mstraus

I have been running two recently, but I now run 3 lights after realizing the problems with my original single light setup. For reference my ride is a mix of urban streets that are generally well lit, Suburban and even somewhat "rural" streets varying between well lit and poorly lit, and MUPs that are generally poorly lit to totally dark.

I started with one 700 Lumen handlebar light. Worked great in solid at night, but if I tried to use the flash, day or night, it was obnoxiously bright except maybe in foggy conditions. The light flashing off signs, etc bothered me almost as much as others who saw my light. As it got dark the flashing got more irritating to me, so can only imagine what others thought.

I then added a second handlebar light, an inexpensive 25 lumen light, that is really a "be seen" light only. I have no problem putting this in flash mode in the day and could even use in night if I really want to get someones attention. I typically don't use flash at night, but in certain situations I have (usually while passing slow/stopped traffic in the bike lane to try to get drivers attention so they hopefully don't pull into the bike lane or making last minute right turns, etc). In really dark areas I might put it on solid pointed down while my larger light points further forward.

My Main light gets angled up and down and switched between power level depending on the situation. Main reason to put down is to avoid blinding people on MUP, etc. I typically use this in flash in foggy conditions, occasionally will put on solid or flash in higher traffic areas, etc

I now also got a helmet light, light and motion vis360+. This will give me the "high low" that other posters mentioned, as well as give me a higher light in the rear. I can also use it to signal my intentions, get drivers attention, look around etc. I expect I will typically use it in solid, maybe flashing in some situations in the day.

Leisesturm

Some of the ignorance contained in this thread is jaw dropping in its scope and intensity. I just have to shake my head. One of the more persistent urban myths is that a flashing light does not allow a car driver to judge the speed or distance from the bicycle that is doing the flashing. I don't know, but I have never found that it is really necessary. Seems to me that what's really important is that the driver know that you are out there! Once that fact registers, the rest takes care of itself. Still, for the unconvinced, there is this... MagicShine headlights, to use an example I am familiar with, in strobe mode do not blink. They sizzle. The light strobes rapidly but never completely goes out. Some motorcycle headlights do this. It is a proven attention getter and should allow the driver, that you are on a head on collision trajectory with, to judge both your speed and your closing distance, right up to the WHUMP that indicates solid contact with his front bumper. Similarly, Planet Bike rear flashers do not completely go out in blink mode. FWIW.

H

Leebo

Look at them with 300 lumens on the helmet, works great for me.

slcbob

Thank you, H, for advancing its scope and intensity!

jrickards

In darkness, when I need a light to see where I'm going, I'll have both running, the brighter one on solid, the lesser one on blink. When I don't need a light to see (sun or streetlights provide sufficient light), I'll save the battery and turn off the solid, keeping the flashing one still going (at all times of the day). Rear blinky, always on when riding.

vol

I have a related question: how far should the two lights be placed apart from each other? Both near the middle of the handlebar, or far apart near the left and right grips, resp.?

vanttila

That of course depends on what you're doing What's your setup?

fietsbob

Close together, drivers assume you are far away.

Leisesturm

I don't think it matters what kind of bar you run, about the only place most lights end up, if bar mounted, is close to the stem. I mean... is it even possible to put a light anywhere else on a handlebar? Many lights make the job easy for you by mounting two lightheads in a single housing. I hope an earlier poster who alluded to two lights giving oncoming drivers the impression that a car was coming towards them... ... well I hope he was kidding... ...

H

EDIT: maybe he wasn't kidding... does it need to be said that there is no possible difference in perception from the vantage of a distant vehicle of two lights mounted 2" apart vs a possible 12" apart. My lights are mounted close together because that's where they fit best. I can control their angle, switch between modes, etc. with just one hand. I am not going to fool anyone into thinking I am a car by putting the lights at the ends of my bars! The size and color of the lights are completely wrong for one thing, even though lots of cars are running HID lights these days. I think drivers can tell the difference between 2" diam.lights mounted 14" apart from 7" diam. lights that are 48" apart? No?

Rick@OCRR

I have a Mi-Newt 600 (Nite-Rider) on the handlebar and a small Topeak flasher (on flash mode!) on the right fork blade. I find the low-set flasher keeps drivers from pulling out in front of me from the right (most left turners are at traffic signals).

The Mi-Newt 600 has three brightness levels but I find the "Low" setting is quite bright enough, even on very dark streets.The Mi-Newt needs to be re-charged about once a week, the Topeak once every two months.

Rick / OCRR

alan s 

Actually, two lights horizontally mounted but separated look a lot like car headlights that are far away, due to the lower intensity of the bike lights. This creates a potentially hazardous situation, because the oncoming driver has mistaken you for a distant car, when in fact you are really close bike. The high/low helmet/bars mounting immediately identifies you as a bike, which is the desired result. Also, as others have discussed, strobe lights are much harder to track at night than steady or pulsing lights, and are not a good idea, not to mention the annoyance they cause.

BaggerRyder

Thanks for all the responses. As always a lot of different opinions. I've been playing around a little and have been running them on solid, one pointed about 2 feet ahead of me and towards the ground so I can see debris on the ground and the other pointed farther out to light the way.
Any advice on mounting a helmet light with a helmet rain cover on?
I have a helmet light (actually just a Princeton Tec headlamp removed from the strap) that I ziptie to my helmet but haven't figured out a way to mount to my helmet when I have my rain cover on without cutting holes into the cover.

NOS88

Two lights. One on bars the other on helmet. Always solid at night. During rainy days the light on the bars is on slow flash.

SGocka

I have two forward facing lights. One steady headlight, and one cheaper watch battery powered LED that I keep on flashing mode.

wphamilton

I run one headlight on the handlebar, and an LED flashlight on the helmet. I only use the helmet light at night, only on steady.

pdlamb

The dyno driven light is all I need to see the road, so it's angled so the top of the bright spot is pretty close to the horizon.

I've got a couple more I add for riding in traffic, a bar-mount or a helmet mount flashing light. I try to angle them up enough that I don't turn into an epileptic when I'm looking at the road, but they're still annoying flashing road signs. The big benefits are (1) it's a bit easier to read road signs, when I really need to, and (2) my wife is convinced I'm safe when I'm running one. The downsides are (1) they have to be recharged, and (2) half the idiots in cars that can't be bothered to see me without a flasher, still don't see me when there's a bright flashing light illuminating the logo on their cell phone.

yarb

I run two Magicshines on the bars, one steady and one flashing on streets. When I drive, a flashing light gets my attention, and that's what I want on the bike. I don't care if it annoys people. I want to be seen, and for people to know I'm not a car. Both steady on MUP's and I cover with a glove when approaching other trail users.

mklos1

On a trekking bike (my commuting bike) I'm using B&M IQ2 (dynamo, lamp on the fork), and Roxim RX-5 on the bar as backup/supplement. German StVZO did a great job defining how bicycle (public road) light should look like. Thanks to the StVZO compatibility I've got far-reaching beam without blinding anyone who passes next to me. On mtb I've got two XM-L (~1000 lm/pcs) flashlights. Great in the forest, poor on the road. I've to compromise far-reaching beam otherwise I will blinding other road users. Polish road traffic law doesn't require any special lights ("tactical" flashlights are not forbidden), but safety and common sense first.

mstraus

Not sure there is a good way to do that. You could consider a waterproof cap UNDER your helmet instead of a helmet cover so you can mount a light. I got a showerpass waterproof biking cap so I could have a helmet mounted light.

ItsJustMe

I only run a 2nd light as a backup. I don't think I'd want to have a flashing light, it would drive me bonkers. Unless you're riding in an area with a lot of ambient light anyway, having a flashing headlight would seem super distracting.

In the daytime I just run one flasher, the steady isn't really needed.

cehowardGS

I applaud you for seeing the benefit of running mutliple bright lights in traffic.. I respectfully disagree with your "it was obnoxiously bright".. A post in the Safety forum compared riding in traffic to combat. I won't go so far as to do that, but riding in traffic is a whole different ball game. Rush hour traffic and at night time is even worse..IMO, we must be seen to even have a chance in that kind of environment.

I ride with two 1200 rate plus or higher lums up front. and sometimes even back those two with a 500+lum helmet light. Running a Hotshot Cygolite USB on the back of the helmet, and a Sefras USB mounted on the seatpost. During the day, I am running one of the lights up front on strong blinky, with one of the rear lights running too. I know you know the respect you get when running those bright lights up front. The "cut in front or pull out in front" is almost non-existent when running strong blinky lights up front. At night, and mainly on my return leg of the commute, which is in traffic and dark, up front I am running one light on blinky, the other on solid. the helmet light acts like a horn too, and it works on curves..

All of the above is what I do in knock-down-balls out rush-hour traffic, mostly at night too. I would not recommend any of the above for MUPs or bike trails..Maybe a tiny small lum blinky up front might be okay for MUP or trails, that I don't know, because 97% of my riding is on the street with traffic..

Again, with the traffic, keep the lights strong...

e0richt

I actually have a "bar" that I attached below my handlebar that holds a handlebar bag and would allow for lights to be setup on the outsides with a distance of about a foot...

mstraus

I certainly welcome you opinion, even if slightly different then mine. I do agree bright lights, and multiple lights, is important for safety and being seen by cars. I am often amazed at how many people have some really dull lights front and back, or no lights, riding through SF. My preferred set up is different then yours, partially due to the route I ride which is largely a MUPs, streets with less traffic and/or streets with well marked bike lanes and minimal areas with cars parked or on roads that can pull out in front of me. I have had to go a different, more crowded route a few times and on those I definitely like the brighter blinking light to get drivers attention.

I have recently been looking at brighter blinky options to go with my solid on lights. The "obnoxiously bright" blinky issue was largely an issue for me as it reflected off my bike and things in front of me and actually interfered with my own vision. I recently tried another 700 lumen light that has a blinky that is probably more like 200 lumens and the flash pattern didn't seem to bother me as much, so I might try that in addition to my solid 700 lumen light for the street part of my commute.

BaggerRyder

So I've finally started my weekly bike commuting routine after a month off because of a wicked cold.

I've found that my preference is running my metro 300 in the steady pulse mode on the left side of my bars, pointed down and to the left so it bounces off the white stripe of the bike path and my metro 500 pointed straight ahead on the middle brightness solid setting. The blinkey doesn't bother me as it kind of gets washed out by the 500. The blinkey keeps that solid white stripe lit up and pulsing so traffic can see that there is someone on the shoulder, and the solid keeps the road ahead of me lit up so I can see my path. Works for me... Other than the next thought.

Last night on a particularly long dark straight stretch of road on the commute home, a group of about 6 or 7 cyclist were heading towards me taking the lane, preparing to make a left turn in front of me. Every one of the riders in the group had a bar mounted light and a helmet light, all solid, and at first, from a distance, I couldn't tell what was coming at me. I knew deep down they were cyclist, but maybe because I am a cyclist. I greeted them as they did me as we passed each-other.

I wonder what that group looked like to the average driver, tired from a long day, and thought about the phenomenon that sometimes causes a person to drive towards something that they focus on. Like how we are taught and practice looking through the turn while riding a motorcycle, because you will go where you are looking. It scared me to think that someone in a car, mesmerized by all these high and low lights, trying to figure out what they are, might get fixated on them and accidentally drive towards that group. I didn't like thinking about that but it came to mind. And then it came to my mind that maybe drivers behind me see my pulsing light bouncing off the white stripe and the same fixation could happen to them. Things that make you go hmmmm...

Leisesturm

Add a helmet light to that, and oncoming traffic will think you are a freight train. Max respect. FWIW.

H