jyl

What is the run time . . . 15 minutes?

I have a single XML T6 LED light on the helmet and it is plenty bright. A similar power light on the bars to light the road. Five LEDs seems like overkill. Maybe if there were modes for 1, 3, and all 5 LEDs. Then you could save the max lumens for "emergencies".

cyccommute 

I'm just responding to people who tell me that battery lights are stupid. You, and anyone else who want to use generator lights, can do so to your hearts content. Let's not forget that the original post by halycon100 was about battery lights, one of which he already has. He wasn't asking about generator lights or even considering them. Every single light question on the forums eventually gets drug into the "generators are better" argument no matter what the original question was.

I'll admit that generators have some advantages but they also have many disadvantages that have been enumerated elsewhere. Batteries have disadvantages as well but they also have many advantages.

You are missing my point. If I want to ride any one of my 8 bikes at night in any season, I can do so by simply moving the lamps to the bike I want to ride. I don't need a new wheel for each bike, I just need to move the lights. I can...and do... use the same light for mountain bikes, road bikes, on-road, off-road, fast, slow or whatever I want to do. I can even loan my lights to someone. I've done that for my teammates at a 24 hr race. I couldn't do any of that with a generator light. That's a huge advantage for my uses. That seems to be an advantage for many other people considering that battery lights have a much larger share of the market than do generator lights.

Let's also not forget that generator lights were abysmal until the last 5 to 10 years. If, like me, you had to try to use the generator lights prior to that you'd probably have a different opinion about them. I went to batteries long ago because generators had way too many problems like blown bulbs unless you kept your speed down, low output and very poor light quality. Even a Cateye HL500 that had been TurboCatted had better light and it was horrible. A single one put out about the same light as the best generator light of the time. But I could run 3, 4 or 5 of them and get enough light to see by.

A quick Google of "bicycle generator lights" gives lots of examples of less than stellar optics. One is based on the Planet Bike Blaze which doesn't have special optics of any kind. There are some battery powered lights that have the optics that you seem to want.

But just because the optics are different doesn't mean that they are bad. For off-road riding, I don't want a light like some of the generator lights. You need a different type of illumination for trail riding. Even on-road, the conical lights aren't as bad as some would have you to believe. I can see where my light is going and 50% (or 75% or 90% or whatever other outrageous claim is made) is "spraying off into space". Nor is it "blinding" drivers who are coming at me. The claims made by many are nothing more than hyperbole.

Your "refined" optics for generator lights are a relatively recent development. Not too long ago (less than 15 years), the Union headlamp was the light to use for generators. It was a simple round parabolic reflector that was as sophisticated as 1965 Chevrolet Impala headlamp. Heck, even car lights from 10 to 15 years ago were basically the same. Just because lights are different now doesn't mean that they have always been that way.

noglider 

Who has been saying battery lights are stupid? I missed that. Has there actually been anyone who says it?

I agree that generator lights have improved in very recent years, but I fail to see why that amounts to a disadvantage to having them now. What are you saying here?

And I'm also still missing your point about the ability to move lights from one bike to the next. Yes, of course you can do that. I can do it, too. And I do it. But with three of my bikes, I get the advantage of generator lights, which is that I don't have to move lights. To me, that alone is one of the advantages. They're already installed, and I don't have to move them on or off. While I could move battery lights onto those bikes, I don't have to.

And I do know how bad the lights were. They were all I used on my three-month European tour many years ago, because they were the best thing available at the time.

I also agree with you about trail riding. I doubt these generator lights would be up to the task. That's where a conical beam makes sense, I think, though I don't have a lot of experience to confirm it.

acidfast7

I guess after living in Germany I believe in preventative maintenance for cars and bikes (e.g. switching out the alternator (lichtmachine) on a car at a preset mileage to prevent failures). Breaking down on the autobahn is a punishable offence with a heavy fine because one is creating an unsafe situation.

I feel the same way about bike commuting and alleviate concerns by:

1. Living within walking distance of my work (campus). No more than 10km away.
2. Having a fully lit cyclepath/cyclelane on the commuting route.
3. Riding a bike with minimal points of failure.
4. Keeping the bike in good working order, which is very easy with FGSS.
5. Not dropping anything because I ride with a "backpack" that gets inspected every time I use it. It would quite suck to have something fall out when I'm rockclimbing on a exposed surface and hit someone below. Another advantage versus panniers that remain on the bike at all times (like some of my colleagues).

Slightly tongue-in-cheek here, but with a "standlicht" dynamo I should be able to search the street for a dropped item, right?

Honestly, I think people increase their risk of flats because of choices they make (long distances from work without adequate cycling connections or the proper equipment).

Just my 20 øre (still in CPH).

tcs

What a joy to live in a time when we can debate the 'best' bicycle lights. For most of the last 140 years, lights for cycling were abysmal, and any debate would have been about which light was least worst. A look at the illustrations of Daniel Rebour is 'illuminating': tiny generators, strap on flashlights!

The Union 100 actually had a pretty good lens that herded up its feeble collection of photons and threw a usefully shaped beam.



My favorite optics from the bad old days, though, was the BEREC Ever Ready Frontguard II, with its lens designed by the Department of Opthalmic Optics at London University.

"We feel it is quite the best lamp on the market.' - International Cycling Guide, 1982.

Can you imagine: a headlamp with a 3W filament bulb and twin D-cells being the best on the market? How did we survive?

tcs

2000 lumen is for pantywaists.

mstraus

If your responding to the 5800 lumen monster I posted about, it is 7, yes SEVEN, CREE LEDs, NOT a measly 5.

I think 7, or 5 LEDs, and anything close to 5800 lumens or whatever this thing actually puts out, is serious overkill and nobody should really use this while communing anywhere that they might encounter other living people on the way.

I guess sarcasm is harder to pick up on in a forum, particularly when I am sure there are some BF members who are ready to buy a couple to light up the night.

As for battery life, the manufacture claims 2 hours, guess its a big battery pack. I also assume that they are overestimating that, just like I am sure they are over estimating the lumen rating.

mstraus

Wow, somehow you found a light that outdoes the 7 CREE LED 5800 Lumen monster I posted earlier. Of course lumens or LEDs per $ the cheap light from China I posted will kill this.

https://www.chinavasion.com/china/who...ter_Resistant/

The bar is now set at 10 LEDs and 6000 Lumens. Can anyone beat that?

tcs

Advertising claims are easy to make. How'd yours do in independent testing?

Be sure to watch the Halo vs Car Video! Coming soon to an MUP near you!

Leebo

How do you fit a generator light on your helmet ? If someone is not from the US, please don't tell us how it should be done here, does not work. I like my helmet light, 1200 lumens on the bar + 300 lumens blinking on the bar, works for me YRMV. No flats, please try riding on some of these " nice " roads in the Boston MA area. We have potholes that swallow up large dogs, truth. 8 bikes, why so few? Most riders I know have 3-6. Commute, winter , road, dirt, tour etc.
So, way, way back to the OP's question, more light would be helpful. Try 300 on the helmet and a steady and blinking light on the bars. That is what works for me, and I do dim them some on my unlighted MUP. Some of my 18 mile ride is unlit, and at 20 + mph, more light is better. I also pedal in rain ,fog and snow. Some things to think about. I also use wheel lights, great for side visibility .

acidfast7

Why on earth would i want to do something as ridiculous as wear a light on my head?

Most people don't wear helmets over here, except for Germans, it's a dead give away ... just like trainers/sneakers on an American.

mrbubbles

Helmet is ridiculous enough for commuting, and wearing a light on a helmet? Even more ridiculous, and I'm in a major city in the North America and I have never for the last decade wore a helmet with lights for commuting purposes. It's silly.

acidfast7

I'd love to see some of the people in this forum spend a weekend in the Netherlands, Sweden or CPH as see what they say.

1. Everyone rides in regular clothes.
2. Everyone has everything built into their bike, so they don't waste time maintaining stuff and/or can't ride because a light was left up in the flat
3. Wow, when one can walk to work it's really nice.
4. Holy crap, there's free air and tools at unmanned bike service stations.

I think the discussion of the helmet with 1000 Lumens is where this thread enters the absurd or jumps the shark, so to speak ... that poster probably thinks that bigger is better in an auto collision

mrbubbles

I got 1-3 covered, and I've done 25 min commutes in regular clothes on a regular commuting bike with full fenders, dynamo lights, chainguard, no helmet. No. 4 is only currently available in touristy/high volume bike routes.

acidfast7

Yeah, I can't expect people to wait for #4 to happen in their area.

alan s 

I have no problem wth any of this, but fail to see how it is relevant to the discussion at hand.

spare_wheel

Helmet use is increasing in CPH thanks to PSA campaigns.

mstraus

A helmet is a good thing to wear if you want to survive an accident. It amazes me that "nobody" wears them in Europe outside of Germans. I will sometimes ride around town or a bike path without a helmet, but only on quiet roads and bike paths. I always wear my helmet on my commute.

Helmet lights are good for three things -
1. To light in a direction other then where my bike is pointed. I have used this to see arund a turn, to see a person/animal that might step into my path, etc. Granted this is really only useful in dark areas. In a city I don't really need a light for this (or any light to see...lights are to be seen in a well light city)
2. To be seen - a helmet light is higher up and can be seen by the bit tall SUV that pulls up next to me - they can't see the bar mounted light as it is bellow thier window. Maybe this is mostly a problem in the US were big trucks and SUVs are more common.
3. To get a drivers attention - shinning my helmet light at a driver or their mirror is a good way to get their attention (I try to avoid in the eyes but sometimes they are looking the other direction). This is useful in an urban environment, when going through an all way stop, etc.

Just because you think a helmet light is not needed in your situation doesn't mean its ridiculous.

Leebo

+ 100 ^^^
When it is totally dark, a biker needs to see in the direction before actually turning the bars, so a helmet lights works well there. There is a separate helmet thread for those discussions. The 1000 lumens are on the bars. I don't walk 18 miles to work. Maybe another thread needs to be started, " my commute/bike/lights/route/country is better then yours"

alan s 

The Germans are wise to follow the American lead in this regard. It will naturally follow that the Germans will see the benefits of battery powered lights, rather than being tied to outdated, inferior technology used by their European bretheren.

enigmaT120

Funny -- my Blackburn Flea on my helmet is the only reason I wear a helmet. The two months of the year that I ride in daylight both ways I skip both. I still keep the hub powered lights on though.

spare_wheel

It makes sense if you define "everybody" as the Dutch, Danes, Swedish, and Germans.

acidfast7

Based on lifestyle, I wouldn't expect to see many Mediterraneans wear them. Eastern Europeans maybe a little, but not so much, unless they're trying to emulate Germans, which does happen.

My SO's parents took the whole family across Hungary when it was still communist with a 2-year-old on a front bike seat. Three bikes, four people, zero helmets.

Old habits die quite hard in the old world.

(Thankfully as the schnapps is quite good and the train service ... 200+mph with WiFi right now ... are top notch and I hope they don't change.)

acidfast7

Not over the last 2 weeks I was there.

I didn't see a single helmet and probably saw 1000+ cyclists.

Although this was only in CPH and not in the 'burbs.

acidfast7

I also find it humorous that the thread title asks about "etiquette" and numerous responses describe shining a bright helmet-mounted light in motorists faces.

I guess you guys have different ideas of "etiquette" on that side of the pond ... wouldn't be the first time

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