Headlight advice
 

For under $40, CatEye Volt 400 should do the trick. It has replaceable rechargeable cartridge battery so after a few years when the battery doesn't hold a charge anymore, you need only to replace the battery instead of the whole light, and you can carry a spare battery for those long, long ride.
Modes and run time are (taken from their website):
High mode 400 lumens：3hrs
Middle mode 100 lumens：8hrs
Low mode 50 lumens：18hrs
Hyper Constant mode 400/50 lumens：11hrs
Flashing mode 50 lumens： 60hrs

On CatEye website, you can compare the light intensity of their differently light and see what best suite your need.

I second the Cateye Volt series of lights. I am sure Colonel Sanders will give a third recommendation to them as well. :)

Specialized Sells the "stix" which is purely a "be seen" front light for $55:
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/st...=220831-132725

If you want to go expensive the Dinotte Quad Amber is almost $200:
2018 Quad Amber Headlight with built in battery ? DiNotte Lighting USA Online Store

I'd probably try something like a NiteRider Micro 750 myself, item description says it has a blink mode for daytime riding, but be a decent light for riding at night as well for $45:
https://www.amazon.com/NiteRider-677...dp/B071FKT3NT/

I know I'm ignoring your prices a bit, but it's just...it's kinda weird how there is a similar thread each month, always with a price point about 90% of the all the easy answers.

If you put your light on your helmet you will drastically increase your visibility to others, as well as have the ability to direct the output from the light. Convoy C8 Flashlight - XM-L2 T6 4C will give you plenty of light, the strobe function for increased viability and allow you to buy a battery and charger and stay within budget - but spending more on the charger and battery would be highly recommended.

ooh, you got "doored". Riders have been badly hurt by hitting car doors at speed, so you got off kind of easy. I stay a door width away from cars. If there's a bike lane right next to the parking lane, I have to ride way over at the left lane stripe.

If I have to ride closer to cars, I'll slow down, and try to see if anyone is in the cars ahead. But that's hard to do!

Headlights
Just about any headlight in blink mode is helpful during the day or around sunset.

Most modern USB rechargeable headlights are bright enough for safety as a "be-seen" light. To light up the road at a moderate bike speed, I like at least 400 lumens. 600 or 800 would be nice, but more expensive. (Some no-name brands greatly exaggerate their lumens, but most bike store lights are at least close to their rated lumens.)

Tail lights
I like a bright blinking tail light and two of these reflector straps. REI Jogalite Wide Leg Band.
They are extremely reflective, and the up & down motion from two of these makes it obvious it's a bike. It's easy for the cars to understand how close they are to me, since there's two separated reflections. They are good for side visibility, too. Very comfortable to wear. Other bands would work, but these are extra reflective.

First off, if I'm understanding your description of your accident correctly, I'm not sure lights would have mattered. You at least have to have eyeballs going in your direction. Sounds like the uber person made no effort to even look.

All that said, I do a lot of night riding and I ride with visibility lights during the day. I find that it makes a big difference in the respect I get from cars and the room they give me. During the day, I get by with a Bontrager 800 lumen light in a flashing mode in the front. For the back, the Bontrager light that goes at about 60 lumens works really well. HOWEVER - with these lights, a big part of the reason they work so well during the day is that they have lenses that concentrate the beams and they have flashing patterns that are hard to ignore. These lights punch above their weight for daytime riding. During the day, you need to have a bright light that has a sharp edged flash in order to get the maximum respect from cars (read: reaction to your visibility).

For night riding, and I ride in a rural area that is hilly, heavily wooded and has many curves in the road. For this, I find that I need a minimum of about 1500 lumens to be able to make full speed descents of hills that get me up to about 30mph. Incidentally, that is about the same brightness as a single car headlight. The lights I use also allow me to go up to about 2500 lumens which I use in the same manner one would use a bright light dimmer in an automobile. The same taillights work fine.

I think the same applies in urban environments. My kids, both went to a major urban university, and watching a lot of the typical (and worthless) blinkie style lights get lost in the urban jumble of lighting and car lights was really kind of frightening. So I would recommend go big on brightness and flashing on both front and tail for max visibility.

J.

Jenn, I hope you recover soon and well.

I happen to use Bontrager 800 lumen front and rear light in a flashing mode in urban environment as well. I also use Supernova front/rear light comes with my bike in constant mode as ‘seeing’ light. Whether you see ‘dirty’ look on opposite traffic is not really related to how bright your light is but the angle you aim at. I aim it low enough so I can only see the light pattern about 2-3m in front of me. You will know the proper aiming angle quick once you are greet with enough ‘middle finger’ or you notice your fellow biker in the opposite slow down when approaching you. :)

On the other hand, you probably want both your head and rear light to be as bright as possible in flash mode during day time. Ideally, I like the flashing pattern should be as contrast as possible like 200/800 lumen cycle in front and around 40+ lumen on the back. This makes you noticeable (not only visible); you will know when car stops almost a block away before you waiting for you to past an intersection or steer as far to the left as possible when passing you in bike lane. At night time though you want to avoid flashing with too much of contrast too often though. 400 lumen head light is sufficient in urban environment at night and should be appropriate during day time like Cateye Volt 400 headlight although I much prefer 800+ lumen light during the day time ‘to be seen’ meaning those lights are 80+ bucks. After all, my life is worth much more than this amount.

Your inches away ‘doored’ incident reminds me how important the side noticeability is which is equal if not more important than the front and rear. I once have a kid running toward me on the side at like 10 O’clock direction at ‘light’ speed. I slam the brake so hard that my rear wheel is 2 inches above ground when fully stop. Luckily no one get hurts; thanks to my brake and heavy bike keeping me from flying. I have Brightside Bike Light on order now and also am thinking of Monkey wheel light to ride like a X’mas tree on the side to see if I can address this department as well.

Just my 2 cents and hope to give you some prospective.

hey
 

Cyglolite makes great products , i have 2 front lights for 4 years now , work great

In addition to good lighting, you do need to ride defensively. If you are riding within a door width of parked cars, it's a matter of when, not if, you get doored. This is where you need to assert your right to be on the road and position yourself roughly where you'd be if you were driving a car. I know it's tempting to keep over the the side thinking it's safer, but it's not.

Yea, you rode too close to the parked car,

Few turn around and look behind them before opening their car door ,

and you have to stay there and get a copy of the Police report, to have any possible negligence claim
against the driver's insurance, for compensation.


back to various lights brand fans.. there are be seen, and see by levels of light requirements

Blinking is harder to see your position , but for that brief moment the light flashes..
then you have moved before the next one..




;;;

Agree with this. The C8 is very, very bright and I think it is too bright for helmet light where you might suddenly blind someone by turning your head. But this is a perfect handlebar light! I use a XinTD C8 on the bars and a lower power (300 lumens max) on the helmet. I like the single 18650 cylinder shaped flashlights for the helmet. There a a bunch of Convoy S[123456] lights of varying options. Google can help you figure out how they differ. The Convoy lights are very well liked on Home | BudgetLightForum.com. I have an older Shiningbeam S-mini on my helmet and it's perfect.

First of all, watch this 11 minute video tutorial. It is by far the best video I've seen on how to ride in traffic and why it's essential to ride like any motorcycle or motor vehicle. It will seem counter-intuitive but these tactics work and will minimize risks.

Wear a helmet. Put lights on the helmet. You need two or more points of light to enhance visibility. The human eye can better tell at a glance the direction, speed and orientation of another moving object when it has two or more converging or diverging points of light. That's why cars are easier to see at night even when it's too dark to see anything but the lights. That's why some larger motorcycles are easier to see. Two or more points of light, separated by at least 12 inches and preferably more, make us much easier to see.

Here's what I've worn on my helmet for almost three years:
This headlight.
This taillight. The Blackburn 2'fer is a multi-mode light with built-in white and red, steady and flashing. A pair can be used as front and rear lights.

They weigh almost nothing and are very compact. They'll mount easily to most road bike type helmets -- the types with lots of vents. It's trickier to mount lights to helmets with fewer vents -- those trendy but impractical Bern and skater type helmets. Incidentally, those more solid helmets are somewhat deceptive. It seems like they should be safer. In tests, they aren't. The road bike helmets with lots of vents are lighter, more comfortable and test better in impact tests. And you're more likely to wear them because they're comfortable in hot, sweaty summer weather.

Both lights run about the same length of time, recharge about the same, and are durable. I've used them on almost every ride for nearly three years.

I run them on flashing mode. I can see that they work because I can see that drivers see me. Many times I've seen oblivious drivers nearly pull in front of me, glance my direction and slam on their brakes before pulling out in front of me. When I run the front light on steady white drivers tend not to notice me as readily, about the same as riding without a helmet light at all.

The only time the lights didn't help was last month when an oblivious driver, distracted by a cell phone and turning left into my path, clobbered me. It was still light out, the low late afternoon sun was behind me, and it would have taken a much brighter light, a loud horn and Pennywise the clown from It to get that driver's attention.

But I'm satisfied that running multiple lights has reduced my risk overall. Along with cycling as the above video demonstrates.

The above advise from CCat is likely the best advise that I've read. That video is spot on. Most of those techniques in the video are just carry overs from what you learn in basic drivers ed classes but in the case of the cyclist a lot of those rules are even more important. The basic difference is in realizing as a cyclist you are more vulnerable and therefore need to be more pro-active in protecting yourself. Sometimes that means demanding more of the road to protect yourself as the video clearly shows. This also means being more aware of the various safety hazards and taking steps to protect yourself when called for. On a bike the hazards are all around you. In urban areas you really do have to be on your toes and stay attentive to what's going on around you. Recognize the danger zones. Intersections are big time danger zones for cyclists, as are areas with lots of cars parked on the sides of the streets. Parked cars also tend to block the view from cars from side streets and conversely hide the side streets from cyclists who are riding in the road. In urban areas keep your eyes moving, watch your speed and make sure the surface you are riding on is clear of debris and or cracks/potholes. The better the riding surface the more control you have over your bike. That said make sure your bike's brakes are always well maintained. Wet roads and wet brakes mean you might have to adjust your speed when needed.

What CCat advised as to how to use lights to become more visible is also very good advise. I use the same strategies for using lights myself. That said I highly recommend wearing the bright "daytime Yellow jerseys or jackets" when riding on the road. Bright colors are just easier for motorists to see.

Totally agree with the comments on this video. Cyclists need to learn to assert their position on the road and quit giving cars a reason or path to push them off the road or into obstacles.

While flashing lights add to visibility, it is still far more important to be in a place where you can be seen first as well as limiting the opportunities for other vehicles to create conflicts. Put another way, if you have all the flashing lights in the world but you let cars try and squeeze past you when you should have been taking the lane, of if you are riding in places where they don't expect to see a vehicle, then you are still going to have problems getting doored, right and left hooked and being squeezed off the road.

I have a bike cop friend who, after decades of experience with bike/vehicle conflicts, believes that principles in this video are far more important that painted lines on the road in terms of cyclist safety. The first time I got this video was from him.

J.

Bought these for my daughter. https://www.amazon.com/Cygolite-Metr...words=cygolite

I was just in Copenhagen and NOBODY would open a car door without looking out for bikes, since there are more bikes than cars. Bike lanes in the US are just not done right, giving bikes a small space to ride surrounded by cars. Our examples in NYC are horrible. 1st Avenue has a bike lane that puts us in the path of left turning cars, most of which never look. We are unable to avoid obstacles because it is too narrow, we can't be seen because there is a line of parked cars between us and the moving cars. It just doesn't work even though the number of cyclists has exploded over the last few years. Corraled, hidden and marginalized. And the NYC police will ticket cyclists for doing things that drivers would get away with. There was a cop standing at a busy cycling intersection telling us we should have bells, as if bells can be heard inside an air conditioned car, or by a pedestrian with earbuds. Useless. A loud YO works better, and I proved the point as a pedestrian just started walking into the bike lane in front of me against the light, the guy the cops were reminding was right behind me. He heard my shout as I was already wide of him, and the guy behind avoided him.

Anyway, the best defense against being doored is not riding next to them. No light is going to prevent it. That said, GET BRIGHT LIGHTS. Any of the previous suggestions would be fine, or get a dynamo powered light like I have. Just get something bright, don't worry about it being too bright because you can always turn it down.

The penalties are way stiffer for hurting a pedestrian or cyclist. Also awareness training is being done during mandatory driving school. Such thing does not exist in the US. Mandatory drivers Ed is basically non existent in the US.

My first drivers license I received in Germany, my 2nd came from Illinois. I was floored how easy it was to obtain a license there. Moved to Indiana, and it slightly more difficult and yet still way to easy.
It's no wonder drivers aren't aware.
Of course with Copenhagen you obviously picked a target, that every cyclist dreams are made from. I was there a few days last year and even though cycling in Germany is not bad, Copenhagen was amazing.

I bet the passenger didn't look in your direction, so no light would have improved your chances. The bike lane is not safe if it is in the door zone, so even though it is a bike lane, don't ride in it. Yes, I'm telling you not to use a bike lane. Don't ride so close to cars.

Cygolite and other brands have a "steady flash" mode, which sounds like a contradiction. The light stays on so you can see by it at night, and it adds a high intensity flash every second or so. I notice these from farther off than other types of lights, so to the extent that a light makes you visible, this seems like a good option. Cygolite products are good.

Dooring is seriously dangerous. Recently, people have died from being doored. Don't let it happen to you. Don't be afraid of being hit from behind. That's not common. Recently in NYC, someone was doored, and his body was tossed into the next lane, right in front of a truck, and the truck killed him.

If you extend your budget to a realistic $170m the Outbound Series Focal Light might be the shot for you:
outbound.us
https://www.bikeforums.net/electroni...nd-lights.html

Thank you!
 

If you want to be seen almost any light will do (even a Walmart/flashlight). However, if you need it to illuminate your path you'll want something much brighter.

Fortunately, you don't need to spend a lot of money to get a bright light, but to a point you do get what you pay for. The cheaper brands may burn just as bright but not for as long, and may not be as reliable. Choose wisely.

[MENTION=485068]Jenniferg82[/MENTION], thanks for the followup. You're doing everything right. And yes, it is tough, but it makes us tough, so that's good. Even with the risks of being in collisions, bike commuters live healthier, longer lives than others, because of the health benefits.

I would say some of the brightest light are also the cheapest, and there is no reason they won't last. I have an XM=L2 light that will outshine anything I've seen. It cost $20, although it didn't come with a mount but I already have one. I also put a high output battery in it and I have yet to run it down but I'm not using it for cycling.

Actually it was $14. The specific one is no longer on Amazon, but there are others just like it.

Actually, there are two: Materials and workmanship.

If its a cheaper product then it stands to reason that the materials are less than high quality. Sometimes that matters i.e., plastics vs metal. Sometimes it does not. In the case of electronics you have everything from the cable to the type of light and the housing they are encased in. An HID is brighter than an LED but they don't last nearly as long.

Again, if you're riding straight and level on the road all day then something like casing might not matter. However, if you do mostly off-road riding and in adverse conditions then a HIGHER quality light and casing might be more reliable and save you money over time. Just think cheap metal flashlight vs plastics that are impact resistant and are water tight.

Take for example a cell phone. I have a very cheap cell phone and it runs hot. Not only that the battery runs out in a couple of hours. Thing is, it works well enough for me since I'm not really that dependent on a cell phone use anyway.

Last but not least, there is the power cell. I have used cheap flashlights before and they start off bright but don't stay as bright for long. The case falls apart and the switches fail.

You are now a graduate of the School of Hard Knocks. Very glad you found advise here to be useful. Welcome to Bike Forums. I have a feeling you will do well in life. It's one thing to make a mistake but it takes a special kind of person that is willing to admit they did something wrong and then actually do research or take advise from others to find out that there might be a better way.

As useless as that might sound, it is the law. So the cop is compelled to bring it to your attention, and at times, enforce it.True they can "hear" it. However, the inherent problem with that is that you don't know what someone is yelling about. You then have to stop look and interpret the sound. A bell on the the hand, is instantly and universally recognized as the approach of a cyclist. Provided, it can be heard, of course. Not improve the chances? No way to be sure about that. And even a small advantage is better than none at all. Additionally there is the question of liability. If nothing else that light may significantly improve your chances of compensation should an accident occur. BTW, as a driver I always look back and warn any passengers to check behind them as well.
Good news -- maybe? Modern cars now have pedestrian detection/avoidance system built-in, so even if the driver "doesn't see you" the car will. While the industry is at it, perhaps we cyclist might get the word out to encourage car manufacturers to put these sensors on the doors as well. If we start now, within a decade getting doored will become as rare as contracting the Hansen's disease.