Light and Motion Urban - pulse mode effectiveness
 

I recently purchased a L&M Urban 1000 light for my bike, which will mostly be used for daytime or early dawn/dusk "be seen" visibility. This light only has one flashing mode, which they call Pulse, where the brightness slowly and smoothly cycles between about 50% and full brightness about once a second. They claim this enhances rider safety because it calls attention to you, while at the same time not disorienting and distracting the oncoming traffic.

The problem I'm having is that, just looking at the light from a few feet away during the daytime, the pulsing does not appear very noticeable to me. The differential between the lowest and highest brightness just doesn't seem large enough to create a noticeable effect. It just looks like the light is on steady. However that's from relatively close, where my eyes are already "saturated" by the brightness so I can't really make out small differences. Projected against a wall, or looking at the amber side lights, the effect is much more visible.

Anyway, I'm just wondering if people have used the Urban series of lights and have opinions on the Pulse mode? Other than that I really like the light, and the included GoPro mount opens up a whole range of interesting mounting possibilities.

I have the Urban 700. I never use the Brightest setting....it gets hot.
Just the 350 med. setting... yours 500.... plenty of light.
I dislike the strobe light setting on most of the other lights I see while driving.
Very annoying. The slow pulse is mainly just a light that is on ... people can see you coming during the day when sometimes you are in shadows... or to get their attention.
Light and Motions theory is the fast strobe causes some people to space out.
A lightweight and bright light solution that is easy to mount and adjust, and easy to remove.
Use it!

I don't think the pulse light thing that Light and Motion does is as effective as flashing with a sharp edged flashing light. I can't remember who it was (maybe a mfg, trek?) but they claim that the type of flash and the abruptness of it is important. I'd agree with that qualitatively.

J.

I own a Light & Motion Urban 800 and use both pulse and high setting 3 to 5 times per week.

Staring into a pulsing LED from three feet away isn't going to tell you how effective it is.

Set the light on your mailbox, walk 1/4 mile down the street and look at it. That's what it will look like to motorists.


-Tim-

Ditto, Tim's suggestion. I walked about 100 yards away to evaluate the L&M Urban 500's slow pulse mode. It's visible and effective.

Yeah, I think rapid blinkers are better attention getters in traffic. But the L&M's pulse is better suited to my group rides and MUP use. And I always aim the light downward around other cyclists. I'm not concerned about blinding drivers -- their headlights are already much brighter than most bike headlights.

I've asked drivers for their impressions, including a security guard who happened to call out "Nice lights!" as I was passing one night. We chatted awhile and his feedback was very helpful. Yeah, a 1,000 lumen spotlight aimed directly into a driver's eyes might be a distraction, but in actual use this rarely happens. It's no different from the momentary glare from a truck or SUV with those accessory lights aimed straight ahead, as they turn across our sight lines.

BTW, a tip to enhance side visibility with the L&M...

The amber lenses on the sides of the L&M are okay, but not great. I made a light hood to provide a cutoff at the top to avoid blinding oncoming cyclists and pedestrians on the MUP, and to enhance side visibility.

The hood is cut from a white nylon plastic pill bottle. The commonly available types for prescription and OTC meds works fine. I used one from an empty bottle of low dose aspirin. The soft, pliable nylon is easy to cut with a craft knife and scissors.

I cut off the neck roughly, then carefully trimmed the diameter using a craft knife, just shaving away a little at a time. A really sharp vegetable peeler could work as well.

This snapped securely into the recess just behind the lens of the L&M Urban 500. Holds securely, but can be removed and re-attached without damaging the light or hood. And it can be rotated to suit the orientation of the light, for folks who mount lights on head tubes, forks or upside down under the handlebar.

Then I cut the body of the bottle to create an elongated petal effect, like hoods for some wide angle camera lenses.

The beam now resembles that of the well designed Busch & Muller Ixons. Wide flare to the edges for roadside visibility. Long center spot. Cutoff to light the clear road ahead, but can be tipped downward to avoid blinding oncoming cyclists, joggers and pedestrians.

Now the L&M Urban 500 glows like a light bulb, visible not only from the sides but from a rearward angle. To minimize spill that harms my dark adapted eyes I put black tape across the top, leaving the lower edges exposed to enhance the white glow. My hands, white brake hoods, etc., are also illuminated, further enhancing my nighttime visibility.

Works great. I should market a readymade version, but frankly it's so cheap and easy to make at home it's not worth buying one. The soft, pliable white nylon pill bottles make it easy.

This is important.

Occasionally a pedestrian or motorist will say something like, "Sure can see you coming!" or "Oh, its a bike!!!" or similar. It is very useful to stop and chat for a moment, ask them if the light is annoying, what stands out or how far away they noticed.

As with most humans, motorists and peds are happy to give opinions and feedback, especially when solicited.


-Tim-

Yup, in my neighborhood I've stopped several times to chat with folks walking or jogging who mentioned the light. First thing I ask is whether it's too bright or blinding to them. So far every response has been that it's appropriately bright and visible. Some said they thought at first it was a motorcycle or scooter light.

That surprised me because the L&M lacks the surface area and sophisticated lenses of vehicle lights. Most vehicle lights have lenses designed to aim the beams downward to more effectively illuminate the road without blinding oncoming traffic.

And that's one of my goals with the homebrewed hood. It increases the apparent surface area and directs the beam downward, while enhancing visibility. It looks like the soft glow of a compact fluorescent bulb. I'll try to post some photos and videos soon.

I like the idea, since you can rotate it for different mounting positions. In my case I sometimes mount the Urban on the underside of my K-Edge out-front computer mount. Mounted this way, using the GoPro adapter, the light ends up hanging upside-down, which would not work well with a fixed cutoff beam.

By the way...

Light & Motion Urban 800 Fast Charge for only $78!
-Tim-

Yup, L&M have reduced prices on some Urban models. As with most USB rechargeable lights it's best to buy more lumens than you think you need, then run 'em at medium output for longer run time and still get adequate light.

That was a hard earned lesson for me. Exactly right.

J.

Why don't you mount the light and stand the bike someplace along the road. The cross the road and walk off a distance seeing the light as oncoming drivers would?.

Andhave more light available when it rains etc...

I finally got around to trying this. I set up the light in pulse mode and walked maybe 150 yds away. In the bright afternoon sun, the pulsing was barely visible. If I didn't know what to look for, I would never have noticed it. At most, it looked like the normal variation in brightness you would see from any headlight pitching forward and back as the vehicle moves over the road. The light was quite bright and visible from a distance, but it looked like a steady light.

From what I've observed, the pulse is most noticeable when it's a secondary splash effect, like when shining against a wall. So it's possibly more effective at night when it's pointed down a bit and you get some reflection from the pavement.

My opinion is that the pulse mode is meant as a be seen mode at night.
This is one of my irritations of the mode to (just having seen it online) - it didn't look like it would be effective as a "be seen" light during the day.

Pulse mode is not supposed to be used at night. Light & Motion even calls it "Daytime Pulse Mode."

Why would someone buy a 500 or 800 or 1000 lumen light and run it at 150 lumen pulse during the night? The whole point of such lights is turning them on so that you can see where you are going.


-Tim-

I’m not a fan of the ‘pulse mode’ on the LM urban series lights.

I owned a LM 850 fast charge, and while I loved almost everything about the light, the pulse mode in my opinion, was a disappointment. It just wasn’t very visible to me. Even if I placed myself at a distance from the light.

I loved the fast charging aspect of the light. I loved the wide beam pattern. I also loved the side amber lights. I loved the fact that it was water proof. (I would repeatedly submerge the light in the ocean at depths of 20’ish feet for minutes at a time). ‘Fishing related’.

Pulse mode sucked. I know, it’s not a ‘strobe’. Pulse mode just didn’t seem to do enough to grab attention.

I started running my nite-rider 350 in strobe mode along with my LM. Felt much more confident when riding with traffic.

Pulse, strobe/flash and steady/constant mode lights
 

That's also my conclusion.
Irritation for others is less with pulse than with strobe/flashing.
And during day distance calculation for car drivers isn't reduced.

During night it's different, depending on the frequency of pulse mode.
Avoiding problems with distance calculation for others would be to use an additional steady/constant mode rear light.

swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/irritant/index_en.html#knipperend

I use 2 different lights set to flash during the day and with the different speeds of the different lights I'm more visible.

The pulse mode might be more effective if it were user adjustable for duration/interval like the Cygolite Hotshot zoom mode.

I don't understand all the angst over a light.

Those who don't like pulse mode should return what they bought and buy a light that flashes. That's all.

Or add a second, less expensive flashing light like the Blackburn Centrual 100.


-Tim-

Orfos Flare Pro
 

Looks like Light and Motion's new Vibe lights have even added a sharp edged flash to their pulse mode. Their advertising says that the flash is more visible and eye catching but the pulse helps a driver's depth perception hence they combined the two modes.

Vibe Cycling Lights - Light & Motion