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Old 07-21-13 | 04:06 PM
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01 CAt Man Do's Avatar
01 CAt Man Do
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,152
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From: Columbia, Maryland

Bikes: Mountain bike & Hybrid tour bike

Originally Posted by BridgeRider
They look like this one. But wouldn't you want to see them in real life? It seems to me that a person could make any light look good online.
Yes I have to agree. Putting a camera ten feet away and taking a video...any strobe is going to look bright. Not that these aren't bright. I don't doubt that fact. I do like the fact that the strobe's "pattern" is very eye catching. These are probably designed for auto/motorycycle use and as such require at least 12 volts.

Also interesting in this discussion is the use of "white strobe" for rear use. More and more this concept is becoming more common place. The other day I saw a cyclist ( riding at night ) with two white strobes mounted on a rear rack. At first I thought it was someone riding on the wrong side of the road. When I got closer I saw that the opposite was true. You can say what you want about the legal aspect of this but one thing is clear; If you want the maximum output and maximum visibility, a white strobe is going to get you seen.

I own very good/bright red flashing lights for rear ( night )use but I've considered using a rear mounted high output white strobe for special day time use ( when riding on roads that have speed limits over 40 mph. ) Currently I run a custom Amber ( XP-E) drop-in torch ( on rear ) that has a very nice strobe-burst/pause mode. This I use for added day time visibility. It's quite bright but a white XM-L2 emitter lamp with a slow flash mode would be brighter and likely have more visible range.

The best and brightest strobe/flash bike specific lamp I own has a VERY bright slow flash mode. It is the Gloworm X2. The X2 actually has two flash modes. The one I use is included in the "Adventure Program" and is the alternate sub-mode ( press-hold to activate ). The X-2 has 4 pre-programed UI menus. I use the Adventure program for road use. When I use the flash mode I laughingly refer to it as my "Nuclear Flash Mode" ( one flash every 1.5 sec.) With duel XM-L U2's, the output is AWESOME.
It's so "attention getting" I'm considering using one on the rear for day use. If I do I have no doubt that even on the brightest days I would double my rear "see me" visibility. It's that BRIGHT!.
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