My exposure strada has a slightly more suitable road beam, it’s kinda squared off and on high it’s just a brighter spot.
Joystick on the head used to pin those drivers at junctions as the start to edge out, never fails to stop them as I think they struggle to judge/understand the speed some cyclists can go.

The beam pattern on that Philips looks great but even with your boosted electronics I don’t fancy trying to spot a black extendable dog lead stretched across a pitch black unlit path

I find that it does about as good a job of lighting up the road as my 1,700 (real) lumen “main beam” light. The downside is that it *only* lights up the road. When there’s no one around, I turn this one on:

The photos don’t really do either light justice. Suffice to say that with the main beam on, most oncoming cars dip their lights before they can actually see me.

I should note that it’s modified to work around the standard electronics (which are rubbish) and to give it a little extra oomph.

Can you elaborate on that, please. Or if you’ve discussed it previously, post a link…

Yeah ,maybe running two lights is the way to go. Hmm.
I’d be interested in your electronic mods too please.

As standard, the Philips light uses NiMH AA batteries, and the electronics have a stupid timer that dims the light after a fixed time, rather than at a given voltage. You can’t then get it back to full without charging, or removing the batteries.

Details of the mod here:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/compulsive-bike-light-fettling-ultimate-road-set-up

and the main-beam-switch-embedded-in-STI-lever hack here:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bflex-driver-in-lumicycle-halogen-more-light-diy

Re-reading the above, I realise that the main beam shot is out of date – that was the triple XPG @ 1A (around 1,000 lumens). It’s now a triple XM-L running at 1.5A (around 1,700 lumens). I just can’t help myself…

PDW that light seems ideal with the mod, but I am guessing its a bit more than my £17 Magicshine…

If the magicshine has a single LED, the best option might be some kind of “hood” zip tied to the top with some tinfoil on the underside, together with one of those horizontal diffusers.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WIDE-ANGLE-LENS-DIFFUSER-LENS-FOR-C-B-SEEN-OTHER-1000-1200-LUMEN-BIKE-LIGHTS-/321250710165

here reference to this thread I started a week ago – it’s pretty anti-social, and doesn’t really improve safety. By all means full beam on an empty country lanes, it makes drivers think there’s a car oncoming, but in traffic it’s just a distraction to drivers, and they seem to struggle enough as it is to keep us riders upright.

Cheers, PDW.