Originally Posted by Ediblestarfish

It's really difficult to use a symmetrical (conical) beam light in a way that does not show a blinding amount of glare to someone in front of the light. Just do some experiments with the beam starting all the way down, then aim it up bit by bit--go in front and check each time.

By the time you figure out the highest you can aim the light without massive glare, you'll find that the light is aimed way too close for any practical riding. Wide floody lights are the worst, since the shallow reflector means it doesn't take much angle to be looking right at the diode.

You can put a hood over the light to reduce up-angle glare it as a last ditch attempt, but those waste a lot of light though absorption and uncontrolled reflection.

It's kind of sad, we have all this raw lighting power to play with, but very primitive lens and reflector design for the beam shape with the majority of lights.