[Closed] Road Cycling at Night

A [i]Lux[/i] unit of measurement takes the area illuminated into account, or in other words it can be used as term to describe the perceived brightness of a beam of light.

Im afraid it is a more accurate measurement of actual light output than the more commonly used [i]Lumens[/i] but the average joe prefers to massage their ego with the ever increasing advertised lumen output of led lights, measured Lumen output pays absolutely no heed to beam pattern/beam angle and is inherently misleading to how a light will perform in use.

You can get quite technical and start describing photon travel but that's getting rather geeky.

[url= http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp ]Link to measured headlight beams[/url]

Riding unlit road descents at 45mph will likely lead at some point (no matter how bright the light used) to a proof of darwinism.

Toby loop is a good one. Up A666, turn off at Greens Arms and through Chapeltown. Up to Edgeworth and carry on past the Toby. Take the left down to Pickup Bank and then up to Hoddlesden. Back into Darwen then down Marsh House Lane. Mostly quiet roads and safe enough at night. Plenty of scope for extending it depending on how keen you are. Are you going to the Roverrs game? ;0)

Mtbel, I've got a dynamo on the front of my new roadie with a 90 Lux light. It's good but it's not mega. The shape of the beam is awesome, just like a car headlight it's shaped to light up what you want to see instead of splawing a massive blob of **** off light everywhere which blinds other road users. It's not mega bright though. It's light enough for me to have done all my recent night riding on (since about Nov) but I do slow down on descents, above 25mph gets sketchy when you're cornering as the beam can sometimes miss where you want to see if you get me (I rarely ride the same roads though)? I love mine, no thinking just fill up the bottles and head out.

Mr Sparkle that's a good loop. Any others you suggest?

riding unlit road descents at upto around 45mph

Amused. Now where did I put that badge of awesome...

Lolz, just had a geek at my longer night rides, 30mph seems a standard max with 37mph thrown in on an extremely windy one, it was that mad that night!

Thanks soma, I knew what lux meant, just didn't know what 90 might be equivalent to. can't really tell from pics tbh but thanks for the link. don't worry about me, I find 45 absolutely fine at night. there's rarely a night ride where I won't hit 40 at some point.

Cheers. MF.
Sounds like it might be about the same sort of brightness as mine on med.
I know all the roads round here like the back of my hand but being so rural they're still prone to new random potholes, ruts, unforseen mud, debris and roadkill. (a dead pheasant nearly took 8 of us out lastnight when I was on the front :oops:).
My light isn't really a hassle as I charge it as soon as I finish my ride so it's always ready to go. Know exactly what you mean about bar lights when cornering, my light isn't all that floody either so I often do a wee shoulder dip to check my line mid corner 😉
Ransos' German light did sound interesting but I'm Prob best sticking with what I have, there's hardly any traffic on a lot of the roads I ride and I'm pretty good at lowering the brightness or sheilding the lamp when something's approaching. A proper roadbike beam patern with a bit more power on full than yours is probably what I'd like. wonder if anyone will ever come up with a proper dippable beam one day.. now that would be cool.

Ps. TdEL Audax this weekend if yer up for it.. the fastest bunch are bloody fast.

A proper roadbike beam patern with a bit more power on full than yours is probably what I'd like. wonder if anyone will ever come up with a proper dippable beam one day.. now that would be cool.

Considering an [url= http://www.ultimatesportsengineering.com/exposure-lights/cycle-lights-2015/strada-mk5 ]Exposure Strada[/url] for exactly that.

I do 30km 2-3x a week, otherwise I'd never get time.

exposure race maxx on strobe on the bars powering a redeye, then a joystick mk7 on the helmet (not as good as the hope vision1 it replaced but a lot lighter) with a smart R1 on the seatstay.

everything aimed downish, loads of reflective stuff everywhere (inc black scotchlight sheet all over the frame), really enjoy it except the roundabout at the top of town (most of the route are unlit country roads), as people are not expecting a bike at night.

exposure race maxx on strobe on the bars

Do you have any idea how annoying/distracting a strobe on the bars is to pretty much every other road user?

😆 MrBlobby.. I find it hard to believe anyone thinks 45mph is a difficult feat.

MF - in a group mine's generally only around 35 max, on my own I'm not wasting my er...advantage 😉 plenty hills locally to get up to 40 without too much effort

MrBlobby.. I find it hard to believe anyone thinks 45mph is a difficult feat.

I didn't say it was 🙂

Just looked at your link MrBlobby - Wow!! £270!!

Yer too tight for a Garmin though so your max speed is probably wrong 😛

Do you have any idea how annoying/distracting a strobe on the bars is to pretty much every other road user?

This. I hate seeing people using strobe, it's stupid & dangerous for other other road users.

ha ha.. still holding out for Aldi's one 😉

Used to do loads of night road riding, not so much these days.

It's actually safer to ride rural roads at night; you can see vehicles coming from much further off, they can see you and there's much less traffic anyway. I had a great 25 mile commute along country lanes a few years ago, loved that 90mins through the deserted countryside.

Bar lights and a headtorch both with low/medium/high options and a couple of rear lights. You can get away with much less power on the back on deserted roads, it's only in town that you need super-bright strobes.

Just looked at your link MrBlobby - Wow!! £270!!

And you won't be riding my road bike at 45 mph in the dark, or daylight for that matter, I can guarantee it. 36 mph, maybe but not 45 😈

Flatland boys TiRed, last time I did 45 it was September and I was going down Superbagneres.

I use L&M Seca's on race. A gentle touch rotates it from low for general night use and high for country lanes.

1. monkeyfudger - Member

Do you have any idea how annoying/distracting a strobe on the bars is to pretty much every other road user?
This. I hate seeing people using strobe, it's stupid & dangerous for other other road users.

I have plenty of idea – it means people see me and react to that as it’s obviously a bike light, the beam isn’t pointing at people’s faces and I’m not in town with tons of traffic going the other way. Since I started using that I’ve had no-one doing stupid overtaking attempts from the other way – it’s not nice to be sat on a bike with a car coming towards you at 60 or so as they attempt to pass out some slightly slower maniac.

You're wrong. and massively selfish.
Pedal reflectors were designed to signify from the front and rear to motor vehicles that you are a cyclist.
By all means use flashing Led's but not focused super bright strobes

As a shift worker riding in the dark is just something I have to get used to, that said I was on Nights (19:00 to 07:00) last night and it was the first time this year I was able to leave home without the lights turned on.
I took an offroad detour across the Quantocks to celebrate. 😀
A couple more weeks and I won't need lights at all.

[i]Saccades - I’m not in town with tons of traffic going the other way[/i]
You're thinking is the wrong way round - in town the roads are lit so the dazzle from a strobe or flashing light will not dazzle the contrast to the abient light is not so large. They also help by making you stand out against all the other detractions a driver has.

High power strobes are not safe on unlit roads were they dazzle and confuse drivers (and other cyclists). Many of the strobes are confusing even when pointing slightly down. Many of the strobe pattern are based on the assault torches that are meant to confuse targets during an raid.
A low power front flashing light not pointing in the drivers face when accompanied by a constant one is OK.

Are we talking about the same thing here?

Exposure Race Maxx with the typical low beam and high flash?

As I pointed out, since I've started using it that no-one has nearly killed me over-taking in the opposite direction. I don't point the thing slightly down, it is pointing at my wheel.

I've had multiple comments from work mates - non-complaining, all complimenting me on how readily visible I am from miles away.

45mph on my winter bike is 220 RPM 😈 I'm spinning out on club rides at 35, and it's hard to sustain more than 26 for long periods (130 RPM).

I can't stand overly bright rear strobes either. My Cateye Rapid Micros are bright enough, rechargeable, have a soft pulsing mode (nicer than flashing) and are acceptable for group riding at night. Some of the other lights are awful to ride behind.

I went out on my own last night, left about 11.45pm, got home at 1.30am. 🙂

Mostly deserted roads, the very few cars I did see all slowed down, dipped their lights, gave me wide overtakes. Nice and quiet apart from a sudden very-close-by [i]BBAAAAAAAAAAA![/i] from a sheep which made me jump. Looked up and the headtorch caught dozens of glowing yellow eyes so I rode a bit faster....

Got a shout of "GO ON WIGGO!!" from a couple of lads walking home from the pub as I came back through the village.

🙂