Lights Save Lives

[jabberwocky]

For headlights, I started commuting 2005 with an old Light and Motion HID (anyone remember those? Pre-LED days). Since then I've gone through a variety of LED lights, some Dinottes and then 3 of the magicshine clones from Amazon. The major weakness on the cheap chinese LED lamps is always the batteries, after a year or two they start dying fast. A while back someone did a run of higher quality panasonic cell batteries that works with them and I bought a few, and those batteries are still going strong several years later. Haven't commuted since getting my work-from-home gig in 2017 but occasionally go out for evening rides.

For taillights, I like the cygolite hotshots as a relatively cheap blinkie, but my primary is a Dinotte Quad Red, which is ridiculously good and priced to match (~$190). Still, its bright enough to be attention grabbing in broad daylight so it lives on my bike no matter the time of year. Never seen a taillight that compared to it. Mine is well over a decade old and still works great.

I definitely learned to run two lights at each end, one primary and one backup. s*it happens, and it sucks to be riding home in total darkness and your light decides to die.

 

[m@Robertson]

For headlights, I started commuting 2005 with an old Light and Motion HID (anyone remember those? Pre-LED days).

Oh yes! I had two of the Niterider HIDs with the lead-acid water bottle battery. I even had a special Y connector so one bottle battery could feed both lights. I still have them in a box in storage... proprietary battery connectors mean they are pretty much useless in this modern age. But boy oh boy... having one on each side of the handlebars next to the grips gave me lighting so bright... I still can't match them, although there are LEDs that can do it if I go crazy.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I may have to look into those. What model do you have?

I have the newest non camera one. its been a great device. but you have to pair it with something but it can be your phone too. I have a garmin 1030+ that works well and is plenty loud to hear.

 

[Robspace1]

I have the newest non camera one. its been a great device. but you have to pair it with something but it can be your phone too. I have a garmin 1030+ that works well and is plenty loud to hear.

Thanks for that. The more I think about it though, do I really need a GPS unit? I never get lost or go to areas unknown. Because my battery and my butt both have limits to how far I ride, I always pre-plan plan the trip. I normally ride 25-30 miles on my rides. It would come in handy if my bike was my primary transportation, but it's not. Thanks for the good info though.

 

[fooferdoggie]

Thanks for that. The more I think about it though, do I really need a GPS unit? I never get lost or go to areas unknown. Because my battery and my butt both have limits to how far I ride, I always pre-plan plan the trip. I normally ride 25-30 miles on my rides. It would come in handy if my bike was my primary transportation, but it's not. Thanks for the good info though.

you can connect it to your phone or they have the display that will connect to it too. its pretty versatile.

 

[Robspace1]

you can connect it to your phone or they have the display that will connect to it too. its pretty versatile.

If I was going a long way from home, it would pay to get one. But, most of my rides are within 30 miles from home and I know where I am. I don't even carry my phone with me on these rides. Why bother? I'm retired and not having to live on the phone or be on-call anymore. If my battery ever dies, I'll peddle. Flats, I carry air and Slime. Been 2.5 years without a flat on double lined Schwalbe's. There is emergency bike service available with Triple A but you have to get to a city street before they can tow you home.

 

[Robspace1]

I'm pretty sure blue lights are illegal here in Wa.state for any vehicle other than police and emergency vehicles.

 

[Rexlion]

While driving in the city early this afternoon, I noticed a bicycle rider ahead of me... about a half mile away! His flashing tail light was incredibly bright and obvious even at that distance. When I was passing him (it was a 5 lane street and I moved over to the passing lane) I tried to make out some detail; the light unit had two LEDs alternately flashing, vertical to each other, and I speculate that it might have been a Cygolite Hypershot (but maybe it was something else with a fairly similar design). Man, that thing was super-ultra-visible!

 

[Robspace1]

While driving in the city early this afternoon, I noticed a bicycle rider ahead of me... about a half mile away! His flashing tail light was incredibly bright and obvious even at that distance. When I was passing him (it was a 5 lane street and I moved over to the passing lane) I tried to make out some detail; the light unit had two LEDs alternately flashing, vertical to each other, and I speculate that it might have been a Cygolite Hypershot (but maybe it was something else with a fairly similar design).

It probably was..He had it set to Daylightning mode. I have two in the back and they are the brightest bike tail light I've ever seen. Long recharge time also!

 

[PedalUma]

Two cheap USB kits on any bike will do. $17.50 each kit. Stereo. Adjustable. Redundant. They last about four years depending on latitude and use. My former 'buddy'' is the manager of a Trek/Bonteger dealer, one set of his light kits was $165. The local dealer gives a discount, but still $40 will do it. Our lighted bike parade is Friday. Get twin USB light kits online.

 

[Barkfire]

My least favorite has to be the glorified rubber band approach. It's bad enough they barely stay in place, go out of whack on every major bump, and are just plain cheap despite showing up on some rather expensive options... but the fact any yahoo can just come along and walk off with it?

That's where my switching to a double-shoulder fork worked out great for me, I was able to add a larger front bag that hangs off the upper shoulders intead of the bars.


Doesn't look it in the pic, but yes it does clear the full travel of the fork. Strange angle.

Though as @Robspace1 suggested H-bars can give you more room.

Another option I've seen a few people around here use are clamp on secondary gear bars like these:

View attachment 142292
The nice part being you can use it to raise things like lights up higher, and if you mount your display and phone on the regular bars these secondary bars can act as a sort of "roll cage' for your more fragile devices.

I'm getting similar "protection" of the display on my aventure by having moved the display from sticking up dead center to being on the left and pointed more downward. It's less likely when things go south to get planted in the dirt. Also gave me the cable length to put the control pad back out at the end of the bars given how much wider those are than stock. AND it even reduces glare by not being "dead on" in my FoV.

I put these on both our bikes, just not enough room on the handlebar for what I want. My wife's bike will have a dog carrier on the front and this bar helps keep the items up and more accessible. Plus when we ride I always take our GMRS radios, there are times I may take off on a trail she doesn't want to ride or she may see a yard sale and disappear. lol

 

[Jason Knight]

or she may see a yard sale and disappear. lol

Even before I had an e-bike rvery Saturday from May through July I spend the weekend pedaling around just looking for yard sales. I don't even plan a route or look it up in the papers, I just get on and go.

You can always tell the people with shopping addiction as they have a yard sale every weekend for decades straight.

 

[Robspace1]

Two cheap USB kits on any bike will do. $17.50 each kit. Stereo. Adjustable. Redundant. They last about four years depending on latitude and use. My former 'buddy'' is the manager of a Trek/Bonteger dealer, one set of his light kits was $165. The local dealer gives a discount, but still $40 will do it. Our lighted bike parade is Friday. Get twin USB light kits online.

The problem with the cheap lights is that while they may be easily seen at night, in the bright light of daytime they vanish. If a car can't see you up ahead by at least 1/4 mile or more, you're putting yourself in danger. A fast moving car driving into the sun won't see those cheap, low visibility lights, not in the daytime. I do 90% of my riding in the daytime and a lot of it on streets with and without bike lanes. Why spend a lot of money for a nice ebike yet scrimp on lights to keep yourself safe? Too many drivers are impared and/or distracted to see a bike. I say the brighter the better and Cygolites tail lights are about the brightest made. Can be seen a very long way off.

 

[jabberwocky]

Two cheap USB kits on any bike will do. $17.50 each kit. Stereo. Adjustable. Redundant. They last about four years depending on latitude and use. My former 'buddy'' is the manager of a Trek/Bonteger dealer, one set of his light kits was $165. The local dealer gives a discount, but still $40 will do it. Our lighted bike parade is Friday. Get twin USB light kits online.

It really depends on where you ride and what you're looking for. I have lots of cheap lights though and none of them are really any use in daylight unless you're only looking for a very minor upgrade in rear visibility from directly behind. IME the issue with the cheap lights is a) they aren't very bright, and b) they tend to have very narrow angles where that brightness is apparent with minimal spillage to the side. Even at night, if you ride in places with lots of light pollution they aren't as noticeable as you think.

My favorite light (Dinotte Quad Red) is rated for a few hundred lumens, but it has massive spill. Its not only bright straight back, but bright at an almost 120 arc behind me. Its noticeable directly to the side at night, even. LEDs are highly directional by nature, so it takes some design work to overcome that (either reflector lens design or an array of LEDs or a combination of both). I find the cheap lights just don't do that.

For more reasonably priced lights, the Cygolite Hotshots are a good buy. ~40 bucks, very bright, useful blink modes, really the only drawback is they don't have much side throw, and in max brightness mode their battery life isn't impressive. Though I will say mine are all several years old and I'm sure they have upgraded some.

But it does depend on where you ride, how well lit things tend to be, traffic speed differentials, etc. I used to commute on some rural roads that were twisty, had no shoulder and car traffic tended to go 45-50mph. I wanted to be very visible for as long a distance as possible. I did that commute for 7 years and never had an issue at night.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Blue lights has been my life saver when street riding at night or early morning commute to work and Sunshine is not up yet. It's steady blue non flashing. Purchase from Amazon more than likely it's a copy of some police lights that costs 2x more.
I take up the entire lane on 25 mph limited streets.

Why blue? Human eyes are least sensitive to blue, so that choice of color cuts the SEEN brightness of your light. And that's all that counts.

 

[Robspace1]

Why blue? Human eyes are least sensitive to blue, so that choice of color cuts the SEEN brightness of your light. And that's all that counts.

Not only that, it may cause cars to pull to the side of the road thinking an emergency vehicle is behind them. For great side lights, to be seen at intersections, where most people on bikes get hit, I suggest the dual sided amber Brightside light. Great light. Easily seen yellow flash day or night. $26.00 on Amazon.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Blue light is eye catching .

More than red? Based on what?

 

[m@Robertson]

Two cheap USB kits on any bike will do. $17.50 each kit. Stereo. Adjustable. Redundant. They last about four years depending on latitude and use. My former 'buddy'' is the manager of a Trek/Bonteger dealer, one set of his light kits was $165. The local dealer gives a discount, but still $40 will do it. Our lighted bike parade is Friday. Get twin USB light kits online.

Do you mean COB light strips? If so, $40 would also be including the USB power bank. The pair I use were I think $20 total, plus the power bank for another $25. They are a huge benefit to visibility vs. autos. ... but not good for actual illumination of the road ahead of you. they turn the ground under and around you into a big bright disc, and on this bike they also illuminate its frame like a sort of rolling billboard.

These are 4500k, which is a warm color. The super brightness is only a camera artifact and comes from the camera lens, not in the real world. I have a 6k set waiting for my new Bullitt, whose frame I am hoping gets off the boat any day now.

LED Strip Lights – Quick and Easy

I knocked this project out in maybe an hour, start to finish. I’m doing the same with this quickee explainer post.

talesontwowheels.com

More than red? Based on what?

It isn't. As you said earlier, blue light is the least visible of the kinds of light your eyes can utilize. This was quite the subject with auto headlights maybe 15 years ago when color temps in the 10-12k range were fashionable with tuners... and it turned out that blue was so badly perceived by human eyes you were looking at significantly reduced visibility due to nothing more than the shift to blue-ish light.

Back in the day this guy was one of the best fact-based info sources:

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

Blue/white headlamp bulb performance, safety and legality information

www.danielsternlighting.com

Blue lights are also illegal in California unless you are a law enforcement vehicle.

 

[PedalUma]

Hight frequency light is less prone to attenuation. Blue is good, but illegal, so violet would be better. The cheep lights last for a few years and can be aimed anyway you want as a pair.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Hight frequency light is less prone to attenuation. Blue is good, but illegal, so violet would be better. The cheep lights last for a few years and can be aimed anyway you want as a pair.
View attachment 142470

Blue frequency is at least 50% higher than red. Violet is roughly 67% higher than red. Red also scatters -much- less than blue -- a big advantage in hazy air. That why the clear sky's blue and why reconnaissance photos are often taken in the near infrared.

IMO, deviating from automotive light color standards is a big mistake. Bike lights already confuse drivers and pedestrians at night. And when there are other things competing for our attention, our brain-eye systems are prone to ignoring the confusing ones.

Why confuse our main threats even more?