Choosing a Tail Light for Your Bicycle: Six No-CompromiseRequirements" article

On 9/13/2013 6:42 PM, datakoll wrote:
On Wednesday, September 11, 2013 9:51:23 PM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:
On 9/11/2013 7:25 PM, Jay Beattie wrote:

On Tuesday, September 10, 2013 5:33:39 AM UTC-7, landotter wrote:

On Monday, August 26, 2013 2:31:48 PM UTC-5, sms wrote:



I've also been asked to do a tail light article. First draft is at







http://nordicgroup.us/tail/. Comments welcome.







They sell $10 LED tail lamps at Walmart that are better than the crap we used for 100 years. Just go ride your ****ing bike, Steve.



Better than my 1977 Belt Beacon? It was $11, but the battery cost $2.



http://www.bicycletimesmag.com/conte...ts-belt-beacon



-- Jay Beattie





You're awesome. I've been unable to locate an image of that

until now.



Also cannot find an image of the classic Wonder leg lamp or

the later Matex Life Light.



--

Andrew Muzi

www.yellowjersey.org/

Open every day since 1 April, 1971

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC


IS THERE A TAIL LIGHT TO GO WITH OUR BEST LIGHT ?


https://picasaweb.google.com/1022344...PGe_9qChb-vSQ#

while your back in the stacks ferret out a coupla HD Chrome Shimano cable guides wudja ?


Yeah, sold literally thousands of those. I was looking for
an image of the small lamps with white front lens/ red rear
lens which strap to one's arm or leg.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Friday, September 13, 2013 9:47:51 PM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:
I was looking for an image of the small lamps with white front lens/ red rear lens which strap to one's arm or leg.
--

Andrew Muzi

www.yellowjersey.org/

Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Like this one?

http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...MiWOe1BVTw.jpg

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Safety-Lamp-Light-with-Arm-or-Leg-Band-Strap-for-Cycling-Running-Walking-the-Dog-/00/s/MTYwMFg4MzM=/$(KGrHqFHJCsE+,+L!vmuBQW4JSzGrQ~~60_35.JPG

Cheers

On 9/13/2013 9:28 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, September 13, 2013 9:47:51 PM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:
I was looking for an image of the small lamps with white front lens/ red rear lens which strap to one's arm or leg.

Like this one?

http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...MiWOe1BVTw.jpg

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Safety-Lamp-Light-with-Arm-or-Leg-Band-Strap-for-Cycling-Running-Walking-the-Dog-/00/s/MTYwMFg4MzM=/$(KGrHqFHJCsE+,+L!vmuBQW4JSzGrQ~~60_35.JPG


Yes, exactly. Thank you.[1]

Amidst all the kvetching here about lights, we sometimes
forget how pathetic 'the good old days' really were. I just
hated those crappy French things but it's what we had then.
Unreliable, klutzy, inadequate and yet the best non-dynamo
thing you could buy. The Matex design was much better, while
far short of good.

[1] Maybe I should have used 'pathetic' or 'dismal' in my
search terms?

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Saturday, September 14, 2013 10:53:28 AM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:

Amidst all the kvetching here about lights, we sometimes
forget how pathetic 'the good old days' really were.

I own an antique (1800s) kerosene bicycle headlight. It's pretty, in its way, sort of a steampunk aesthetic. It mounts to a nifty parallelogram suspension bracket. It's a lot like this one: http://tinyurl.com/mlbe695

Anyway, one dark winter night I cleaned and polished it, trimmed the wick, filled it with kerosene and set off down a very dark little lane. I was astonished how little light it gave off. Yet cyclists once used these successfully.

The explanation may be that there was so little artificial lighting in those days, that people were more used to (and more capable of) seeing in near-darkness. In his excellent book _At Home_, Bill Bryson explains this in detail. A large dining hall with a candle every ten feet around the walls was once considered brightly lit.

(Not that it's any excuse for those strap-on ankle lights.)

- Frank Krygowski

AMuzi writes:

On 9/13/2013 9:28 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, September 13, 2013 9:47:51 PM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:
I was looking for an image of the small lamps with white front lens/ red rear lens which strap to one's arm or leg.

Like this one?

http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...MiWOe1BVTw.jpg

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Safety-Lamp-Light-with-Arm-or-Leg-Band-Strap-for-Cycling-Running-Walking-the-Dog-/00/s/MTYwMFg4MzM=/$(KGrHqFHJCsE+,+L!vmuBQW4JSzGrQ~~60_35.JPG


Yes, exactly. Thank you.[1]

Amidst all the kvetching here about lights, we sometimes forget how
pathetic 'the good old days' really were. I just hated those crappy
French things but it's what we had then. Unreliable, klutzy,
inadequate and yet the best non-dynamo thing you could buy. The Matex
design was much better, while far short of good.

[1] Maybe I should have used 'pathetic' or 'dismal' in my search
terms?


When I was about 11 years-old, I had a paper route and won a prize
of my choice (depending on how many subscriptions I sold). I had
my eye on that T-head leg-strap "bike" light, and got it.

Expecting the night to be mine, I strapped it on. Still couldn't
see diddly squat. Same was true with the bottle generator powered
chrome headlight I got later.

It wasn't until I got first the Nashbar 1-watt "Beacon" and then
the Planet Bike 1-watt "Blaze" that I actually had (supplemental)
light to see by. Upgrading to the 2-watt Blaze and *zounds* - I
am tickled pink. (I had the impression that PB was making a 3-watt
Blaze, too.)

These remarkably effective - and I think relativley unoffensive -
latter bike lights are, of course, all nothing more than "little
AA-powered handlebar lights" with ~symmetrical beam.

Dan writes:

AMuzi writes:

On 9/13/2013 9:28 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Friday, September 13, 2013 9:47:51 PM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:
I was looking for an image of the small lamps with white front lens/ red rear lens which strap to one's arm or leg.

Like this one?

http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...MiWOe1BVTw.jpg

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Safety-Lamp-Light-with-Arm-or-Leg-Band-Strap-for-Cycling-Running-Walking-the-Dog-/00/s/MTYwMFg4MzM=/$(KGrHqFHJCsE+,+L!vmuBQW4JSzGrQ~~60_35.JPG


Yes, exactly. Thank you.[1]

Amidst all the kvetching here about lights, we sometimes forget how
pathetic 'the good old days' really were. I just hated those crappy
French things but it's what we had then. Unreliable, klutzy,
inadequate and yet the best non-dynamo thing you could buy. The Matex
design was much better, while far short of good.

[1] Maybe I should have used 'pathetic' or 'dismal' in my search
terms?


When I was about 11 years-old, I had a paper route and won a prize
of my choice (depending on how many subscriptions I sold). I had
my eye on that T-head leg-strap "bike" light, and got it.

Expecting the night to be mine, I strapped it on. Still couldn't
see diddly squat. Same was true with the bottle generator powered
chrome headlight I got later.

It wasn't until I got first the Nashbar 1-watt "Beacon" and then
the Planet Bike 1-watt "Blaze" that I actually had (supplemental)
light to see by. Upgrading to the 2-watt Blaze and *zounds* - I
am tickled pink. (I had the impression that PB was making a 3-watt
Blaze, too.)

These remarkably effective - and I think relativley unoffensive -

(relatively inoffensive)

latter bike lights are, of course, all nothing more than "little
AA-powered handlebar lights" with ~symmetrical beam.

On 9/13/2013 8:47 PM, AMuzi wrote:
Yeah, sold literally thousands of those. I was looking for an image of
the small lamps with white front lens/ red rear lens which strap to
one's arm or leg.

I had one of those 30+ years ago. Shaped like a "T" in profile.

--
T0m $herm@n

On 9/14/2013 12:29 PM, Dan wrote:
It wasn't until I got first the Nashbar 1-watt "Beacon" and then
the Planet Bike 1-watt "Blaze" that I actually had (supplemental)
light to see by. Upgrading to the 2-watt Blaze and*zounds* - I
am tickled pink. (I had the impression that PB was making a 3-watt
Blaze, too.)

These remarkably effective - and I think relativley unoffensive -
latter bike lights are, of course, all nothing more than "little
AA-powered handlebar lights" with ~symmetrical beam.

I would consider the 1W PB Blaze light to be the bare-minimum I would
use for riding around town or down a wooded MUP at night (BTDT).

--
T0m $herm@n

"datakoll" wrote in message
...
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...be.ozdeRcK4o0g


URA bottom.

On Saturday, September 14, 2013 10:29:59 AM UTC-7, Dan wrote:
AMuzi writes:



On 9/13/2013 9:28 PM, Sir Ridesalot wrote:

On Friday, September 13, 2013 9:47:51 PM UTC-4, AMuzi wrote:

I was looking for an image of the small lamps with white front lens/ red rear lens which strap to one's arm or leg.



Like this one?



http://thumbs3.ebaystatic.com/d/l225...MiWOe1BVTw.jpg



http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Safety-Lamp-Light-with-Arm-or-Leg-Band-Strap-for-Cycling-Running-Walking-the-Dog-/00/s/MTYwMFg4MzM=/$(KGrHqFHJCsE+,+L!vmuBQW4JSzGrQ~~60_35.JPG





Yes, exactly. Thank you.[1]



Amidst all the kvetching here about lights, we sometimes forget how

pathetic 'the good old days' really were. I just hated those crappy

French things but it's what we had then. Unreliable, klutzy,

inadequate and yet the best non-dynamo thing you could buy. The Matex

design was much better, while far short of good.



[1] Maybe I should have used 'pathetic' or 'dismal' in my search

terms?





When I was about 11 years-old, I had a paper route and won a prize

of my choice (depending on how many subscriptions I sold). I had

my eye on that T-head leg-strap "bike" light, and got it.



Expecting the night to be mine, I strapped it on. Still couldn't

see diddly squat. Same was true with the bottle generator powered

chrome headlight I got later.



It wasn't until I got first the Nashbar 1-watt "Beacon" and then

the Planet Bike 1-watt "Blaze" that I actually had (supplemental)

light to see by. Upgrading to the 2-watt Blaze and *zounds* - I

am tickled pink. (I had the impression that PB was making a 3-watt

Blaze, too.)



These remarkably effective - and I think relativley unoffensive -

latter bike lights are, of course, all nothing more than "little

AA-powered handlebar lights" with ~symmetrical beam.

I never thought of the leg light as something to light the road, although they did have an amber or white front lens (and a red rear lens). I wore mine as a a safety light. I hope you didn't work too hard for your leg light. Back in the day, they cost about two bucks (minus batteries).

For our powerful headlights, we used flashlights and those flashlight clips -- cylindrical rat traps that snapped closed around the light. Paperboy standard issue. Some had bottle generators. I guess we could just see better back then.

-- Jay Beattie.