Push Bikers Dazzling Headlights!
Discussion
I had a pushbicyclist person approach me yesterday, he had a white light on his bike AND one on top of his head! They were SO bright it was like looking straight into a Mercedes HID on full beam, I had to slow down and everything! What's that all about? Isnt there some kind of law to stop them being so bright? The pulsating ones are even worse! 
You can buy some really powerful bike lights now for riding off road. They're also pretty good for road rides around dark country lanes. I won one in a competition (RRP about £350 and you can get some quite a lot more expensive than that!) and used it once on my commute through London. I heard a cyclist coming past in the other direction say, "f
k me, it's a bike!" and realised it was too bright for what I needed so sold it on eBay.
I doubt they're as bright as car lights - they are still run off a relatively small battery and are much smaller lights. I suspect the problem is that they are often adjusted too high - more like high beams than dipped beams.
k me, it's a bike!" and realised it was too bright for what I needed so sold it on eBay.I doubt they're as bright as car lights - they are still run off a relatively small battery and are much smaller lights. I suspect the problem is that they are often adjusted too high - more like high beams than dipped beams.
Yes, I'd noticed some of them were getting rather bright.
To be fair though, it's impossible to accurately aim a bike light because bikes bump around a lot more and any light that's bright enough to show up amongst the stupidly bright car lights that people seem to favour these days, is going to dazzle oncoming traffic on darker roads.
To be fair though, it's impossible to accurately aim a bike light because bikes bump around a lot more and any light that's bright enough to show up amongst the stupidly bright car lights that people seem to favour these days, is going to dazzle oncoming traffic on darker roads.
hora said:
REAR bright red lights yes but the high-power off road/night ride ones aren't on. They are dangerous as they cause 'dancing' blind spots in your eyes if your coming the other way. tts.
In many ways it's more important for cyclists to be visible from in front than behind. The number of times when I used to cycle that I had drivers try to overtake other cars straight at me was astonishing. ts.Dim down car headlights to improve the contrast, and cyclists might be willing to live with less bright lights too. IMO HiDs are the primary problem. I get blinded by maybe one cyclist for every 100 cars that do it.
I run with two front and two rear on my bike, two rears mainly for redundancy as I may not be aware if one fails and don't want to be effectively invisible on the dark roads I commute, on the front I have one bright standard light which will do flas or solid, this is to be seen rather than to see with, I also have a very powerful led which is for seeing where I am going, with these cyclists need to be aware of the effect on other road users, they may or may not be as bright as a modern car headlamp but cars are adjusted and have the ability to dip, a bike light can be all over the place, I make a point of turning it down in terms of brightness or aiming it down if there is a car coming to avoid getting drivers flashing at me to tell me it is too bright.
I suppose any light is better than nine or the difficult choice some cyclist make to either buy a front or a rear, or the one I saw recently running a rear flasher on the front of his bike.
nowadays I seem to be better lit than the average Peugeot 206, never see one with two working headlights.
I suppose any light is better than nine or the difficult choice some cyclist make to either buy a front or a rear, or the one I saw recently running a rear flasher on the front of his bike.
nowadays I seem to be better lit than the average Peugeot 206, never see one with two working headlights.
The P7 led has allowed bright lights for bikes to become ever cheaper. We also use much better capacity batteries now which allows more powerful lighting for longer.
MOst cyclists will angle the front handlebar light to illuminate from a foot or so in front of the front wheel, this will give a centre point of about 15foot from the bike. Unfortunately even going through a pothole, or riding the crest of a road repair can lift the front of the bike enough to make the light alomost horizontal, hence shining directly into an approaching car.
Bit harsh for drivers to call cyclists with bright lights t
ts . Try driving on sidelights only and see how far you get before reaching for the dipped beam.Modern lights also have a 50% setting but this is not enough to spot potholes in the road so when the light drops we normally go full power
Lordbenny said:
I had a pushbicyclist person approach me yesterday, he had a white light on his bike AND one on top of his head! They were SO bright it was like looking straight into a Mercedes HID on full beam, I had to slow down and everything! What's that all about? Isnt there some kind of law to stop them being so bright? The pulsating ones are even worse!
Stop talking like you are reading a Jeremy Clarkson script.... its wasnt funny in 2005 and its still not funny.so now the cyclist who makes themselves easily noticed by other road users by virture of having suitable lights is also admoinshed by motorists... Do you go into supermarkets and complain that there is too much stuff to choose from too?
Garlick said:
Just bought some new ones for my bike, they do illuminate road signs quite far in the distance but I like the fact that makes me seen as the nights draw in. I doubt they are brighter than a car though.
In that case Sir will be wanting one of these. 3000 lumens of retina scorching loveliness. The comparison between a car on full beam and this light can be seen at the bottom of the page. Bicyle 1 - Car 0. Sensibly these should be kept for off-road use only.http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/fluxient-3x-u...
I bought one last month for MTB'ing and they are great bits of kit for the palty 130 quid.
Lordbenny said:
I had to slow down and everything! What's that all about?
This^^^ about sums up the reason for his vitriol. Car driver in "slows for cyclist" shocker. I found (in rural Essex) that only around 25% of motor traffic dips their lights for me, regardless of how bright/how many bar mounted lights I ran. Eventually I added a headtorch to my helmet and took to looking into the cabins of people who didn't bother. Somehow I suspect that it didn't help the situation, but made me feel a lot better. The whole issue of bar mounted lights being too bright/too high is balderdash anyway. To be of any conceivable use to the rider, front lights need to be aimed at the floor a short distance ahead of the front wheel. Head torches are extremely useful for picking out detail, looking around when heading into corners, and reading direction signs. The joy of the headtorch is also that, if YOU, as a driver, read the road, and dip your headlights as you are required to do, I will gladly look down to point my helmet lamp at the floor to return the favour.
It's NEVER right to use your high beam to dazzle another ROAD USER, and I admit to having done so before. We're none of us perfect. But, if you have ever been driven at by someone who doesn't seem to know where his dip switch is, have you not been tempted to flash back a reminder?
As a cylist I have to admit my fellow riders using offroad and helmet lights on-road are prime-pr*cks, no need for it (and it is illegal, but when did cyclists ever check the law on bike lights?)
I have a massive multi-million lumen head lamp for off-road, far brighter than car lights and amongst the MTB club there is abit of a weapons race to have the most light.
The second I hit the road I kill this and switch to a legal road light front and rear (flashing is now legal BTW) but they are much less bright and properly baffled- no hosing oncoming drivers with full beam death ray stuff!
Flash your lights at them- same as you would a driver with main beam on, if they have half a brain they'll duck and/or turn off the light sabre.
I have a massive multi-million lumen head lamp for off-road, far brighter than car lights and amongst the MTB club there is abit of a weapons race to have the most light.
The second I hit the road I kill this and switch to a legal road light front and rear (flashing is now legal BTW) but they are much less bright and properly baffled- no hosing oncoming drivers with full beam death ray stuff!
Flash your lights at them- same as you would a driver with main beam on, if they have half a brain they'll duck and/or turn off the light sabre.
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