soonerbills

I am now officially on the graveyard 12 hr shift and so have been put in a position that requires me to ride in the dark as part of my commuting. The shift is 3pm to 3am 6 days a week and Sundays are the only day for me and wife to do our together stuff. I'm hoping for an occasional Sat off but if I really want to get any good riding time I'll need to do the nightly commute, weather permitting. I will be riding home on a fairly dark stretch of highway with pretty good shoulders(about 4.5 miles) and then on a very dark country road to the house with some curves, no shoulders and kinda hilly(6 miles).
So I'm kinda worried about visibility... both for me to see where I'm going and for drivers to see me! The plus is that I will be heading opposite the majority of traffic but there will be some going my direction.
What set ups do you all run and what tips can you afford me on the subject? I really want to get in the ride time but would like to get home safely too.

mkeller234

Welcome to the nocturnal world. I'd recommend clothing with reflective spots on the front and back, along with some good blinking lights mounted for visibility. My commute is all through lit city streets, so lighting isn't as big of a task for me. Having light down low to the street helps me to see the road and on coming pot holes. I don't have very fancy or expensive lights and I will admit that they don't help near as much as I would like.

pastorbobnlnh 

I have picked up some really nice lights, originally worth $100s on CL, that had bad rechargeable batteries. The most I paid was $25 for a dual headlight set. Usually, the battery is a simple sealed led-acid 6 volt battery.

Since I'm in a very rural area, I shopped the internet and found a couple of replacements, shipped for $25. If you are careful, you can find a battery which uses the same leads. Mine would not fit back into the original housing so I rigged my own out of a spare camera case I had.

So, I now have a set of $50 lights that will burn for about 3-4 hours on a charge, that originally sold for about $200. If I get a chance latter today, I'll take some pictures of how I set them up on my touring bike.

wahoonc

I run dyno hub setups, there are a variety of lights that can be used. From what I gather the top dog for dyno powered lights is the Edlux E3? I primarily run a Busch and Muller Cyo, Cyo Lyt or a Lumotec IQ Fly. Tail lights are usually one of their fender or rack mounts. Backed up by a Planet Bike Superflash. I also wear Class 3 reflective wear, shirt, jacket or vest. My riding goes all the way from fully lit city streets to heavily traveled narrow two lane 55 mph no shoulder country roads (my least favorite). I am not a high speed rider, my usually speed is in the 15mph range.

You can get some amazing bright battery lights but the trade off is having to keep them charged, limited run time and the cost of replacement batteries. Some people build a homebrew LED system. There is more to good lighting than just Lux or candlepower, beam patterns and optics make a difference too.

Peter White Cycles has a pretty decent page on lights and beam patterns.

Good luck with your commute!

Aaron

bradtx

soonerbills, The LED lamps seem the way to go these days. I have an old dual headlamp/rechargable battery system that works fine and while I don't use the spot, or high beam, often it's nice if you need to look at a distance. I also have an old world bottle generator system that's nice and burns a few extra calories to boot.

Use a white blinky in front and a red one on the rear and wear reflective gear.

Brad

KonAaron Snake 

I use planet bikes super flash model https://ecom1.planetbike.com/3034.html for the rear on blink mode along with a Busch and Muller https://www.thetouringstore.com/BUSCH...LER%20HOME.htm on solid light mode. The two things together really seem to give me a lot of visibility in the rear.

For the front I use the Planet Bike beamer https://ecom1.planetbike.com/3033.html, but I also live in a city and if I rode with less light I'd definitely get a rechargeable system like niterider.

auchencrow

Whatever you choose, make sure you have reflective clothing and redundant active LCD lighting front and rear, because while they provide good visibility, they just cut-out when the batteries go flat.

Doohickie

The standard for years for rear blinkies has been the Planet Bike SuperFlash. A recent rival to that light which costs about the same is the Portland Design Works Radbot 1000. I've seen both in group rides and the Radbot is MUCH more visible, especially from a distance (perhaps at the expense of battery life... not sure). I have a CygoLite Rover II headlight which has a rechargeable battery and lasts reliably for about 2.5-3 hours (I think they claim a little more, but at that point the warning indicator goes on; I haven't pushed it much beyond that), adequate for my commuting. It throws out a wide, bright pattern of light. I use it on the second brightest setting and it gives plenty of light. The highest setting is rated at 255 lumens. Some lights push 1000 lumens but I think the Rover II is all the light I need.

Last year I outfitted my primary commuter with dynamo lighting. I get just a little less light, but never have to worry about battery charging. I still run a SuperFlash along with my dyno-powered tail light. I like to run one light in constant on mode and another in a flashing mode.

irwin7638

Peter White is definitely the best source of information. Don't over look tire driven dynamos,they are lighter and less expensive than dynohubs and don't create extra drag unless they are being used. I have Spanninga dynamos and Led head lights on two bikes. They work great, provide a nice range of light on unlit country roads and only cost me about $60 per bike. It's like every thing else, you can find better and brighter by spending more money. I would stick to European equipment, they have a more demanding market and better regulations governing the products.

Marc

AZORCH

I've got a couple of NiteRider lighting systems (plus one that I butchered for a vintage retro-fitting that got completely botched - but I digress, as usual!) I like how small the NR lights are. I've also just picked up a dyno hub and matching light; haven't built it yet, but a lot of rando riders will swear by them and anyone who rides for twenty-four hours straight through gets my vote of confidence on lighting!

marley mission

i ride almost exclusively in the dark - i have 3 lights on my head - all serfas true 250s (750 total lumens) - they light my way pretty good - have a short charge time and i have done 2 and half hour rides in the dark and they are still kicking even though they advert as 2 hour burn time

i highly rec them - they are about 120 a piece

i also have 3 red lights on my back (1 bike, 1 helmet, 1 backpack) also reflectors / reflective material all over - i ride early (4-6am) on dark country roads so i dont see alot of cars but when they pass they pass wide so i must be doing something right

rhm

In the winter my commute is entirely in the dark; this time of year it's about half-half; in a few months I'll be riding in twilight and light. I like riding in the dark; there's less traffic, and I feel I'm more visible.

I'm a firm believer in dynamo hubs and LED lights. I have an E3 supernova headlight and taillight on one bike, and though it's very nice I won't be getting another (the setup cost me $300 a couple years ago; price may have come down some but it's still very expensive). I now wire up fairly primitive LED's from LEDsupply.com, using plumbing parts for light housings. Four diodes, some wire, some heat shrink tubing, solder and some scrap metal are also required. A typical light set costs me less than $25, plus maybe $50 for the hub, and a fair amount of time building the wheel and the lights.

nlerner

+1 to dynamo hubs and LED lamps. I run a relatively inexpensive Shimano setup and am very glad to have it. That said, I also run LED battery operated lights on a few of the commuters, and all have rear battery operated lights. +1, too, to redundancy in the system.

I have to say that I really hate those helmet-mounted lights from the point of view of a bicyclist. The beam shines straight into my eyes, and heading towards another rider on the bike path who's wearing one of those is painful and dangerous.

Neal

KonAaron Snake 

I have a radbot as well as the superflash and I like the Superflash's blink pattern more. I've also found it's more water resistant. I do think you're right though...the radbot throws out more light. Planetbike put out a superflash turbo that's an increase in power of a half watt, and I'll probably get one eventually.

southpawboston

+2 to redundancy... I routinely arrive at my bike to find that an LED battery is dead, so it's nice to have a backup.

Interesting about the helmet-mount lights. I have a front and a rear, and I wouldn't ride without them in the city (I'm almost never on a path in the dark). I won't use them on trails where there are a lot of passing cyclists within a few feet, but on city streets with lots of motor traffic, I feel that the visibility they provide to motorists is far better than that of bike-mounted lights. This is speaking as a cyclist and a motorist.

The worst setups I see are cyclists who tack on blinkies any which way to their messenger bags-- they're never aimed right and are practically invisible to motorists.

zandoval 

I am such a CHICKEN - I try real hard not to ride even in the dusk much less the night - But there is a guy around here who rides the highway at 02:00 AM - He has one of several (Blinky?) lights pointed down at the street and illuminating the area just to his left and slightly behind - When you are driving along the road you just can't help but try to stay away from the margins of that light - I'll try to get a picture of it - Its really effective... Be safe...

Reflective clothing, Reflective tape, Redundant Lights, Lights Lights, with multiple power sources... ALERTNESS WITH WELL PLANED EXIT STRATEGY...

SJX426 

Bicycle lights are expensive for the outpult. I use a Taskforce flash light from Lowes (3 watt Cree) with a mounting arrangement like this one: https://nordicgroup.us/s78/flashlights.html.
I also use a $20 bike light I picked up a few years ago and have it in flashing mode. One to be seen and one to see. This way I can turn off the flashlight when it gets light enough without sacrificing being seen.
Costco recently offered a two pack of Cree based flashlights that have low, high, flash and off modes. It is about 150 lumins and uses 3 AAA (disadvantage). Smaller than the Task force with about equal output.
Peter Whites site is good and this one is informative also: https://www.nordicgroup.us/s78/

Doohickie

I've heard the newer Radbots have improved water sealing. I also heard about the new SuperFlash but haven't seen one yet. My problem with Peter Whites site is that there is SO much information. You can surf it for days and still not be sure if you've read everything, and have trouble keeping things straight. It's great to have all the info, but a decision tree would be helpful.

MrEss

I second the recommendation for a fairly low-mounted headlight for forward visibility. One of our bikes here has got an LED light with a very narrow output cone; very bright but was useless when handlebar-mounted. Now with a mounting bracket on the front quick-release nut you can easily see upcoming obstructions at quite a distance.

If your main headlight is mounted so low, you might consider adding a smaller "be seen" light on the handlebars; maybe one of those Knog gummie things the fixie riders like so much.

KonAaron Snake 

I think that's true of EVERYTHING bicycle, or even hobby, related. They throw out so much marketing, industry hooplah and terminology it's almost impossible to make a decision if you overthink things. Just think of tires and tpi, tread, rolling resistance, weight, etc.! Every week there's a new whizz bang term or technology breakthrough.

I think you just go out and buy an industry standard at (hopefully a reasonable price) and see if it works. Maybe it won't be the very best, but it's usually good enough for your needs.

toytech

I have a magic shine 1400 which is about 130.00 it maxes out at around 1400 lumens is all LED bulbs with lithium ion batteries. You will see and be seen. geomangear.com I think is where I got it. Bright enough for fast night mountain biking! 2 hours or so on full power and up to 200 on low, which is still very bright. Not a cv light for sure, but one of the best values out there.

himespau 

I just got the magicshine 900 lumen led and rear light off ebay for about $130 for both front and rear lights, battery, helmet mount. Haven't tried it out yet. Given that the tail light is 3 watts and only added $30 to the total cost, I'm wondering if I'm going to regret the $70 I spent on 2 pbsf's and a radbot, but I guess it's all about redundancy. At least one of those can now go back into the bin for later use.

marley mission

also wanna mention regarding my serfas true lights is that they have tested very well in foul and cold weather - i ride in anything and everything and we had 3 consecutive days of single digit weather in jeresy this winter including a day that hit 0F - the lights showed no loss of effectiveness or run time...for what its worth - also - i love helmet mount - listen - your bike doesnt need to see where its going - but rather its your field of vision that needs illumination - when i approach a car coming from a driveway or deer approaching the road its great to be able to shoot light right were you need it when you need it - just one mans opinion

ecovelo

1+ on Peter White recommendations; I learned a great deal there. I do a mix of NiteRider and Planet Bike lights... and a small Axiom on the helmet. I love rechargeable and I am delighted the battery packs are getting smaller and smaller, and many can be charged via USB. Having more than one option on both front and back allows me a safe ride should any be diminishing due to low charge.

1000+ on LED and reflective clothing - Alert Shirts was my source for the clothing.

I also learned a great deal about reflective taping from the Commuter subforum a few years back. I don't recall the exact thread but a general "search" should find it. I had great fun taping my '92 C'dale, without taking away from the beauty of the bike (IMHO)

Just for fun... I added the Monkey Lectric "Monkey Lights" to my front wheel. Can't really appreciate them in the picture, but they are quite fun! Because traffic rarely comes to you from the side, it is questionable (for some) how much safety they do provide. For me they provide added visibility when I am leaving work grounds, as the parking lots can be fairly congested, with traffic coming from at least 3 areas - shifts leaving and shifts coming on. Why not provide a little "CYCLO-DELIC" light show for the motorists! My only concern is that one night I will miss a pot-hole or a turn, because I was mesmerized by the light show in front of me.... "ooooohhhh.... pretty......"

Welcome to the night!! I find riding at night to be wonderful - minimal traffic, all kinds of natural sounds you don't appreciate until you are out there. Moonlight rides are best!! My biggest threat is misaligned sprinklers going off without warning

Good luck!!
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qualla

Redundancy. I prefer dyno/LED for all the reasons given. I like Euro spec lights like those on Peter White's page because you can use a brighter light without blinding oncoming traffic and pedestrians with light that illuminates little of interest to a cyclist on the road (off road is another matter). Theoretically, I'd want a helmet mounted light as backup. What I actually use is a Fenix flashlight with a TwoFish block, because it's nice to have a flashlight along. If no one has mentioned it yet, the Reel Light (https://www.reelight.com/) hub system is nice because it's always there and always blinking without noticeable drag. I wouldn't use one of their systems as a primary but as good backup - especially if you go with a battery powered primary.