MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
By proper i mean 500 lumen plus, do you commute with them on in the day (in flash mode)
was hit by a car, and i cant help but wandering if i had my diablo on flash, maybe the guy would have seen me?
yes.
I've tried it with my DX bastid light (900 lumens) but on flash it's just too bright and all the road signs flash back at you with the reflection! I can't stand it for more than a couple of minutes, it's just too much!
Also, there's little or no side visibility. I use a Joystick on my head or on the bars to see where I'm going on the dark bits and a separate flashy light on the bike for visibility
ay-ups on constant here. never been hit by a car...
I sometimes drive to work. Some chod commutes with what is obviously a rather good off-road light flashing on the front of his bike. It is so damned bright I actively don't look at him because it is too bright and messes with my vision.
Unless you got hit head-on, what difference would a flashing light with no side visibility make?
The word is 'wondering', not 'wandering'.
IF you have bright lights (i.e ones which can be used for riding in unlite areas) don't put them on flash have them on constant the flashing is dazzling. Just like on a group (but worse) ride you should set your rear light to constant and not flashing.
no light in flash mode during day. At night use a 500 lumen cutter a lummi with lit up cover and a flashing gnog when dark
why not flash for rear?i have one of each fwiw at rear
Unless you got hit head-on, what difference would a flashing light with no side visibility make?
Think about that statement very carefully........ The answer is in your question! 🙂
why not flash for rear?i have one of each fwiw at rear
Group ride. It dazzles when riding in a pack / line. Just the same as ultra bright front light dazzles drivers and other cyclist when on flash.
perhaps he was wandering, whilst wondering and that's why he got hit by a car?
Is this a troll?
Yep - you cannot have too much light - 900 lumen minimum of full beam set horizontally so drivers can't miss you, plus about 4 rear LEDs, one at least 5W.
The guy never checked his rear view mirror, so i was guessing that if my light was flashing then it would have increased the chance of him seeing me
£500 quid to replace a derallieur and gear shifter, not to mention the injuries to me will make anyone wander about ways to increase their safety
Just a thort?
£500 quid to replace a derallieur and gear shifter
sorry you got hurt but you should get another quote.
Rather than having a very bright flashing light with a narrow bean you need a light with a large area of light output and a broad beam - you want it to be able to be seen from all angle and you want the area that it emits light from to be large.
I have wondered about putting a ping pong ball with a hole cut in it over my off road lights to give a diffuse light to seen from all angles
I do sometimes use a small head torch and shine that directly at cars or in their mirrors - but its a a 20 lumen job not a 2000 lumen
And of course always assume no car driver has seen you.
yeti guy - MemberThe guy never checked his rear view mirror, so i was guessing that if my light was flashing then it would have increased the chance of him seeing me
I think its a fair bet he whouldn't have seen yo no matter what you did
How did he hit you if he needed to look in his rear mirror to see you?
I have a new commute. It was fine in the summer, but now I'm travelling in the twilight and the dark. Lumi LED up front, flashing in the daylight, constant at night (to see). Handgrenade (flahing) on the back). Flashing/reflective ankle and wrist bands.
I'm going to supplement with:
*bright constant rear light, maybe on bike maybe on rucsac
*flashing leds to be seen front and back of helmet
*flashing lights on forks to give side visibility
Small price to pay for a route that is a mix of lit urban/suburbam roads, unllit country lanes, busy A road, pitch black river bank.
I want to see and be seen.
me again, peddling my crackpot bullshit 🙄
I commute - by car
small (effectively point source) super-bright lights that have no control over upward beam spread do cyclists no favours at all when it's dark. You don't look like a cyclist, you look like a distant bike or car (or UFO) on full beam
IMO if you want to be seen, wear a high-viz top and shine weakish lights onto yourself. Don't kid yourself that dazzling drivers is making you safe. Use the bright lights in dark areas where there's no traffic
Daytime maybe different & might just get attention drawn your way (& then they can easily identify what you actually are)
ourmaninthenorth
Bloodyhell,it's only just turned october and your putting up your christmas tree lights 😀
I find oncoming off road lights on a bike a hazard when driving my car. I find them blinding and also they make me lose sight of the road. I would not do it myself but I think cyclists using them are quite likely to prompt a motorist to putting their lights on full beam. Which isn't right in its self, but can see it happening.
Yep, flashing on the road, beam off. Makes no difference though. The roads are filled with complete bellends. The other morning I could see the guys eyes lighting up as the flashing light reflected off them and he still pulled out in front of me.
Kill them. Word will get round.
£500 quid to replace a derallieur and gear shifter
sorry you got hurt but you should get another quote.
Trust me that was with shopping around, Props to Shiny Bikes Fraser there gives great service and crackin prices
Dark means danger, so get yourself seen
At night, make it white
In the dark make it light
But get yourself seen
Take a brush to your bike
Use some tape if you like
But get yourself seen
Make it big
Make it bold
Make it bright
To be sure that you're seen
Keep your lights bright and clean
But get yourself seen
Whether working for a living or just riding for your pleasure
Let the world see your life is something that you treasure
And get yourself seen
Make it big
Make it bold
Make it bright
And get yourself seen
Chomp: did you write "Just say no"?
What shifter and mech costs £500?
road bike?
Di2? lightweight? super record?
I'm still intrigued with how him not checking his rearview mirror lead to you getting hit, did he stop with no brake lights? Reverse into your path (in which case reversing lights would have been on). If he pulled over ontop of you then you were either gaining on him rapidly anyway, or he must have seen you to overtake you?
If it's daylight then a hi-vis vest is best as any actual lights will be drowned out by sunlight surely?
and how can you mangle a shifter and a mech with no damage elsewhere??
Five hundred quid does it include a new frame
I was hit a few years back exposure enduro on bars joystick on head Lumi full jacket with reflective stripes and panniers with reflective bits on and three rear lights one on constant two flashing driver stopped about hundred yard down the road waited til I sat up then drove off . ****er 🙁
no control over upward beam spread
Interesting point. I was thinking of this yesterday, as I tried to angle the light head unit up and down so that I didn't dazzle oncoming drivers but also remained visible.
IMO if you want to be seen, wear a high-viz top and shine weakish lights onto yourself.
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.
Bloodyhell,it's only just turned october and your putting up your christmas tree lights
Tescos are advertising. So am I...! Yo ho ho.
About this flashing super-bright thing: It's not a good idea.
I used my L&M Stella on flashing once, and I swear the cars ahead of me thought it was a police car or ambulance coming! At least 3 cars moved over into the cycle lane in front of me as if they were getting out of the way!
(Road has an ambulance station on it, so they regularly fly down the middle of the traffic).
I have an old cateye triple shot that feels like overkill a lot of the time.
Wouldn't ever have a very bright light set to flash - flashing lights are hard to judge distance on anyway, let alone when dazzled. Constant light plus a flashing one for visibility.
If you're really concerned, get more reflectives / hi-viz, and consider something like the Fibreflare ( http://fibreflare.com/ ) light on your downtube for an extra pool of light and some side visiblity.
What shifter and mech costs £500?
11 speed Campag Record 2011
(With Bike shop labour)
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I commute out of london on bike, I get pulled out onto all the time no matter whether I'm in hi-viz, flashing cats eyes, helmet light or even my Telsa 5 on second beam. I truly believe most drivers commuting in and out of london or any other busy cities are either tired or in some sort of constant daze, mainly caused by sitting in endless brain numbing traffic whilst cyclists whizz past without a care in the world. Cycling has gone through the roof in london, as a side effect the opportunity for other vehicles and pedestrians to pull out of junctions and cross busy roads as been greatly reduced, which is why I experience so many people taking the chance and pulling out.
I followed a guy home last night who'd put a flashing cats eye at the back pointing to the ground, very effective.
Nice commuter bike
Flashing lights on their own on bikes are terrible. You don't just need to be seen, you need drivers to clock the speed and direction of travel too, and this is much harder to do with a flashing light than a steady one. Plus, drivers might only glance your direction for a split second, your light could be OFF in that split second, so they could not see you at all.
If everything was static, a flashing light would be noticeable. However, on a busy road junction it's not, so flashing lights just confuse the issue and f*ck everyone's motion perception up.
I use a bright steady on the rear and a small flasher, because flashing red lights has come to mean cyclist in most people's minds, which is fine. But if I only have one it's steady - or maybe flashing quickly.
I am of course a motorist as well as a cyclist, and by far and away the best way to be seen is loads of bright/reflective clothing in addition to your lights. That goes for the daytime as well, which is why those BLACK nightvision jackets with the reflective overload are stupid, cos they are not very visible in the daytime.
and how can you mangle a shifter and a mech with no damage elsewhere??
I was going down the inside of a long queue of stationary traffic, one guy decided he wasnt going to wait in the traffic so swung hard left into a side road, we collided, my hands were on the hood, broke his wing mirror with my hand, dented the side of his car and the derraillier was pushed against the side of the car.
Not a huge amount of visible damage, but 11 speed has very little tolerances and the bike shop could not get it to index correctly, turns out some of the internal gubbins were damaged
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My god, your socks could be in a Daz advert. Make sure you use the same stuff to get the blood smear off your handlebar tape...
i've used a dinotte set to flash in the day time, but wouldn't use at night due to it dazzling car drivers. Its pretty difficult to find a light that lets you see where you're going on country lanes that doesn't dazzle drivers though.
I see Use Exposure have just released one, but i'm not aware of too many others with a proper beam pattern.
I assume your shifter is at that angle because of the crash..?
use one of these mother****ers
[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/RECHARGEABLE-MILLION-CANDLE-POWER-SEARCH/dp/B00414OG0G ]2 million candlepower torch[/url]
forget about "one less car", you can take out like 50 with one of these*
seriously that monster will fit in a courier bag
*coined by bikesnobnyc not me
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.
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.
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 😉
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.
How fast were you going?
I rarely ride with any speed in traffic, particularly when undertaking.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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 [s]seen[/s] 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 [b][i]safely[/i][/b] seen)
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!'
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.
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.
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 ****er! 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!
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 🙄
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.
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[/img]
With all the reflective/bright clothing mentioned above obviously.
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.
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> 🙄
There's being visible, then there's attention seeking 🙂
ooOOoo - you think my pink tutu's over the top ?
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.
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 😉
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 😉
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.
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.
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 4x4 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.
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?