Bike light question: Flashing or Constant?

tomasrojo

I think the Reelights are ingenious, but I don't like where they (of necessity) position the light. It's too near the ground for my liking.

biker_joe

I am going to purchase some High powered front light .. am wondering if anyone has brought the set of Airbike lights from Planet-x ?

Good price for the amount of lumens, compared to some of the Exposure joystick models...

http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/Airbike.html

Biker Joe

Gavin

Might be better off with the Magicshine
http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149

Plenty of reviews of both on the lighting forum of mtbr.com

CramCycle

If you check up on it, it is a requirement of every vehicle in Ireland (including cyclists) to read and obey the rules of the road. The rules of the road state that a cyclist must have a constant front white light and a constant rear light at all times that visibility is in anyway diminished for any other road users eg night time, bad weather etc. I know this because I had to go to court after getting hit and found this out on reading. Those who say flashing lights are better because they grab more attention maybe disappointed to know that if they are hit by a car and a gardai witnesses the flashing light they will be perceived to be in wrong as they are not obeying the rules of the road and are therefore in the wrong, probably wouldn't come up if you get hit but just in case.

DirkVoodoo

CramCycle wrote: »

If you check up on it, it is a requirement of every vehicle in Ireland (including cyclists) to read and obey the rules of the road. The rules of the road state that a cyclist must have a constant front white light and a constant rear light at all times that visibility is in anyway diminished for any other road users eg night time, bad weather etc. I know this because I had to go to court after getting hit and found this out on reading. Those who say flashing lights are better because they grab more attention maybe disappointed to know that if they are hit by a car and a gardai witnesses the flashing light they will be perceived to be in wrong as they are not obeying the rules of the road and are therefore in the wrong, probably wouldn't come up if you get hit but just in case.

http://breakingnews.iol.ie/news/ireland/dempsey-signs-bike-legislation-into-law-439849.html

CramCycle

Bad times, sorry for the misinformation, it was right when I got hit.

DirkVoodoo

CramCycle wrote: »

Bad times, sorry for the misinformation, it was right when I got hit.

No need to apologize, they only introduced it recently. I just wish they would clamp down more on people with NO lights.

BostonB

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

No need to apologize, they only introduced it recently. I just wish they would clamp down more on people with NO lights.

Too true. There's an awful of ninjas out there on bikes.

coggs

i got a fellow cyclist give out to me , that my front lights where too bright ?

irishmotorist

Sounds strange. Was he in front of you and frightened by his shadow or on the opposite side and shouted at you?

blorg

coggs wrote: »

i got a fellow cyclist give out to me , that my front lights where too bright ?

Were they?

Victor

I think the best option is constant beam lights on the bike and if you want, flashing lights on the cyclist. As to how bright, you need to decide where you will be cycling. On unlit roads and paths, you need to be able to illuminate the ground in front of you. On lit roads, the main objective is to be seen.

coggs wrote: »

i got a fellow cyclist give out to me , that my front lights where too bright ?

There is a problem, especially with the dublinbikes of the light pointing slightly upwards. On other bikes it can be an issue when, say stopped and the bike is tilted to one slide, the lamp is pointed at an odd angle.

tomasrojo

Victor wrote: »

I think the best option is constant beam lights on the bike and if you want, flashing lights on the cyclist.

Tend to agree. Well, it's what I do anyway.

Victor wrote: »

There is a problem, especially with the dublinbikes of the light pointing slightly upwards. On other bikes it can be an issue when, say stopped and the bike is tilted to one slide, the lamp is pointed at an odd angle.

I arrange my constant front light so it's pointing at the ground 6-10m ahead of me. However, I think the virtually horizontal arrangement of the front light on the Dublin Bikes does make them more conspicuous. You can even spot one out of the corner of your eye during the day by the front light. A more powerful front light at that angle would probably dazzle oncomers though. I occasionally have been distracted by an oncoming Dublin Bike front light, but nothing I'd worry about.

coggs

blorg wrote: »

Were they?

Nah ! I had the electron set from CRC , twin job . Had the main one lighting the road ahead pointed down and the other pointing level . Was on the howth cycle path , pitch dark training way . This headbanger comes into view with a light that resembled a candle in a jam jar , and screams as he goes past !!! between that a knob heads in black with no lights that stretch is really turning into nutters mile !

flaa

A quick search through this thread with the word epilepsy did not return any results. Has anyone considered that flashing/strobing bicycle lights might, in theory, cause epileptical response in some people. Or that it might be considered outright annoying. Why don't cars have strobe lights? Besides, you are visible for only ~50% of the time if you use flashing lights (Well, OK. It's not that simple but maybe you see a point here). I use my bike lights on constant even though it is said to use up the batteries faster on my Cateye lights.

DirkVoodoo

flaa wrote: »

A quick search through this thread with the word epilepsy did not return any results. Has anyone considered that flashing/strobing bicycle lights might, in theory, cause epileptical response in some people. Or that it might be considered outright annoying. Why don't cars have strobe lights? Besides, you are visible for only ~50% of the time if you use flashing lights (Well, OK. It's not that simple but maybe you see a point here). I use my bike lights on constant even though it is said to use up the batteries faster on my Cateye lights.

I don't think the frequency is high enough, but in any case I don't know too many people who stare directly at flashing bike lights at a close enough distance for the intensity to upset them.

I don't think it's really an issue tbh.

tomasrojo

I've never heard of flashing bike lights causing epilepsy. I don't think they're bright enough to cause that problem.

Apparently emergency vehicles can occasionally cause epilepsy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photosensitive_epilepsy

The visual trigger for a seizure is generally cyclic, forming a regular pattern in time or space. Flashing lights or rapidly changing or alternating images (as in clubs, around emergency vehicles, in action movies or television programs, etc.) are an example of patterns in time that can trigger seizures, and these are the most common triggers.

The patterns are usually high in luminance contrast (bright flashes of light alternating with darkness, or white bars against a black background).

Stimuli that fill the entire visual field are more likely to cause seizures than those that appear in only a portion of the visual field.

Some flashing front lights are very bright, but there aren't so many of these in use. I think people who use very bright front lights usually have them on constant (not all, obviously),

muckwarrior

flaa wrote: »

Why don't cars have strobe lights? Besides, you are visible for only ~50% of the time if you use flashing lights (Well, OK. It's not that simple but maybe you see a point here). I use my bike lights on constant even though it is said to use up the batteries faster on my Cateye lights.

The primary purpose of cars' lights are to see, not be seen. The oppisite is true for cyclists. Flashing lights are more noticable. Simple as.

Piste

I use a constant white LED (actually I can't find my LED lately so I've been using something I robbed fof my dad's bike) at the front and a flashing red LED at the back as well as a Hi Viz and sometimes flashing arm/leg bands in the depths of Winter (also they make me feel like a Christmas tree)

BostonB

flaa wrote: »

A quick search through this thread with the word epilepsy did not return any results. Has anyone considered that flashing/strobing bicycle lights might, in theory, cause epileptical response in some people. Or that it might be considered outright annoying. Why don't cars have strobe lights? Besides, you are visible for only ~50% of the time if you use flashing lights (Well, OK. It's not that simple but maybe you see a point here). I use my bike lights on constant even though it is said to use up the batteries faster on my Cateye lights.

Emergency vehicles, aircraft, tall buildings, masts, emergency beacons all have flashing lights. As muckwarrior said flashing lights are to be seen as it attracts the eye. A constant light is to see with. Some say its hard to relative judge distance with a flashing light.

Using one flasher and one constant light, front and rear therefore is logically the best of both worlds.

monument

tomasrojo wrote: »

I think the Reelights are ingenious, but I don't like where they (of necessity) position the light. It's too near the ground for my liking.

+1 on that.

Lights under the saddle and on handle bars seem better positioned to motorists' eye lines.

BostonB

[Higher is better IMO. I've noticed that I notice, lights on helmets, rucksacks first then the one of the bike.

HivemindXX

Constant on the front. This is a dynohub driven light, and I can't recommend them enough. They're brilliant.

On the rear I have the same double row Cateye that Beasty linked and I also have one row flashing and one row constant. I think flashing is better but I did this to humour a friend of mine who claims I was "invisible half the time" with both rows on flashing. Sometimes it's ok to humour crazy people.

I also have a Fibre Flare light from http://www.fibreflare.com/ which is excellent. I noticed someone cycling with one and noted the make so I could buy one myself. They are VERY noticable and since they are a line instead of a point source they will be great for judging distance / approach speed too. It is slightly more difficult to mount/dismount and I can't just stuff it in my pocket like my Cateye so I tend to only use it when I know I'll be cycling a decent distance in the dark though. It's not difficult, it's just not quite as convenient.

cdaly_

HivemindXX wrote: »

I also have a Fibre Flare light from http://www.fibreflare.com/ which is excellent. I noticed someone cycling with one and noted the make so I could buy one myself. They are VERY noticable and since they are a line instead of a point source they will be great for judging distance / approach speed too. It is slightly more difficult to mount/dismount and I can't just stuff it in my pocket like my Cateye so I tend to only use it when I know I'll be cycling a decent distance in the dark though. It's not difficult, it's just not quite as convenient.

Where do you mount this? I carry paniers at times so the seat stays are probably not the best place. I thought of the top tube but would you not get glare upwards in that case? Seat tube looks like it would be obscured with legs too much of the time and down tube would likely get dirty fast...

BostonB

Top of the pannier rack, across the back of it?

HivemindXX

I put it on the seat stays.

It doesn't produce a lot of glare in the way that a normal LED would, it's more of a constant glow and if you put it on the bottom of the top tube you'll hardly see it, however it's not going to be very visible from the rear in that case.

Maybe fit them to the rack or the panniers themselves. You'd have to work out the best way. One advantage of them is that they send out even light in all directions so if it is pointing up or down a bit it doesn't really matter. The attachments are two rubbery straps so there's a lot of flexibility in what you can attach it too. You could even try using zip ties to attach it to the straps on your panniers if that would work.

cdaly_

I'm not so worried about rearward visibility as I'm already running two rear lights. I was thinking primarily for side visibility.

Hmm, strap it to the spokes?...

BostonB

Could we get flare launchers like they have on military aircraft?

http://media.defenseindustrydaily.com/images/AIR_AC-130U_Jettisons_Flares_lg.jpg

Something that generated sparks like an angle grinder?