Originally Posted by
hopperja
Well, I completely disagree. And, I think most people, including the commuters in these forums, have it wrong. Most people spend their money on a decent if not great headlight and then skimp on the tail light. I have found that 99% of the time, I could get by without a headlight (do I want to, no? but, I could). A dim flashlight would work in absolute darkness once the eyes adjusted. Everywhere else there's enough ambient light that I could get by.
Speaking of eyes adjusting, have you ever considered how much light pollution there is in the cab of a vehicle? While the dome light may be off, the dash lights are lit up, and occaisionally there may be street lights or on-coming headlights. Human eyes take about 30 minutes to fully adjust to darkness. Your tail light has to compete with all of the light pollution. Buy a mediocre light if you think that's what your safety and life is worth.
trail or road? night, day or dusk?
i really don't think my radbot-1000 paired with a 0.5W PBSF clone (soon to be upgraded) is skimping. not where i ride. somewhere on the boards i recall a story of someone riding through a wide open desert during the day with a dinotte, and catching up to a truck driver at a truck stop. the truck driver commented on how far away the light was visible. if i was riding there, i'd get a dinotte. on my sub/urban rides that would be like pointing a laser in a driver's face. brighter is better... only to a certain point. that point depends on riding conditions.
i've got two lights on front, but they're mostly for being seen. on my sub/urban rides i very rarely need a headlight to see. if i was riding on trails i would probably have a magic-shine headlight and just a small (PBSF, cherry-bomb, et al) blinky in back. i've thought about getting a magic-shine, but i prefer not to blind oncoming traffic - on a trail at night that's usually not a concern. at any speed faster than a slow walk, i would not want to rely on my eyes being adjusted to the darkness. i don't like those kinds of surprises.
about the bell - you need a bell that rings itself as the bicycles moves. this gives the animals much more advance warning, before they're "stunned" by a headlight. really, sleigh bells would be perfect.