Amber lights? Where?
 

I've been thinking about putting an amber or yellow light onto the front of my bikes. I know of DiNotte's "Daytime" light, and I've found a couple much cheaper lights from Planet Bike and Pyramid at Amazon.com (but not on the few online bike stores' sites I've checked).

Are there any others out there?

Lots of choices of color and design here.
http://autolumination.com/bike.htm

Just curious; why amber and not white?

Amber lights are more visible during the day and in fog conditions then white.
A quick search didnt' find any support on that but Dinotte says
"When customers cannot visualize the effectiveness of an amber light we suggest they consider the daytime visibility of an automobile directional. The less powerful amber automobile directional is more visible than when the automobile’s daytime running headlights because of the distinct yellow color that is easier for the eyes to see during the day. A pure white light is best at night, but colors such amber are more visible during the day. "

Right -- that's what got me thinking about it.

There are whitish light sources everywhere during the daytime, including glare and reflections from other vehicles. Amber is certainly a non-natural color created by fewer light sources, and would stand out better against a cluttered background.

I'm just not finding very many ready-to-use options out there, though (looks like all the non-red lights at autolumination.com need custom wiring & battery packs, at least). The Dinotte is obviously a nice-but-pricey choice (as are all their lights), but it's probably overkill for the short sight distances & moderate speeds where I ride. The 5-LED Pyramid is likely the better of the other lights I've seen.

http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-Front-...atured?ie=UTF8

I have an amber lightman strobe (interchangeable lenses) and they are very bright but not very dependable. Still i run them because nothing beats them.

I actually stopped using my amber lightman strobe last winter because it just didn't seem that effective. I had thought it would be, but after doing my own conspicuity tests I found that the Cateye EL-410 was quite a bit more noticeable except at anything but extreme side angles. Now I'm looking for something even brighter than the 410.

I run a 410 on the front, it is a lot more focused than the lightman and throws it's light in a tight ball down the road. THe lightman "splashes" all over the roadway and lights up houses, street signs, etc. all around you.

I am a believer in redundancy and multiple lights. I love my Cateye EL 410, it lasts forever and is a good light. But I also run a cateye LD1000, a lightman, multiple halogen headlights etc. all at the same time.

EDIT- I run the clear lenses on my lightmans most of the time. If you don't have clear, you won't have neraly as bright.

Yes, an amber. 360 deg visibility xenon strobe is your best bet for being seen day or night. I think i'd put her on the back so it wouldn't blind me...

I also am hunting for amber lights to mount on the SIDES of my bike. I haven't really studied the laws in my state, but if you look at cars, you'll find white lights on the front, red lights on the back, and amber lights on the side.

Amber turn signals I guess are an exception to this rule, but all cars have amber side marker lights of some sort. Anyway, methinks amber belongs to the side.

I'd like some side illumination, and am going to buy two of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-3-.../dp/B000RYBG0C

to mount on either side of the front or rear forks pointing out to the sides...

Front white, red rear, amber side. Yep. Let em know which way you're moving...

Thanks, I'll try the clear lens, assuming mine came with one and I still have it. I'll have to look.

I've got a Mars 3.0 that used to be on my commuter and is now on my roadie (put a Cateye TL-LD1000 on the commuter since it's not as tall and fits well with the seatpost fender). I like how it's got good optics to the rear and amber LEDs to the sides.

And, yeah, I have lights on my road bike. ;) Getting to & from the trails means that I'm riding through the same kinds of traffic that I see with my commuter.

Speaking of Cateye...

Their TL-LD500 is listed as "white" in the first link below, but as "amber" in the comparison chart in the second link:
http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/268
http://www.cateye.com/sites/cateye/u...TB_iframe=true