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Rear Lights, thoughts

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12

  1. 559
    Member

    Viewing rear cycle lights from a bus or car recently, and thinking about how visible they are or more often not, as compared to other rear lights.

    Some thoughts.
    >single led lights are invisible
    >too many with duff batteries
    >more effective is a light 60mm x 60mm or circular equivalent
    >Bike lights have no density of redness(don't know how else to describe)
    >the ultra bright are too intense, difficult to focus on the associated bike
    >vehicle lenses are better designed to throw the light out

    ?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. Nelly
    Member

    You need lights plural at this time of year, different places (head, rack, saddlebag) and I disagree a wee bit on brightness - 1 watt cherrybomb on lunatic flash gets me seen. Cateye on more sedate flash on headband gives shape and form.

    Or at least I think so - who can tell, I am going the other way.

    Lots of shoddy or fading battery rear lights this year - contrast with all the superbright front lights.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. crowriver
    Member

    I find this light and similar ones with large reflectors to be very good.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. Instography
    Member

    My German rear dynamo light does a good LED and reflector combination like that. That and the eye-watering Light and Motion should be enough.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. 559
    Member

    @Nelly, dont disagree about the safety in numbers, have gone that way myself. But not convinced, we need something that says cyclist almost unconsciously to a driver

    @Crowriver, who is the manufacturer?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. Instography
    Member

    Nothing says cyclist like a blinkie (except for several blinkies).

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. crowriver
    Member

    @559, it's a Torch. It fixes onto the rear carrier rack: if you don't have a rear carrier, you need something else. Click on the image for a link to buy the light...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. Uberuce
    Member

    I vouch for the mix of solid and blinky. Having observed DaveC from between two and a few hundred metres distance in real country dark I can say the solid lights let you figure out movement instantly and the blinkies denote cyclist. What lights are you running, Dave? Bright sonzabitches, anyway.

    I have blinky on my seatpost Cherrybomb and a solid on a Smart 1/2 watt bodged onto the nape of my neck. I reckon the blinky is less annoying lower down when in bunched up traffic.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. DaveC
    Member

    I have a Smart 1/2 watt on my seatpost and an LD600 on my helmet set to blink. I also carry a spare on my seat post which means I still have two usefull lights if the batteries go in one of the working lights. One set to solid so the driver can focus on the distance to target (excuse the term) & one set to blink, as Bruce says = cyclist.

    I also have the Mavic Vision Vest which is very reflective & orange instead of the generic Yellow everyone else seems to wear. I think lights are good but something reflective (not just bright) stands out far better than lights in the complete darkness out of the city. The Vision is cut for cyclists too.

    Mavic Vision Link

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. spytfyre
    Member

    My view
    I'd go with blinky on top and bottom. Having observed from the driving seat solid on lights just seem to be ignored as they trick the mind into thinking "car light, further down the road"

    I got this recently for my helmet (are we allowed to say that word yet?):
    https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=47006
    And was told by my dad to fix it to the back of my helmet so when I look down at the potholes the rear facing light is still visible. It's good as it has 2xLEDs front and back. Can be seen bouncing off the ped/bike cross signs at Western Approach road up to F'Bridge.

    Again while driving I spotted a biker over the top of cars on a side street because of his lid light, would have taken a full 6 seconds more to see his handlebar lights appear where I was about to turn.

    Also head lights can be pointed up and down main roads you are turning onto so drivers see motion, they can also be pointed at truck/van wing mirrors which handlebar lights can't

    https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=56550
    Is on the bike in epilepsy flash mode after seeing one on a bike form the car, so bright I had to look away.
    Front light is a cateye on flashy flashy mode too which can be seen bouncing off the stop sign from one end of Harrison Gardens to the other...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  11. wingpig
    Member

    Solid-on dynarearlight (attached to the back of the mudguard) is all well and good and bright and integrally-reflectored but is also quite low down and four minutes' standlighting can easily be used up after a few red lights in a row, so a 2010-model (0.5W?) Cherry Bomb is attached to the light-loop on my saddlebag and an i-shaped Smart thing (described as "too bright so sit behind" by the Light & Motion Vis180-owning Instography) to the rear of the helmet, both on sparkle-flicker mode. I originally had them the other way round but the position of the button on the bottom of the Smart meant that it occasionally thwacked itself off against the top of the rack.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  12. crowriver
    Member

    A lot depends upon what kind of riding you're doing. If it's mostly urban cycling on busy streets with good lighting, then blinkies make a lot of sense. I still think having a (statutory requirement) steady rear light fixed to the rear carrier is essential though, preferably with a big reflector to show up in vehicle headlight beams.

    The steady rear light is incredibly important if you are riding on unlit rural roads, and if you are riding in a group of cyclists over any distance: blinkies are very antisocial and annoy the riders behind you!

    Posted 11 years ago #

  13. Baldcyclist
    Member

    "...and annoy the riders behind you"

    They must be easily annoyed, and therefore probably best suited to long solo rides? ;)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  14. kaputnik
    Moderator

    blinkies are very antisocial and annoy the riders behind you!

    and complete destroy night vision.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  15. crowriver
    Member

    Imagine riding in a bunch, in darkness, along country roads, for hours. The guys at the front have cherry bombs blasting away on epilepsy mode searing the back of your eye sockets at close range...

    I'd say it's polite to have a steady light. Oh and some mudguards too... ;-)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  16. Dave
    Member

    (statutory requirement) steady rear light fixed to the rear carrier

    I'm pretty sure this isn't true... is it?

    Many (most?) bikes don't have a rack, for starters, while the flashing lights issue has long since been put to bed (i.e. CTC)

    For my money I think the most important thing (besides a big front light, OT) is a reflective ankle band. With my driver's hat on, I find these particularly attention-grabbing.

    Ultimately a good sense of perspective is helpful. The roads are full of extremely badly lit people (in cars as well as on bikes) and the proportion of them coming to harm is evidently very small.

    Not a reason to take off your lights, you understand, but certainly one to guide how much we should worry about them.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  17. crowriver
    Member

    Highway Code has been updated to reflect reality it seems:

    60

    At night your cycle MUST have white front and red rear lights lit. It MUST also be fitted with a red rear reflector (and amber pedal reflectors, if manufactured after 1/10/85). White front reflectors and spoke reflectors will also help you to be seen. Flashing lights are permitted but it is recommended that cyclists who are riding in areas without street lighting use a steady front lamp.
    Law RVLR regs 13, 18 & 24

    Note well the bit about the red rear reflector! Also how many folk using SPD pedals have amber reflectors fitted?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  18. crowriver
    Member

    Many (most?) bikes don't have a rack, for starters,

    I meant the bit about the steady light, but it seems that's no longer a requirement for the rear, only the front...(even then that's only 'recommended').

    Posted 11 years ago #

  19. spytfyre
    Member

    I don't ride in a group and would obviously turn off flashing mode if I was - that's plain common sense.
    As to the night vision - really? with car headlights and street lights all around you want to talk about night vision?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  20. crowriver
    Member

    with car headlights and street lights all around you want to talk about night vision?

    More like on shared use paths or rural roads without any street lighting...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  21. cb
    Member

    I think that if a light is approved then it's legal to fix it to your bike, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it will make your bike meet the legal requirements for cycling at night.

    The latest CTC magazine had an item on this which seemed to suggest that there are hardly any lights which are 'legal' even though almost all are 'approved'.

    Must look it up again...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  22. chdot
    Admin

    "
    and amber pedal reflectors, if manufactured after 1/10/85

    "

    So that's my '86 Evans a year older.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  23. steveo
    Member

    Red lights do not affect night vision per say, the chemicals in your eye that build up to create night vision are washed away by any light in the blue green band of white light, the chemicals are not sensitive to red.

    Not saying they're not annoying and they may cause your pupils to contract reducing the apparent amount light but they don't effect your night vision.

    Good fishing and camping (head) torches will come with a weak red emitter to preserve both your batteries and your night vision. Since you can see much better by red light at night than by white the amount of power required is reduced.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  24. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Red lights do not affect night vision per say

    what I was meaning was (as Crowriver said) if you're at the back of a line of hyper-flashing Cherrybombs then all you can see is a line of hyper-flashing Cherrybombs, and anything else is rather negligible.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  25. EddieD
    Member

    (and amber pedal reflectors, if manufactured after 1/10/85)

    Would I get away with "but officer, I don't have pedals..." I've always wondered about the legal status of SPuDs and similar

    Posted 11 years ago #

  26. cb
    Member

    And of course, pedal reflectors are pointless on a recumbent.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  27. DaveC
    Member

    Top Tip: I bought Shimano SPDs from Rose Cycles in Germany and they came with free reflector clip in plastic inserts. The same pedals from the UK are more expensive and the Pedal Reflectors are arround £10 extra.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  28. amir
    Member

    I got those reflector clip things with a pair of SPD pedals that I bought (some time ago now). They are functional but you do end up with 1 sided clip-ins. I'd prefer to use an ankle band.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  29. crowriver
    Member

    And of course, pedal reflectors are pointless on a recumbent.

    Depends what height your pedals are, I suppose. Still visible from the front too, though that might well confuse the hell out of motorists. But then, recumbents generally do...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  30. cb
    Member

    @crowriver

    More from the point of view that the reflectors tend to point skyward when recumbenting.

    Posted 11 years ago #

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