Impressed with the number of Cyclists with Proper Lights

Duane Hébert wrote:

Was driving home the other night, waiting to turn left as a car
approached from the other direction in his left lane. 2 lanes each way.
I started to turn as the car passed and saw the cyclist's flashing
light. I think that with a steady light I would have
lost him in the headlights of the approaching car. With the flasher,
I could see that there was something there.

I guess maybe the flash helps to distinguish the bike.

Spot on. You can see a flashing red tail light in a sea of traffic tail
lights from a great distance, same for the front view with white lights.

JS.

On 12/13/2010 2:57 AM, Chalo Colina wrote:
Ben Pfaff wrote:

Ugh. I hate those damned front strobes. They are incredibly
distracting. It's bad when they're going the opposite way, but
it's awful when a cyclist is behind me for any distance and the
pavement just ahead of me blinks on and off a couple of times a
second.

Just think if every automobile headlight blinked on and off like
that. The roads would become unusable.

Just say no!

How else do you propose to make your one-watt (or less) bike light
conspicuous among the many 55 to 1000 watt lights strewn throughout a
city? If you can tolerate car headlights, and you can tolerate
flashing neon signs, traffic lights, and cop car lights, then you are
just being peevish about flashing bike headlights. It's like getting
worked up about the blinking LEDs on people's car alarms.


I see the same cyclist riding though an industrial area (with lots of
light pollution) on occasion. His front light is as best as I can judge
a 0.5W or less LED blinky, and makes him highly visible, even when being
overtaken by cars.

On the other hand, he is still reasonable visible from behind, despite
only having a single CPSC red reflector.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

On 12/13/2010 11:27 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
Per Ben Pfaff:
I don't know what blinking bike lights you are seeing, but the
ones that I am seeing are *much* brighter than anything on a car
alarm. They look like they're more than 1 W, at that. They are
not just single LEDs blinking in isolation.

I went head-to-head with a guy on the bike path through Valley
Forge park and his light actually dazzled me - as in a little bit
blinded... In broad daylight, no less. Some of these things are
*BRIGHT*.

Probably a light intended for off-road use, where illuminating overhead
branches can be required. A proper road light would have a cut-off bean
vertically, and would not blind you.

--
Tºm Shermªn - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

On Dec 14, 12:22*am, Tºm Shermªn™ °_° ""twshermanREMOVE\"@THI
$southslope.net" wrote:
On 12/13/2010 11:27 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:

Per Ben Pfaff:
I don't know what blinking bike lights you are seeing, but the
ones that I am seeing are *much* brighter than anything on a car
alarm. *They look like they're more than 1 W, at that. *They are
not just single LEDs blinking in isolation.

I went head-to-head with a guy on the bike path through Valley
Forge park and his light actually dazzled me - as in a little bit
blinded... In broad daylight, no less. * Some of these things are
*BRIGHT*.

Probably a light intended for off-road use, where illuminating overhead
branches can be required. *A proper road light would have a cut-off bean
vertically, and would not blind you.

--
T m Sherm n - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

One of the things I dislike about the Cyo, universally acclaimed as a
fine dynamo light, is that it has too little upwards and sideways
spill. Maybe a cyclist doesn't need the full round throw of an MR11 or
MR16, but a lot of my lanes have mature trees overhanging the road,
and those round lights really give you confidence by spatially
positioning you precisely at the point of a cone.

Andre Jute
Visit Jute on Bicycles at
http://www.audio-talk.co.uk/fiultra/...20CYCLING.html

"Ben Pfaff" wrote in message
...
SMS writes:

On 12/12/2010 9:18 PM, Ben Pfaff wrote:
writes:

We did an "in-town" 40 mile ride today and I was amazed to see the
number of riders using front strobe lights. It makes an incredible
difference in "being seen" in overcast conditions. Maybe only the
people going out in cold, overcast weather are those hard core people
that use proper equipment.

Ugh. I hate those damned front strobes. They are incredibly
distracting. It's bad when they're going the opposite way, but
it's awful when a cyclist is behind me for any distance and the
pavement just ahead of me blinks on and off a couple of times a
second.

Normally the strobes are used in the daytime, not at night. At night
the light is solid-on.

Then you haven't been riding the same streets that I have been at
night. There's been a huge increase in extraordinarily bright,
blinking front lights at night, and it's hugely distracting.
--
"Term, holidays, term, holidays, till we leave school,
and then work, work, work till we die."
C. S. Lewis

In my opinion, and it's always been my belief that it's the manufacturer's
view as well, the flashing mode is strictly for daytime use, or when battery
life is such a concern that you could run out of light before the end of
your ride in normal "on" mode. Flashing mode will generally give you about 3
times normal battery life.

I think flashing lights are a great idea in daytime, but I agree that they
should not be used at night (for a front light).

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

In article ,
Stephen Bauman wrote:

On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 00:57:49 -0800, Chalo wrote:

How else do you propose to make your one-watt (or less) bike light
conspicuous among the many 55 to 1000 watt lights strewn throughout a
city? If you can tolerate car headlights, and you can tolerate
flashing neon signs, traffic lights, and cop car lights, then you are
just being peevish about flashing bike headlights. It's like getting
worked up about the blinking LEDs on people's car alarms.

Flashing lights can cause people with photosensitive epilepsy to have
seizures.

Motorists routinely ignore police cars, fire trucks and ambulances with
flashing lights. There's no evidence they are more likely to of a white
flashing light than a steady one.

The front light is most important for a motorist noticing a bike in the
rear view mirror. The motorist will pick out a moving steady white beam
from the background clutter. If the motorist does not scan his rear view
mirror, then no light - flashing or steady - will be of any use.

Agree.

--
Michael Press

On Dec 13, 9:24*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:
"Ben Pfaff" wrote in message

...



SMS writes:

On 12/12/2010 9:18 PM, Ben Pfaff wrote:
*writes:

We did an "in-town" 40 mile ride today and I was amazed to see the
number of riders using front strobe lights. It makes an incredible
difference in "being seen" in overcast conditions. Maybe only the
people going out in cold, overcast weather are those hard core people
that use proper equipment.

Ugh. *I hate those damned front strobes. *They are incredibly
distracting. *It's bad when they're going the opposite way, but
it's awful when a cyclist is behind me for any distance and the
pavement just ahead of me blinks on and off a couple of times a
second.

Normally the strobes are used in the daytime, not at night. At night
the light is solid-on.

Then you haven't been riding the same streets that I have been at
night. *There's been a huge increase in extraordinarily bright,
blinking front lights at night, and it's hugely distracting.
--
"Term, holidays, term, holidays, till we leave school,
and then work, work, work till we die."
C. S. Lewis

In my opinion, and it's always been my belief that it's the manufacturer's
view as well, the flashing mode is strictly for daytime use, or when battery
life is such a concern that you could run out of light before the end of
your ride in normal "on" mode. Flashing mode will generally give you about 3
times normal battery life.

I think flashing lights are a great idea in daytime, but I agree that they
should not be used at night (for a front light).

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Some front lights like Blackburn, have 3 settings.

I use the setting that has a lower wattage bulb that blinks and a
solid bulb that stays on.

Andy