Slow Train

Today coming home another cyclist yelled this at me
(We were heading opposite directions on a narrow bike path)

I'm not sure it was entirely warranted however. He had on his light and I had on mine so what's the diff? Now he may have done something to dim his light and expected me to do the same but as I had just completed going around a blacked-out ninja walker I wasn't paying any attention to him at all as he approached.

Now my light is bright but it is not one of those HID things - just a 5 year old 15W Nite Rider. My commute is a reverse one (i.e., into the city rather than out). So while he may have to pass a half-dozen or so riders I easily must cope with 25+ each night. Many with these HID setups.

Probably no more than 1 in 10 riders bothers to dim lights so does he have any real complaint?

jakub.ner

I don't think so. I have never seen anyone dim their lights: albeit most people have really pathetic ones if any at all. I do not dim my lights and never thought of it, I did however *always* turn my head away from cyclist/pedestrians when I had a helmet mounted light, and also didn't like looking in my eye glass mirror knowing I'm blinding motorists. Soon enough I mounted that light on the handlebars.

There are enough issues to deal with at night not to worry about that: ice, dogs with no reflective crap, pedestrians in black clothing, etc.

huhenio

I need a motorbike .... the night bicycle thing scares the jeebus out of me.

jeff williams

I would have swerved @ him.
Don't give it a seconds thought. I really doubt your lights too bright.

CdCf

Well, anything over 8-10 W is REALLY bright - on par with a good car headlight, so of course other riders could be almost blinded by 15 W. Especially if the light wasn't pointing down properly.

jeff williams

https://www.burrow.ca/cyclist/bikecurrent-FAQ.html Hmmm...site I just hit, good info.
Make a way brighter light. 'Brighter than a thousand suns'.

ItsJustMe

Holler "Yeah, that's the idea."
I make sure my HID is pointed so that on level ground, the top of the center spot beam hits the ground about 50 feet in front of me, so only the edge gets to other traffic. Still, I've had SCHOOL BUSSES frantically flashing their lights at me. Of course, that was when I was cresting a hill, so they got a more direct beam. Even car headlights will do the same in that situation.

ItsJustMe

?? IMHO 20 watts of halogen is about right for commuting. I've tried 10W, and I wouldn't go full speed with it, it's bright enough to limp home on IMHO. I suppose if you're riding somewhere there's ambient light to rely on it'd be OK, but out in the pitch black where your headlight is all you got, I want 20W (actually, I want my HID).

NoRacer

IMHO...

"To be seen" lights are mounted level.

"To see by" lights are pointed down.

The only "properly" is the one that keeps you safe.

jeff-o

I have my lights mounted just above the wheel, rather than on the handlebars. This puts them about a foot lower than usual, and less likely to bling oncoming traffic. My dual 3W Luxeons are very much capable of blinding, too...

curt in denver

No worries, probably just having a bad day.

Marylandnewbie

I had a pedestrian yell at me on the MUP one night about my light being too bright (it was a 20w MR-16 bulb). Two nights later the same guy yells at me again, only this time I'm ready and yelled back that he should wear light colored clothes so we can see him (I left out the ruder language I originally considered). Since he was wearing all dark clothes and only his grey hair showed up in my light I felt justified -- and he has never said another word to me.

Normally if I can see another rider or ped coming at me I'll flip the switch to the 10w bulb, but when I'm riding unlit parts of the trail I stick with the 20w. As was said above the light is to keep me safe not make other people comfortable. I try to be courteous whenever it does not jeopardize my safety and comfort in riding.

Wulfheir

Cyclists are a$$holes.

If this guy is so concerned with lighting, maybe he can convince the 1632340591 people riding bikes at night without lights, to invest in one.

rule

Sounds like somebody was having a case of the Mondays.

jyossarian

Imagine that cyclist in a car. Now be thankful he's on a bike. He's an a$$hole either way, but stick him in a bigger vehicle and he could be a bigger a$$hole.

sydney_b

ken cummings

Yes. If I had a ped or another cyclist on my side of the roads I commute on I would have a low power option too. I put my hand over the light in the rare times I get near a pedestrian. As it is I make sure my 50 watter is aimed down, below eyelevel. Days getting long enough now that I can leave the main lights home.

DCCommuter

I believe you get your ass kicked for sayin' something like that, man.

pinkrobe

What the?! Your average car headlight is 55W EACH SIDE. If you're talking HID [i.e. BMW, Benz, Acura, Porsche, etc.], they typically run a 35W bulb each side, totalling 70W output, but the lights are 3x brighter than normal halogen, so it's functionally 210 W of light.

As other posters have said, 8-10 Watts isn't that bright. It's okay for riding tight singletrack, but I have found that 13W HID headlight I run means fewer drivers pull out in front of me. The only time I direct my light at someone as opposed to the road in front of me is when I'm trying to avoid getting squished by a car that doesn't see me.

squeakywheel

Whatever he meant, he wasn't communicating well. He probably thought you should have your bright light pointed at a more downward angle. Just my guess.

CdCf

Well, a car light might be 55 W, but it's not as focused as a bike light usually is. That car light is designed to light up a huge area in front of the car, both in terms of distance in front, and off to the sides. So the average light intensity in any given direction is not that extreme.

I watched a rider with a 10 W light approaching me a week ago (I know it was 10 W because I was waiting for him and asked him when he got off the bike). The two cars passing him as he approached me served as a nice comparison. Since the light was as bright as it was, I did just that - I compared them. The bike light had about the same apparent brightness as the car lights. The car lights were regular old "yellow" lights, not the bluish HID.

His light was so bright that everything around that point of light "darkened". If you meet a bright light like that on a narrow path, and that causes you to be unable to see the road in front of you, wouldn't you be annoyed?

marqueemoon

My "to see" light only has one setting (and isn't too easy to switch off), but I keep it angled down so the brightest part of the beam focuses on the street about 20 feet in front of me. I have a white blinky for "be seen" duty that usually lives on my helmet.

NzAndy

I run a 35W Halogen on my helmet. I subscribe to the Binford lighting philosophy. I try not to blind anyone by looking directly at them, but it gets noticed and I can see what I need to. Anyone who complains can take a number.