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Commuter question
Last Post 10/02/2014 11:09 AM by ChinookPass .. 20 Replies.
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Spud

Posts:525

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09/23/2014 02:13 PM

What do you commuters use for a front light? The flashing, brighter than the sun, type.

ChinookPass

Posts:809

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09/23/2014 02:26 PM
My personal belief is that for city commuting greater than 200lumens is problematic for other road users, but I've had good results with a pair of cygolite 300s. I use one at a medium brightness and the other on strobing. So far, 3 years of daily commuting without having to replace the batteries. Also having two lights means you always should never have a case where both lights are dead. I think this setup goes for about $100 or so per light.

I think those brighter-than-the-sun lights are designed for off-road use or maybe commuting on dark country roads.

Of course never use strobes on a bike path unless you are an ignorant a-hole. There's a lot of debate about whether strobes are appropriate for on-street use but I'll let the dead cyclists sort that out. My apologies to other drivers but when I started using strobing headlights, I suddenly became visible.
SideBySide

Posts:444

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09/23/2014 02:33 PM
Before I started riding, I thought bigger is better and got a NiteRider Lumina 750.  It is too much for almost all situations, so I replaced it with a 350 (it takes the same mount), and only blink at a few points where I know cars are likely to pull out in front of me.  It is helmet mounted and I point it down so I can lift my head when I want to make sure I am seen. 

Spud

Posts:525

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09/23/2014 02:34 PM
Visible is the key word here CP. During daylight hours I use a rear (red) strobing light, but want to add a light to the front, for that exact reason. I just want to become more visible when I'm out for a ride on the roads.
79pmooney

Posts:3178

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09/23/2014 03:27 PM
I been using the $150 Serfas (about 3 years old). I like it a lot. 4 brightnesses, 1 and 2 are very bright, 3 is good lighting for all but fast descents and very bright on-coming car headlights and 4 is a good light in pedestrian situations (ie courteous and not blinding). 5th setting is a very bright flashing (that I can actually see the road with fairly well).

Other pluses of this light: Decent burn time. If I use mostly 3 and flashing, I can get 2 hours+ easily. It has no permanent bracket and mounts fast so swapping bikes is easy (as long as all have approximately the same HB diameter). Battery is I believe lithium and has held up beautifully. I have done nothing but charge it and the unit seems as good as new. (It has seen a lot of use, easily a couple hundred charges and no special anything like paying attention to how long it sits on the charger.)

I started getting slip on the bars and started using a piece of innertube over the bar before I mount the light and it now stays in place better than ever. Another plus is that it is easy to push the light up or down while riding with your thumb, something I do all the time, again to be courteous to pedestrians or less so for cars. Also to place the beam at the best compromise between lighting the road and allowing me to keep some night vision.

Another thing I have been doing for a few years now is attaching Planet Bike flashers to the waist band of my reflecting vest so they sit at the forward corners of my hips. I don't even notice them, but it is quite apparent that cars pulling up to side street stop lines and on-coming cars planning to turn left in front of me do. (I've ridden home a few times with just this vest and no headlight and been impressed that those cars yield to me.) I like that I don't see those lights and hence they don't lure me into taking chances but apparently do significantly improve my odds (especially with on-coming left turners, the ones that will kill me).

All this to improve the odds that I don't end my life as roadkill. I've seen enough. It's not a pretty way to go.

Ben
vtguy

Posts:298

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09/23/2014 04:24 PM
I don't commute by bike, but do almost all my riding in the early AM, and I live in the country so no street lights. I'm on my second year with a Nightrider 700 that is mounted on my handlebars. It has 3-settings and the middle one (probably 400 lumens) is fine for paved and gravel road riding. It's good for up to 2 1/2 hours. If I'm riding off road, I use the full 700 lumen (pretty damn bright) setting but it's only good for about 1 1/2 hours.
THE SKINNY

Posts:506

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09/23/2014 04:37 PM
most safety lights on vehicles strobe or flash. like school buses and construction vehicles, ambulances, police cars. i believe i've seen headlights that are a constant light with a subdued strobe light.
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
79pmooney

Posts:3178

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09/23/2014 05:25 PM
I live in an area where on a typical ride, conditions and therefore my biggest risk factor change. In generally well lit downtown Portland, I want to be seen by bot pedestrians and cars. There the stbe is best. But on dark roads, my biggest risk is roadside hazards which can be hard to identify with a bright strobe. There a steady light gives me far more information on road hazards.

I do not count on my headlight to: be noticed by drivers not in front of me, ie pulling out of side streets or in the on-coming lane about to turn in front of me or be seen by pedestrians on the sidewalk. For that I have the small strobe lights on my front hip. I do need a light that will give me sufficient info to avoid crashes, the vast majority of which are from roadside hazard, and ride responsibly for which I need to know where the right hand rideable road edge is.

Ben
SideBySide

Posts:444

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09/23/2014 06:21 PM
One thing I'd like to find is some yellow blinking lights I could attach to my gloves, so people can see me signal or from the side.
79pmooney

Posts:3178

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09/23/2014 07:08 PM
That would make you VERY visible, SideBy. Not in terms of lumens but in terms of attention getting. Those lights would turn circles, or go up and down for those in front or behind. Lights don't do that. Hence they attract attention simply be being very different.

For many years I used a light, first the French steady light, then a smaller blinking light strapped to my calf or ankle. Even though the candlepower was small, those lights were more effective than all but the biggest flashers now. (My criteria - how much do motorists slow/drive to miss me by.) I have stopped because my skinny body starting objecting to those straps being tight enough to work on fix gear descents and the banging my bones were taking, not because those lights didn't work. (I am finding doing almost anything 30 or more years has consequences.)

Ben
Orange Crush

Posts:4499

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09/23/2014 07:22 PM
Another happy Nightrider user (650 lumens I believe). I use the disco feature with discretion at a few intersections where people turning left without seeing me might be a concern and around dawn/dusk to increase visibility; otherwise solid beam not in the least because the strobe drives me nuts when its really dark, and I am behind it. I could see someone riding on a small rural road using strobe continuously so as to avoid drivers passing into your lane but that's not a concern in the city.

The disco feature is particularly useful to simulate an acid trip in the confined space of your basement.

Riding home in the first serious rainstorm of season BTW
DonnaMobile

Posts:71

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09/24/2014 10:47 PM
Side by Side, here are some blinking lights you can stick to your gloves. I have some and they are really cool. Lightweight, compact, and very bright.

http://www.brite-strike.com/APALS-AIR.html
Keith Richards

Posts:781

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09/25/2014 12:10 AM
Yet another Niterider 650 user here. It is all you need for commuting. I have been commuting year round for almost 20 years. The changes in lighting have been one of the least mentioned improvements in cycling.
----- It is his word versus ours. We like our word. We like where we stand and we like our credibility."--Lance Armstrong.
THE SKINNY

Posts:506

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09/25/2014 08:41 AM
someone at the local bike shop was talking about those flags that go on recumbents and hand cycles to make them more visible. i believe they said there was a lighted version with blinkey led's. if there isn't one then there should be.
How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.
SideBySide

Posts:444

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09/25/2014 12:47 PM
I'll try those DonnaMobile.
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