Light of the beholder
 

Today I saw someone cycling my direction and I: what a bright light, very bright light – good morning! As that lady commuter came next to me, she muttered "bright light" or something. (She being surprised MY light was bright!)

I appreciate people using lights etc. But still I meet ‘Dark Commuters’ seeming to have a deadwish. It’s a jungle out there :-)

I don't like bright lights in my direction ... they're distracting and annoying.

I like a bright light with a cut-off.

I usually classify people riding in my direction with blinding light people as Arschlöcher (and yes, I usually say that to their face as they ride by in English/German/Swedish/Danish/etc...)

I don't care how bright your light is, so long as it's not aimed at my eyes.

Point your lights down and outside please - not horizontal and straight ahead.

good point Diablo.

If I'm riding in an area with traffic, I'll usually set the lights at 100lumens. If I'm going solo and I need it, I'll go up as high as I need.

But, I ended up with two lights, so I can point one down, and have one pointed level - just like high and low beams in a car.

Cycling with a bright light in traffic is usually not an issue. Everyone is going the same direction, and those going the opposite are too far away to take notice.

Cycling with a bright light on a MUP at night you have to be careful where the light is aimed. You could temporarily blind someone coming your way.

Not in Europe, the spaces are much smaller. People will get VERY irritated.

I prefer to point mine down as well but a few years ago our city changed the traffic light sensors. They moved from induction sensors to camera sensors. And they don't recognize bicycles unless you point your light upwards right at the camera. Probably blinding people on the other side.
Meaning at intersections I have to move it up and then back down. A bit annoying....

You need proper bike lanes ;)

I wish. But this is Texas. Aka truck country. Hardly anyone commutes by bike. Only an exile German like me. ;)

I lived in Texas for 7.5 years and then moved to Sweden (2.5y) and Germany (3y).

I used to build and race cars for money at university airports in Texas and rode bicycles in SE and D.

I also owned a few pick-em-up trucks and an old Queen Anne victorian house.

Go Aggies!

Pointing your lights down only works up to a certain speed.

That's kinda funny. Over here, beam cut-offs work well at speeds, even on e-bikes.

Ride the rural roads that I commute on and we'll see how funny it is when you go down because you hit a tree branch or a patch of fallen black walnuts or hickory nuts, or a pothole, or someone's black garbage cans left on the shoulder for pickup, or roadkill. There are no other bike commuters out there while I'm riding to work in the dark, so why would I point my lights down where I can out ride them at 18 or so mph?

Kinda funny story but that has nothing to do with the OP where another cyclist was around.

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Are there any USB lights that have the top of the beam cut off like my B&M dyno light?

Are YOU serious when you chide someone else for posting info that digresses from the OP?
see: https://www.bikeforums.net/19952612-post10.html

I would guess the B&M USB lights since they have to comply to the German StVZO.

What? Does Europe only have single lane roads? Funny, with only a few exceptions, most places I've been to in Europe have lanes that are about as wide as American roads, i.e. about a 3.5m lane (11 feet for the metrically challenged). Bicyclists tend to ride on the outside of the lane as well. That puts on oncoming cyclist about 7m (22+ feet) away from you. You'd kind of have to shout obscenities (yes, your word is an obscenity that violates Forum rules) at other cyclists.

It's okay because the locals probably just consider you to be an inconsiderate...and possibly crazy...Yank.

Depends on the speed. I aim my lights about 2 car lengths out (30 feet) and haven't had a problem at up to 45mph.

Actually, I was thinking more of the cyclepaths (without roads) common the continent (where I almost never rode on a road) and one-way streets, which are very common in the UK. This thread really isn't about me, so why bring it up, only to insult me?

Also, just because something translates as an obscenity in a different language/culture doesn't mean that it is. The most obvious example is the c-word (cXXX) in British / Australian English is somewhat endearing compared to the same word in US English. I'd put Arschloch (German) on a similar level to Pain in the ass (US English) even though that's not it's direct translation.

Relax. Why get so worked up over something minor?

I didn't know they existed. Now I see Peter White carries them. Nice.

They've been available from Germany by mail for years at a significant discount over Peter White last time I checked.

Question to those who also drive: how visible is the light projected on the ground, e.g. the big lighted circle on the ground by bike front/rear light (or flashlight) aimed downward?

guess it depends on the light. mine makes a really big circle of light so even when pointed down there's lots of indirect visibility

https://i.imgur.com/UEhuILAl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/t82RZQcl.jpg

It's a much bigger problem on MUPs - a good chunk of my commute. If walkers are shielding their eyes when you approach, or other bike riders take off their light and aim it directly at your eyes... you should assume your lights are causing problems.

yup, even tho I point mine down, I now also cover it partly w my left hand when approaching ppl. thing is, the ppl w/o a light, I can't see in advance unless my light is aimed higher. bikes, joggers & walkers, etc w lights, I can prepare for!

I have a zoomable head led flashlight. It is aimed so I get a nice fat (10ft wide?) spot that begins a few ft in front of me, and stretches a good bit forward (15ft?). I try to keep it low, otherwise light is wasted. In blinking mode, it's super obvious how high your beam is. I'm ok with nearby car tail lights, but if stop signs are blinking back at you, your light is too high. If street signs on traffic signal poles are blinking, your light is WAY too high!

You don't point the light directly at the ground. Just aim it so that it isn't completely horizontal. That wastes the light anyway. The point is to illuminate the ground so that you can see something before you hit it.

There are also various reflector angles that are going to have a large effect on how much light goes where. Most LED lights have a 35° reflector which is a wide angle flood light. A few LED lights have 25° reflectors which is a wider spot light. Back in the days of MR16 halogens, you could get 12° reflector lights that were an intense spotlight.

This is also going to make a lot of difference in how the light is perceived by motorists and other riders. A wide flood light looks a bit dazzling but really isn't since it throws it's light over a wide area. Not much of that area is going to be that intense. The wide spot is going to be more intense at the center but it throws less light off to the sides. The really narrow spot puts a whole lot of light in a really tiny area.

In other words, the flood lights are going to get noticed while the spots are going to let you see the ground better.