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Old February 12th 18, 04:49 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Joerg[_2_]
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Default Battery Replacement on Lights with Internal Li-Ion Batteries

On 2018-02-11 12:56, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 7:55:43 AM UTC-8, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-02-10 18:25, John B. wrote:
On Sat, 10 Feb 2018 19:25:57 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 2/10/2018 4:03 PM, Joerg wrote:

Everyone installing a high-powered LED light on a bicycle,
front or rear, should walk towards their lit bike during
daylight and then again at night. If the light is annoying,
do something about it.

I agree with this.

But I'd add, before buying high powered LED lights, check out
any more ordinary lights you have in a similar way. Have a
friend ride your bike as you observe. I've done this many times
with friends.

Contrary to current myths, you do not need super-powerful
lights to be plenty visible. Any headlight that shows the road
sufficiently will be perfectly visible to motorists, and
taillights need far, far less power to make you safe.


I had plenty of opportunity to compare StVZO tail lights versus the
over there "illegal" lights such as PDW DangerZone or Radbot. HUGE
difference in visibility. This was as a motorist in Germany. Since
I am also a cyclist I paid particular attention to bicycle
equipment because I wanted to know. I also wanted to see if the
purchase of some lights from there would make sense since those
wouldn't need electronics up front to connect to the 8.4VDC power
bus on my bicycles. My conclusion was that it does not.


Where is "there"?



Europe, in this case Germany. In the old days when I lived there I
preferred rear lights from the Netherlands though, more sturdy and
better lenses.


... Are you saying that the PDW light was no good and
you need a 8.4VDC tail light?


I returned the PDW light because of IMO shoddy quality. The LED was way
off center for the optics path of the lens and they wrote to me that
this is "normal". No kidding! The Chinese ones don't have that problem.

I don't need an 8.4V rear light but it has a major advantage: No
batteries that can run out. Especially since the design engineers of
most battery-operated rear lights weren't smart enough to include at
least a crude low-batt warning. 1-2-3 flashes at turn on or whatever, it
would be so simple.


At night, a watt or two is very conspicuous -- except in heavy
rainstorms.



1-2W in the rear with modern LEDs is definitely enough. Not in front
though if you want to see enough road for a fast night ride.


The most conspicuous light I've every seen was this:
https://tinyurl.com/yb5z9ep5 (minus the "beacon lights"). A woman
with that jacket was riding east-west, and I was at a stop on a
north-south street, and when my light hit her, I was practically
blinded -- and it was only a 5-600 lumen light.


I was not planning on spending $325 for a "tail light".


If you are really concerned about being seen, you should use high-viz
and reflectors, but I know that interferes with your super-gnarly
cotton outfits. During the day, I always see the high-viz before the
lights.


It interferes with my not wanting to sweat profusely. I ride in thin
cotton T-shirts even down to almost freezing. Else I sweat badly during
the first climb.

--
Regards, Joerg

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