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Bicycle Lights

FelixP

FelixP

New member
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Location
San Francisco
Moto(s)
01 RC-51
89 Hawk GT
So I ride my bicycle to the train to get to work, and with daylight savings time now gone, it's dark as shit when I ride home from the train station at night.

Can anyone recommend some of those goofy bike lights? I don't want to be completely invisible to cars at night (or at least have a better basis for a lawsuit after I get hit :rolleyes).

I figure I need at least 4:
- constant-on red unit to go under my seat or near my rear hub
- something red and flashing that I can clip to my jacket or bag
- headlight (pointed down, so I can see crap in the road)
- some other type of front light to make me more visible (flashing?)

So... thoughts? I have no idea what these things cost, but a quick online has given me everything from $20 doohickeys from china to $500 "racing" lights, and I'd prefer to avoid going bankrupt.
 
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A friend and I have been playing with some simple bits from Home Depot.......got ideas online from sites like this- http://steampunkworkshop.com/home-depot-bike-headlight

A single 20w flood bulb is a LOT of light. looks like a car with a headlight out.:)
Grab a 12v battery, depending on how long you want it to last, 3.2AH will go a good 2-3 hours, but it weighs 3lbs.
If you only need an hour go for a smaller one and you wont notice the weight at all.

Rear red flashing/solid LED lights are cheap.
 
Mortifer said:
A friend and I have been playing with some simple bits from Home Depot.......got ideas online from sites like this- http://steampunkworkshop.com/home-depot-bike-headlight

A single 20w flood bulb is a LOT of light. looks like a car with a headlight out.:)
Grab a 12v battery, depending on how long you want it to last, 3.2AH will go a good 2-3 hours, but it weighs 3lbs.
If you only need an hour go for a smaller one and you wont notice the weight at all.

Rear red flashing/solid LED lights are cheap.
Click to expand...

tourlights.jpg


For that 'streetfighter' look? :rofl

Seriously, thanks for the tip, I'll look into this.
 
Ive got a nightrider USB chargeable light on my MB as well as a red flasher on the seatpost that do a pretty darn good job at lighting up trails and the like. Its difficult to outrun the light on all but the longer downhills.

The issue with the Home Depot light setup is the durability of said lights when you ride on anything but icy smooth pavement.

Regardless of how many lights you put on your bike and body, some idiot cager will still find a way to make you shit yourself routinely.
 
FelixP said:
I'm a fan of REI in general though, looks like they have some much more reasonably-priced stuff. Can anyone comment on the price/performance curve for these things?
Click to expand...

Basically the price/performance curve has a huge gap in it, between ~$50-150. You have to decide if you just want cars to be able to see you, or if you want to put some actual light on the road. Anything below that price divide should be considered visibility only, and the stuff above it will be at least as bright as a car headlight.

There may be some middle ground now, I'm a few years out of the loop. I spent ~$300 for a nice Light & Motion setup and never regretted it. :thumbup

Checking out their website, looks like the real lights still start around $150.
 
cycle61 said:
Basically the price/performance curve has a huge gap in it, between ~$50-150. You have to decide if you just want cars to be able to see you, or if you want to put some actual light on the road. Anything below that price divide should be considered visibility only, and the stuff above it will be at least as bright as a car headlight.

There may be some middle ground now, I'm a few years out of the loop. I spent ~$300 for a nice Light & Motion setup and never regretted it. :thumbup

Checking out their website, looks like the real lights still start around $150.
Click to expand...

OK. I pretty much just ride back/forth to the train (use the moto for everything else :ride), so I'll stick with "visibility" as my goal if it'll cost me an extra $100+ per unit if I want a real headlight. I'm definitely more worried about cagers than gravel/potholes.
 
OK, so what about getting 2 sets of these?

Rears look like they're stupidly bright, and I think the headlights should be 'good enough' to be seen with if I put one on the bars and one on my helmet. What do you guys think?
 
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Two sets of those should do pretty well for you. Strongly suggest making sure that the headlight has a flashing mode, and use it on at least one of them, and on both of the taillights. I had 2-3 taillights, all flashing, along with some of that reflective red/white tape they put on semi trilers, and coworkers who passed me in their cars on the morning commute described my bike as looking like a "rolling construction site". :laughing

My setup was probably overkill, but I never had any incidents, or even close calls at night. Just saying. ;)
 
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LED technology has reached the 'double in brightness every year' stage--there's lots of small super bright (like car headlight bright) lights out there now, some of them under $100 and tiny.

But I go simple: visiblity only is much less light than being able to see, your goal is just to have enough light to be seen. Go to a bike shop and get something.
Basic = a blinkly light in the front + a blinkly light in the rear, both mounted to the bike as you'd expect. Also reflectors on your *pedals* (or shoes), as that pattern = easy to understand. Will cost $20-$40. If it gets stolen... no big deal.

Look around at the other bikes you see on the road to compare how visible they are. The worst are the darkwads, then people with lights on their bags (wow, pointing that blinky into space under a layer of fabric helps so much... not). In the city, anyone with half decent lights front and year is pretty easy to see.
 
How long/far is your commute? I'm thinking battery life here. Might want to go with those rechargeable packs for convenience. Some of them can be charged through a USB connection.

As stated above:
-Definitely get a flashing front and rear at minimum, double up if you can.
-Reflectors are effective for very little money.
 
250mL said:
How long/far is your commute? I'm thinking battery life here. Might want to go with those rechargeable packs for convenience. Some of them can be charged through a USB connection.

As stated above:
-Definitely get a flashing front and rear at minimum, double up if you can.
-Reflectors are effective for very little money.
Click to expand...

Bike is a Trek 7.3FX, already has reflectors on the front/back/pedals. Commute is relatively short but dark (area around 22nd st caltrain is very poorly lit). Battery life really isn't a concern, although I like the idea of USB recharging. I think I'm going to stick with the units from Amazon (both front/back units blink). Thanks guys!

Amazon looks better than Bikeman, free 2-day shipping with Prime ftw!
 
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FelixP said:
So I ride my bicycle to the train to get to work, and with daylight savings time now gone, it's dark as shit when I ride home from the train station at night.

Can anyone recommend some of those goofy bike lights? I don't want to be completely invisible to cars at night (or at least have a better basis for a lawsuit after I get hit :rolleyes).

I figure I need at least 4:
- constant-on red unit to go under my seat or near my rear hub
- something red and flashing that I can clip to my jacket or bag
- headlight (pointed down, so I can see crap in the road)
- some other type of front light to make me more visible (flashing?)

So... thoughts? I have no idea what these things cost, but a quick online has given me everything from $20 doohickeys from china to $500 "racing" lights, and I'd prefer to avoid going bankrupt.
Click to expand...

Felix I am not sure if you know this but by law you must have lights and reflective crap on your bike if you plan to ride at night. Now that the nanny crap is over with I would go and get a Petzl light. They can be mounted on the bike, the helmet or your head. They are great and I have had mine for 6 years. It has survived several months in the desert at burningman and still rocks!
 
FelixP said:
Bike is a Trek 7.3FX, already has reflectors on the front/back/pedals. Commute is relatively short but dark (area around 22nd st caltrain is very poorly lit). Battery life really isn't a concern, although I like the idea of USB recharging. I think I'm going to stick with the units from Amazon (both front/back units blink). Thanks guys!

Amazon looks significantly cheaper than Bikeman, plus free 2-day shipping with Prime ftw!
Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.com/NiteRider-Min...e=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1257964334&sr=8-2
 
FelixP said:
OK. I pretty much just ride back/forth to the train (use the moto for everything else :ride), so I'll stick with "visibility" as my goal if it'll cost me an extra $100+ per unit if I want a real headlight. I'm definitely more worried about cagers than gravel/potholes.
Click to expand...

I paid about $20 for my cateyes.
343-og.jpg
 
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