Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Flashlights As Bike Lights - Is Strobe Important To You?

When purchasing a flashlight to use as a bike light is a strobe setting an important feature for you, or do you not care if it has strobe or not?


Personally I won't buy a light for my helmet that doesn't have a strobe as I find them extremely effective in increasing my visibility to cars whilst riding during the daytime.

I must have a strobe. Lights are not to be used only in the dark IMHO. Most late model automobiles will turn their lights on as soon as the key is turned.

I believe some governments require autos to run with their lights on at all times.

Why would we on bicycles not do so?

And a strobe is I believe the most effective light we cyclists can use to be seen.

I must have a strobe. Lights are not to be used only in the dark IMHO. Most late model automobiles will turn their lights on as soon as the key is turned.

I believe some governments require autos to run with their lights on at all times.

Why would we on bicycles not do so?

And a strobe is I believe the most effective light we cyclists can use to be seen.

Here in Latvia car must always use their lights; it makes a huge difference in visibility.

While I like having the strobe option, especially for riding in the rain. I find that most flashlights implement the strobe function in an annoying fashion. My light in particular is an MTE P7 5 mode flashlight that I use on my bike.

This light has the following modes of operation, each of which is cycled through by pressing the switch on the back of the flashlight.
MED->LOW->HIGH->SOS Strobe->Fast Strobe

I usually ride with the light on Med, if I temporarily have to switch to HIGH for a fast descent, I must then cycle through the SOS strobe functions to get back to Med. When riding with a group at night, that second or so of strobing light distracts the other riders, and becomes annoying if we are riding in a hilly area.

Yes, and it's one of the reasons I prefer my 8-mode P7. During the day, I use either the 1/sec or 3/sec strobe, and it makes a big difference in my visibility.

I would only want a strobe if it was at much less than full power. On my MTE 5 mode P7, the strobe modes seem to be at full power, which even in the daylight is bright enough that it really bothers me, almost makes me nauseous.

^ I imagine a large part of that is because you're limited to the 8/sec strobe in the 5-mode. That mode is included in the 8-mode, but I never use it, because the 1/sec and 3/sec modes are far more comfortable to ride with. If the rapid strobe were the only one that came with my light, I wouldn't use the strobe function at all, day or night.

The problem with the strobe on my 8 mode P7 is that it is the sixth mode on the list; I have to cycle through medium, high, epileptic, disco, and low to get to the useful strobe mode.

no. I use a cheapo led blinkie on strobe and a 190 lumen flashlight. As I'm going with traffic, the strobe really has little impact.

no. I use a cheapo led blinkie on strobe and a 190 lumen flashlight. As I'm going with traffic, the strobe really has little impact.

Huh? What about cars coming from cross streets, driveways, and courtyards? Not to mention cars passing the opposite direction in your lane......

Huh? What about cars coming from cross streets, driveways, and courtyards? Not to mention cars passing the opposite direction in your lane......

Helmet based blinkie light shines into cross streets, driveways, and courtyards.
Cars passing on the opposite direction in my lane? Doesn't happen very often as I'm often in rush hour traffic, and there's a line of cars in the lane next to me.

Helmet based blinkie light shines into cross streets, driveways, and courtyards.
Cars passing on the opposite direction in my lane? Doesn't happen very often as I'm often in rush hour traffic, and there's a line of cars in the lane next to me.

So you run your helmet light on solid during the day, or is it that you don't use anything at all during daylight hours?

I should add that I stopped using my daytime strobe for many months, as I wanted to be more anonymous when riding. A couple of months ago, though, someone turned into me in the crosswalk near sunset, and I realized I'd rather run the light than run the risk of being crossed, so I've run it since then.

So you run your helmet light on solid during the day, or is it that you don't use anything at all during daylight hours?

no lights during the day. I wear the most loud/hideously colored clothing I can so I think I'm pretty good with that. There's no way in hell someone's gonna say they didn't see me.
However, I will turn them on at dusk.

If I ride during dusk I use the sos mode or strobe depending oh how much traffic there is.. I wish someone would make a useful strobe with around 90-120 pulses per minute.. The strobes that come with many lights are just too intense and are hard on the eyes..

At night I use one steady and one strobe cree on the handlebars, and one steady p7 on the fork near the hub. The strobe on the handlebar has a user selectable frequency and I experiment with it as far as frequency of pulses go. It has a memory so there's no cycling involved, which I love. The light on the fork is a p7 and has a fast strobe for dusk or rain so at night I use 2 steadies and one strobe, at dusk or rain I use one steady on HB, one strobe on HB and one faster strobe on the fork. No cycling necessary with any of them but I do have to carry two spare battery types, 14500's for the HB, and 18650 for the fork.

The problem with the strobe on my 8 mode P7 is that it is the sixth mode on the list; I have to cycle through medium, high, epileptic, disco, and low to get to the useful strobe mode.


If I ride during dusk I use the sos mode or strobe depending oh how much traffic there is.. I wish someone would make a useful strobe with around 90-120 pulses per minute.. The strobes that come with many lights are just too intense and are hard on the eyes..

This light is a cree but the strobe pulse rates are user settable from slow to epilepsy and it has a memory so you don't have to cycle through anything. You can even program 3 different pulse rates if you want. Or 3 of any combination of steady brightnesses or strobes. All with no cycling through stuff. Can't beat it for about $20 shipped.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16607

no lights during the day. I wear the most loud/hideously colored clothing I can so I think I'm pretty good with that. There's no way in hell someone's gonna say they didn't see me.
However, I will turn them on at dusk.

If you have a strobe on your helmet give it a try during the day; I was totally shocked by the difference in visibility it made. I used to regularly get cut off at one cross street, it hasn't happened since I've been using the strobe.

Visibility is nice, but some strobes can have another bike-friendly purpose:

Some traffic lights have optical sensors that can detect a specific strobe pattern on an approaching emergency vehicle, and either hold a green light, or intiate a light change, to ensure the emergency vehicle has a green light as it approaches the intersection.

I've seen LED flashlights with the 'rescue mode' strobe setting (not SOS). I have not tried this, but I wonder if it might not be wise to ride with it, and get all greens on my commute.

Come to think of it, this would be a much better way to modernize traffic signals, instead of clumsy old push-buttons.

I use to use a helmet light with strobe function, the Princeton Tec EOS.. I found it be great for being seen.. The strobe was just right at 90 pulses per minute.. Affixing the light is simple, you need a 12 to 18 inch velcro loop, a pump strap from your LBS works fine too.. REI also carries velcro straps in 12-18-24 inch size... I recently bought a new Headlamp (1 Watt luxeon) for running at night and this is inexpensive and decent quality.. It has Low-High & Flashing function.. The High is around 50-60 lumens, enough to be seen.. The Flashing is around 120 pulses per minute, enough to be seen very easily but not so fast as to be annoying.. Give one a try, they are very inexpensive, the seller ships from USA not overseas so delivery is pretty fast.. I included a pic below on an older headlamp mounted on a helmet so you get an idea of what it looks like..

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-Watt-Super-Bright-LED-Flashlight-Headlamp-Head-Lamp_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q7c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1205Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q 3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3911Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem53db4aa976QQitemZ360161388918QQptZLHQ5fDefaultDom ainQ5f0QQsalenotsupported