Viewing 29 posts - 41 through 69 (of 69 total)
  • To the commuters out there that ride with "proper"lights
  • coffeeking
    Free Member

    I’m going to go against the molgrips grain and say as a driver I much prefer cyclists to have a flashing, almost dazzling beam (assuming a fairly rapid flash). I find it much easier to see, and once I’ve seen it I can assess its speed by looking at the object, not the light. Constant lights are fine if you’re the only other vehicle on the road, but in traffic you just vanish into the glare of HID car lights and street lights.

    ourmaninthenorth
    Full Member

    Nice commuter bike

    Two things:

    1. Unless you were racing a TT that night and had just clipped them on, why are you riding a road bike with tri-bars on it?

    2. You may well be a triathlope. In which case, why weren’t you wobbling along on the tr-bars like all the others I see about? You wouldn’t have hurt your knuckles then….

    😀

    Carry on.

    firestarter
    Free Member

    What’s weird is that pre crash it was record and afterwards it had changed to chorus . Will the repair bill magically transform it back to record out of interest.

    Not that I’d blame you mind 😉

    scu98rkr
    Free Member

    I’d really advice against this personally I can barely look at flashing white lights and find it very difficult to work out were the vehicle with the flashing lights is.

    I think its because as I see the lights my eyes start to adjust to the light then it disappears so they start to adjust to the darkness then it reappears and is painful so I look away.

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    How fast were you going?

    I rarely ride with any speed in traffic, particularly when undertaking.

    scu98rkr
    Free Member

    once I’ve seen it I can assess its speed by looking at the object, not the light

    The problem is I cant even look at the object when the light is flashing I try to see it but I cant get my eyes to get to the correct adjustment is you know what I mean.

    The pupils start to dilate the object starts to come into view and then the light flashes again and I either look away my pupils shrink reducing my night vision.

    Or i keep looking and I end up with one of the white patches stuck to the back of my vision like a camera flash. Then I cant see any thing.

    Dimish Red flashing lights are no problem at all on the other hand.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I much prefer cyclists to have a flashing, almost dazzling beam (assuming a fairly rapid flash). I find it much easier to see

    If it’s dark or dusk, I can’t see the object for blinding brain-buggering flashes.

    Definitely easy on the lights but big on the hi-viz. When someone’s decked out in a bright colour and you can see wheels and pedals spinning around, it’s absolutely beyond question that it’s a cyclist, and you can clearly see them and where they’re going.

    The colour of the lights is significant tho. When I’ve used an LED commuter light I’ve had far fewer pull-outs than when I use a halogen one. The yellowy halogen blends in with the cars more easily it seems.

    llama
    Full Member

    I was going down the inside of a long queue of stationary traffic

    why? were you about to turn left?

    Not saying its your fault but I’m not surprised he didn’t see you, esp if you were moving at a fair rate

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    I have to agree with al here. How fast were you going to cause that much damage?

    I do go down the inside of stationary traffic but slowly and I look at every driver na the position of the front wheels as I pass to assess if they are going to move – especially if there is a side turning

    Given the circumstances as yo state I think knock for knock seems about right – he pays for the damage to his car, you for the damage to your bike. Both at fault.

    scu98rkr
    Free Member

    I dont know how this would affect things but do the people who like flashing lights generally have good vision, bad vision, long sighted, short sighted ? And whats their general night vision like ?

    I was talking to a guy who damaged his eye the other day doing martial arts. Someone scratched the lenses of his eye with their nail. When it was damaged he was describing looking at any brightish light as painful as if normally he’d never experienced any light as painful.

    But personally I would describe getting the full glare of someones beams on my eyes as at least verging on painful normally. Maybe more like eating something spicy. The sensation is strong enough to make me automatically look away like how something spicy makes you want to automatically drink some water.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    Understood, but how do you propose that doesn’t then restrict my own vision for seeing beyond the reflected pool of light? The glare coming back off my gear cables is bright enough to cause an effect.

    That’s why I’d use only “ordinary” lights
    If you later ride throughn a dark area, where you unleash your throbbing 3 billion lumens, surely that’ll easily overcome any minor effect of the little lights/reflective guff and you’ll see fine again. WHere there are lots of cars & streetlights, you only need to be seen noticed, not to navigate with your lights, & so I’d use a low-powered front & rear

    (Note that I don’t do any of this; I commute by car. It’s just what I think would help you people to be safely seen)

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I do go down the inside of stationary traffic but slowly and I look at every driver na the position of the front wheels as I pass to assess if they are going to move – especially if there is a side turning

    Me too.

    And reflective bits and bright colours do more than just show up – they make you a cyclist-shaped object instead of a point source, so people know exactly what you are straight away. Much better than ‘argh wtf my eyes I’m blind! Scrreeech! Bang!’

    ooOOoo
    Free Member

    I know the EU want all vehicles to have lights on in the daytime, but I’ve heard evidence that having them in daylight makes it harder to judge distance. Personally I think if you can’t see a car in daylight you shouldn’t be driving.

    A flashing light may have caught the attention of the driver here, or it could have been a disorientating thing to see in their mirror, perhaps making you even less visible. I think unfortunately when you undertake this is the risk, most drivers are not expecting bikes.

    ourmaninthenorth
    Full Member

    If you later ride throughn a dark area, where you unleash your throbbing 3 billion lumens, surely that’ll easily overcome any minor effect of the little lights/reflective guff and you’ll see fine again.

    Maybe we different images in our minds..! I certainly don’t think the idea of lighting oneself up is bad at all. I tend to favour reflective stuff, esp on moving parts, as it catches attention.

    WHere there are lots of cars & streetlights, you only need to be seen noticed, not to navigate with your lights, & so I’d use a low-powered front & rear

    Agreed. The light gets cycled through its settings depending on where I am in the commute. TBH, I used to have an all urban comute, so just had flashing front and rear, and twinklies on the lid. The bright light is only for the unlit rural areas where I need to see (as well as be seen). I’m prepared to accept that car drivers may well struggle with my light, but I do with theirs (esp when they drive at me with full beam because I’m not a car) and I still need to see what I’m riding over/into.

    jhw
    Free Member

    WHere there are lots of cars & streetlights, you only need to be seen noticed, not to navigate with your lights, & so I’d use a low-powered front & rear

    No, if you have a big light, you want to use it to cause as much inconvenience/blindness to drivers as possible – giving them, once in a while, a tenth of the grief we put up with every day. Full beam that f**ker! Maybe make it blink because then it illuminates the entire inside of the vehicle in front of you, makes for a sort of chaotic feel and maybe even makes them think they’re being pulled over.

    Case in point – driver in oncoming lane who came within a gnat’s d**k of hitting me head on at about 50mph yesterday when he decided to swerve across into my lane with no warning. In Central London, people!

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    No, if you have a big light, you want to use it to cause as much inconvenience/blindness to drivers as possible – giving them, once in a while, a tenth of the grief we put up with every day.

    That will solve a lot of problems won’t it 🙄

    scu98rkr
    Free Member

    tthew
    Full Member

    Here’s a suggestion to make you more visible. As previously mentioned, off road lights are designed to throw all their light forward, which means little sideways visibility. I purchased a pair of these Trek Beacons, the roadie version, which work very well as a sideways pointing light in a pair of flat handlebars.

    With all the reflective/bright clothing mentioned above obviously.

    ourmaninthenorth
    Full Member

    Case in point – driver in oncoming lane who came within a gnat’s d**k of hitting me head on at about 50mph yesterday when he decided to swerve across into my lane with no warning. In Central London, people!

    You are Bruce Willis in that godawful scifi/comic book film with Samuel Jackson and I claim my £5.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    ourman – my image is thus:

    me, commuting (imaginary)

    moderate output front bar light pointing forwards (I’d prob make some sort of cowl for it to prevent upward spread). Can be a fancy light on low, of course.

    2 Rear lights, attached to short (at least shoulder width) outriggers sticking out sideways from the bike – to make it look wider (I’m also having comedy rubber spiky bits on the ends for daylight overtakers !)

    then at least one rear and one front mounted lights pointing at me to make it obvious I’m a person cycling, not a selection of lights magically hovering above the road

    even though it’d be a pita to set up, I’d almost definitely do it

    <pats jhw on head> 🙄

    ooOOoo
    Free Member

    There’s being visible, then there’s attention seeking 🙂

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    ooOOoo – you think my pink tutu’s over the top ?

    TooTall
    Free Member

    Do you really think a brighter light would have helped? It sounds like he made no attempt to look, therefore anything short of a frikkin’ laser wouldn’t work.

    yetiguy
    Free Member

    i was going down the inside of the traffic as thats where the big red cycle lane is, was doing about 15mph, just didnt expect him to turn left, he was stationary in the queue and obviously got impatient so wanted to nip down a rat run. (he didnt indicate)

    Yes i am a triathlete, the bars stay on all the time, i dont actually commute, i was coming back from a ride, ironicly i had my maxx d on the bike, but it was off which is what led me to thinking about if i had it on flash in daylight, might i have not hit him.

    I am now a lot more carefull going down the inside of traffic 😉

    trb
    Free Member

    All I know is that on my unlit country lane commute the car drivers give me lots more room in the dark as they think my HID light is a motorcycle and make room as appropriate. In daylight they can see I’m just a cyclist and ignore me, leaving me to play chicken between their wing mirrors and the hedge.

    No help whatsoever to the OP, but the STW massive have never let that bother them in the past 😉

    ourmaninthenorth
    Full Member

    even though it’d be a pita to set up, I’d almost definitely do it

    You’ve got me thinking. Just trying to work out how to achieve it, while still (1) being able to see and (2) not diminishing the effect of any lights facing towards the traffic.

    dr_death
    Free Member

    I ride with two 200 lumen torches mounted on the front forks, on ‘non-flash’; two LEDs on the bars on ‘flash’ and two bright rear LEDs on ‘flash’. Tend just to have some/all of the flashers on through the day but lit up like a chrimble tree at night.

    But then I have to deal with the geordie commuters – including the Jesmond mummies in their Chelsea tractors.

    woffle
    Free Member

    I find that if I have my lights on flash it drives me insane, regardless of it’s effect on people elsewhere on the road – lots of reflections from puddles / road / signs etc. Admittedly I use powerful lights (last winter was a Maxx-D and Enduro Maxx) but my commute is unlit country roads with muck / wildlife / tired 4×4 drivers at 4am and also the aim is to have a big amount of ‘spill’ down onto the road as well as illuminating the way ahead. 99.9% of time people will slow down until they’ve worked out what it is coming down the road towards them…

    That said, I used a red-eye (non-flashing) and Cateye Grenade (flashing) on the back.

    _tom_
    Free Member

    Personally I think if you can’t see a car in daylight you shouldn’t be driving.

    Agreed and I think most people would feel the same?

Viewing 29 posts - 41 through 69 (of 69 total)

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