Cheap overkill lights
 

I live in Tampa Bay, Florida - Drivers are completely insane here. Everyone's looking at their phone, no one pays attention to the road. We have many accidents daily here. I've been hit once already. I want my bike to resemble an EMS vehicle to stay visible and hopefully, alive. There are so many great lights out there and if money was no object, I would have the DS-500. However, I don't have the money to buy top of the line stuff so I have to improvise. This is what I've come up with for about $70.00. I have just one of these lights on the front now and it's crazy bright for being a cheap light, and that's just using 1.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=428904

BELL Radian 550 Locking Bike Light Set - SportsAuthority.com

I know these are cheap department store lights but they are surprisingly bright, and that's what's important to me. My plan is to get 3 sets: have 2 red lights and a white light on the rear, and 2 white lights and a red on the front. All the rear lights will be strobing. One of the whites on the front will be steady and the others will strobe. This will make me super visible, and I will have only spent about $70. I know it's not common to have a white on the back or a red on the front but by alternating colors I think it will draw more attention, and also meet the legal requirement to have red on the rear and white on the front.

If anyone has input I'd be interested in hearing it.

Why do you have both white and red on both front and rear? It will confuse drivers and others on the road.

Edit: is this first-time poster doing advertisement?

On my commuter I have a ton of lights because the drivers in New England plus the darkness with few streetlights means I am not visible otherwise. I bought a headlight/taillight pair from Target for $12, used taillight from my LBS for $3, front and back blinkers for $10, plus a modified headlamp from the Ocean State for like, $5. All included batteries. I spent about $20 for high vis lights. My commuter is intentionally fred-ly, so I don't care about the appearance/weight.

I'd have to agree here. Red and white in both front and back will confuse drivers, thus negate the safety purpose you were initially trying to achieve. I'd stick with the traditional and recognized white in front and red in back that signifies a moving vehicle. If you want to be noticed, wear a reflective vest, set some lights solid and some flashing.

Because white and red alternating strobes will get more attention than just red or just white. Same reason emergency vehicles alternate colors.


No, I'm not advertising, I'm presenting an idea and asking for input from a community of cyclists.

It will be 2 red lights and 1 white light in the rear. It will be 2 white lights and 1 red in the front. It's mostly red in the rear and mostly white in the front. I'm not concerned with drivers being confused, I'm concerned about eliminating the possibility that they can't see me. If they're confused about my lighting then at least that means they are paying attention to me.

Frankly, I think the extra lights are not going to raise your visual profile substantially. However, I didn't read what you wear and would recommend a jacket or vest in hi-vis orange or yellow (with reflective tape).

What happens when everyone does this?
Is this even legal over there (its not here).

This things run 45-50 hours off 6aaa batteries. So they won't be very bright at all. And a right pita to recharge or buy batteries for.

White front. Red back. Don't mix.

Well, they see you but may have trouble to know if you are coming toward them or going away from them, that can make difference whether they'll try to avoid hitting you.

If your lighting setup causes drivers to be confused as to what you are (a cyclist), what direction you are going in, and what speed you are traveling at, then you aren't helping yourself. Put another way, if they can see you but can't understand what they are seeing then expect confused behavior on their end.
Personally, I would go with multiple ready lights on steady, and one very bight flashing rear light. For the front, one very bright flashing light and one light on steady (only when it's dark) to help light the road. YMMV

Being seen is good, but confusing other road users is not since confused people are likely to act unpredictably and cause crashes - and white lights on the rear or red ones on the front are likely to be confusing.

Your proposed lights look like they're rather dim by current standards. The headlight is only specified to put out 35 lumens as compared to all the MagicShine clones that are speced at 1200 lumens and probably deliver about 600. Those are available for about $20 and hard to beat on a visibility/price basis. Just keep them aimed down a bit so as not to blind and use the lower power settings when on MUPS with other users.

There are also much brighter tail lights available. I'd recommend getting at least 2 rear lights since if anything goes wrong with one you may not even notice it for awhile and would be vulnerable to traffic not seeing you in the meantime. Maybe a HotShot (bright but rather directional) and a Serfas Thunderbolt ( wide angle) pair of rear lights.

Total cost of the three lights should be not much more than what you proposed, but would be far brighter and more visible. And all are rechargeable so you wouldn't have additional battery costs.

1. It is white in front, red in back.
2. You are considered a vehicle when riding on the street. I don't know about Tampa/FL, but here in OK, one can get a ticket if white light is visible from the rear while the vehicle is travelling forward, you know the "busted tail light"?

3. Before you buy any more of those Bell lights, see how they measure up to what the law requires. I'd be surprised if they were legal. Even if they somehow are, they would be washed out by any light source that is stronger nearby- like another car.

4. If budget is a concern, concentrate on beefing up the rear until you can afford better for the front.

Motorists, while often stupid, do not often crash into police cars and ambulances because they have confusing light colors. These light arrays are designed to attract the most attention possible and do so with busy, alternating, and varied lights. I really don't feel that most drivers here are competent and coherent enough to process the light color to determine which direction I'm traveling. Drivers here often slow down and gawk for every type of blinking light - I feel that this is an advantage.

I'm not sensing any interest on the input that's been given on your plan to have a white light at the back and a red light on the front.

Florida requires you to have a white light in the front and a red light and red reflector in the rear. If you put a red light on the front you will be in violation of Florida Traffic law and if you put a white light on the rear you will also be in violation of Florida traffic law.

I don't know if it can be stated any more plainly that that.

I suggest a good front headlight that is bright and has different settings and two good red tail lights that have multiple settings one placed on the seat post and one placed on the left seat stay about half way down the seat stay tube.

The only thing a white light to the rear is going to do is blind traffic coming up from behind. Florida traffic law is very clear on the lighting requirements so if you do your own thing don't complain when you get cited for failing to obey the law on lighting.

Actually many police cars, ambulances and yes even those big red fire trucks get hit by motorist while they have their emergency lights on.

Try deal extreme. I bought a 1200 lumen light for $32.00. It may be more like 8-900, but bright.

What about this one? Flashes white strobe and red....

Superflash Turbo

That Planet Bike Superflash Turbo flashes 1-watt bright red plus (1/2 watt?) less bright red.

I don't recall any major brand of tail lights that flashes white.

Bad Idea .. red facing the rear white facing the front [Unless its BOAT , then white is on the fantail. red left , green right. seen from front and the color 1 each from 1 side ]

so if you just see the white stern light the Boat is going the same way You Are.

FWIW, just go to ebay. DX has extremely slow shipping. Just click "us only" on ebay in your search and you can get the same prices but get things in 2 to 5 days.

All the lights on that are red. The LEDs under the clear cover are red LEDs.

I will join the chorus, white on the back is a VERY bad idea. Go with one of the excellent $30 lights - Axiom Pulse 60, Cygolite Hotshot, etc. If you are going to go with a magicshine style front light, then get the Magicshine taillight - it's $30 with a Y adapter so it runs off your headlight battery, and will beat anything else on the market for that money

I see some cyclists here in New York who put tail lights on front and headlights in back. I have NO FREAKING IDEA what message they intend to convey.

see page 8:

http://www.tampabaycycle.com/wp-cont...BLEG072007.pdf



other good stuff:

Bicycle Safety | City of Tampa