Commuting - Super Crazy Bright headlight

Anyone have any suggestions for a super crazy bright headlight? I have though of getting one of those 10 million candle power spot lights and bungieing it to a front rack, but I'm afraid I might blind everyone as far as in the surrounding countys. I have looked at some of the high-end bike lights at my LBS but they were LED and, well, out of my price range; I can find a 10 mill CP for about $25. Dose anyone know how bright an average car light is and also the brightness of an average cars high beams? What would be a more realistic, but still super bright, (and maybe even legal?) alternative?

It would be legal to use one of those spotlights as a bicycle headlight where I am (California) as long as it was pointed down at the road and not directly at fellow road users. The downside of the x million candlepower spotlights is they have a short runtime (usually about 20 minutes) and are very heavy. My understanding is they use the same bulbs as car headlights. Having frequently used one from inside a pickup truck while running the headlights, I'd say the x million candlepower spotlight puts out about as much light as a car headlight, but focused into a much tighter beam, much less useful for driving or cycling.

Have you checked the electronics, lighting, and gadgets sub forum? There is a ton of information there on making your own lights for fairly cheap. With the halogen MR11 or MR16 bulbs you can keep adding more until you're happy, but as the amount of light you put on the road increases, your battery life decreases and you need to either live with it or get a higher capacity (usually heavier) battery.

The very bright HID and LED lights are very expensive, but well worth it as far as I am concerned.

If you ride at night, how much money are you willing to spend to ensure you are seen and to clearly see the road on a fast downhill?

I may go cheaper on other things, but not lights.

At night, my wife can always tell it is me on the road because of the lights.

Anyone have any suggestions for a super crazy bright headlight?

How about a bank of 6 driving lights like they have on the front of rally cars, and a large 12v deep cycle battery in a trailer to run them? you'll be able to smell the paint burning off the oncoming cars :p

I had a guy coming down the bike path towards me last night with 2 handlebar mounted lights and one on his helmet, all powerful ones. It was WAY too much - it was very hard indeed for me to see where I was going, or to get round him and stay on the path. I think we should consider the possibility that our obsession with really bright lights has gone too far.

I had a guy coming down the bike path towards me last night with 2 handlebar mounted lights and one on his helmet, all powerful ones.

This is why the "dimmer" button on the Dinotte, one of the brightest lights ever, is so convenient. Even last night I was on a dark MUP in VA and I just dimmed the light when I saw on oncoming cyclist.

I think that car headlights are somewhere in the 1500-2000 lumen range, aren't they?

I had a guy coming down the bike path towards me last night with 2 handlebar mounted lights and one on his helmet, all powerful ones. It was WAY too much - it was very hard indeed for me to see where I was going, or to get round him and stay on the path. I think we should consider the possibility that our obsession with really bright lights has gone too far.

My sentiments exactly! A moderately bright light with a good beam pattern is plenty to light up the road to see where you are going, and there ar far better ways to be seen than pretending to be a super nova...(reflective clothing, blinkies).

I have a new B&M Lumotec IQ Fly powered by a Shimano DH-3D71 dynamo hub and this combo lights up the road brightly up to 25 meters. I really do not need anything more powerful. My wind shell has reflective bands, as do my shoes. My tires have reflectice sidewalls. Cars dim their lights for me from a mile away.

How about a bank of 6 driving lights like they have on the front of rally cars, and a large 12v deep cycle battery in a trailer to run them? you'll be able to smell the paint burning off the oncoming cars :p

I've got that on my car (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v178/psydotek/Official%20Car%20Gallery/post-36-1113830178.jpg). :) Oh how i wish i could have something similar on my bicycle. :lol:

I've been running an HID on the bars and a 15 W halogen in strobe mode on the helmet. I get seen. Period. It's not anywhere near as bright as a good set of Xenon headlights on a car, but I don't come into contact with any more than one or at most two other cyclists and they're the invisible types riding against traffic on the sidewalk with no helmets, so if they can't see because they don't have any lights at all, that's their fault. If I were riding on a MUP, I would certainly dim my lights as much as possible when passing. Because my route is hilly, I'm usually doing at least 35 on the downhills, so I need as much light as I can afford. Having crossed-over to the dark-side of HID-class lighting, I will never voluntarily go back to halogens. I have a TriNewt on order, which is purpotedly "slightly brighter" than an HID with greater reliablility and better burn time. I'll know in a week. If I could afford it, I'd run two HID-class lights if I could get the LED to flash on the helmet. The only problem is that the LED systems aren't compatible with the NiteRider Universal Taillights I've been using.

I had a guy coming down the bike path towards me last night with 2 handlebar mounted lights and one on his helmet, all powerful ones. It was WAY too much - it was very hard indeed for me to see where I was going, or to get round him and stay on the path. I think we should consider the possibility that our obsession with really bright lights has gone too far.

It might be overkill on a MUP with slow moving riders, joggers, and strollers. On a rural/suburban highway, or a trail, it's a different story. On non-urban roads, there is either no ambient light whatsoever, or blinding light from oncoming cars' headlights. In that situation, you need as bright a light as possible. If every 3 -5 minutes, your night vision is hosed by an oncmoing car, if your light isn't bright enough to allow you to see even in that situation, you basically can't see anything.

It might be overkill on a MUP with slow moving riders, joggers, and strollers. On a rural/suburban highway, or a trail, it's a different story. On non-urban roads, there is either no ambient light whatsoever, or blinding light from oncoming cars' headlights. In that situation, you need as bright a light as possible. If every 3 -5 minutes, your night vision is hosed by an oncmoing car, if your light isn't bright enough to allow you to see even in that situation, you basically can't see anything.

I'd go a little further and suggest extremely bright lights for urban riding...especially in traffic. As my dear Pappy might say, "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight!" Weak lights in a setting where there is lots of competition is just asking to have your third dimension voided. If drivers think that you can do them damage, they'll avoid you. If they can't see you, they're gonna squish you!

I find that my Cateye EL500 is more than adequate in every situation except deserted dark unlit ones. I have no objection to people lighting themselves up, but once that starts to compromise the safety of other cyclists, I feel like it's a bad idea. After all, there are rules to stop cars blinding each other.

I find that my Cateye EL500 is more than adequate in every situation except deserted dark unlit ones. I have no objection to people lighting themselves up, but once that starts to compromise the safety of other cyclists, I feel like it's a bad idea. After all, there are rules to stop cars blinding each other.

I make sure all my lights are on high and my helmet light shinning right into his/her face when I see wrong way cyclist riding towards me. They usually stop, give me a lot of room to go around then compliment about my lights as I pass by. It is a hell lot better than shouting and much less chance of physical confrontation. Oh yeah, I make sure to shoot a beam of light into drivers who parked on bike lanes as well :D

Yes, sure, ok, but I'm not a wrong way cyclist, and I object to being blinded, and that it made me risk dropping off a kerb onto a busy road where I WOULD have been one way. There's just no need for that. You can't drive through a city with a full rack of rally lights on in your car.

There's no way that the best off the shelf bike lights can even come close to the best head lights installed in cars nowadays. I don't feel sorry to have my lights on while traveling on the same roads cars travel at all.

You would be sorry if cars drove at you with their lights on full beam. You'd call them Jackass Motorists, and post a lengthy thread, yet that's exactly what I experienced from this cyclist.

You would be sorry if cars drove at you with their lights on full beam. You'd call them Jackass Motorists, and post a lengthy thread, yet that's exactly what I experienced from this cyclist.

Since you are starting to put words into my mouth. I will stop right here. Have a nice day!

Sorry - not meaning to do that, nor to start a war. I just think if we consider it for a moment, we'll agree that it's unreasonable to shine very bright lights right into someone elses face. I should more accurately say that many here would respond angrily to that from a car, and we should behave well also, if we expect anyone else too.

Sorry - not meaning to do that, nor to start a war. I just think if we consider it for a moment, we'll agree that it's unreasonable to shine very bright lights right into someone elses face. I should more accurately say that many here would respond angrily to that from a car, and we should behave well also, if we expect anyone else too.

My experience is the opposite. I've had many instances when I shone my helmet mounted light directly at a driver's face in an intersection situation where I had ROW and thy appeared to start moving to cut me off. They hit the brakes every single time, along with that deer-in-the-headlights look.

Sam, I agree with you that it's certainly unnecessary on a MUP or cycleway, but on the road its been my experience that brighter=safer, and we are nowhere near 'too bright' for the road with the currently available lights. My ideal would be as bright as a typical SUV on high beams.... anyone know approximately how many lumens that would be?

Anyone have any suggestions for a super crazy bright headlight? I have though of getting one of those 10 million candle power spot lights and bungieing it to a front rack, but I'm afraid I might blind everyone as far as in the surrounding countys. I have looked at some of the high-end bike lights at my LBS but they were LED and, well, out of my price range; I can find a 10 mill CP for about $25. Dose anyone know how bright an average car light is and also the brightness of an average cars high beams? What would be a more realistic, but still super bright, (and maybe even legal?) alternative?

Dood. If an electronics noob like me can ghetto build a LED light without any understanding of electronics (other then the basic wire+battery+bulb = light) so can you. Granted I have a soldering iron from my parents and a digital multi-meter (DMM) but hardly l know how to use them but still built a say 250lm ghetto LED bike light.

If you need help I can help you out. I did this rather el cheapo right now and learned from some mistakes and coming from a noob view I think I can help other noobs if they don't understand something or want images of a certain angle.

A DMM would be nice to have for trouble shooting but not nessessary. A soldering iron is needed or you can Macguyver one. Find a long thin screw driver and heat it up on the stove. You'll need some solder which if you ask around from friends or at the local college you can get some free or buy some. If you get free see if you can get 1.5-2.0 ft of solder wire. That stuff comes in like 20meter rolls if you buy it and unless you plan on making lots of stuff you don't need that much. Heck 1ft of solder wire is enough but I figure you may need more.

www.dealextreme.com (DX) and get 2-4 of the Seoul P4 (SSC P4) U-bin @ 240lm at 1000mA or T-bin LED's which I'm not sure what thier lm is at 1000mA but still hella bright. U-bin is brighter but T-bin is cheaper pending budget. Get an aluminum heatsink off a junk computer or look around for anything aluminum (no pop cans please they are too thin. A 486 heatsink is about right to run two of the SSC P4's and keep them cool. If you do a search for 'curcuit board' on DX's site buy the cheapest regulator package which is 4 x 3.6v-9v @ 800mA. Those regulators will be driving your LED's at almost 3W's of power. Get a 6xAA battery holder with the 9v battery clips on the top at RadioShack or any elec. store and one 9v battery clip connector on the top.

For wires you can find network cable pretty much anywhere to use to solder together.

I have some images here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/49184877@N00). I'll be updating with some new images soon. I listed my mistakes on the site as well to save you time.

For the reflector get a old 2xAA maglite and drill and sand the base of the reflector to fit over the LED. How well you fit it is how well you sand it. I totally ghetto mounted my reflectors with tape for testing before I put them in a housing.

Those 3.6v-9v range regulators can only drive 2 LED's at almost full power. They light up a pitch black path well. 6xAA with 6 NIMH is about 8.2v. Those regulators are 'buck' regulators meaning you'll want to use more battery power and the regulator will knock it down to work with the LED's. So 2 x ~3.5v LED's = ~7v needed to run the LED's so 6xAA NIMH will work well or 6xAA alkaline for 9v and longer run time. So far I've gotten about 3 hours of runtime and it's good.Ugly looking but at a distance ~250lm looks like a under powered motorcycle light which cars slow down from a distance. :)

More on my build is here. (http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2184117&postcount=16)

Let me see if I can give you quick parts list:

$5-7 - 2 x SSC P4 T-bin or U-bin (I used U-bin)
$7 - 1 x 3.6-9v @ 800mA regulator (buy the 4pack it's worth it. You're bound to probably blow one)
$3 - 6xAA holder with 9v clips (check around I've heard it can be had for $1.50)
$1 - 1x 9v clip with wires (or cheaper price you only need one)
Free - wire look for network cables (found some behind a petrol station before)
Free - reflector from 2xAA maglite
$?? -Thermopaste from CPU. Ask nicely and some computer shops will give you like a peasized amount is all you need. Mix with a little epoxy or crazy glue (the non quick set kind). I used Arctic Silver Alumina borrowed off my mate but that stuff is like $12/tiny tubes. The above I read from what someone else used and worked. Mix 1:1 ratio withthe thermal paste. You only need a tiny bit to bond the LED to the heatsink.
Free - Heatsink (or ~$1.50-2.00) or look on garbage day for computers being thrown out and take the CPU heatsink
$1.00 - on/off switch (totally optional but highyl recommedned).

If you use a reflector you can get more light where you want up front pending the degree of the reflector. The 2xAA relfector is like a 120 degree flood after you're done modding it. If you just want to be seen and want to go as cheap as possible forget the reflector and point the LED's up and turn it on. UBER BRIGHT! 240lm per LED if I recall correctly is about the equiv of a 20W halogen if you focused it If you ran both LED's at 1A you would probably get about 300-320lms.

The current setup will allow ~20kph riding speeds with the 2xLED only.

The cyclist coming at Sammyboy with 2 bar lights and helmet light should have dimmed their lights. On another note, I don't feel a Cateye EL500 is going to give you a safe riding experience at night.

I think that car headlights are somewhere in the 1500-2000 lumen range, aren't they?

If memory serves me well from what I read online before the traditional halogen lights per side of the cars are about 600lm and about 700lm on highbeams. So 1200 normal and 1400 highbeam for two lights. Obviously with the newer lights out there your numbers would probably be correct. HID's would be higher on the lumen scale but I don't see too many people with them (thankfully while driving or riding).

A car parts store can sell you a 15 to 30 watt PAR 36 bulb already in a rubber holder with a bracket under it for $15 / $20. Some wire, hose clamps to mount the light on the bars, a few connectors, charger and you are good to go. Get enough battery to give you double the run time you think you will need. All under $100.00 I added a 100 watt shielded filament spotlight bulb that a Denver cop said was OK. Again as long as the light stayed on the pavement. I could twist the rubber up to light street signs 5 blocks away. :) Same bulb these days costs ~ $35. Hose a light like that around in heavy traffic and cars freeze like a deer in front of you.

i might try me one of thse mounted with a Fishblock:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Solarforce-3-Level-Output-3xZ-Led-500-Lumen-Flashlight_W0QQitemZ280156212236QQihZ018QQcategoryZ106987QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
500 lumens, under $100

Sorry - not meaning to do that, nor to start a war. I just think if we consider it for a moment, we'll agree that it's unreasonable to shine very bright lights right into someone elses face. I should more accurately say that many here would respond angrily to that from a car, and we should behave well also, if we expect anyone else too.Feel free to rant about the JAB that blinded you on the MUP. But using bright lights to keep motorist from killing us, is a reasonable tactic.
It worked for me last night when I was turning left into a shopping center. A pick-up driver, turning left, coming out of the shopping center, chose not to see me as I approached. He crept forward. I swept his hood with my light. He still chose not to see me and crept forward again to try and force me to stop in the middle of the road. I had enough and put my light right in his eyes until I completed my turn; that stopped his little game of “can I take your ROW from you”.

On another note, I don't feel a Cateye EL500 is going to give you a safe riding experience at night.


It doesn't. I used that and a cheapie Trek light commuting last winter and it was a bit sketchy at times. I've got a Minewt on order and am really looking fwd to it after the recent darkening nights...

If memory serves me well from what I read online before the traditional halogen lights per side of the cars are about 600lm and about 700lm on highbeams. So 1200 normal and 1400 highbeam for two lights. Obviously with the newer lights out there your numbers would probably be correct. HID's would be higher on the lumen scale but I don't see too many people with them (thankfully while driving or riding).
If you google around a bit you'll find people selling automotive headlamps with a claimed lumen rating of 1000-2200 per bulb.

So thats 2000-~9000 lumens coming from a car - 2 to 4 headlamps. Add in a bit more for aftermarket "fog" or driving lights and this figure approaches 10,000 lumens.

And those farkers still can't see a bicycle....