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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
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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
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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
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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 |
#5
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rear lights
Mike wrote in message
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. 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 itself: http://www.topeak.com/global/redlite.php or I have to buy a "seat pack fixer": http://www.topeak.com/global/fixers.php Grrrrr. -- A: Top-posters. Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet? |
#6
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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