Originally Posted by
ItsJustMe
I had a farmer on my commute (mostly rural commute) who was out at his mailbox as I went by, call to me today, I pulled over to chat, and he had nothing but praise my MagicShine. He complained about "most cyclists must have a death wish, riding around with no lights and black clothes - it's impossible to see them sometimes." He said he saw me a half mile off - this was in the daylight, though it was getting towards evening (4PM) and was overcast. "Damn, that thing is bright." Then I said "this is on its lowest mode. Here's bright (click click click)." "Yeah, that will do the job" (as he turned his head away).
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I had a store clerk compliment my MagicShine a few weeks ago. He also noticed me from a great distance after daybreak. Another cyclist asked me what kind of light it was as I passed him. Said he thought I might have been a train or something coming up behind him (this was along some train tracks).
I have to say though that this discussion has prompted me to set it on low and point it downward on trails where there might be peds or other cyclists.
One of the things that prompted me to get a better light this winter was an incident last year where I moved toward the left to pass an unlit cyclist in front of me not realizing there were two cyclists coming the other way. The first one also had no light, the second one had a small blinkie. Initially, I couldn't see the blinkie behind the first rider and I imagine that guy couldn't see my light behind the dude in front of me. I saw them with enough time to react but it was a wake up call.