bfromcolo

I noticed that its not quite sunrise when I hit the trail at 6am for my commute and was wondering when visible light was going to start affecting my ride. This link is to a tool that helps to identify available light by date/time/location, I thought someone might find it interesting.

https://www.jgiesen.de/daylight/

I figure I have a couple weeks at best before I will have to make some accommodations. My plan is to modify my commute from my current 16 mile ride, to an 8 mile one way ride and do that until the time change November 4 at which point I would need lights to continue in the evenings. Weather permitting of course, you never know when the snow is going to start flying.

Regarding lights. The most dangerous obstacle next to other people on my ride is deep patches of loose sand/gravel. In twilight these are not easy to pick out as it is, it bike lighting adequate to see these area far enough ahead to adjust?

lil brown bat

Hey, cool tool! thanks for posting it!

Damfino what I'm gonna do in December when the sun rises after I have to be at work already...it seems freaky to think of starting out in the morning with the blinky going. But whatever.

JohnBrooking

I can't seem to get that page to load properly from my office, probably something to do with our firewall and proxy. It looks like it would be cool, but another, simpler solution that I use, which doesn't require any client side components, is www.sunrisesunset.com. It also includes twilight and moon rise/set/phases, and prints in a nice calendar format that I post on my cubicle wall.

BTW, this is exactly the time of year when I find I need my generator light the most, because I'm most likely to misjudge if I'll be out after dark, and end up getting caught without my good winter headlight with rechargeable battery.

bfromcolo

Thanks, this produces a very useful calendar.

tt1106

I ride at 0500, so I start with a light. Of course, now I need the light the entire ride in the morning, whereas, it used to become optional about halfway in. Cest la vie. Fall is rushing in.

zephyr

Tomorrow morning will be my last morning commute ride for this year without a headlight. I leave home at about 6:20 am. This morning we had an overcast sky which made the dawns early light a bit darker than usual. I always have my rear blinkie and my reflective vest on, but today I wished my headlight were there. This weekend I'll get out my front wheel that has a generator hub and put it on my commuter bike, and it will stay there till about next April. Those generator hub lights are great, this will be my second season with it, wish I had tried it years ago instead of messing with those battery systems.

JohnBrooking

My generator is the cheap sidewall "bottle" type, and I've found it doesn't function well in the rain. So for the summer I started also mounting a low-powered CatEye that uses C batteries, so at least I don't need to worry about when I last charged it. In case the generator becomes undependable. Maybe someday I'll spring for a good hub generator.

sherpa93

loose -looser- loosening opposite tight- tighter- tightening lose- loser- losing- lost opposite win -winner- winning- won "Losing daylight"

gbcb

I've given up on the BF grammar, spelling, and word usage battles, but I'm glad to see others carrying on .
To you from failing hands we throw / the torch; be yours to hold it high!

bfromcolo

I knew it was just a matter of time before someone called me on that, alas once you screw up the Title its there forever...

pigah

I was hoping you could loose some daylight over hear. We're going to need it soon.

jeff-o

Regarding lights, be careful with LED lights. I've found they don't provide as much contrast (needed for picking out ruts and bumps) as incandescent lights do. I don't have any experience with HID, though.

ilikebikes

Vistalight used to make a great system for bikes, I had a set years ago, it consisted of two handlebar mounted lights, one high beam, one low, attached via wires to a "Nightstick" rechargable battery that attached to to the water cage mount, it worked fantastic but eventually died after years of use, all Ive seen from them nowadays is a cheap type LED light (sucks!) but Im sure if you poke around flea bay you just might find a nice working Vista light

KingTermite 

How does daylight loosen? :confused:

1ply

:confused: - we need more emoticons on here don't we

To answer your question - righty tighty, lefty loosey. Unless you're truing wheels then it's the opposite as I learned yesterday after 1/3 of the wheel was rubbing instead of one spot.

Recommended storage for daylight is in a dark container such as the little tubes that film comes in (haven't bought THAT for a while).

mtnwalker

What is this film in tubes you speak of?

genec

I thought you had to keep it in a light bottle... a foil lined jar with a tight lid.

I guess that's why I could never save daylight.

jamesdenver

Yeah the sun is at that point where it's directly in my eyes (and motorists eyes) at around 5:30 - 6:30. And TO work as well. Be wary and remember how blinding a dirty windshield can be inside a car.

Safety tip for the day.

unixpro

Last winter I rode on an unlighted trail for a good portion of my ride. I had a halogen system from Sigma that had two handlebar mounted lights connected to a tube mounted rechargeable Ni-Cad battery. One light was 5w and one was 5w/10w switchable. With both lights on (one on 5 and the other on its 10 setting), I had absolutely no problem seeing everything on the path.

That being said, however, I would not recommend the Sigma system. Near the end of winter I started having problems with it and it finally gave up the ghost. If you want a good Halogen system, I'd look at NightRider. Be warned, though, these systems are expensive. You're looking at $200+ for a good one.

For this season, I've got a new job and a new route that's much better lit. One of the other guys here found a Xenon/LED system that runs off 3 AA batteries that ride, for some reason we don't understand, in their own pouch. The Xenon is pretty bright and works for the dark areas. For everything else I switch to the LED lights to save the batteries. He found these on the REI outlet for $10 each.

frymaster

i think the single most important thing a light does is let other folks (usually drivers) see *you*.

now, i will admit that i am a big fan of riding in the dark -- most of my pleasure rides consist of roaring around deserted residential streets at 2am (especially the older neighbourhoods with few or no streetlights) -- so you can probably dismiss my opinions for that alone. but my theory is that bike lights to illuminate the road aren't worth the bother.

1. no windshield means better view (no glare, no grime) and, thus, less need for light.
2. reduced speed (compared to driving) means longer reaction time and thus, less need for light.
3. the overwhelming majority of cycling happens in urban environments with lots of ambient light
4. no cabin means better ability to pick up on audio cues (unless you're a headphone wearer. which is probably a bad idea anyway)

now, having a light on you so drivers can spot you is super important. for my night rides i strap a red blinkie on the back, a white led on my helmet and have about a half meter of reflector tape on my frame.

biknbrian

I work shifts and keep my lights on the bike year round. I have a 1W LED that I throw on if I forget to charge my 15W Halogen. With the 1W LED you can see down a very narrow beam ok. With the 15W Halogen you can see as about well, but over a significantly wider area. I've found the 15W to be just enough light to see icy spots in the winter, but it's still not very bright compared to automobile headlights.

You should be able to pick up a decent 15W halogen for around $100 at Nashbar, mine's a Planet Bike and has lasted through a year of regular use with no problems so far.

1ply

Aren't cars lights 55w x 2?

Yep, we have no chance, then again most bikes don't travel at high speeds on unlit roads at night.

banerjek

Depends on your budget and riding conditions. HID is adequate for this, but very spendy.

BIG-E

Marwi makes some nice 10-15 watt halogens that will run about $100, with a NiMH battery that lasts about 1.5 hours.

LEDs work well if they are bright enough. I have a few flashlights with the new Cree 3W emitter that work good. But you have to be careful and get the new Cree, which is still kind of rare, as the previous generation was only half as bright.

The Planet Bike Superflash is the brightest blinkie out there for $20. Significantly brighter than the standard blinkies.