Originally Posted by
rm -rf
Dark country roads
1200 lumens is likely too bright for rural dark roads, unless you are speeding downhill and need to see way down the road. With 1100 lumens, the road reflection right in front of my bike was really too bright, and especially any reflective signs were annoyingly bright. So you can run the light at half power, 600 lumens, while cruising on country roads.
I have 2000 lumens now, and really like the bright light for city streets. It can compete with car headlights with a big pool of bright light on the road ahead. It's good for those times when car headlights are in my eyes and the road is hard to see, and for those patches of alternating bright streetlights and dark sections between streetlights.
I was thinking almost the exact opposite.
IMO, there is no such thing as too bright for rural roads, particularly if you are in storms or fog, though in clear conditions where you have no oncoming lights to mess with your eyes, it doesn't take many lumens to get decent visibility. Having said that, one of the reasons I like a lot of power in those situations is that most of my experience is on busy highways so lights from oncoming cars shrink your pupils
I used to run a 1650 lumen setup which was generally very adequate, but once the spray started kicking up, I found myself wishing for more. I've collided with all kinds of debris in the dark, the weirdest thing being a bed spring -- the metal was all black and I couldn't see the thin lines in the wet/spray so I suddenly found myself totally tangled up in it. On the plus side, the springs totally broke my fall and I was uninjured
I no longer use the lights from my old commute as I live in an urban area now -- they are way too bright and are too distracting to others even when properly aimed. Plus, my experience is that urban cycling speeds are generally lower than rural ones. I must admit I also find many of the Portland Freds who run poorly aimed 1000+ lumen setups (especially those who run daytime strobes at night) obnoxious because they blind people in the name of visibility.
For urban riding, I use a light that maxes out at 600 lumens but typically run it lower because ambient lighting is usually adequate. I do have a totally unlit descent through tight curves which makes me wish for my old setup since it doesn't give me nearly enough visibility