Cheap bright tail light

On Monday, September 15, 2014 4:18:45 PM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 9/15/2014 11:33 AM, SMS wrote:

On 9/12/2014 3:34 PM, Joerg wrote:



If they had sturdy metal ones which are also somewhat crashworthy. The

Magnus light I have right now survived a nasty one around 10 days ago.

Things got scraped up a bit (including myself) and I am very sure a

plastic light would have come home in a bag, in pieces.



There is an Edelux II with an aluminum body and a glass lens. Around

$200 in the U.S. (plus the cost of a mount).



There's also this one:

http://www.dx.com/p/3w-3-led-270-lumen-waterproof-flood-light-projection-warm-white-lamp-12v-47572



which works fine directly off of a hub dynamo. It has a better beam

shape than the Edelux II for night riding in the U.S. where you want a

more symmetrical beam in order to illuminate street signs and overhead

obstacles.





Unfortunately that doesn't look like it would survive the first five

trail miles.



Amazon has some high-intensity (1000 lumen) lights. I wish someone

could point out which model(s) are super-rugged. Ok, and I really do not

want to spend $200 on a light that might get smashed during the next endo.





:-) I hope our European readers don't seriously believe Scharf's

implications that U.S. roads are places where vehicles must crash

through tree branches, and where people routinely get lost by not seeing

street signs at night!





In the bush you can easily break your neck if you don't see a branch

jutting out. After I got a new (thicker) helmet I misjudged branch

heights a couple of times and man, that really gives you a jolt in the

neck. It's a real danger.



About crashing through tree branches, some trails out here require that.

They are not well traveled and overgrow quickly. I took one of those a

bit fast a couple weeks ago. It got late and I stepped on it, whatever

my muscles could do. 15mph, 17mph, 19mph, 20mph ... *THWOCK* ... bike

disappeared from underneath me. A large Manzanita branch that I didn't

see in time grabbed a loop on my hydration pack.



http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista4.JPG

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista5.JPG



Maybe now it also becomes clear why we need a somewhat circular

high-beam illumination at night out here. An innocently looking 1/2"

Manazanita branch would be capable of towing a truck and you really

don't want that to get in your face or, worse, snag your helmet with

your head being strapped into it.



--

Regards, Joerg



http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Then there are those people who'll say that if you weren't wearing a helmet the branch would miss your head or just glance off rather than getting snagged in a vent.

Cheers

On 9/15/2014 12:49 PM, Joerg wrote:
Rolf Mantel wrote:
Am 13.09.2014 00:34, schrieb Joerg:

I was just in Germany and saw some of their modern bike lights. Not
super impressive when it comes to light output but ok for non-trail
usage. However, they were plastic and that stuff doesn't last with my
kind of riding.

So something like an E3 for high beam and any of the current crop of
good German approved front lights as a low beam.

If they had sturdy metal ones which are also somewhat crashworthy. The
Magnus light I have right now survived a nasty one around 10 days ago.
Things got scraped up a bit (including myself) and I am very sure a
plastic light would have come home in a bag, in pieces.

The good German approved front lights do exist in sturdy metal
http://www.nabendynamo.de/, they are just a bit more expensive.


$200, ouch. I think they offer a handlebar mount, probably costing an
arm and a leg.

Yeah that's a lot but even the lower end lights like the Schmidt E6
Primary with 3 watt halogen bulb is $100. In the scheme of things,
considering the cost of a dynamo hub wheel, $100 more is not such a big
deal.

For $192.99 you can get this light:
http://www.aebike.com/Supernova-E3-Triple-2-Dynamo-Headlight-Black_p_69837.html.
It is not road legal in Germany because it has an optimal beam shape for
cycling. It appears to include the mount as well.

Joerg wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/15/2014 11:33 AM, SMS wrote:
On 9/12/2014 3:34 PM, Joerg wrote:

If they had sturdy metal ones which are also somewhat crashworthy. The
Magnus light I have right now survived a nasty one around 10 days ago.
Things got scraped up a bit (including myself) and I am very sure a
plastic light would have come home in a bag, in pieces.

There is an Edelux II with an aluminum body and a glass lens. Around
$200 in the U.S. (plus the cost of a mount).

There's also this one:
http://www.dx.com/p/3w-3-led-270-lumen-waterproof-flood-light-projection-warm-white-lamp-12v-47572

which works fine directly off of a hub dynamo. It has a better beam
shape than the Edelux II for night riding in the U.S. where you want a
more symmetrical beam in order to illuminate street signs and overhead
obstacles.


Unfortunately that doesn't look like it would survive the first five
trail miles.

Amazon has some high-intensity (1000 lumen) lights. I wish someone
could point out which model(s) are super-rugged. Ok, and I really do not
want to spend $200 on a light that might get smashed during the next endo.


:-) I hope our European readers don't seriously believe Scharf's
implications that U.S. roads are places where vehicles must crash
through tree branches, and where people routinely get lost by not seeing
street signs at night!


In the bush you can easily break your neck if you don't see a branch
jutting out. After I got a new (thicker) helmet I misjudged branch
heights a couple of times and man, that really gives you a jolt in the
neck. It's a real danger.

About crashing through tree branches, some trails out here require that.
They are not well traveled and overgrow quickly. I took one of those a
bit fast a couple weeks ago. It got late and I stepped on it, whatever
my muscles could do. 15mph, 17mph, 19mph, 20mph ... *THWOCK* ... bike
disappeared from underneath me. A large Manzanita branch that I didn't
see in time grabbed a loop on my hydration pack.

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista4.JPG
http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista5.JPG

Maybe now it also becomes clear why we need a somewhat circular
high-beam illumination at night out here. An innocently looking 1/2"
Manazanita branch would be capable of towing a truck and you really
don't want that to get in your face or, worse, snag your helmet with
your head being strapped into it.

Maybe you should adapt you riding style a bit. It seems that you are always
in a hurry, the only route a terrible rough off road single trail that you
want to ride at 20 mph in the dark. Believe me few people want to do that
and the available lights are more than sufficient for the other 99.9%.

--
Lou

sms wrote:
On 9/15/2014 12:49 PM, Joerg wrote:
Rolf Mantel wrote:
Am 13.09.2014 00:34, schrieb Joerg:

I was just in Germany and saw some of their modern bike lights. Not
super impressive when it comes to light output but ok for non-trail
usage. However, they were plastic and that stuff doesn't last with my
kind of riding.

So something like an E3 for high beam and any of the current crop of
good German approved front lights as a low beam.

If they had sturdy metal ones which are also somewhat crashworthy. The
Magnus light I have right now survived a nasty one around 10 days ago.
Things got scraped up a bit (including myself) and I am very sure a
plastic light would have come home in a bag, in pieces.

The good German approved front lights do exist in sturdy metal
http://www.nabendynamo.de/, they are just a bit more expensive.


$200, ouch. I think they offer a handlebar mount, probably costing an
arm and a leg.

Yeah that's a lot but even the lower end lights like the Schmidt E6
Primary with 3 watt halogen bulb is $100. In the scheme of things,
considering the cost of a dynamo hub wheel, $100 more is not such a big
deal.

For $192.99 you can get this light:
http://www.aebike.com/Supernova-E3-Triple-2-Dynamo-Headlight-Black_p_69837.html.
It is not road legal in Germany because it has an optimal beam shape for
cycling. It appears to include the mount as well.


That looks much better.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp

Assuming one could run that on a regular 8.4V LiIon pack. I have a
mountain bike with disc brakes and a hub dynamo isn't easily fitted and
would get expensive.

Now why doesn't anyone offer a battery pack that slides into the
otherwise unused seat tube?

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Monday, September 15, 2014 4:18:45 PM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:

On 9/15/2014 11:33 AM, SMS wrote:
On 9/12/2014 3:34 PM, Joerg wrote:
If they had sturdy metal ones which are also somewhat
crashworthy. The Magnus light I have right now survived a
nasty one around 10 days ago. Things got scraped up a bit
(including myself) and I am very sure a plastic light would
have come home in a bag, in pieces.
There is an Edelux II with an aluminum body and a glass lens.
Around $200 in the U.S. (plus the cost of a mount). There's
also this one:
http://www.dx.com/p/3w-3-led-270-lumen-waterproof-flood-light-projection-warm-white-lamp-12v-47572
which works fine directly off of a hub dynamo. It has a better
beam shape than the Edelux II for night riding in the U.S.
where you want a more symmetrical beam in order to illuminate
street signs and overhead obstacles.


Unfortunately that doesn't look like it would survive the first
five

trail miles.



Amazon has some high-intensity (1000 lumen) lights. I wish someone


could point out which model(s) are super-rugged. Ok, and I really
do not

want to spend $200 on a light that might get smashed during the
next endo.





:-) I hope our European readers don't seriously believe Scharf's
implications that U.S. roads are places where vehicles must
crash through tree branches, and where people routinely get lost
by not seeing street signs at night!


In the bush you can easily break your neck if you don't see a
branch

jutting out. After I got a new (thicker) helmet I misjudged branch

heights a couple of times and man, that really gives you a jolt in
the

neck. It's a real danger.



About crashing through tree branches, some trails out here require
that.

They are not well traveled and overgrow quickly. I took one of
those a

bit fast a couple weeks ago. It got late and I stepped on it,
whatever

my muscles could do. 15mph, 17mph, 19mph, 20mph ... *THWOCK* ...
bike

disappeared from underneath me. A large Manzanita branch that I
didn't

see in time grabbed a loop on my hydration pack.



http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista4.JPG

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista5.JPG



Maybe now it also becomes clear why we need a somewhat circular

high-beam illumination at night out here. An innocently looking
1/2"

Manazanita branch would be capable of towing a truck and you really


don't want that to get in your face or, worse, snag your helmet
with

your head being strapped into it.



--

Regards, Joerg



http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Then there are those people who'll say that if you weren't wearing a
helmet the branch would miss your head or just glance off rather than
getting snagged in a vent.


Yeah, in a German NG there's a lot of those anti-helmet guys. Leaves me
shaking my head. It's like not using a seat belt in a car. In the crash
a couple of weeks ago the helmet didn't need to protect my head but had
I rolled another 10ft there were some sizeable rocks.

My first foray onto a recreational MTB trail was also a bit memorable.
When I came to the first hairpin curves I saw an old crash site. Paint
scrapes on the rocks, bicycle debris here and there and ... chunks from
a helmet. Possibly someone's brakes had faded out.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On 9/15/2014 4:18 PM, Joerg wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/15/2014 11:33 AM, SMS wrote:
On 9/12/2014 3:34 PM, Joerg wrote:

If they had sturdy metal ones which are also somewhat crashworthy. The
Magnus light I have right now survived a nasty one around 10 days ago.
Things got scraped up a bit (including myself) and I am very sure a
plastic light would have come home in a bag, in pieces.

There is an Edelux II with an aluminum body and a glass lens. Around
$200 in the U.S. (plus the cost of a mount).

There's also this one:
http://www.dx.com/p/3w-3-led-270-lumen-waterproof-flood-light-projection-warm-white-lamp-12v-47572

which works fine directly off of a hub dynamo. It has a better beam
shape than the Edelux II for night riding in the U.S. where you want a
more symmetrical beam in order to illuminate street signs and overhead
obstacles.


Unfortunately that doesn't look like it would survive the first five
trail miles.

Amazon has some high-intensity (1000 lumen) lights. I wish someone
could point out which model(s) are super-rugged. Ok, and I really do not
want to spend $200 on a light that might get smashed during the next endo.


:-) I hope our European readers don't seriously believe Scharf's
implications that U.S. roads are places where vehicles must crash
through tree branches, and where people routinely get lost by not seeing
street signs at night!


In the bush you can easily break your neck if you don't see a branch
jutting out. After I got a new (thicker) helmet I misjudged branch
heights a couple of times and man, that really gives you a jolt in the
neck. It's a real danger.

About crashing through tree branches, some trails out here require that.
They are not well traveled and overgrow quickly. I took one of those a
bit fast a couple weeks ago. It got late and I stepped on it, whatever
my muscles could do. 15mph, 17mph, 19mph, 20mph ... *THWOCK* ... bike
disappeared from underneath me. A large Manzanita branch that I didn't
see in time grabbed a loop on my hydration pack.

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista4.JPG
http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista5.JPG

Maybe now it also becomes clear why we need a somewhat circular
high-beam illumination at night out here. An innocently looking 1/2"
Manazanita branch would be capable of towing a truck and you really
don't want that to get in your face or, worse, snag your helmet with
your head being strapped into it.

I did say "roads" in my post above. Your pictures do not show what
people generally consider to be a road.

It's always possible to describe conditions so extreme that they would
prevent the use of any equipment you happen to dislike. Scharf has
claimed terrible hazards from low hanging trees on paved roads, despite
the regular passage of motor vehicles far taller than any bicyclist.
You've discussed the combination of amazingly gnarly riding surfaces
with much higher than normal bike speeds. We might soon hear from
someone whose nighttime commute goes down a ski slope's moguls at 70 mph.

I guess I'm not so macho. Almost all my night riding - over four
decades of it - has been on paved roads, and I don't remember ever
exceeding 30 mph at night.

For that riding, I've never needed even 100 lumens (AFAIK - I have
lights whose lumen rating I don't know). I've never hit an overhead
tree branch (even when I was riding off road), and I've always managed
to find my way without a special street sign beam pointed upwards. I've
never had a motorist cut closely in front of me or otherwise fail to
register my presence. (In fact, they're more cautious toward me at
night than in daylight). And I've many times gotten spontaneous
compliments from motorists and pedestrians on how conspicuous my
ordinary bike lights and reflectors were at night. I've also led night
rides and night lighting workshops for my bike club - testing each
others' lights - and participants have all agreed that extraordinary
lights are not needed.

I have toyed around building homebrew lights, I tried one of Scharf's
junky Chinese flashlights, and tried different commercial
battery-powered lights, but I long ago decided that dynamo sets are most
practical for my very normal road riding, and that good dynamo
headlights give the best road illumination.

In short, I don't find riding at night to be overly hazardous or to need
extraordinary equipment. IMO, for anything approaching ordinary use of
a bicycle, I think the lighting problem has been solved.

YMMV with your riding conditions, of course.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Lou Holtman wrote:
Joerg wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/15/2014 11:33 AM, SMS wrote:
On 9/12/2014 3:34 PM, Joerg wrote:

If they had sturdy metal ones which are also somewhat crashworthy. The
Magnus light I have right now survived a nasty one around 10 days ago.
Things got scraped up a bit (including myself) and I am very sure a
plastic light would have come home in a bag, in pieces.
There is an Edelux II with an aluminum body and a glass lens. Around
$200 in the U.S. (plus the cost of a mount).

There's also this one:
http://www.dx.com/p/3w-3-led-270-lumen-waterproof-flood-light-projection-warm-white-lamp-12v-47572

which works fine directly off of a hub dynamo. It has a better beam
shape than the Edelux II for night riding in the U.S. where you want a
more symmetrical beam in order to illuminate street signs and overhead
obstacles.
Unfortunately that doesn't look like it would survive the first five
trail miles.

Amazon has some high-intensity (1000 lumen) lights. I wish someone
could point out which model(s) are super-rugged. Ok, and I really do not
want to spend $200 on a light that might get smashed during the next endo.


:-) I hope our European readers don't seriously believe Scharf's
implications that U.S. roads are places where vehicles must crash
through tree branches, and where people routinely get lost by not seeing
street signs at night!

In the bush you can easily break your neck if you don't see a branch
jutting out. After I got a new (thicker) helmet I misjudged branch
heights a couple of times and man, that really gives you a jolt in the
neck. It's a real danger.

About crashing through tree branches, some trails out here require that.
They are not well traveled and overgrow quickly. I took one of those a
bit fast a couple weeks ago. It got late and I stepped on it, whatever
my muscles could do. 15mph, 17mph, 19mph, 20mph ... *THWOCK* ... bike
disappeared from underneath me. A large Manzanita branch that I didn't
see in time grabbed a loop on my hydration pack.

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista4.JPG
http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista5.JPG

Maybe now it also becomes clear why we need a somewhat circular
high-beam illumination at night out here. An innocently looking 1/2"
Manazanita branch would be capable of towing a truck and you really
don't want that to get in your face or, worse, snag your helmet with
your head being strapped into it.

Maybe you should adapt you riding style a bit. It seems that you are always
in a hurry, the only route a terrible rough off road single trail that you
want to ride at 20 mph in the dark. Believe me few people want to do that
and the available lights are more than sufficient for the other 99.9%.


In America that's somewhat normal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plWz-DgYu1Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qEYktLzYJY

Europe seems to be different. I was there last week (Germany), including
bike rides. Even in the forests the paths were all "forest autobahns",
pretty wide, clear of any vegetation, fairly smooth and often even
graveled. The bike paths were so clean that I was tempted to look under
my shoes if they are clean enough to step on it. I was riding what they
call a trekking bike, sort of a road bike with sturdier tires. It was
perfectly adequate, there was no real need for a mountain bike.

On one of my weekly rides out here I only have three choices. Either a
very dangerous two-lane county road with zero space on the sides, a bush
"road" that is only passable by mountain bike or trucks with monster
tires, or as a third option a motocross patch followed by a longer
singletrack. The county road I would only travel by car.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On 9/15/2014 1:18 PM, Joerg wrote:

In the bush you can easily break your neck if you don't see a branch
jutting out. After I got a new (thicker) helmet I misjudged branch
heights a couple of times and man, that really gives you a jolt in the
neck. It's a real danger.

One genuine issue with bicycle infrastructure (bicycle lanes) is that
there are often overhanging branches that don't extend out into the
vehicle traffic lanes.

Maybe now it also becomes clear why we need a somewhat circular
high-beam illumination at night out here. An innocently looking 1/2"
Manazanita branch would be capable of towing a truck and you really
don't want that to get in your face or, worse, snag your helmet with
your head being strapped into it.

In the countries where there are laws regarding beam shape they probably
have better bicycle infrastructure. Though even in those countries you
can buy lights with the symmetrical beam pattern. I doubt if anyone in
Germany has been cited for using a Supernova E3 Triple for road riding.

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/15/2014 4:18 PM, Joerg wrote:
Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 9/15/2014 11:33 AM, SMS wrote:
On 9/12/2014 3:34 PM, Joerg wrote:

If they had sturdy metal ones which are also somewhat crashworthy. The
Magnus light I have right now survived a nasty one around 10 days ago.
Things got scraped up a bit (including myself) and I am very sure a
plastic light would have come home in a bag, in pieces.

There is an Edelux II with an aluminum body and a glass lens. Around
$200 in the U.S. (plus the cost of a mount).

There's also this one:
http://www.dx.com/p/3w-3-led-270-lumen-waterproof-flood-light-projection-warm-white-lamp-12v-47572


which works fine directly off of a hub dynamo. It has a better beam
shape than the Edelux II for night riding in the U.S. where you want a
more symmetrical beam in order to illuminate street signs and overhead
obstacles.


Unfortunately that doesn't look like it would survive the first five
trail miles.

Amazon has some high-intensity (1000 lumen) lights. I wish someone
could point out which model(s) are super-rugged. Ok, and I really do not
want to spend $200 on a light that might get smashed during the next
endo.


:-) I hope our European readers don't seriously believe Scharf's
implications that U.S. roads are places where vehicles must crash
through tree branches, and where people routinely get lost by not seeing
street signs at night!


In the bush you can easily break your neck if you don't see a branch
jutting out. After I got a new (thicker) helmet I misjudged branch
heights a couple of times and man, that really gives you a jolt in the
neck. It's a real danger.

About crashing through tree branches, some trails out here require that.
They are not well traveled and overgrow quickly. I took one of those a
bit fast a couple weeks ago. It got late and I stepped on it, whatever
my muscles could do. 15mph, 17mph, 19mph, 20mph ... *THWOCK* ... bike
disappeared from underneath me. A large Manzanita branch that I didn't
see in time grabbed a loop on my hydration pack.

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista4.JPG
http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/estavista5.JPG

Maybe now it also becomes clear why we need a somewhat circular
high-beam illumination at night out here. An innocently looking 1/2"
Manazanita branch would be capable of towing a truck and you really
don't want that to get in your face or, worse, snag your helmet with
your head being strapped into it.

I did say "roads" in my post above. Your pictures do not show what
people generally consider to be a road.


Ok, but this one is considered a road out here and it is on the maps as
such:

http://analogconsultants.com/ng/bike/Chapparal1.JPG

If you miss those overhanging tree branches in the distance at night the
result could be nasty.

Yesterday I was barreling down another one and had to reach into the
brake handles hard. A tree had fallen right across. Nice oak wood but my
MTB doesn't have a trailer and I didn't have my chain saw.


It's always possible to describe conditions so extreme that they would
prevent the use of any equipment you happen to dislike. Scharf has
claimed terrible hazards from low hanging trees on paved roads, despite
the regular passage of motor vehicles far taller than any bicyclist.
You've discussed the combination of amazingly gnarly riding surfaces
with much higher than normal bike speeds. We might soon hear from
someone whose nighttime commute goes down a ski slope's moguls at 70 mph.

I guess I'm not so macho. Almost all my night riding - over four
decades of it - has been on paved roads, and I don't remember ever
exceeding 30 mph at night.


You probably don't live in the west and maybe in a more urban area. Out
here bush riding is normal although most people use dirt bikes and
offroad vehicles for that. I'd like to see more people considering
bicycles and occasionally get to introduce a new rider.

If we want to get people out of motorized vehicles and onto more healthy
bicycles then people need to find the technical means to use them. And
that can't mean a reduced speed at night just because of inadequate
lighting.


For that riding, I've never needed even 100 lumens (AFAIK - I have
lights whose lumen rating I don't know). I've never hit an overhead
tree branch (even when I was riding off road), and I've always managed
to find my way without a special street sign beam pointed upwards. I've
never had a motorist cut closely in front of me or otherwise fail to
register my presence. (In fact, they're more cautious toward me at
night than in daylight). And I've many times gotten spontaneous
compliments from motorists and pedestrians on how conspicuous my
ordinary bike lights and reflectors were at night. I've also led night
rides and night lighting workshops for my bike club - testing each
others' lights - and participants have all agreed that extraordinary
lights are not needed.

I have toyed around building homebrew lights, I tried one of Scharf's
junky Chinese flashlights, and tried different commercial
battery-powered lights, but I long ago decided that dynamo sets are most
practical for my very normal road riding, and that good dynamo
headlights give the best road illumination.


No arguments there. For paved roads they do. Unpaved with uneven
terrain, not so much. Trails, not at all.


In short, I don't find riding at night to be overly hazardous or to need
extraordinary equipment. IMO, for anything approaching ordinary use of
a bicycle, I think the lighting problem has been solved.

YMMV with your riding conditions, of course.


For city riding it has been solved. Especially since the lights now stay
on for a while when stopped. However, more than 40% of people in the
world do not live in urban areas. In many places this road (in Kenya) is
considered a freeway:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/skyfreezer/7709386976/

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

sms wrote:
On 9/15/2014 1:18 PM, Joerg wrote:

In the bush you can easily break your neck if you don't see a branch
jutting out. After I got a new (thicker) helmet I misjudged branch
heights a couple of times and man, that really gives you a jolt in the
neck. It's a real danger.

One genuine issue with bicycle infrastructure (bicycle lanes) is that
there are often overhanging branches that don't extend out into the
vehicle traffic lanes.


Oh yeah, I've had my brushes (literally) with those. Some government
program materializes and a bike lane is built. Then the grant money is
gone and the town does not have the additional funds required for a
pruning crew. So nothing gets pruned and pretty soon everything grows
back towards the street. Which is why bicyclist out here sometimes carry
little pruning shears.


Maybe now it also becomes clear why we need a somewhat circular
high-beam illumination at night out here. An innocently looking 1/2"
Manazanita branch would be capable of towing a truck and you really
don't want that to get in your face or, worse, snag your helmet with
your head being strapped into it.

In the countries where there are laws regarding beam shape they probably
have better bicycle infrastructure. Though even in those countries you
can buy lights with the symmetrical beam pattern. I doubt if anyone in
Germany has been cited for using a Supernova E3 Triple for road riding.


Unless you shine a blinding light into a police car that is unlikely.
But they did stop me once in Germany because of a "non-standard"
(yellow) front light. Since I lived across the border my bike was
considered a Dutch vehicle and they let me go.

--
Regards, Joerg

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