lights for commuting

thebourke

can anyone recommend some good lights for commutingso i can be well seen on the road?Not too expensive....

07Lapierre

thebourke wrote: »

can anyone recommend some good lights for commutingso i can be well seen on the road?Not too expensive....

Yes I can

seamus

The perennial "what lights" thread:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055705708

Bit of guidance - I see so many people riding around light up like a Xmas tree (sometimes literally using Xmas lights) from the back, but with nothing or a pathetic little light on the front.
The vast majority of collisions between bikes and cars occur from in front of you, not from behind you. Your front lights should be bright enough so you stand out from the sea of car headlights. As a rough rule your front light should cost twice as much as your back light(s).

Kintarō Hattori

You'll get plenty of ideas from the thread below OP:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=76575660


Feck you Seamus.

thebourke

thanks guys for the tips...i had a near collision with a car about a week ago in the raing so that's why i am looking at chanign my lights...

puppetmaster

thebourke wrote: »

thanks guys for the tips...i had a near collision with a car about a week ago in the raing so that's why i am looking at chanign my lights...

Spotted these today in the local bikeshop for €20 for the pair with batteries.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/tacx-lumos-front-and-rear-led-handlebar-light-set/

Doesnt look like they would be lightin up a hell of a lot of the road (haven't used them) But they would surely help you be seen. Which is always good.

tomasrojo

I'm repeating this to the point of self-parody, but ... I found wrist lights, judiciously employed, did more than anything else to prevent uncomfortably close shaves due to cars turning across my path, or emerging from side roads (these two categories comprising nearly every close shave I've had).

I'm looking into cheap ways to make these, since they're not generally found in shops. I've never seen them except online anyway.

Kintarō Hattori

The general consensus seems to be that they are rather poorly constructed.

puppetmaster

Kintarō Hattori wrote: »

The general consensus seems to be that they are rather poorly constructed.

Which the Tacx Lumos or the wrist lights?

tomasrojo

puppetmaster wrote: »

Which the Tacx Lumos or the wrist lights?

The former, I think. I can't see how a consensus could have built up around something only I seem to wear.

ipodrocker

Knog is a cool brand and not too expensive either and easy to put on your bike too!

BostonB

seamus wrote: »

T...
The vast majority of collisions between bikes and cars occur from in front of you, not from behind you. ...

Where did you get that from?

miller50841

Look up LED lights on ebay you will get great lights for your bike and also led lights for your helmet and they are cheap, bright and easy to use

tomasrojo

BostonB wrote: »

Where did you get that from?

I don't know where seamus got that from, but Effective Cycling gives the following breakdown (I've swapped the right and left turns, so that they match our road chirality):


Rank ordering of car-bike collision frequency rates
Adult-urban

1. Motorist turning right
2. Signal light change
3. Motorist turning left
4. Motorist restarting from stop sign
5. Motorist exiting commercial driveway
6. Motorist overtaking unseen cyclist (mostly in darkness)
7. Motorist overtaking too closely
8. Cyclist hitting slower-moving car

I think that 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8 would be collision with vehicles in front of you, and 6 can be largely discounted if you have a good rear light (the statistics are for the USA, where a surprising number of people rely on rear reflectors alone)

I don't know whether it's the vast majority, but if those statistics are broadly in line with here, I'd say the majority of collisions are with a vehicle in front of you

seamus

I would largely consider "motorist turning left" to be a collision from the front of the rider too. Because in many instances, it's a failure by the motorist to spot the cyclist coming up behind. Only front lights can help here, rear lights won't.

clod71

thebourke wrote: »

can anyone recommend some good lights for commutingso i can be well seen on the road?Not too expensive....

Hi,
I am also looking at some lights ... on CRC I found this one Lezyne mini drive and for me I would be good cos I have about an hour commuting each way and the light can be recharged in the office using a simple USB connector.
The only question is : is 150 Lumen bright enough to lit up a back black road?

I haven't a clue

Lumen

clod71 wrote: »

is 150 Lumen bright enough to lit up a back black road?

Probably not, it depends on the beam pattern. Lumens is a measure of total light output, so if it's very focused you might be OK, but most decent illuminating (rather than being seen) lights put out well over 200 lumens.

Ryath

clod71 wrote: »

Hi,
I am also looking at some lights ... on CRC I found this one Lezyne mini drive and for me I would be good cos I have about an hour commuting each way and the light can be recharged in the office using a simple USB connector.
The only question is : is 150 Lumen bright enough to lit up a back black road?

I haven't a clue

I have the Lezyne superdrive light that I usually use on medium which is 300 lumens which is more than enough for an unlit country road. The low setting is 150 lumens which I can cycle with it but not flat out and only on a road I'd know well. I also find oncoming cars don't always dip their lights straight away when I'm on low but on medium they nearly always dip them straight away.

The mini drive at 150 lumens is possibly enough if you only have short sections that are unlit, I'd think the run time is probably more of a problem at just an hour you have no reserve if you get delayed. Though you could carry a spare battery. The powerdrive or superdrive are worth it I think for the larger 18650 cell. I get 2.5 hours runtime on medium and it then runs for another 30 on low. I still carry an extra battery just in case though.

lennymc

i do a bit of commuting in the morning and evening in the dark, with all kinds of roads, and have 5 front lights (two tacx lumos, one cateye led, one bbb led and one led lenser led) and 4 rear lights, as well as hi viz with good reflective bits. I think the trick is to stand out from all the other light noise in the city - white flashing lights are good for this imho, and are more about being seen than seeing. Some of the orange/green flashing lights are just poor. So, in city mode, id have the cateye and bbb on flashy mode, and the lumos on full mode, with the led lenser off, as its more of a seeing where you are going light than a dont hit me light. rrear I have a couple of flashing multi led lights and the tacx lumos. I must take a picture actually. The way I figure it, i have flashing for being seen, and multiple lights for redundancy in case the batteries go.

clod71

Lumen wrote: »

Probably not, it depends on the beam pattern. Lumens is a measure of total light output, so if it's very focused you might be OK, but most decent illuminating (rather than being seen) lights put out well over 200 lumens.

thanks man.. receiving a definition of Lumens by you feels just right

clod71

Ryath wrote: »

I have the Lezyne superdrive light that I usually use on medium which is 300 lumens which is more than enough for an unlit country road. The low setting is 150 lumens which I can cycle with it but not flat out and only on a road I'd know well. I also find oncoming cars don't always dip their lights straight away when I'm on low but on medium they nearly always dip them straight away.

The mini drive at 150 lumens is possibly enough if you only have short sections that are unlit, I'd think the run time is probably more of a problem at just an hour you have no reserve if you get delayed. Though you could carry a spare battery. The powerdrive or superdrive are worth it I think for the larger 18650 cell. I get 2.5 hours runtime on medium and it then runs for another 30 on low. I still carry an extra battery just in case though.

yeah, the super drive sounds like a better option of course, but it also costs double the money.
We are mostly talking about a typical main road without lights where at 7 in the morning cars run at 100Km p/hr. I have lots of flashing lights in order, let's say, to be well seen, but if I have no cars behind me the road goes totally black and that's not a good feeling I have to say..
it takes me about half an hour to get through that trait, then it's all city and I am fine then with all the others leds and flashing lights....

so, will the mini drive last for at least 30 mins at full power?

spending 113 euros for a front light it sounds totally crazy to me... :eek:

instinct

I have a magic shine and cat eye to the front and cateye and mini led to the rear.

Had 2 cateyes on the rear but one fell off going over some poor roads.

The Magic shine is the business. I got it for MTB night spins but on the road it really makes you visible and Im surprised at the amount of cars that would normally pull out in front of you that just stop and wait for you to pass. I do make sure its pointing at the ground in front of me and try not to blind anyone. Then on the dark country roads it just lights the place up. Cars approaching from behind all pass on the other side of the road with their indicators on. Even approaching other cyclists they tend to slow down and let you past as they notice the light and wonder what the hell it is.

I also wear a high vis gillet with plenty of reflective strips.

there is no excuse for not being visible !!

triggermortis

clod71 wrote: »

spending 113 euros for a front light it sounds totally crazy to me... :eek:

huh?
not being seen or being able to see in the dark, and then getting squashed by a car/truck/bus sounds more crazy to me!

BostonB

I haven't spent that much on one light, I thing 40 was the most on one light. But I would if I had the spare money and need. Its that vs the cost of going to hospital after you hit a pot hole and or some other obstruction and come off.

BostonB

seamus wrote: »

I would largely consider "motorist turning left" to be a collision from the front of the rider too. Because in many instances, it's a failure by the motorist to spot the cyclist coming up behind. Only front lights can help here, rear lights won't.

I would consider that a failure of the cyclist trying to undertake a turning vehicle. There's another scenario of drivers overtaking then cutting across a cyclist. I've seen that a lot. I tend to merge into the lane to prevent this where I've seen it happen before.

Though with lights I have noticed some drivers waiting for me, before turning.

Ryath

clod71 wrote: »

so, will the mini drive last for at least 30 mins at full power?

spending 113 euros for a front light it sounds totally crazy to me... :eek:

As I said it is just about adequate it is certainly better than any cateye you would buy at that price runtime should be fine then if you only run it on full for 30mins and then switch down. Personally the others are worth the money I do practically all my cycling on unlit roads the price saving will be gone if you hit a pothole and damage a wheel never mind if you come of.

Powerdrive is a bit cheaper here €84.90 though delivery is €10 of that so it would be better value if you were picking up an other item or two.
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=26008;page=1;menu=1000,5,66;mid=196;pgc=0

clod71

triggermortis wrote: »

huh?
not being seen or being able to see in the dark, and then getting squashed by a car/truck/bus sounds more crazy to me!

I'm talking about a main road with a dedicated lane going up and one dedicated lane going down. The risk of not being seen in this particular case has a lot more to do with rear lights obviously than front lights (unless someone decided to drive like on the continent)

Therefore the front light (in my particular case) is only needed to get as much light as possible in order to see about 5 mt in front of me at let's say 20/25 Kph... ??
I only have flashing leds in the front and so at the moment I can't see my nose
The thing is that I certainly will not spend 113 euros, but I don't want to spend 56 euros if I don't get what I need with that money either... That's the reason for posting the question basically

Lumen

For mostly-lit-except-for-the-Park commuting I use a Busch + Müller IXON IQ front light, bought from Bike24 for about 60 yoyos, and a cheapo rechargeable front flasher.

The Ixon is not as good as my dynamo light but better than the various other front lights I've used over the years (from Exposure and Fenix). I was using two of them until last year, but I dropped one and broke the lens cover - they're not super-robust.

The flasher is mostly just backup since the B&M puts out enough light to prevent frontal collisions.

lennymc

clod71 wrote: »

Therefore the front light (in my particular case) is only needed to get as much light as possible in order to see about 5 mt in front of me at let's say 20/25 Kph... ??

without sounding like an ass, 5 metres at 20 - 25 kmph is covered in less than one second (if my maths is right (3600/(25000/5)), so you may not get any benefit from being able to see 5 metres in front of you. Just something to think about

clod71

lennymc wrote: »

without sounding like an ass, 5 metres at 20 - 25 kmph is covered in less than one second (if my maths is right (3600/(25000/5)), so you may not get any benefit from being able to see 5 metres in front of you. Just something to think about

Sorry Lenny, good point. I was just throwing some numbers there...

clod71

Ryath wrote: »

As I said it is just about adequate it is certainly better than any cateye you would buy at that price runtime should be fine then if you only run it on full for 30mins and then switch down. Personally the others are worth the money I do practically all my cycling on unlit roads the price saving will be gone if you hit a pothole and damage a wheel never mind if you come of.

Powerdrive is a bit cheaper here €84.90 though delivery is €10 of that so it would be better value if you were picking up an other item or two.
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=26008;page=1;menu=1000,5,66;mid=196;pgc=0

thank you Ryath. Also the super drive is cheaper on that website..

miller50841

Just so you know flashing lights are illegal to use. Don't get me wrong I prefer this then no lights at all. I really can't understand why anybody would go out without lights. I cycle but also do a lot of driving and on a daily/nightly basis see many many cars driving with faulty lights or none on at all or just side lights, and in this case if you are travelling without good lights on your bike its possible that driver will not see you and cream you out of it. Stay bright out there;) You could just buy rechargeble AA or AAA batteries and have spare set they are cheap

mp31

instinct wrote: »

I have a magic shine and cat eye to the front and cateye and mini led to the rear.

What model of magic shine and where did you buy it from?

Has anyone any experience of the magic shine lookalikes from DealExtreme/Ebay Chinese based sellers?

I've been thinking about this type of light but am put off by the beam pattern which appears to be a very bright spot light with a small amount of side lighting.

BostonB

miller50841 wrote: »

Just so you know flashing lights are illegal to use. ....

They are now legal.

http://dublincycling.ie/node/541

http://www.dttas.ie/pressRelease.aspx?Id=155

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/travel_and_recreation/vehicle_standards/lighting_of_bicycles_in_ireland.html

...Under SI 487 of 2009, since 14 December 2009 it is legal to use flashing front and rear lamps.

Del2005

mp31 wrote: »

Has anyone any experience of the magic shine lookalikes from DealExtreme/Ebay Chinese based sellers?

.

For something that my life could depend on I'd spend the money and go legit, too many risks when buying fakes/clones.

You could get a good one but may not. I've bought loads of stuff from both, but not lights as my cycle has an engine, and have had everything from excellent to DOA! I've even bought 2 or 3 items off Ebay in the hope that one would be OK, price wasn't too high, and all where dudes.

Kintarō Hattori

rainbowzhang wrote: »

why it is illegal??/

It was technically illegal for a good number of years but a short while back one of the ministers addressed it and changed the rules to make them legal.

BostonB

Del2005 wrote: »

For something that my life could depend on I'd spend the money and go legit, too many risks when buying fakes/clones.

You could get a good one but may not. I've bought loads of stuff from both, but not lights as my cycle has an engine, and have had everything from excellent to DOA! I've even bought 2 or 3 items off Ebay in the hope that one would be OK, price wasn't too high, and all where dudes.

Deal extreme stuff seems ok so far. Takes ages to get here. But a decent cheap clone, would be better than the vast majority of more expensive lights you see in the shops. Many of which are simply decoration.

clod71

clod71 wrote: »

thank you Ryath. Also the super drive is cheaper on that website..

Ryath, thanks again for the tip on the power drive.
Here's video review
I just came back in to say that it is now available on CRC for 74 euro w/ free shipping which is about 20 quid cheaper than bike24.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=70576

So I picked it up and now I've a front light