spare_wheel

Thus far, parrots have passed every high-level cognitive test we hairless primates have thrown at them:

https://www.livescience.com/14708-par...-thinking.html
https://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=...1995-28085-001

And then there was Alex:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/sc...rrot.html?_r=0

ben4345

There is a lot of people who cannot stand the blueish tint of the common LEDs.
I will only buy LED lights that are, Neutral or warm white 2700k - 4200k. With a minimum of 80 CRI rating.

langa

I try to do this, too, although it's easier to aim the light down and to the right side of the MUP, so I do that 90% of the time. If I try to shield the light I end up covering the whole thing and not being able to see anything in front of me.

As I've been curious about this issue myself, I recently found this post out of Australia: https://the-riotact.com/led-bicycle-l...e-paths/108054 I think I'm going to try that plastic hood idea. I have the same light as the OP.

ben4345

Good link.

jputnam

The OED cites both Ockham and Occam, and source citations refer to "William of Occam" as the author. But then, they're English.

Telly

Just finished placing the order Greg, thanks for taking the time and the info!

westrid_dad

This thread, and the one linked are good reads for me. With several recent bicycle / auto accidents in our city recently, including two cyclist deaths it is easy to get caught up in the paranoia of the "more / brighter lights is better!" approach. And while I do have a relatively bright set of front / rear LEDs I am trying to find that balance of a rider that can see and be seen, but at the same time I also want to be seen as a cyclist that is responsible and respectful, both on the road and on the trail. Lately, I have been focusing more on ensuring I can be seen via reflective devices / materials versus simply adding more lights.

I do appreciate the comments re: etiquette for trail riding as I understand different needs for lighting on MUPs versus that while sharing the road with other motorized traffic.

KenshiBiker

I do the same when on the MUP (and turn my head so my helmet light is pointing "off road"). Some days (nights) it seems like about half the people coming in the other direction return the favor (one of them a couple of days ago even said "thanks" - I think); other days (like last night) it seems like almost no one else does.

UserM4

I put some hockey tape along the top 1/3 to 1/2 of my lights and it reduced glare significantly. I aim the hotspots to just below the windshield level of on coming sedans and I've never had a single complaint afterwords. I get plenty of throw without producing glare.

I've tried just aiming it down but it would be excessively short throwing to reduce glare to the hockey tape levels. Almost unusable to have to point it down that low.

The hockey tape doesn't actually contact the glass of my NR lights, just the rim.

Telly

A quick question to Magicshine (and clone) users.

Is it okay to leave the battery connected to the light when not in use? I ask this because the mode button is continuously lit, and I'm a bit worried about the quality/safety of the Li-Ion battery pack.

westrid_dad

Sorry, not sure about the Magicshine, however, the documentation for my Dinotte headlight does indicate the battery does discharge when connected to the light, even if not in use. The recommendation is to disconnect the battery from the light when not using it.

no motor?

I have, I got mine from Action led. It works great for illuminating the skunks along the sides of the bike path. I use it with a Ultrafire 501B on the helmet.

no motor?

The original Magicshine owners manual said it was OK, the power used for the indicator light was so minimal it didn't really make any difference.

Telly

Took the plunge and ordered one too, and after receiving it a couple of day ago, I can honest say that it's improved the lights effectiveness for road use, although I feel that the beam is now much to wide and would have preferred something between the spot of the original and the one I got from the link above.

Also if anyone's thinking of getting it (definitely worth the money!), my advice if you have handlebars with any amount of rise, is to install and adjust the lens on the bike since even the most minute amount of rotation throws the beam off the horizontal axis. I'm planning on building a base to move it above the front fender/v-brakes where stock bicycle lights are usually located (at least in Europe).

noglider 

I agree that it is very rude to run a flashing headlight in the night if it is very bright, especially on a bike-only route. These lights hurt my eyes, and what are these riders so happy about anyway? Do they want to see by those lights?

cyccommute 

Simple solution: Don't ride bike paths at night. Even a tightly focused beam with a cut off is inappropriate for most bike path situations. The standard width for bike paths is around 11 feet (about the width of a road lane). There is less than 6 feet between you and any on-coming traffic if you are riding down the middle of the path. That's too close for even the narrowest of beams.

cyccommute 

If you left it connected for days or weeks, it might run down the battery but it isn't a problem for a few hours.

Telly

Since I use the light daily, I have it constantly connected and top up the charge every couple of days. So far, after roughly a week of use, I've never seen the green light change color (even after 2 hours of continual use), and topping up of the batteries lasts roughly an hour at most (sans the first charge which took a couple of hours).

cyccommute 

Talk about a non sequitur

...a term which you used improperly above.

alan s 

Maybe simple, but around here, not very safe. Alternatives are very busy roads or highways. Just aim your lights down so the brightest light is less than 10 feet in front of you, and the spillage is enough to see fine. Half of my commute is against the flow, and I never get complaints from oncoming riders. The other half is with the flow, so I aim a little higher, and adjust down and to the side when the occasional rider comes along. Winding areas where a bike might appear suddenly, keep them aimed low all the time.

ItsJustMe

The draw is about 20 ma for the pilot light. That equates to about 6 minutes of lost runtime per 24 hours that the light is connected with the pilot light on.

Personally I disconnect it if I'm not riding the next day (over the weekend for instance) and usually as long as I disconnect it, I'll take the battery inside and charge it. I charge every 2 days even though I could certainly go 3 days, possibly 4, because I don't want to have to think about how I'm using the light - when I was trying to stretch it to 4 days I found myself leaving it on medium mode (400 lumens or so) on rough road and sometimes I'd hit holes I didn't see in time. Some of the road I'm riding on is so bad that when I see a hole late, there's nowhere to go - the hole is surrounded by other holes, and to miss them all I should have shoulder checked and moved 5 feet left about 50 feet ago.

Also, yes, IMO a spotty ebay light in conjunction with an Action LED Lights wide angle diffuser lens is about perfect.

g0tr00t

Trail: I use the lowest setting, unless it gets REALLY dark, but I point it in front of my bike so I can see what I am going to run over, if I see a biker coming towards me, I point it to the right, runners/joggers I point it to the left (we have assigned lanes here).

Street: During the day, BLINKY... you see me? GOOD! Night- HIGHEST power and same aim in front of my bike.

I still see some drivers shield their eyes, but when they do that, they are usually making left turns smack dab in front of me.......cagers! The others are in parking lots trying to turbo boost themselves into traffic.

Darth Lefty 

For one, why would I be in the middle of a two-lane path with a stripe; for another it conflicts hard with my actual experience that everyone on the bike path after dark is a serious thoughtful cyclist or runner, and I have far more trouble in bike lanes on suburban streets with skater teens on reflectorless BMX bikes salmoning at me out of nowhere.

cyccommute 

I've ridden in the DC area. There are alternatives. Even in the gridless east there are alternatives that parallel busy roads. Even the busy roads are still rideable to an experience cyclist.

cyccommute 

You are misunderstanding my point. Bike paths tend to be 11 feet wide. If you are riding down the middle of your side and someone coming at you is riding down the middle of their side, there is less than 6 feet between you. If you ride on the very edge of your side and the other user is on the very edge of there side, you'll be separated by 9 to 10 feet but even that distance is small for even highly focused beams.