Rude to have headlight in flash mode?
 

Somebody told me that it is rude and might not gain friends if I keep my headlights in flash mode? I am new to commuting so I don't want to be rude to my fellow cyclist if this is the case. I am just thinking that I have a better chance to be seen by an approaching vehicle if it is in flash mode especially during dusk. I actually just got a superflash tails as well for better chance of being seen. I do not want to be rude but I do not want to be unsafe as well. Would love to hear what BF has to say on this. Thanks a lot.

It depends on how many lumens the headlight can produce and how it's aimed. Extremely low lumen lights, under 50, are tolerable at night, I had been temporarily blinded once by a cyclist with a poorly aimed dual head light setup, in the 600 to 1000 lumen range, with both headlights in the strobe mode. The cyclist was definitely not on the top of my most favorable list.

I agree with dynodonn.

Though I must add... As a driver, I would rather be nearly blinded than to hit a cyclist because I didn't notice their puny flashing light.

+1!

The cyclist I mentioned was on the opposite side of the street, temporarily blinding all traffic traveling in the opposite direction of him, sometimes the " if a little is good, more must be better" attitude can be taken too far.

The cyclist had so many front, side, and rear strobe lights it would make our local emergency teams proud.

I think flashing rear red ligts are great but the front lights should not be in a flashing mode IMO. A regular front beam is very visble and I do not see the need for the flashing. I find it mildly to very annoying depending on the output of light.

Flash on buddy. I'd rather be perceived as rude than to not be seen. After all, isn't it why you spent the extra money on the light to be seen and get home safely to your family every day?

All about Safe Riding for me....Flash It

i dont use flash on the front. i adjust the light level according to the traffic conditions. med for most and when im around downtown areas or coffee shops i put it on high.

I'm a Flasher.

I've noticed that drivers seem to be much more aware of me when my lights are in flashing mode. I don't feel it's rude. My lights are nowhere near as bright as theirs, especially if they have those HID head lamps.

The way I look at it is that this is very true in a group ride, but when I am out commuting to work by bike everyday, it's more about survival than making friends.

Flashing to be seen, solid to see. I run both.

Be aware of your flash frequency. Some are very slow, eg 2 Hz (flashes per second) , resulting in about 1/2 second of unilluminated travel.
This is really dangerous when approaching a side road. The driver will glance at you, not see you, look the other way and pull out.
Higher frequency flashes can be seen OK but I always use the front on solid. If you want to add an additional flashing mode light, that is fine.

Steady beam in the dark on the morning commute. Flash mode on the commute home in the daylight.

Rear light on flash at all times.

The only time I can use a flashing front light, is during rainy overcast days. At night, I have to have a solid on headlight, I find a flashing headlight on my bike at night to be very disorienting to me. During the day there is enough ambient light so that it doesn't affect me.

Switch to solid if/when you get on a MUP.

I use two front lamps... When I'm on the road, one is on solid and the other is flashing. When I hit the trail or MUP, I turn off the flasher so it doesn't bother oncoming cyclists or pedestrians. My tail light is always flashing.

+1.

Obligatory reference to epilepsy: Flashing lights can trigger seizures in some people. I'm one of those people. Flashies don't need to be super-powerful to be effective. I've lost count of the number of times I've had to completely shield my eyes from some fool running flashies at an intensity that could rival the sun's. What's the point? A medium intensity flashie will do the job. Keep your super-powerful beam for the steady light, something you can actually see by!

Max

Depends on the situation.

I run flashers on all my bikes in low visibility conditions, like rain, fog or heavy overcast. On an MUP or protected bike path, or in cycling group; no.

I am more concerned with the rear flasher than the front. Also from my observation in a city environment the flashers quite often will get lost in the rest of the lights out there.

Aaron :)

I run 2 front lights, an PlanetBike HID Alias on steady and a PlanetBike Blaze 2W LED on blinky. The steady bulb is for me to see, the blinking bulb is for me to be seen. My goal for the blinky is to make sure that turning cars (cross streets) see me and recognize me as something they may need to stop for.

When I have the blinky running on the front, I notice more cars reacting to my presence, and they're doing it earlier than without the blinky.

IMO: Run that Blinky.

Often I'll ride with two headlights. maybe I am paranoid about not being seen.. My main system omits 350 lumens. A Niterider LED system.. As a secondary headlight , I take along my small aaa operated Cateye Opti Cube. It's rather dull. But, I put that on flashing mode , just to help assure that I am being seen.

I run blinky in front and solid in rear.

Better be seen than be dead. Some people perhaps cross the line of sanity with the lights, but I can't hold that again them. Many drivers drive around the city with their high beams on, extra sets of fog lights, halogens and what not, most older cars have improperly adjusted lights, motorcycle lights are blinding too on and nobody gives a rat's ass, suddenly bicycle lights are too bright. F**k that, honestly.

I ride with two MagicShine lights on high, on bike paths I turn them off and switch to a lower power blinkie. On streets they're on high. If somebody has a problem with that they can go and f**k themselves. Seriously.

My posts are usually calm and polite but this bulls**t with "OMG, bike lights are too bright!" pisses me off. If it blinds you, that means it's working, if it bothers you, too bad, slow down or get out of my way.

A big chunk of my commute is along chicago's lakefront bike path and because it parallels lake shore drive, an 8 lane expressway, I actually really, really appreciate cyclists who use their front blinkies on the trail because it helps differentiate them from all the background visual noise of the car headlights on LSD.

One of my headlight is quite bright, but it flashes too quickly, and I find it annoying even to myself! I think flashing with lower frequency is OK, higher is not a good idea especially if the light is very bright.