Night Cycling

neil0502

I'm visually impaired, so seeing is even more important to me than just being seen. After a decent amount of research, I:

1) Plunked down an exorbitant sum of money on a Lupine Edison 10 headlight (http://tinyurl.com/22afd). Is it a fortune? Yup. Do I expect to ever have to buy another one? Nope. Is it worth it? I've never seen a brighter light with a better beam pattern, better engineering, simplicity of use and installation, versatility, and battery life (5hrs on high; 8hrs on low);

2) put a xenon flasher on the seatpost. I've also used the Cat Eye LD600, which I may add to the xenon just for giggles. The xenon seems to be a real attention getter;

3) put yellow reflective stickers (http://tinyurl.com/yupxz) on everything: my rack, the seat stays, the panniers, the backpack, front and back of helmet...everywhere I could. The stickers are cheap!

I absolutely agree with the poster who said that once you've gone HID, there's no going back. It's the difference between seeing rusty nails from 30yds away at 25mph, or whimpering along at 12mph hoping to catch a pothole before it catches you.

I can't count the number of pedestrians, fellow cyclists, and drivers who've commented (impressed, not p**ed) about the Lupine. That means they saw it...and that's a good thing! Other HID's can be had for hundreds less, obviously. I would think you can get 85% of the Lupine's performance for 65% of its cost

Safe travels,

Neil

tumbleweed77

don't know what your price range is but the Dinotte lights are great! I do a lot of commuting and as the year grows old, most of it will be in the dark as well as my sunday 6am ride... the red tail light is really great and the head light works really good in the dark... doesn't have a lot of range, but it's bright.. best of all they are easy to take on and off the bike, batteries are rechargable (i have to strip my bike down the the bones when i get to school and but everything in a locker, then put everything back on to go home).

RedHotIron

All my problems were with overtaking traffic almost hitting me. They were clearly intoxicated, distracted or deliberately trying to give me a scare. All appeared to be under-30 males, often in huge, late model pickups Most of these incidents were at night. I now ride only on back streets & side roads & mainly during the day. The main arteries are not worth it anymore.

RedHotIron

Here i could actually ride without a headlight. My problems all come from vehicles passing from behind, missing me by a few inches at high speed, on purpose it would seem - i have a big orange flasher. I've stopped riding on main arteries. This state has no serious traffic enforcement in my experience - cruisers are almost never seen. Unless you're actually struck there is no possible recourse.

Drivers know they can do anything short of running a cyclist over, so they don't hesitate to abuse their power. Not all of them, of course, but it only has to happen so many times to make cycling on main roads appear to be a bad wager. I console myself with the thought that someone who drives that way is heading for trouble somewhere up ahead, either on the road or in life.

cyclingpj

I have a SON dynohub with dual 3W lights and am pleased with it. Not as bright as the HID lights, but provides a good focused beam. Still have a Nightsun that I bought in the '80s. Going on its third set of 10 rechargeable C-cell batteries in a water bottle. The reason I went with the dynohub was for unlimited burn time. I'm no ultra cyclist, just didn't want to worry about it anymore.
On the rear, I use a 5-LED Vista light flasher. Reflective tape placed here and there.

SEAcarlessTTLE

I got a Dinotte Ultra 5 headlight for about $150 without the batteries and charger, since I already have a charger and lots of NiMH batteries. It's *much* brighter than any LED light I've ever used, is very light and compact, is definitely easy to take off the bike, and is a beautiful piece of equipment to boot. (:

http://www.dinottelighting.com/DiNo...ing_Ultra_5.htm

It doesn't compare with an HID, but it's also a lot cheaper, and it's sufficient to see by in complete darkness and on unfamiliar pavement as long as you keep the speed down (maybe about 15 mph). I'm very happy with the light, esp. after the hassle of having halogen bulbs burn out mid-ride. It's bright enough that, for the first time, I actually worry about blinding oncoming riders on the bike trail. (I hate getting a faceful of headlight, so I try to keep my beam down and even cover the top as I pass sometimes.)

Here's an informative set of LED headlight reviews:

http://www.gearreview.com/2006_led_lights.php

I understand the Dinotte taillight is crazy-bright, but I can't quite justify the expense for myself. Being a fan of Planet Bike, I'm currently using their Superflash blinker, which seems more than enough, although it doesn't bathe the road in red light like the Dinotte apparently does!

motorex259

i ride without light when i dont need it, most of the time when i see ppl that go and ride in the night, and they think they are faster than me, i do the same thing takumi(initialD) dose, get behind them and stay in the dark, till i get enought energy back, get on the side of them and turn on my light and pass them at the narrow straight.....

__________________
LET MY PEOPLE RIDE, AND GET FREE STUFF!!!!

Fatherzen

I tend to do the same as most who have posted. I have set of red flashing LEDs on the back and a set of light green flashing LEDs on the front. I use these so that I am visible. After my accident I go a rechargable headlight that can be strapped to my helmet. I also have some little round red LED flashing lights that have an elastic strap with a magnet at the end. The magnet is used to start the LEDs flashing, change the flash pattern, or stop turn the light off. I wear one on each wrist. Having the flashers on my wrists helps to make me a little more visible and also makes it so that drivers are more likely to see my hand signals.

NickInNC

I have a LED headlamp, a bell LED wide angle light that is attached to the bike, a red flashing LED tail light, and reflective gloves(perfect and important for hand signals). Also I got 3M reflective tape for some key side areas of the bike.

My wife saw me going the opisite direction one night riding home and called my cell told me I was blinding people and that I looked like a couple of very odd fast moving tractors. I think thats a good thing.

NewRiderMan

I looked at some "bicycle lighting systems" many of which were no more than a blinky light for over a hundred bucks. I guess I dan't value my own safety enough, but the day I pay over a hundred bucks for a tiny flashing light is the day I plan to take a nap on the railroad tracks...

Instead of the already available lighting systems, I manufactured a set of three bar mount brackets, as well as two seat post brckets. On days when I plan to commute after dark, I put the brackets on.

Two brackets up front hold a pair of 4 cell maglights, between those I have a temporary use 2,000,000 candlepower rechargeable spotlight for those times when I need to get somebody to pay attention to the dude on the bike.

In the rear, I have a pair of military style flashlights with red diffiusing covers. VERY bright.

I also keep a minimag light on my belt for "spotting" if I need to take a quick look off to the side.

The entire system is not nearly as heavy as you'd think, a little over four pounds total, including the aluminum bracketry. And, I find it a LOT more effective at even 500 yards than the little lights I looked at in the LBS.

Total cost for everything; Right around $70. And, the smallest light I have is a 1 3/4" diameter. As opposed to paying twice as much for half the light.

It doesn't blink, or flash, but it does project a light Stevie Wonder could see. If it is foggy or overcast, I tilt the 2mil spotlight about 5 degrees off to the side so as not to blind oncoming drivers and keep on going. So far, I've not even had anyone get within 20 feet of me.

In the end, it comes down to one thing; would you rather pay for the convenience of a "kit" or would you rather invest less money, more time, and make a system that will save your bacon? Surely if you can wrench on your own bike, you should be able to figure out mounting a headlight on it!!!!!

saturnsc2

has anybody tried the new Lumotec IQ Fly light? i just ordered it. it's supposed to be 40 lux & very bright. i can't wait to get it..

leebm

[QUOTE=SEAcarlessTTLE]I got a Dinotte Ultra 5 headlight for about $150 without the batteries and charger, since I already have a charger and lots of NiMH batteries.

I use the Dinotte Ultra 5's which have been upgraded to the new 200 lumen standard. I'm quite happy with them and prefer to use the AA version. Of note, Dinotte is running a sale through tomorrow on the AA version without batteries and charger ($100).

I also use the Dinotte tail light which is amazing. I have to angle it down slightly to avoid getting complaints from other riders. The AA version is also on sale. I also like the Planet Bike Superflash as an affordable back-up as it's 20% of the cost of the Dinotte tail light.