Lights for being seen - any reccomendations?

pete236

Evening all!

After a few narrow scrapes I'm realising my motley collection of front lights is inadequate for the conditions. In fully dark I've not had problems but they don't seem to be so noticeable in semi-darkness.
I've got a budget of £30 and am looking for the brightest, most car-driver visible light that I can get!

Haven't done a search for other topics like this as I'm a bit short on time, so apologies if this has been covered before.

Any info will be great!
Thanks a lot, Pete.

nwallace

To make your bike fully visible to even the thickest of vehicle drivers:

You will require:
6 sheets of metal
2 HID truck light units
2 front truck corner lamp units
2 rear cluster truck lamp units
12 small box section lengths of metal,
1 sheet of grille mesh

Sizing of box section and sheet metal should such as to allow the creation of an enclosed cuboid of box section at front and rear and around 3x box length.

Cut a visibility hole at around head height and place grille mesh over it

Position lights and paint as follows.



For added safety add another piece of box section around 1 meter behind the front and attach large spear to it pointing forwards. The height of this can be positioned to your preference however the higher up it is the further back it is recommended you place the traction unit (bike)

Drivers reporting similar problems may wish to adapt their vehicles in similar fashion.


Unless your lights are so dim you can't see them from a reasonable distance behind and either side then your problem is not as much the lights as people who defrauded the DSA.

A dim light will be more obvious in full darkness though, what is your current set up?

skyway

I ordered one of these after seeing it on a colleagues ride;

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=004

I also use a Cateye halogen front light, but to be honest I personally think flashing lights are much more visible despite being illegal.

I've got one of these on the rear which hurts to look at if you get the angle correct and has side facing light;

http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/550

Bassjunkieuk

If you need a nice set of front lights Evans have the Cateye EL510's @ half price in their sale!

http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=21483

Bringing em down to a rather respectable £19.99! I've got a EL120 (I think!) and it's an extremely bright white LED light!

For semi darkness conditions it might also be worth considering some high vis gear, nothing stands out like bright green or orange! The light reflective piping and strips are usually quite a good way of making yourself seen! I picked up a high vis workman's style top from Ikea for about £6, in a large and it fits over my bag to and can still be done up at the front (albeit on 1 velcro fasterner!) The wife also found me a set containing a high vis ankle band and waist straps. I don't use the waist straps but she did get a couple of sets so I use the ankle straps on my wrists to make it a bit clearer when I'm signaling for a turn!

pete236

Thanks for the replies!

Have decided to go for 2 of the Blackburn quadrant lights that skyway suggested. Found 'em at Chain Reaction Cycles for the same as you got them on ebay! A little over budget but no worries. WIll have to go without lucozade for a few days! I reckon those two combined with an old halogen unit I've got knocking around will give a good range of light to see by and to be seen by!
Got a vague idea of making up a bar that mounts to the seat post, maybe 6 inches or so long and have a red light at each end. Might make me look a bit bigger! Pity I'm not still at school or could have 'borrowed' a 2 way clamp from the Chemistry lab - ah well such is life!

Thanks again! All the best, Pete.

prj45

skyway wrote:

II also use a Cateye halogen front light, but to be honest I personally think flashing lights are much more visible despite being illegal.

*cough* no they're not.

pete236

not illegal or not more visible? I've not seen that its illegal to have it just flashing, just thats its not legal. Two different things! I reckon two flashing ones on the back are easier to spot than 2 solid, but if anyone kicks up a fuss then a quick press of the button and ones is solid! 'I'm sure you must have been mistaken, officer!"

skyway

I dont think any plod or otherwise would think twice at flashing lights as long as they are the correct colour.

prj45

Pete236 wrote:

not illegal or not more visible?

Sorry, not illegal to have a flashing light.

http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4071

pete236

lol Thats great! Had no idea that the solid rear light wasn't mandatory any more! Don't have to worry now. Thanks for that!

BigBlackShed

I've got a set of these:http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360026000&N=Smart%205%20LED%20Front%20&%20317%20Rear%20Light%20Set

I got stopped by two mountain bike police officers because they said "Your lights are too bright".

Shadowduck

I'd always go with two (LED) lights either end, regardless of which ones you choose. Set one on flashing (to get the attention of the cardines) and the other on steady (it's very difficult to judge speed and distance based on a flashing light). The tiny, single LED backup lights are great to use for the flashing one with a more expensive (Cateye in my case) light on steady.

This has the added advantage of still giving cover if one of your lights fails!

redddraggon

I've got a cheap set of LED lights from halfords, and the Cateye LD1100 and Single shot plus. Keep the Halfords lights on flashing, single shot plus on steady, and the LD 1100 on a mix of steady and flashing (2 independent rows of LEDs).

dan..

I've been using a small LED torch as a front light, it's very effective and extremely pocketable. (Plus a crappy bog-standard cateye rear light which I don't even bother removing when I lock the thing up in town)

This one:

http://www.fenixlight.com/flashlight/fenixp2d.htm
There's one that takes 2xAA too, which is probably a bit more convenient, but I have a stash of CR123As, and this one's a bit smaller.

With this to hold it on: http://www.glowgadgets.co.uk/twofish-lo ... ccessories

I have a couple of sections of my commute with no lighting and a handy river to fall into if I'm not paying attention, so this setup is really more for seeing than being seen, although it seems to do a reasonable job of that too [/img]

Edit: pic!

Gambatte

Same as BigBlackShed, Smart Polaris 5 LED up front and Smart Superflash 1/2W rear.

Only thing is I doubled up on both, front ones on a minoura swingrip accessory bar.

pete236

Well, my Blackburns came this morning. Absolubtly brilliant! Very bright and great visibility, only problem is one of 'em ain't working! Will be looking up CRC's returns policies!
Feel much better even with just one, so much better than what I've got at the moment!

Totalnewbie

About the Blackburn:

I've got one and it's great. I use it on part flashing, part solid mode.

But be really careful that you've slid it on the bracket properly - the click is barely audible. I was in a hurry once and didn't take a second to make sure it was really on, set off and it came flying off and hit the road when I hit a little bump. The road was empty so I was able to stop and go and get it (sturdy little thing, it still works, just has scratches now) but I've read similar accounts on here before - you have to make sure it is properly on.

Wooliferkins

Appreciate it's double your budget, but to paraphrase a clubmate , "What price my safety?" I started running a B&M Ixon IQ this winter and am mortally impressed, by comparison I have been riding in the dark for years. The Smart 1/2 watt rear pictured above is very bright and it will be interesting to know what the battery life is like? Brighter than my old 7 LED version of this light which is good but the battery life has been phenominal on the 7 LED version.

BigBlackShed

Wooliferkins wrote:

The Smart 1/2 watt rear pictured above is very bright and it will be interesting to know what the battery life is like? Brighter than my old 7 LED version of this light which is good but the battery life has been phenominal on the 7 LED version.

I got about 90 hours out of it on Toshiba AAA batteries that came in the box. Only requires 2 AAA's. Far better value than my old lights that used N type or LR1 batteries. To replace the batteries cost more that a new set of lights.

pete236

1st ride with the Blackburn - am very impressed!! Still managed to have people "not see me" but since I had eye contact BEFORE they pulled out I reckon they did it on purpose! A load of idiots out tonight so was forced over most of the potholes - light stuck on very well! The bracket was turning on the handlebars so had to keep pulling it up, but easy enough to sort. If I can get the other one sorted out and on there I'll be well pleased!

Wooliferkins

90hours on the 1/2 watt!! Coo they dont claim that much on the box, Thanks BBS.