Originally Posted by
mikhalit
Nope, not so in my case. Okay, I got how you use your light. You point it down at a rather close distance, while i tend to set the beam center next to parallel to the ground, to cover larger area and to take the advantage of the simple round reflector. So it will be seen very well from 500 meters or more thus the 10+ seconds and that's why i cover it when others appear in front. In cities i just keep it off.
Ah. An aiming problem. I use my lights to illuminate my path so that I can see the road at about normal operating speed. Being seen with them isn't all that much of a problem even when aimed so that they provide road illumination because they are bright. The primary function of the lights is to see, not be seen.
Aiming lights so that they are set at infinity...500 meters is as close to infinity as you can even with high intensity lights...doesn't do anything for seeing the road and could be an annoyance to other road users. Look at the way car lights are aimed, for example. They don't aim them out to 500 meters but aim them so that they illuminate the road at some finite distance from the vehicle. The driver can see what is coming up and make corrections to course as needed but not blind other road users.
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
Hm, when mountain biking you are not setting the light at the same angle, are you? If you point the light downwards the illuminated patch will be quite small, not something i would want when riding in the woods.
Yes, I am aiming my lights so that they illuminate the trail. The lights on the bar are aimed approximately 5 meters in front of me and the helmet light is about a meter in front of that. If I were to aim the lights parallel to the ground, they would only illuminate the trees. A light that is set parallel to the ground and aimed around 500 meters in front of me is ineffective. I don't really need to see 500 meters down the trail but I need to see what is 5 to 6 meters ahead so that I can plan my line.
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
If you encounter out of city someone with the type of light i am talking about (with a wide and uniform beam) you'll definitely want him to switch it off or look away. The contrast is way too large to be bearable.
Not if that person is traveling in the opposite direction on the proper side of a roadway. As I said I avoid bike paths at night.
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
Well, here in the Northern Germany drivers are very polite and you rarely get unshaped lights shining into your eyes. They expect same from you. Since i ride in the dark about 6-7 hours per week I try to respect the others. Few times my dynamo light was set too high and people did complain by turning the high beam lights on and off. Most of the Magicshine lights have stronger and much wider beam than my dynolight, so i can imagine it's even more uncomfortable to encounter it on the road. Again, if you point it down and close then it is less of a problem, but i find it is too ineffective.
It doesn't matter if the beam is shaped or unshaped. If the motorist is at a higher elevation than you are, their light will travel in a straight line to your eyes. As a motorist, I encounter lights that are higher than I am all the time..even when driving a high profile vehicle. The world is a hilly place and we learn to deal with bright lights at night. Here's a couple of examples. Both were taken from the steering wheel of my SUV which is almost 2 meters above the ground. The cars in both pictures were on a hill above me
Neither car had their high beams on and both were late models that used shaped beams.
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
But are there bike paths? Isn't it violating the traffic rules not to ride there when they exist?
My state doesn't have a mandatory side path rule. The cities and counties I ride through also have dusk to dawn curfews on the paths that I would normally use during daylight hours as well. Even if they didn't have curfews, I wouldn't ride a bike path at night to avoid issues with pedestrians and bright lights. I really am not a jerk now matter what some Bikeforum members might think
Originally Posted by
mikhalit
Okay, you know what you are doing. If it makes your ride safer and you think it doesn't annoy the others then I am happy with that. My strategy for the city riding is to have a strong shaped light mounted low and a complementary "band aid" on top of the helmet. I can tell there is a noticeable difference between riding with the band aid and without one. I find its enough, perhaps it is because i ride like a pussey, but i don't think any light will always save me from a careless teenager, so i ride like they don't see me anyway.