new cygolite Hotshot for me
 

Got it in today. Not mounted yet. However, I turned it on and looked at it and I saw a blue dot on everything white for 15 minutes. May have to dim it a bit to not blind a driver who then runs me over.

Don't worry about it. It's not brighter than a car headlight and somehow there aren't drivers careening into trees every time they see a one of those. Looking at a light from 50 feet away is a lot different than 1 foot away.

Besides, it doesn't dim except on constant on mode.

They're pretty directional - unless you are exactly in the center the light seems to fall off pretty fast. I wouldn't (and don't) worry about it.

I often wonder why people worry so much about whither or not the lamp they use is going to be so bright that it might annoy other people. Not that it can't happen but unless someone has the light directly pointed at them at close range ( for more than 30 sec. ) it really isn't worth worrying about. Matter of fact if I considered all the things in the modern world that annoy me, "bright lights" would be very low on the totem pole of annoyance. On a scale of 1-10 I would give overly bright lights a "4" or "3" ( something that equates to a fly buzzing around your head )

On the other hand I would rate "*Obnoxiously offensive Rap Music" a low "8" and even add another 0.5 to it when accompanied by someone wearing their pants across their crotch with their *** hanging out. ( * equates to someone running over a skunk right in front of your house with the wind blowing in your direction...;) )

Yes indeedie...forget about lights we need regulations to control more stupid forms of behavior. ;)

In dawn/dusk or darker conditions I try to be considerate of pedestrians at least. My lighting can be blinding in those conditions if I don't point the lights down (especially my Lezyne Super Drive XL headlight.) Once it's dark out I turn my Dinotte 300R to low-steady from flashing mode out of consideration to drivers. I've come across other bikes in those conditions with some obnoxiously bright headlights (especially in flash/strobe mode) and you have to look away to avoid being blinded. I think this only applies to really bright lights which most people are too cheap to invest in.

I am running a terralux 300 on solid and a flashing cateye on the front. The cygolite and a bell taillight in the rear. one solid one flashing. I might just use the bell as a backup in case battery goes on the cygolite though.

I have a lot of teens driving to school where I am commuting. Don't want to not be seen, but I don't want an inexperienced driver looking straight into a bright flasher and then plowing into the area the light comes from.

It's always nice to know there are considerate people. No one wants to annoy others but regardless of what we want to do we annoy other people all the time. I think it's part of the human experience and very hard to avoid. If you're riding on a sidewalk or bike path than you want to be more considerate and yield to pedestrians. That's because sidewalks and paved pathways are associated with pedestrian use. Since no large motor vehicles are riding on sidewalks and paths your need for bright lights is diminished. When riding paved paths I will usually use lower powered lights or point my bar lamp down more. If no one is walking ( riding ) toward me than I will adjust it back to it's more forward position. Admittedly, it is a real nuisance to go through all this but I will do it on paved pathways. ( one of the reasons I don't like to ride paved pathways at night )

Once you start riding on the road though all the rules change. Roads are where cars and other motorized vehicles rule. They use their lights whenever needed and never worry about what the pedestrians walking along the road think because if they don't use lights then they could kill someone. Once you take your bicycle and start riding on the road ( at dusk or night ) you need to be seen. Your increased need for visibility and safety while riding on a road takes priority over someones else's minor inconvenience if they just so happen to be walking along the same road. Now if you can dim your lamp without causing a danger to yourself ( or others ) as you approach a person walking along the road then more power to you. Just remember that they also will be dealing with all the car headlamps moving in the same direction as you as so in all likely-hood they probably won't even pay you any mind.

Every now and then I'll be walking along and notice a super bright light coming at me from a bike, and usually I know that immediately by the fact that it is point source, rather than the spread beam of a car light. But as super bright as they may seem at close range, they are never that bright from any distance that you get annoyed by them. The one exception is when I am riding towards someone on a narrow bike lane, such as on a bridge. Then they basically prevent me from seeing anything but them. When I get on the Manhattan Bridge I always dim mine, but otherwise I never worry about it.

If I were to consider riding a paved commuter trail on a regular basis I would ( in all likely-hood ) use a lower power secondary bar lamp that I could pre-set-adjust so as not to blind pedestrians. That would be much easier than constantly adjusting my main lamp. Other wise if I only ride a couple minutes on such a ( paved ) trail I'll just use my hand to shield the lamp when necessary.

I tried a hotshot today in the store, and I am stumped about how to turn it off. Took two of us multiple tries before we got it to shut down.

Try reading the instructions?

A tail light requiring a manual to find the power switch is not a well design tail light.

It's not that hard, there are only two buttons. The programmability of this light adds complexity. In fact the off function is pretty much identical to Dinotte's system, so I guess Dinotte is "not well designed" either.

All you need to do is to hold the power button down for 2 seconds. It's not hard.

maybe this light was flaky, I didn't try another one to compare. The directions are right there under the light, it says hold down the left button for one second. A couple of times I thought it turned off and then just started up again before I could let go of the button. I'm used to lights where if I hold down a button, it turns off.

Actually the buttons are a little stiff and are not so "touch sensitive". Took me a while to get the hang it. Now I can turn it on/off just by feel. It does require a good bit of pressure to turn off. That's the thing about small gadgets. They're so small they are sometimes hard to operate.

I wear mine on back of my helmet and operate it by touch. I know it's on because I wear a helmet mirror and I can see the light when I hold my hand behind my head.

I have this light too and am very pleased with results so far. The light this replaced was the Turbo SuperFlash and the problem I was having with it was it popping off the seat bag that I keep the lights hanging off of.

What I do for adjusting the light is to aim the light at the ceiling, preferably a white ceiling, and work your adjustments that way. Keeps you from being blinded and you can still watch the light. Also what I REALLY like other than having the ability to adjust the light, is having the one mode where it flashes really slow. This is a fairly good compromise when rolling in a group. You aren't blinding the riders behind you*.

* This is all an assumption cause I'm not behind my bike and I haven't been behind a light with this set like this yet.

Mounted and tested. Looks good. Should make me visible as the winter months approach.

Two people stopped their car to ask me what kind of tail light I had. I told them it was a Cygolite Hotshot.

After riding in a group for 45 miles I can confirm that it is irritating riding behind someone that has this flashing fast. I've yet to experience it flashing like I have mine, slow and low. I also forgot to mention that this is a dynamite light for day time riding.

Yes, I can imagine. :lol:

In group rides you want to use something with low output. Couple that with some reflective clothing and you should be good. With the Hotshot the last mode is steady but completely adjustable in output. . Works great for group rides. For group rides I use the Hotshot on low and a cheap D/X frog type light ( coin cell ) off one of the chain stays. If I end up bringing up the rear I can always turn the Hotshot back to the mode I normally use.

Nobody stops to ask in Newport Beach. They just run you down. Bright mode or no bright mode.

Just installed the Hotshot on my bike last week along with the Cygolite Metro 420, very pleased! Had to modify the seatpost clamp for the hotshot so it would mount on my Topeak rack.

Looks good! - now you can ride at night and never worry about being seen. You got it made!

Yeah...right. :notamused: I wouldn't make that assumption.

Even if the Newport Beach cycling fatality rate is unusually high rarely does the public get "all the fine details" explaining what happened in every accident ( ..or what equipment was or wasn't in use that might of help prevent those accidents ). Sad as that is it's the same pretty much no matter where you live.