Bushman

I figured people could make a better choice when buying bike lights if they could actually see HOW the lights light up the road in front of them. So feel free to post pics (taken from behind the handlebars), of how your lights light up the road in front of you.

- include the make and model, and cost/purchase location


maybe include a marker at 30' , 50', and 100' (if your lights go that far)

I will post my pics when i find a camera to use.

derath

I just sent back one of my lights to Dinotte for an upgrade. I will get a shot when it comes back.

-D

Zero_Enigma

My setup is still changing around. This was my old setup here.

The rest of my photos can be found here.

I've changed the original setup from 2 MEC turtle emergency LED's to 2 Planet Bike Blaze now for 1/2 aimed high at the car/SUV head level and the half the cars I've found slow down when they see me coming to see WTF is going on. The other cars tend to slow down quickly as they're running like 60kph in a 40kph zone when the helmet light just catches thier view with a momentary brightness as I quickly look thier way to acknowledge I've seen them there which they slow down which I take as an acknowledgement that they see me. Also because the quick blink of the eye light at head level wakes everyone up.

The turtles offered good front even looking coverage and acted as turn signals for me but only good for BE-SEEN lights only. The PB Blaze however can be used for dual use. Primarly (sp?) they are used as BE-SEEN lights but in a pinch they can be used for TO-SEE lights but at a slower speed ~13-15kph for the reaction times. in the pitch dark but on brightly lite streets they can be used pointed down for close range slow riding. The beam on the PB Blaze are spots. I took the Minoura Spacebar off the bike on the old setup. The new setup has everything on the bars right now as the underbar mount before was not long enough and often caused the front cables to catch.

Zero_Enigma

Pete,

Nice shot! I love the squiggly lines at the top That's a raw shot right? No photoshop work?

Zero_Enigma

Wait a min... I jsut realized there is a shifter on the stem. O_o;; What does that do? Go go Gadget mobile?

aliensporebomb

Damn, Pete's still of his light setup is almost an artistic statement on night riding.

Love it!

aliensporebomb

Trailtech Eclipse 13W HID from batteryspace.com.

Beamshot out to about 65-70 feet:


Another beamshot:


In the house(!):


Battery life indicator - actually very visible from the side by anyone viewing me:


Cateye 25000 mcd rear blinky:


Down the side of the house:


Another angle:


From the rear:


I've got comparison videos of the Trailtech vs. a 1 watt Luxeon I'll
put up on Youtube if anyone cares to see them.

I also hope to get the 50,000 mcd cateye rear blinky soon.

cycle life

^ that is one bright tail light

hr2510

WOW! Those pic.s just sold another Cateye taillight.

kleng

You should have a look at this thread as well.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=322478&page=4

hr2510

Thanks. It would have been nice to see a LD-600 in the "shoot out". By looking at your pic.s it looks like the LD-600 is much brighter than the LD-1000 and is closer to the Dinotte except the 600 cost WAY less and doesn't have as big a appetite for batteries.

aliensporebomb

I'm probably going to get a LD-1000 as well.

My wife and I commuted in today and for a while I was out front and she
said my light was so bright it hurt to look at it.

If I use the LD-600 and 1000 together then there will be a flood of redness
that no one can avoid.

I also did a youtube video (complete with my original music) showing a comparison
of 3 different lighting setups from LED to HID to 3 different types of taillights.

Here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIn3OWG6YK0

tsl

Yup. I have the 1000 screwed to the light/reflector bracket of my rack and use the clothing clip that comes with it, and a Velcro strap from my Dinotte headlights, to mount the 600 on my helmet.

WARNING: When screwing the LD-1000 to a rack, the supplied self-tapping screw is a little long. Remove the batteries first, mount the light (I even have to use a couple of washers to take up space), then check inside for bulging plastic. I used a rat-tail file to chip it away and smooth it off.

If you don't do this, you can screw into the battery. Ruined a nice set of rechargables that way. You might think that the supplied hardware wouldn't damage anything, and you'd be wrong.

aliensporebomb

Hm. I suppose I could get another 600 for the other seatstay....then the 1000 for under the seat.

makdnife

What's with this blinding thing? As a driver I don't like bright lights. I find motorbikes running full beam headlights selfish. I'm not blind, I'm blinded. If a motorbike on full beam is in my wing mirror then I can't see anything else but it - this makes it a road hazard to everyone else. His full beam makes it extremely tiring for me and means that I can't judge the distance between him and me, this uncertainty diverts my attention and puts others at risk. Consequently, check out my light rig - I carry a flashing LED (less than £0.50 in Hong Kong) red light on my back trouser pocket and a cheap halogen on the front, this stays pointing at the ground 3m in front of me (so people can see me in rear mirrors without blinding them), a loose handlebar fitting means that I can flash the light upwards should I be needing to turn across an oncoming traffic lane.

Am I missing the point or does anyone see what I mean?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/11060647@N03/

makdnife

What's with this blinding thing? As a driver I don't like bright lights. I find motorbikes running full beam headlights selfish. I'm not blind, I'm blinded. If a motorbike on full beam is in my wing mirror then I can't see anything else but it - this makes it a road hazard to everyone else. His full beam makes it extremely tiring for me and means that I can't judge the distance between him and me, this uncertainty diverts my attention and puts others at risk as well as him. Consequently, check out my light rig - I carry a flashing LED (less than £0.50 in Hong Kong) red light on my back trouser pocket and a cheap halogen on the front, this stays pointing at the ground 3m in front of me (so people can see me in rear mirrors without blinding them), a loose handlebar fitting means that I can flash the light upwards should I be needing to turn across an oncoming traffic lane.

Am I missing the point or does anyone see what I mean?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/11060647@N03/

cyclezealot

Sorta related. Some states I have read do not allow blinkies on the rear to blink. They must be used in the non blinkie mode. I think blinking on/off more effective. What gives. What mode do you in, flashing or not. ?

makdnife

Quite true, I'm from the UK and it definitely used to be the case that blinking rear lights were against the law and for many years I obeyed. However, noticing that flashing lights were only carried by cyclists and that it made it easy for other road users to identify us, I decided to start flashing, so to speak. Amazingly, it appears that UK law was ammended in October 2005 to allow cyclists to carry front and rear flashing lights. I only have one source for this information but if anyone's feeling strong https://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20052559.htm

Well done the government, and if I've misinterpreted this please let me know.

aliensporebomb

It's not that I wish to blind drivers to the rear, it's that I wish them to see me and
I've had one too many close calls at this point for me to go "I'll go with the usual
50 cent blinky, that will protect me for sure" when most drivers don't see them.

As a driver I watch for cyclists on the road and rarely see a blinky that makes me
go "now THAT's a taillight..."

Now, putting a red lens on an HID is where I draw the line but I've noticed that
battery powered LED lights fade in terms of brightness in time due to battery
power declining and I've seen the LEDs in computer fans also fade in time so
what may be bright today may not be bright tomorrow. So redundancy is
necessary in the case of battery or light failure so you can be seen.