UKC

I don't normally post on here, despite having 4 bikes and cycling 100 miles per week to and from work, but I thought I'd share this...

http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/Shop/Fenix-Torches/Bike-Lights/12919-Fenix-BC30...

I've had 2 of these on my bike since February, and a Fenix headtorch on my helmet. I just had to replace one due to loss, but I must say they have made a massive difference to my safety when cycling on the road at night. I strongly recommend them (with Canwelum 18650 batteries, available from Amazon). I don't even have to run them on the highest setting (I use the "500 lumens" setting), they really are the dogs b****cks of modern LED lighting. I suspect the company are being conservative in the claimed brightness. Cars tend to overestimate your speed because they just see the oncoming lights and assume you're a motorbike, which is really good to give you that extra margin of safety.

In reply to JdotP:




Probably because you've just blinded the driver so they slow down.

In reply to ianstevens:

Yeah probably blinding people...

I cycle pretty much everyday. Super bright lights are reservered for when i need to be able to see on a dark road, not the right light just to be seen.

In reply to ianstevens:

Fair is fair, as a cyclist I get blinded by cars with LED or Xenon headlights every night.

CB

In reply to JdotP:


I was wondering how you managed to fit two lights on the bars with that trumpet on there

In reply to cb294:
Blinding drivers is dangerous to you and other cyclists. Ensure you use the dim-dip feature that this kind of high-power light is provided with. If you don't you are as bad as them.

FWIW, as a cyclist I'm sick of being blinded by other cyclists with poorly adjusted high power lights.

High power bicycle lights are a very good thing for road safety, but like any other tool they need to be used properly and considerately. The roads are not a battleground, we need rid of that mentality, it helps nobody. Anybody who deliberately positions high power lights to shine directly into the eyes of any other road user, whether driver, motorcyclist, cyclist or pedestrian, needs a serious talking to and possibly prosecution. Anyone who does it accidentally is both negligent and inconsiderate.

(Or maybe you just forgot the smiley? )

In reply to cb294:



Agreed, neither drivers nor cyclists are innocent in this. New, modern headlights are too bright on dipped beam IMO. Same with bike lights, which generally can't quickly be dipped. As tjin says, super bright lights need to be used in the correct context, which they're not - many of my fellow cyclists use their lights on full blast round the town as there are some unlit sections. However, they rarely get turned down for lit sections as it's somewhat fiddly. IMO there needs to be legislation on bike light brightness and some mechanism to easily switch to an equivalent of dipped beam.

In reply to ianstevens:


Drivers are at most "guilty" of using whatever headlights their car comes equipped with. Whereas some cyclists are definitely guilty of deliberately choosing dangerously dazzling lights.

Cue dislikes.

In reply to JdotP:

As it happens, I am also a motorist; I feel therefore that (unlike many) I am fully equipped to make the judgement of what lighting level is reasonable

In reply to AlanLittle:

The differance being the car driver has a one ton metal jacket round him which gives him loads of protection, where as the cyclist only has his cycle light.

In reply to ERB:

So being less defended therefore makes it a good idea to completely destroy the night vision of people around you so that they're more of a hazard to you? Not sure.

I mean, have all the lumens you want but make sure they're directed away from people's eyes when you're in traffic. I have a decent dynamo light on my commuter bike, and in winter I often add a battery light for more firepower - but they're both properly designed road lights that aren't glaring directly into people's faces.

I also used to add a powerful headtorch because my route to work has some off road bits, but I got so many complaints from blinded pedestrians (and I found it a strain on my neck) that I stopped.

In reply to AlanLittle:


That's not necessarily the case at all: there are quite a few cars and vans being driven around with illegal xenon lights, aftermarket items which do not have the self-levelling mechanism specifically required to reduce the risk of dazzling other road users. There is also a healthy trade in aftermarket LED daylight running lights and the like, for people who want to have the "bright white" look rather than the perfectly functional off-white tungsten bulbs that their car came with. It's trivially easy to find replacement tungsten bulbs for head, fog and brake lights which either exceed the wattage limits, or have a higher light output for the same wattage.

All mostly done to "improve the look" of the vehicle - ie purely in the interests of the driver's vanity - but with the safety justification kept in reserve.

That's not to mention the lazy idiots who just can't be bothered to keep the aim of their headlights properly adjusted.

None of this justifies escalating the problem in to some kind of lumens arms race, of course.

In reply to ChrisJD:


Well, as it happens I don't have a trumpet but there is a compressed air horn on there so your jibe is not so far from reality