Daytime lights

[Fat Boab]

I've often thought that putting a red lens on one of those "…nine hundred and thirty…nine…nine hundred and thirty nine million, three thousand and sixty thousand…close to a billion" lumen front lights, and mounting it on the rear of my bike, would be perfection.

Could even run a white front light as well as the red rear from the same battery pack.

[Fat Boab]

I've often thought that putting a red lens on one of those "…nine hundred and thirty…nine…nine hundred and thirty nine million, three thousand and sixty thousand…close to a billion" lumen front lights, and mounting it on the rear of my bike, would be perfection.

Could even run a white front light as well as the red rear from the same battery pack.

 

....using one of these. https://www.amazon.com/Angle-Magicshine-MJ-808-similar-light/dp/B00B9JJPPM/ref=pd_sim_468_7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=22PPHZMPPH20KS7T3KA5

[Tubehunter]

I've often thought that putting a red lens on one of those "…nine hundred and thirty…nine…nine hundred and thirty nine million, three thousand and sixty thousand…close to a billion" lumen front lights, and mounting it on the rear of my bike, would be perfection.

Could even run a white front light as well as the red rear from the same battery pack.

 

Not sure this is a good idea. Your rear light does not need to be that strong that your @ss needs to see where it has been. More importantly with cars coming up closer and more directly behind you, the last thing you want is to have some sort of overly bright light shining straight into the drivers eyes. That kind of temporary blindness will only end up bad for you!

 

You need a light that is bright enough to make you visible during the day, yet DOESN'T have the illumination field of a headlight!

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Not sure this is a good idea. Your rear light does not need to be that strong that your @ss needs to see where it has been. More importantly with cars coming up closer and more directly behind you, the last thing you want is to have some sort of overly bright light shining straight into the drivers eyes. That kind of temporary blindness will only end up bad for you!

 

You need a light that is bright enough to make you visible during the day, yet DOESN'T have the illumination field of a headlight!

Except that they generally have different brightness levels, so you're not behooved to run it on full the whole time. 

 

If you ran it on the 100LM setting / 300LM setting then it'd be perfect. 

[Fat Boab]

Except that they generally have different brightness levels, so you're not behooved to run it on full the whole time. 

 

If you ran it on the 100LM setting / 300LM setting then it'd be perfect. 

 

To be fair to Tubehunter's valid point, if you take the Bontrager Flare R - 'the latest hot thing' - it's rated at 65 lumens with a 270 deg field (don't know whether this is against a horizontal or vertical plane?), so a 100 or 300 lumen setting on a coloured headlight would be greater, clearly. But would it dazzle an approaching driver during the day? (Now where's my red cokey pen?) 

[carbon29er]

The important thing is to have a flashing red rear light. Steady on is not as effective.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

The important thing is to have a flashing red rear light. Steady on is not as effective.

true. And the 1,000 lm jobbies are at that level on flash. 

[Fat Boab]

true. And the 1,000 lm jobbies are at that level on flash. 

 

The new Extremelights Core+ flashes at 300 lm...

[carbon29er]

I have the Cycliq Fly6 HD video camera light combo.

 

Advantage of that is you collect evidence of every metre you ride.

 

It is only 30 lumen but the sequence is excellent and that is bright enough for even the sunniest day.

 

Front I have the Fly12, 400 lumens strobe with HD video which is perfect when in traffic. I sleep or drink when it's dark...

 

It is the sequence of flashing that is important to have the best chance of being seen. Steady on is the worst. Well after no lights that is.

[carbon29er]

I also have a light on my helmet...which i believe makes you even more visible...the only problem is finding one which lasts as long as the lezyne one i have on the bike (5 hrs +) ...which is not too heavy and easy to fit and remove for charging.

 

 

Snip

 

 

I've also just added a red light to the back of my helmet as an additional device.

And, I've just ordered a small flashing light for my bars.

 

Lights on one's helmet are useful if you want to warm aeroplanes and UFOs of your existence down on a road.

 

A helmet is rarely at the right angle for the bright LED part of the beam to catch a motorist's eye.

 

Same thing attached to clothing. Angles are all wrong.

 

Above the rear wheel on the saddle or seat post is the most effective as it is closest to line of site for someone looking ahead while driving.

[BigDL]

To be fair to Tubehunter's valid point, if you take the Bontrager Flare R - 'the latest hot thing' - it's rated at 65 lumens with a 270 deg field (don't know whether this is against a horizontal or vertical plane?), so a 100 or 300 lumen setting on a coloured headlight would be greater, clearly. But would it dazzle an approaching driver during the day? (Now where's my red cokey pen?)

My see.sense is rated at 250 lumens, but is designed not to dazzle. Having the flash pattern change as a vehicle approaches or as I slow down is hopefully more likely to ensure that drivers keep noticing me without being dazzled.

 

side view

 

Not a great pic but you can see it is not dazzling

[eccc whippet]

Lights on one's helmet are useful if you want to warm aeroplanes and UFOs of your existence down on a road.

 

A helmet is rarely at the right angle for the bright LED part of the beam to catch a motorist's eye.

 

Same thing attached to clothing. Angles are all wrong.

 

Above the rear wheel on the saddle or seat post is the most effective as it is closest to line of site for someone looking ahead while driving.

have you ever driven a car on a busy road where there are cyclists...you should try it some time. 

[carbon29er]

have you ever driven a car on a busy road where there are cyclists...you should try it some time. 

I guess with high birthrates there is one born every minute.

 

This is probably the stupidest post I've read on the hub. And there have been quite a few contenders.

 

Can I tell you about Darwin and natural selection?

[GLuvsMtb]

Save it for Friday ladies! Those handbags are not going to swing themselves!

[HdB]

Lights on one's helmet are useful if you want to warm aeroplanes and UFOs of your existence down on a road.

 

A helmet is rarely at the right angle for the bright LED part of the beam to catch a motorist's eye.

 

Same thing attached to clothing. Angles are all wrong.

 

Above the rear wheel on the saddle or seat post is the most effective as it is closest to line of site for someone looking ahead while driving.

If it is a very directional light, sure, but if the light in question has a wide angle or is one of those translucent types that lights up nearly the whole thing?

 

Yes, it is probably less bright, but as mentioned a few times in this thread: something is better than nothing. It could just be the thing that catches the driver's eye, or could help them judge the distance to the rider better. A driver coming from your side might not be able to see your rear light due to the position of a dustbin or something, but notice the one on the helmet or clothes...

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

If it is a very directional light, sure, but if the light in question has a wide angle or is one of those translucent types that lights up nearly the whole thing?

 

Yes, it is probably less bright, but as mentioned a few times in this thread: something is better than nothing. It could just be the thing that catches the driver's eye, or could help them judge the distance to the rider better. A driver coming from your side might not be able to see your rear light due to the position of a dustbin or something, but notice the one on the helmet or clothes...

or the one bobbing and weaving like a firefly on tik... 

 

One on my lid isn't a directional LED. It's a normal red diode, with 2 orange ones flanking it. Doesn't matter what direction you're looking at it from, you'll still see it flashing in the night.