What’s the best one for being seen by other road users without blinding them? I’m mostly worried about being seen from a transverse angle ie when a car is pulling out of a side road (a la Lummox’s unfortunate accident). I appreciate you can’t guarantee they’ll see you but I want keep my chances of an accident as low as possible…

I think it’s best to have something bright that puts a pool of light on the road in front of you. I use my Hope V2 which is bright enough for this.

I think it’s best to have something bright that puts a pool of light on the road in front of you. I use my Hope V2 which is bright enough for this.

I like the idea but main concerns with this are that I cycle in the city so the road surface surface is already quite well lit and I am very concerned about blinding other road users. The V2 is pretty powerful, hey?

These work well IMO

http://www.moon-sport.com/product-detail.php?id=71

These work well IMO
http://www.moon-sport.com/product-detail.php?id=71

They look good. Have they got good visibility from the side?

I use an Ultrafire Cree torch with Exposure silicon diffuser. This is mounted vertically on the headtube with an in-line lockblock type mount.

This means that only the road under my wheel is directly illuminated; on the middle power setting the diffuser is very visible but not dazzling. The diffuser is large and equally visible from the sides and front. Also super aero as it’s inline with the headtube 8)

The works for me when coupled with a headtorch for actually seeing where I’m going on the dark bits!

shermer75 – Member
They look good. Have they got good visibility from the side?

Amazing – they kind of throw a “cloud” of light out in front and to the side, hard to describe.

There may be a vid/pic out there.

I’ve got one of those Exposure diffusers too, they work great.

Also, Cateye Orbits in the spokes are good too
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cateye-Orbit-Light-Set/dp/B003VV3098

HoratioHufnagel, yup, I haven’t seen anything better for side illumination (barring a Fibre Flare type thing). So simple but work great. 🙂

I bought this off eBay.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=140983139167

Its black scotch lite tape. In normal daylight you don’t even notice it on my black bike but at night i shine up like a christmas tree.

I also bought these lights for 12.99 which took a few weeks to arrive.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=350895076276

They are very bright but I doubt they are 2000 lumens! They have an alternate flash. This allows you to see a constant light but attracts attention. The change is instant so it doesn’t strobe. But there is a slight wobble left to right which you get used to. They run off 2 18650 batteries which you can change so you can replace mid ride.

So for less than 20 quid I can be spotted a mile off!

euanr and HoratioHufnagel thanks for your help- I already have a couple of Exposure lights so this might be the way to go for me.

This is mounted vertically on the headtube with an in-line lockblock type mount.

I would also like to mount it on the headtube but I’m not sure how this works? What is an in-line lockblock?

The road.cc Light Comparator is interesting (scroll down).

That light comparator is, indeed, awesome. I like the road.cc website in fact- their reviews have helped me out a great deal on a few occasions. Unfortunately on this occasion I actually need the reverse- the camera pointing atthe bike not away! I live in a city so the road is already lit- for me it is all about being seen, not being able to see, whilst not blinding the people around me

B&M iq cyo.

http://www.bumm.de/produkte/dynamo-scheinwerfer/lumotec-iq-cyo.html

it’s designed for commuting/ road riding. not riding off road like so many of our (mtb) lights.
it’s not super bright – it doesn’t need to be. it has a headlight shaped beam. rode 60 km last night mostly on unlit roads no need for any more lighting power.

I back it up with a flasher on my helmet

http://www.topeak.com/products/lights/headlux

If you care about not dazzling other traffic, look at lights that meet the German StVZO standards. eg Busch and Muller, Philips, Supernova.

Sorry, forgot about this – The V2 is pretty powerful, hey? not really – 200+Lm.

Something like this

Not the exact one I’ve got but they are all pretty similar

I live in a city so the road is already lit- for me it is all about being seen, not being able to see, whilst not blinding the people around me

If they’re not seeing you when it’s not dark, what difference will lights make!?! (Bloody blind drivers!)

Excellent, thanks euanr, silicone diffuser thing is winging its way to me as we speak 🙂

If they’re not seeing you when it’s not dark, what difference will lights make!?! (Bloody blind drivers!)

Very good point!