chryst

Hey guys. With Winter coming up, I need a headlight. So I took my trusty surefire and attached it to my handlebar. Should be plenty of light, tho a larger spread beam might be nicer. We'll see.

What's your guys' thoughts on the best alignment of a headlight? Should it be aimed lower so I can see the road directly ahead more clearly, and avoid potholes more easily, or higher so I can see further ahead, to oncoming obstacles?

John Wilke

I guess it depends upon how fast you're going. My lamp is on loose enough so I can move it up and down, but tight enough that bumps don't jostle it.

John Wilke
Milwaukee

AndrewP

I have 2 LED headlights, which only just give enough light. One is near the the bottom of the left fork to light the road just in front of me (potholes), the other is in the handlebars pointed level (to be seen).

ItsJustMe

For me, the area right in front of my tire, out to about 15 feet, needs to be lit well enough to avoid potholes & debris. Light farther out is a bonus. Exactly where that translates to in terms of aim point depends on what light you're running.

If I'm sufferin' along with my LED, I point it about 10-15 feet in front of me and ride slow. It has almost no peripheral lighting, so it's gotta point where I'm going. If I rode with it regularly instead of as backup, I'd put it on my helmet so I could move it around.

If I'm riding with my 20W halogen (normal right now) I point it about 18-25 feet ahead, and it gives sufficient light down to the ground and 5 feet to the sides to see a more complete situation, and I can ride faster.

If I'm riding with my HID (if it ever gets back from repair) I point it about 40+ feet ahead, and everything from the ground to 75 feet out is very well illuminated, and I ride as fast as I like.

Roody

I think it depends on the type of riding you are doing. If you are on a dark trail or dark country road, you need to aim it down a bit to illuminate the road. If you are riding on lit city streets, you want to aim up a little bit, or level, so the beam shines in the eyes of the drivers.

Why did you decide on a flashlight instead of a bicycle headlight? Those Surefire flashlights are as expensive as headlights, and you don't get an easily adjusted mounting bracket. Also, I like to remove my headlight and take it in with me to prevent theft. It seems like that would be more difficult with a flashlight?

budster

My advice would be to leave the mount a little loose, so that you can see what works best for you in action. Tighten it fully when you get it where you want it.

I use two headlights on city streets, one a 5-LED, the other a halogen. The purpose of the LED light is to be seen, and I keep it aimed fairly high, ie pretty much right in the face of cars coming towards me. A couple of times drivers have flashed their headlights at me, so mission accomplished.

The purpose of the halogen is to see, so it's aimed lower. I've found, though, that I do better if I look farther ahead rather than right down at my wheels. Gives me more time to react. Like I say, try different things and see what works for you in real life.

sggoodri

Proponents of fork-mounted headlamps like to point out that a low mounting point provides a longer swath of illuminated pavement and better shadow contrast on surface features, even with a narrow beam. This is ideal for faster cycling on dark roads under generator power.

I typically use wide-angle battery lights on handlebar mounts for their conspicuity to other drivers, since most of my night cycling is urban. I aim the headlamp out far enough to see potholes and lane stripes in time to respond to them at the speed I will be cycling. With a high power lamp this allows me to ride fast. When I use a lower power lamp, I must ride slowly. Be prepared to adjust the lamp angle on your first couple of rides as you get a feel for this.

chryst

Cause I already have the surefire. It's as bright as any halogen bike light will be, and weighs a whole lot less for the output. I made the mount from a quick-release gun-mount, so it comes with me pretty easily. It's adjustable as it's mounted, but I'll want to tighten it down once I figure out where I like it.

I plan on riding some of my local trails, which run both through street-lit neighborhoods, and through dark near-rural stretches.

hi565

man, easy with the surefire

Those are'ntno bvicycle lights! THOSE ARE BEAMS! easy with pointg them at cars, they are some powerful suckas.

slvoid

Figure out what your max speed is.
1mph=1.5 fps.
So if you're planning on hitting 30mph, you need to be able to see about 45ft out to have 1 second of warning. I like to have 2-3 seconds of warning.
Also consider the spread of the light. At the very minimum, I like to have at least 2-3 bicycle widths so I can see where I'm serving into to avoid something.

DannoXYZ 

What bugs me is people who aim their headlights at the horizon and blinds me for a couple of minutes. Why is there a need to look that far ahead? You're not going to get there for over 30-minutes, but you're blinding everyone on the bike-path... I have my lights aimed to cover the area right in front of my tyre out to about 100-ft max.

slvoid

If I am my main spot at 75 ft, the broad flood coverage is guaranteed to hit way above the horizon...

CommuterRun

I'm sure it works fine. I rode for a while using a 4AA dive light, that I already had on hand for spearfishing, for a headlight. Just wrapped a couple wraps of electrical tape around the 'bar for added friction, zip-tied the dive light/headlight on and that worked fine, too.

Now I like to ride with two headlights. One aimed straight ahead (high beam) and the other on the road (low beam). Sometimes I'll ride with a single light, but prefer having two for the same reason I like having two taillights. Active light redundancy.

oboeguy

Apparently during the bumpy Tour de Bronx ride I did on Sunday my light was jarred out of angle. I discovered this, of course, last night in the middle of the dark, rainy ride home. I stopped at an underpass (on the Hudson Greenway, so totally safe to do so!) to adjust the light, but my fingers were already cold and wet so the adjustment was not easy (plus the Forerunner 301 gets in the way and I was not going to risk taking it off the bars and dropping it with stiff fingers). I have to fiddle with it some more in better weather (or gee, maybe indoors if I remember ).

Anyhow, I, too, like to point it fairly far out so that high-speed riding is possible. I have a very long hallway at home so I think, having read this thread, I'll use that length to set things up right and take a measurement.

2manybikes

This would be nice added right on the light comparison chart. It seems that this is a huge missed point when people discuss how fast they can go with what kind of light. Many also seem to not think about seeing where you are swerving to.The way you explained it makes it easy to understand what one needs, and why. It adds a lot of use to the chart if you don't know how you came up with your figures.
I think car driver training now uses the " 2 second rule" to simplify things. I guess that's enough reaction time for most people. I like 2-3 seconds too.

Roody

2-3 seconds seems reasonable. Most braking times are slower on bikes compared to motor vehicles. (Consider that many riders do not have their brakes in the best possible mechanical condition. ABS systems on cars have improved their brakes, but we still have to wrorry about wet and ice. Also, many cyclists have never practiced quick stops, and don't really know how to handle one.)

Trek930

I just bought a Cateye 1 led light to aim at drivers and on blink. My main light is a Light N Motion halogen, 20w or so. I aim the 20w so the top of the ring it projects is just visible ahead of me. I'd say that is about 50 - 75 feet ahead of me. I am not worried about speed with it. It has great light dispersion and I don't have hills that allow me to get over say 25 mph without a big struggle.

Since I come from MTBing I have good skills at feathering my brakes. My main problem now is that my commuter (cantilever brakes) are much harder to work than my MTB with hydro disk brakes. I have only read about the quick turn recently so I have no experiance on that. Must find time to practice that.

budster

I know what you mean.

With two lights, I keep my "to-be-seen" light aimed high so cars can see me. I want cars to be a little annoyed with my light in their face. When I'm on a bike path or trail, I just turn that light off so I won't blind other cyclists. It doesn't help me see much in the dark anyway.

heckflosse

Wow, I'm glad you guys don't cycle anywhere near me

heckflosse

I also like to keep my "to-be-seen" 4x4 roof lights aimed high so cyclists can see me. I want cyclists (like you) to be a little annoyed with my lights in their faces.

heckflosse

I also like to keep my "to-be-seen" 4x4 roof lights aimed high so cyclists can see me. I want cyclists (like you) to be a little annoyed with my lights in their faces.

Roody

What's your point? My little LED sure isn't going to blind anybody. You probably ride on dark roads and use absurdly bright lights. I ride on well lit city streets, and just need a little light to be seen. How will I be seen if I don't aim at that which I want to see me?

heckflosse

It may not blind somebody but, and I quote "the beam shines in the eyes of the drivers.", will definitely effect their vision easily causing an accident. I may use "absurdly' bright lights" off-road when there's no other light source but these are aimed immediately in front of the vehicle to show up ruts etc. and never at other people. Okay I may have caught the eyes of the odd rabbit but they weren't driving a 3,000lb car in a built up area.

budster

I've found it's the only sure way to get their attention.

Roody and I are not talking about "absurdly bright" lights. We're talking about aaa-powered LED lights, glorified flashlights that are eye-catching, especially when flashing, but aren't going to affect anyone's vision negatively.

I have tested the light on myself and, even aimed right in the driver's face, it isn't as annoying/blinding as a car's low beam headlight. It is noticeable, though, especially when blinking, and on a dark trail it could interfere with a fellow cyclist's vision, which is why I switch it off when on trail.

I keep my brighter light aimed low, lower than a car's low beam headlights. As with yours, mine is for seeing off-road when there's no other light source.

Peace.

2manybikes

True, 2 seconds in good conditions only. Basically, the more you have the better it is.