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#31
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
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#32
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
Rod King wrote:
Iain Let me get this right. From 100m away you saw the light. How fast does one have to go in order that 100m visibility of a cyclists rear light is not sufficient warning. If he had been a pedestrian he would not have had any rear light. Far from being useless it seemed to be very effective. Were you looking for a higher degree of visibility than was reasonable? What would you have done if his light had been brighter? Would you have driven any differently? Rod In answer to your questions. The street concerned was a well lit urban street. At the point I overtook it was a 30mph limit although it changed to a 50mph limit a couple of hundred metres later. I wouldn't describe his light as being effective as I saw the cyclist (despite dark non reflective clothing) before I saw the light. I wasn't looking for any degree of visibility. If an unlit pedestrian (a drunk perhaps) had been lying in the road I would have seen him in plenty of time and taken the appropriate action. What I would have done if his light had been brighter is I would have seen him earlier. I woud have driven differently by moving into the outside lane earlier. The vast majority of drivers will see cyclists whether lit or not early enough to miss them. But I believe that being very visible might save my life one night when that 1 in 100,000, or whatever, driver who is drunk, using a mobile, with poor eyesight, or careless sees me a few seconds earlier than he or she otherwise might. With regard to pedestrians being seen there was a pedestrian killed a few years ago 2 miles from where I live. He was walking along an unlit road with no pavement and was killed by a taxi (driver sober) who didn't see him in time. If that ped had been wearing bright clothing he might be alive who knows. The accident as far as I'm concerned was 100% the drivers fault but that doesn't make the ped any less dead. Given that it costs next to nothing (in either cash or hassle) to be well lit I see no argument for not running at least 2 rear lights. But it's a free country and its an individual choice. Long may it remain so. |
#33
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
wrote in message
ups.com... Given that it costs next to nothing (in either cash or hassle) to be well lit I see no argument for not running at least 2 rear lights. It's cash and hassle - primarily the latter. Our bikes have lights which are ready to use all the time, and have no need of charging or worries about batteries going flat. The back lights don't use bulbs, and will work even if the front bulb has blown. They're permanently attached, so no need to take them off when parking. I see no need for having any more than the one rear light per bike they currently have. cheers, clive |
#34
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
Tony Raven wrote:
Terry wrote: I was horrified by the bloke cycling without lights in London the other night while carrying his young daughter on the crossbar. It was a cold night as well and the poor kid had no gloves. Although I use lights in London to be honest they are not critical unless it is raining. Street lighting is very good and visibility of cyclists is not a problem in general. Generally I would agree - similarly, in most of urban London car drivers can probably get away without lights after dark, too - at least in terms of lights as aids to seeing. But lights - any lights - really do aid you *being* seen. Bright is better than dim, but some is a lot better than none. |
#35
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
Pete Biggs wrote:
Zog The Undeniable wrote: LEDs are also generally awful when run from NiMH cells. "Nickel Metal-Hydride batteries have a high capacity and a very flat discharge curve which maintains a cell voltage of 1.2V over ~80% of the discharge curve. This gives a nominal pack voltage of 4.8V which as you can see from the graph brings the mean efficiency up toward 70% and since the fully charged voltage of the pack is only 5.6V the maximum LED power is about 1.3W for a brief period and stays at 1W for most of the discharge cycle. If you do not want to modify the light I strongly recommend you use NiMH rechargeable batteries, you will get much longer run times." - http://www.ajjrice.plus.com/reviews/smart%20nova.htm Yes, but LEDs are more voltage dependent than current dependent. Conversely, incandescent lamps are excellent when run on NiMH batteries because the cells have low internal resistance and can easily supply the 0.5A (or more) required by the bulb. I thought the drop in output was quite scary when I measured it (I can't remember if the alkalines were new or not - I think they may have been used for half an hour or so). It was a full stop on the light meter at a measured distance from the lamp, so the output was halved. Of course, some LEDs may be better than others at coping with rechargeables - I did the test on the (mediocre) Cateye HL-EL200 front light. It's true that NiMH gives at least the same run time as alkalines in heavy use. If you only use the light occasionally, the alkalines will win because of the self-discharge of NiMH cells (something like 1% a day, so they're all but dead after a few months). |
#36
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
In article , Helen Deborah
Vecht ) wrote: I've seldom seen a nightAUK with poor lights. I /did/ get passed by a semi-visible Richard Phipps about 160 km into the South Bucks Winter Warmer, but some new flatteries at the next control sorted that out... -- Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/ Like Kant, it is my wish to create my own individual epistemology. But I also wish to find out what is for pudding. |
#37
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
Dave Larrington wrote:
I /did/ get passed by a semi-visible Richard Phipps about 160 km into the South Bucks Winter Warmer, but some new flatteries at the next control sorted that out... Do his clones ever ride on the same Audaxes? Might explain the subtle differences. I saw one on the Invicta Hilly on Sunday. |
#38
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
Terry wrote:
In article , (Tony Raven) wrote: Terry wrote: I was horrified by the bloke cycling without lights in London the other night while carrying his young daughter on the crossbar. It was a cold night as well and the poor kid had no gloves. Although I use lights in London to be honest they are not critical unless it is raining. Street lighting is very good and visibility of cyclists is not a problem in general. Ah, so you know the street I'm referring to, and are thus aware that it is a narrow rat-run with poor lighting, road-humps, cars parked on both sides, and cars entering and crossing having limited visibility due to parked cars? I'm so very glad that neither you nor the dick risking his kid's life is my dad. Which part of "in general" did you not understand? -- Tony "The best way I know of to win an argument is to start by being in the right." - Lord Hailsham |
#39
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
The (effective) battery life is nowhere near that touted on the
packaging IMX; I bought a Decathlon 3.99 one a couple of weeks ago, claims to conform to French / German standards. It is the standard Oxford clone oval 3 LED type but has side led's and a special lens which considerably enhances the central led; it is Very bright. It does not flash. I will be fitting it to my Audax bike (with a flashing one as well to comply with the law AIUI) |
#40
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Rear LED light effectiveness.
Simon Bennett wrote: Dave Larrington wrote: I /did/ get passed by a semi-visible Richard Phipps about 160 km into the South Bucks Winter Warmer, but some new flatteries at the next control sorted that out... Do his clones ever ride on the same Audaxes? Might explain the subtle differences. I saw one on the Invicta Hilly on Sunday. did you see his saddle bag? it looked a bit small, I assume that's a Super C |
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