Front light - ideal brightness for city commute?

[SVS]

Talk to me about bike lights

For riding in urban traffic, what's good for a front light? What's too dim to be seen at night? Can a light be too bright?

What about Cateye's hyper-constant mode vs. Light and Motion's pulse mode? Any good for conspicuity on a sunny day?

Thoughts and advice from PH welcome.

[numtumfutunch]

For me its the optics which matter more than absolute power

A cheap Chinese light throwing pollution everywhere and blinding oncomers is not in any way acceptable in my opinion and more importantly also makes perspective and distance hard to judge from the point of view of a motorist sitting in a side road waiting to pull into your path

My own preference is an Exposure Joystick on strobe mounted on my helmet
Its 800 Lumen but more importantly has a narrow beam pattern so doesnt dazzle
Being helmet mounted if I sense someone hasn't seen me I can briefly direct it in their direction so they know Im on the way

Out of town in constant mode it also does a fair job of showing me which way to go

Cheers

[Mr Will]

Lights can definitely be too bright - particularly if the don't have properly shaped beams.

If you are only riding in street lit areas then 300 is already overkill, although bear in mind that you probably won't want to run your light on max power all the time to avoid tanking the battery.

For city commuting I like something that takes replaceable batteries, rather than USB recharging. I have stacks of AA rechargeables at home and always stick a couple of spares in my bag. It's much better than having to remember to charge your bike lights every couple of nights.

Finally, two lights is much better than one (particularly at the rear). If one fails you'll still have a backup. Set one to flash (to attract attention) and one on constant (to help others track you).

[SteveSteveson]

You don't need much under street lights, and yes, you can have too much. Many brighter lights are completely inappropriate for most road use. For use in urban areas you need a good pair of flashing lights. If you are blinding other road users it is dangerous, illigal and annoyes people.

[okgo]

Whatever the Exposure joystick is, perfect. Also, battery lasts about 10 days on that on the lower setting, ideal.

[Celtic Dragon]

Joystick is 800 lumens when set to max. I have 1 as a helmet light.

[okgo]

Celtic Dragon said:

Joystick is 800 lumens when set to max. I have 1 as a helmet light.

Think I have an old one that is more like 500, but I use it on its lowest setting, lasts ages, and totally weather/impact proof.

[Pachydermus]

SteveSteveson said:

You don't need much under street lights, and yes, you can have too much.

personally I prefer to be able to see potholes and other debris on the road and street lighting isn't usually enough to provide this. I run my lights at around 40% (700 lumen) on the better lit sections of my commute but full strength is still needed on a few sections where the lights are further apart.
I also find that motorists equate brighter lights with scooters/motorcycles and are far less likely to pull out on you than if you're just running a flasher.

[Daveyraveygravey]

Mr Will said:

Lights can definitely be too bright - particularly if the don't have properly shaped beams.

If you are only riding in street lit areas then 300 is already overkill, although bear in mind that you probably won't want to run your light on max power all the time to avoid tanking the battery.

For city commuting I like something that takes replaceable batteries, rather than USB recharging. I have stacks of AA rechargeables at home and always stick a couple of spares in my bag. It's much better than having to remember to charge your bike lights every couple of nights.

Finally, two lights is much better than one (particularly at the rear). If one fails you'll still have a backup. Set one to flash (to attract attention) and one on constant (to help others track you).

Totally agree. Two lights both ends for me, and batteries still have a lot going for them. If you're out, and your USB rechargeable packs up, you're screwed. If you have a battery light, carrying spares isn't really a big deal, and you can almost always find a corner shop or garage that sells them.

[okgo]

Charger at home, charger at work.

No different to remembering to charge your mobile phone. Or breathe.

[Daveyraveygravey]

okgo said:

Charger at home, charger at work.

No different to remembering to charge your mobile phone. Or breathe.

So you're 40 minutes from home, it's cold and dark, and the light you 'thought' had enough charge to get you home suddenly goes dim or out on you. How useful are your two chargers now?😱

[troc]

That's why my commuting bikes have dynamo hubs

I personally think it's more important that you have a light that just works than a super powerful eyeball melting searchlight which needs feeding with batteries.

I commute all year 'round and have never felt the need for much more than the 10 lux my current front light produces as I am on well-lit streets most of the time. The new bike has a Supernova Pure 3 with 200 or so lux and that seems to be more than sufficient for the odd darker, unlit road.

Here in Holland most commuting bikes have dynamos and everyone else uses those ultracheap (2-3 euros a set) rubber flashing LED things that aren't really legal but are tolerated as it's better than nothing.

Then again, we have to have reflective tyres, pedal reflectors, rear reflectors, radar reflectors, men with red flags at the front and sirens at all times. Except students who use optically stealthy bikes with no oil or grease so you hear them coming from miles away as they creak, groan and rattle down the street.

[SVS]

Obviously some people don't mind dazzle, as 900+ Lumens is winning the poll!

If you've blinded a car driver, at least they've seen you. Oh, hang on ...

[anonymous-user]

Aren't they only too bright if they're pointing up and blinding oncoming traffic. Obviously if someone is driving towards you and they're blinded by 400 lumen's tilted up in their eyes then that's counter productive in making you more safe.

[okgo]

Daveyraveygravey said:

So you're 40 minutes from home, it's cold and dark, and the light you 'thought' had enough charge to get you home suddenly goes dim or out on you. How useful are your two chargers now???

Never happened in 5 years

[E65Ross]

okgo said:

Daveyraveygravey said:

So you're 40 minutes from home, it's cold and dark, and the light you 'thought' had enough charge to get you home suddenly goes dim or out on you. How useful are your two chargers now???

Never happened in 5 years

Exactly, you just need to remember to charge the thing every week or whatever.

[Mr Will]

E65Ross said:

okgo said:

Daveyraveygravey said:

So you're 40 minutes from home, it's cold and dark, and the light you 'thought' had enough charge to get you home suddenly goes dim or out on you. How useful are your two chargers now???

Never happened in 5 years

Exactly, you just need to remember to charge the thing every week or whatever.

I can't do that - I end up forgetting at some point when i'm not in my normal routine. For me it's either charge them after every ride or charge them as needed.

Charge every ride is fine for the lights on my road-bike, but plugging in multiple lights every night after my commute home is a faff I'd rather do without. Far easier to have spare batteries I can just swap out when needed.

I fail to see a single advantage to built in batteries.

[okgo]

Mr Will said:

I can't do that - I end up forgetting at some point when i'm not in my normal routine. For me it's either charge them after every ride or charge them as needed.

Charge every ride is fine for the lights on my road-bike, but plugging in multiple lights every night after my commute home is a faff I'd rather do without. Far easier to have spare batteries I can just swap out when needed.

I fail to see a single advantage to built in batteries.

The lights last a long time, they all have a fuel gauge on them, and even when its at critical level you'll still get a commute out of it, I've never had either front or rear exposure die on me.

You can't see an advantage, I can't see a disadvantage personally.

[E65Ross]

Mr Will said:

E65Ross said:

okgo said:

Daveyraveygravey said:

So you're 40 minutes from home, it's cold and dark, and the light you 'thought' had enough charge to get you home suddenly goes dim or out on you. How useful are your two chargers now???

Never happened in 5 years

Exactly, you just need to remember to charge the thing every week or whatever.

I can't do that - I end up forgetting at some point when i'm not in my normal routine. For me it's either charge them after every ride or charge them as needed.

Charge every ride is fine for the lights on my road-bike, but plugging in multiple lights every night after my commute home is a faff I'd rather do without. Far easier to have spare batteries I can just swap out when needed.

I fail to see a single advantage to built in batteries.

I'd like to see how many batteries you'd need to power a 1200 lumen light like mine (exposure race mk9 I think), and how long they'd last..... Then you have the fact you have to keep spending money when they run out.... There's a few reasons.

[Pachydermus]

E65Ross said:

I'd like to see how many batteries you'd need to power a 1200 lumen light like mine (exposure race mk9 I think), and how long they'd last..... Then you have the fact you have to keep spending money when they run out.... There's a few reasons.

My external battery (big ben) gives over 4 hours at full power. I've got a flashy thing as a backup but I've not needed it in the past 15 years.
You could always keep one of the smaller ones as a spare if you're forgetful.