cyclezealot

Commuting home from work..What is a comfortable distance for a commute...This commute would be well after dark..What is the maximum time you would commute..Less than a half hour..One hour..Two?
what most rechargeable batteries last 1.5- 3 hours..
My Cyrgo Lite has two batteries...By swapping batteries out, I could be out for over three hours in the dark...
Do you actually do this commute and how often...

Becca

I commute in dusk hours: early evening and early morning. My Nite Hawk Raptor uses a SLA (sealed lead acid) battery that will last for roughly four hours. My commute is usually under an hour, about eight miles of small hills.

Inoplanetyanin

I commute at night with maximum about 40 minutes of riding.

I don't have any lights besides reflective material.

I ride on the sidewalk.

cyclezealot

With enough extra lights, bulbs, batteries...Would some one attempt a two hour commute..Sort of anxious to try one..For the most part, traffic is not bad and bike lanes wide..
Inyo...I do feel more secure with some kind of light...If for nothing else other than missing objects in the road...Some decent mid range lights can be bought on sale for under $70 and decent AA battery operated lights can be purchased for under $20 ...Maybe where you ride it is well light. I suggest safety comes first take care of yourself..Besides, Here in California is it not the law..$18 could save you from a ticket and an accident.

Diggy18

I won't go more than 1.5 hours at night, and watch the time carefully. My headlight says it should last 2 hours I think, so 1.5 hours gives me a safety margin. Out here in the country, without a light I wouldn't be able to go any faster than a walking pace.

That's one thing about riding in the dark. So far I only have a 10watt light, so speeds over 20mph are dodgy, and I can forget about sprinting or bombing down hills at 30mph. I worry about a deer jumping in front of me.

Other than that riding at night is nice. I love the stars, and now that it's cool out, it's awesome smelling people's fireplaces as I ride by and seeing the light come out of the windows. Reminds me of this book Silas Marner.

cyclezealot

But, if you must commute at night further, is it just not a matter of carrying two batteries and maybe a small AA battery driven system for emergencies.

jperegrino

My commute home is 1 hour in darkness, with about 40% on bike paths, the rest in traffic. I'd say you need a light + batteries that will last you more than twice you daily night commute time, that way you aren't forced to always remember to charge nightly. Maybe you can get by on a single commute-time charge if your charge is next to your bike so you never forget.

Other than that, I'm finding it all depends on your nerves. Night commuting in traffic is not fun (you have to be completely focused) and therefore it feels like work instead of just pedaling for fun. Currently, when I come home I feel as if I've been fighting bumper-to-bumper traffic in a car...but with the benefit of getting a good workout.

Maybe if there were more bike commuters on the road, but in my part of town I feel like I'm the only one on a bike at night. Once in a while I see someone else.

Diggy18

That's how I would feel - plus some light that you can hold in your hand if you need to do a roadside repair in the dark. The smaller Cateye LCD lights could serve as a hand held flashlight if needed. I'm sure it would be frustrating to have to change a tire in the dark.

If you're going to do a lot of night riding then I'd also look at putting some reflective material on the helmet and, and maybe some of those mini bliny lights for the ends of your handle bars.

junioroverlord

Its hard to say. For me I've biked four five hours in the middle of the night without lights, but then again, I live in LA, and was travelling downtown where there are tons of street lights.

In some states the law dictates that if you are riding at night you need to have a front light and rear red light as well. I know california does.

Inoplanetyanin

You are absolutely right, and I also heard that indeed, it's a law to have a light on the bicycle after dark.


It's just there are always personal circumstances...

madhouse

I live in the country. The length of ride at night IMHO is a half hour shorter than the duration of your battery life. This is my first year riding at night after I outgrew my youthful "I'm invincible days" and now have a light. Now I almost prefer riding at night. There is less traffic and I find that I am given much more respect with my blinky lights than I am during daylight.

junioroverlord

https://www.bicyclesource.com/body/sa...nia-laws.shtml

Equipment Requirements. VC 21201

d) Every bicycle operated upon any highway during darkness shall be equipped with the following:

1. A lamp emitting a white light which illuminates the highway and is visible from a distance of 300 feet to the front and the sides of the bicycle.
2. A red reflector mounted on the rear of the bicycle and visible from 500 feet to the rear of the bicycle.
3. A white or yellow reflector mounted on each pedal visible 200 feet to the front and rear of the bicycle and a white or red reflector on each side to the rear of the center of the bicycle, except bicycles which are equipped with reflectorized tires on the front and the rear need not be equipped with side reflectors. All reflectorized tires must meet DMV requirements.


https://www.bicyclesource.com/body/sa...nia-laws.shtml

cyclezealot

Ino Planet...A $18 light on sale , might save your from a $100 ticket, if nothing else..Let alone the safety factor...There are some pretty bright lights on sale for under $30...Think there is one Cateye on sale, operated by AA batteries and has three 5 watt bulbs..Not trying to harp, but LA police can be sticklers.

BostonKate

I was driving home this afternoon, through ritzy western Boston suburbs, on the road I'll commute on if I take the contract I was offered Friday night, and just about drove up the butt of a guy in dark cycling clothes, on a dark bike, with no lights and only a single red reflector on his seatpost. He pulled up next to me at a long red light, so I rolled down my window and suggested that he get some lights and better reflectives (and noticed he was riding a Seven, so he wasn't broke). He said "My headlight battery died, and besides there are streetlights on this road." Yeah, a light every quarter mile is really going to save your $6K custom frame when nobody can see you in the dark spots.

I've already got double replacement sets of batteries on my commute-supplies list, and after that experience I think I am going to sew reflective tape to everything I've got.

Wasn't

My commute in darkness can take from 75 to 90 minutes, depending on the route I take. The route consists of quiet country roads, busy country roads, roads through the city, and a couple miles on a rail/trail. It's one of the reasons I didn't skimp on a dependable, reliable, and predictable light system. On a full charge, I can go from one to three hours, depending on brightness. I'm comfortable riding even with the dimmest setting (a 12 watt halogen spot) over 90% of the ride. It's helpful to be familiar with terrain and shoulders on the roads on your route.

tacomee

I don't think I could ride a hour at night.... It just drains me to ride in traffic after dark. I have a somewhat good 10w halogen and a couple of blinkies and I ride at -15 mph becuase that's about the speed I can still see and feel safe at.

But I do ride all the time after dark. I just stay within 10 miles of home and know the bus routes if I have a problem. If I flat or the halogen goes south... screw it! It's bus or taxi time!

froze

My Cygolite is the el cheapo Metro and it will run for up to 5 hours on 6 D batteries. I don't carry extra batteries because I know when the bats are ready to die about an hour before they do. I also don't carry and extra bulb because the Metro is a dual beam light so if one dies I still have the other. An hour commute one way would be OK for me, but beyond that and I just want to get home and be with the family so I would probably drive if the commute was more then that by bike, or only ride in two or three times a week.

I also use a xenon flasher on the front to attract attention more. Small head lights may light up the road well but they don't have the large lighted surface a car light has, so the small lights fool drivers and they either don't see them or think their farther away then they really are. The flasher gets the driver to look at whats flashing and therefore see you faster...that's the theory anyway!

cyclezealot

I have a dual beam headlight by Cyrgolite and carry an extra Cateye 300 just is case..Along with two charged batteries for the Cyrgo lite...I have blinkie lights in the front and back..Some of the roads I travel are country and very dark..
Besides lights, I think reflective vests a big add on's...The vest I have has a blinking strip on the back..This by Home Safety, Inc..
Hope no motorist can miss all this?

Merriwether

I don't commute at night, but I ride at night. Sometimes I'll go out for more than two hours.

My primary light is an L&M HID ARC light, with a battery life of about 2:45 on high, and perhaps twenty or thirty minutes longer on the still bright but lower low setting. That's plenty of time.

I bring a backup light, though. A Princeton Vortec headlamp:

www.princetontec.com

Its primary purpose is to provide light for repairs, should they be needed. It's also a serviceable emergency backup light. It's easily possible to ride home at a slower pace with it.

I have needed the backup light to ride only once, when I forgot to charge the HID battery. I rode about ten miles home on completely dark country roads. I was able to see adequately for a 12-14 mph ride.

With fresh alkaline batteries, the backup light will burn for about three hours. Six hours of headlight time is plenty for any night riding I do.

If you are really worried about your commute time, buy another battery. If I were out for more than two hours a lot of the time, that's what I would do. The money isn't worth the risk of riding around without bright lights, in my view.

I know you've already got two batteries, but if the burn time question bothers you enough, what is the cost of another battery in money and weight compared to ensuring that you always have adequate light?

Alternatively, you might think of getting a pricier halogen or HID system with a longer (t>3hr) run time. I know, the cost adds up, but compare the cost to ordinary car maintenance. That makes the bite a little easier.

Sloth

I commute on a bike path that goes for fairly long distances with no lights whatsoever. I am constantly running into (not literally, but damn close) people riding with NO lights whatsoever. None. They just loom out of the night. Bizarre.

Pedestrians do it, too. Hello! You need a light too!

kurremkarm

Obviously a troll.

Diggy18

Yeah, where I'm at in the 'burbs there are a lot of neighborhoods without sidewalks, so I need to ride further out in the road at night to avoid running over someone out for a jog or a walk.

digs

... if you get a dynamo light.... and a nice tail light... and a few extra batteries... your night commute can last until the night ends... quite a few times

The_Pitts

LED technology for the headlight can save you alot of cash for batteries. My planet bike light lasts over 30hrs on 4 AA batteries. It also doubles as a flashlight on tour.

Michel Gagnon

MOst rechargeables seem to last 1.5 - 3 hours at a useable level, but that "rated time" is usually good when the battery is very new and it is not too cold. Bring a 3-year-old 3-hour battery outside at -10 C and it suddently becomes a 20-minute battery.

For those who plan a long commute, a generator is the best. My regular commute is 10 minutes, but when I travel to Repentigny, it's nice to know the generator will be working fine when I come back home 5-6 hours later... even at -20 C.