better brake function. New light should fix all issues with better quality and features.
Losing the turn signal from the cheap light is the only thing I can't replace at this time although there are several systems out there none meet my criteria. I am working on a solution, basically an integral system including all my target features that can mount to any bicycle. Details as they emerge.
Please share your solutions if you will to better help all of us make it through the darkness ahead, well at least those above the 45th parallel anyway.
Here is what it is looking like at this point and also the handlebar setup that I have:
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. One maybe along the lines of this perhaps?
