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rear lights



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 6th 04, 01:59 AM
Dmitri Colebatch
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Default rear lights

motivated by the thread of hi beams, I have a query about rear lights. I'm
continually amazed that you can get lights that look the same as a motorbike
from in front in terms of brightness, but when it comes to rear lights, we
all ride around with flashing LEDs. I for one (justified or not) am much
more concerned about a car behind me hitting me, rather than one I can see.
If I can see a car, chances are I can avoid the driver's
stupidity/ignorance, but if I dont see it coming, then what chance do I
have. For this reason, I've always wanted to (never have, yet) get a big
headlight, with a red tint as a rear light.

anyone else got any thoughts on this?

cheers
dim


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  #2  
Old March 6th 04, 05:59 AM
Mike
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Default rear lights

Dmitri Colebatch wrote:
but when it comes to rear lights, we all ride around with flashing LEDs.


Thats because a _good_ flashing LED lamp is incredibly visible.
Add reflectors on heels, wheel rims, etc for bonus safety.
And LEDs are far more efficient for coloured light than incandescents.
  #3  
Old March 6th 04, 11:00 PM
Ray Peace
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Default rear lights

Greetings,
The primary constraint on bike rear lights is available
power. I still have an ancient dynamo system, and they allocate a mere
0.5 watt to the tail light and 2.4 watts to the head-light, which is why
I have an LED light as a back-up at the rear. If you want a more
powerful tail-light, you will pay for it in either needing a 6 watt
system, or more (and heavier) batteries, as well as moolah.
The advent of LED lights is some improvement over the absolutely
pathetic output of many previous tail-lights, but we are still not as
visible as cars because we don't have a 12 volt, heavy duty battery
system. As I don't do a lot of night riding at the present it doesn't
bother me unduly, but I'm certainly aware of the problem, and also of
some of the work that has been done on it.
Regards,
Ray.

Dmitri Colebatch wrote:

motivated by the thread of hi beams, I have a query about rear lights. I'm
continually amazed that you can get lights that look the same as a motorbike
from in front in terms of brightness, but when it comes to rear lights, we
all ride around with flashing LEDs. I for one (justified or not) am much
more concerned about a car behind me hitting me, rather than one I can see.
If I can see a car, chances are I can avoid the driver's
stupidity/ignorance, but if I dont see it coming, then what chance do I
have. For this reason, I've always wanted to (never have, yet) get a big
headlight, with a red tint as a rear light.

anyone else got any thoughts on this?

cheers
dim



  #4  
Old March 8th 04, 01:19 AM
Laurence Dodd
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Default rear lights

In reply to your post about bright rear bike lights (as a recommendation).


I bought a Daylight Bright Bicycle light for $123 which includes postage and
its works very well. The following is some information from me about my
experience with the light.

The light is fairly visible in bright daylight. It is very visible under
street lights at night. I even once had a passing passenger call out: "Your
bike light's on fire!". That is what it must have looked like to him.



The light unit is made and supplied by one man as far as I know.

I don't have any pictures (no digital camera here, but you can see it in a
review in Australian Cyclist magazine from 2003 (see their website)). It
weighs about 100g. Read on for the dimensions.



The backing plate on mine extends up along the longer dimension, so it is
wider than the seat. When mounted on the seatpost it touches the back of my
legs, which is why I mounted mine under the seat via the seat rails. The
light is not aethestically beautiful, but it is functional.



I recommend this light for cyclists, but under the above disclaimers that it
is not perfectly designed. I am happy to have spent the money, but anyone
else does so at their own risk of dissatisfaction. Perhaps get the
manufacturer to send you some pictures.



Kind Regards,

Laurence Dodd.

.....................



The following is information from the manufacturer.



Thank you for your enquiry re the world's brightest bicycle tail light!



For seat post mounting, the mounting plate comes with a U-bolt to suit a
25mm seat post and is $8 extra. Please advise your seat post diameter if not
25mm.



The long dimension would normally be horizontal but people have mounted
these lights vertically with a specially designed mounting plate.



The light is designed to be charged on-bike. You would need a specially
designed mounting to allow easy removal if you wished to remove the light
for charging. For most cyclists recharging would only be required once a
week. One option for a commuter cyclist might be to charge the light at work
during the day.



I make the lights myself here in Sydney and ride to work in the city using
one.

Postage is $8. The lights are not sold through shops.



Regards, Bill Holliday, WMH Electronics P/L





.................................................. ........................



Daylight Bright Bicycle Tail Light





Cyclists can be put in the direct path of overtaking motor traffic by

chicanes, traffic islands, speed humps and the S-lane's disappearing

left hand lane.



In such situations cyclists are effectively denied on-road access unless

they are able to enter and occupy a lane when necessary. To do this,

cyclists need to be very visible from behind, both day and night.



The Daylight Bright tail light focuses the attention of approaching

traffic on the presence of the cyclist and identifies the cyclist as such.



Daylight Saving causes many commuter cyclists to travel at sunset. A

bright tail light makes cyclists more visible against the setting sun.



The Daylight Bright bicycle tail light stands out from a sea of

headlights, trafficators and other tail lights because of its brightness

and characteristic flash rate.



FEATURES:



Mega-bright:

Has by far the highest flash intensity of any bicycle tail light. Twenty

four high-power LEDS provide more than 600,000 mcd - as bright as a

traffic light. Easily visible at night at 1 km (on-axis).





Internal Rechargeable Batteries

Five internal 650mAh AAA rechargeable NiMH batteries operate the light

for 6 hours in full flash mode or 12 hours in alternating flash mode.





Built-in recharging Circuit:

Any 9 to 24 volt plugpack will power the internal constant-current

recharging circuit to recharge the batteries overnight. A suitable

plugpack is available separately. The light is designed to be recharged

in situ - it is not necessary to remove it from the bike.

A green recharging indicator LED shows when recharging is taking place.
Water resistant design: The light uses a waterproof case with neoprene
sealing gasket between the transparent lid and the tough ABS body. The
batteries are soldered in place - no contacts to corrode and prevent the
light from operating.





Mounting:

The light should be firmly mounted on the bicycle to point directly

backwards. The case dimensions are 115x65x40 mm with two 4mm mounting

holes located outside the sealed volume.



Mounting requirements vary widely depending where the light is to be

attached. A dual-purpose mounting kit, for seat post or backstay

mounting, is available from the manufacturer.



MANUFACTURED BY:



WMH Electronics Pty Ltd

ABN 19 101 848 435

Ph/Fax: 9569-4956 (H)

Email: wmh@ ieee.org







  #6  
Old March 9th 04, 03:32 AM
Mike
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Default rear lights

DRS wrote:

As long as it can be seen. I bought a Topeak "wedge" saddle bag on
Saturday. When I fitted it I found I couldn't have it and my rear light
mounted at the same time. So, in order to have a rear light and the saddle
bag I either have to buy a new rear light which mounts on the saddle bag


You have a mounting strap onto the back of the saddle bag?
I thought most LEDs had a clip for that. Just be sure it stays at the
right angle.
Otherwise, you could just screw it on to the saddle bag, with a
backplate inside.

I suppose getting a rear rack is out of the question? :-)



http://www.topeak.com/global/redlite.php

  #7  
Old March 9th 04, 10:39 AM
DRS
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Default rear lights

Mike wrote in message

DRS wrote:

As long as it can be seen. I bought a Topeak "wedge" saddle bag on
Saturday. When I fitted it I found I couldn't have it and my rear
light mounted at the same time. So, in order to have a rear light
and the saddle bag I either have to buy a new rear light which
mounts on the saddle bag


You have a mounting strap onto the back of the saddle bag?


Yes. Didn't you look at the links?

I thought most LEDs had a clip for that. Just be sure it stays at the
right angle.
Otherwise, you could just screw it on to the saddle bag, with a
backplate inside.


I looked at my current one but I don't see how it would clip on.

I suppose getting a rear rack is out of the question? :-)


Just what I need, more weight on the bike.

--

"I'm proud that I live in a country where witnessing two hours of bloody,
barbarous torture in gloating detail is considered indicia of religious
piety, whereas a mere second gazing upon a woman's breast is cause for
outraged apoplexy."
Betty Bowers, http://www.bettybowers.com/melgibsonpassion.html


  #8  
Old March 9th 04, 12:06 PM
Joel Mayes
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Posts: n/a
Default rear lights

In article , Dmitri Colebatch wrote:
motivated by the thread of hi beams, I have a query about rear lights. I'm
continually amazed that you can get lights that look the same as a motorbike
from in front in terms of brightness, but when it comes to rear lights, we
all ride around with flashing LEDs. I for one (justified or not) am much
more concerned about a car behind me hitting me, rather than one I can see.
If I can see a car, chances are I can avoid the driver's
stupidity/ignorance, but if I dont see it coming, then what chance do I
have. For this reason, I've always wanted to (never have, yet) get a big
headlight, with a red tint as a rear light.

anyone else got any thoughts on this?

cheers
dim


Red LED read lights are extremly visable at night, if there mounted on
the seat post or rear rake of a bike, wearing them on a helmet is not as
effective.

You can post these flashing things from several blocks away, its all I
have on the rear of my bike and I'm quite confident in it.

--
| Joel Mayes | /~\ ASCII Ribbon campaign
| Accordionist | \_/ stop HTML mail and news
| Musician | / \
| Music Teacher |
  #9  
Old March 10th 04, 06:40 AM
Mike
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default rear lights

Joel Mayes wrote:
wearing them on a helmet is not as effective.


Why is that? I have one of those swivel-mounted ones, so it always
shines horizontally. Makes a nice eye-level backup for the rack-mounted
lights. Anyone sell them in Oz?

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...3Eprd_id=15909
  #10  
Old March 10th 04, 11:34 AM
Joel Mayes
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Posts: n/a
Default rear lights

In article , Mike wrote:
Joel Mayes wrote:
wearing them on a helmet is not as effective.


Why is that? I have one of those swivel-mounted ones, so it always
shines horizontally. Makes a nice eye-level backup for the rack-mounted
lights. Anyone sell them in Oz?

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...3Eprd_id=15909


I've seen many riders with collars or bags which partially obscure the
light, probably not a valid issue if you are careful about how you
dress, and how you mount the light.

--
| Joel Mayes | /~\ ASCII Ribbon campaign
| Accordionist | \_/ stop HTML mail and news
| Musician | / \
| Music Teacher |
 




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