GET SOME LIGHTS - Less than one Week before Clocks Go Back

RufusA

Public service announcement.

It's less than a week until clocks go back in the UK. That 5 o'clock dash in the half light hoping you'll make it home before it gets proper dark won't be feasible next week!

If you haven't already done so (and that's quite a few of you if this morning's commute was anything to go by):

1) Find your lights in whatever cupboard, box, shelf, hole you put them in last spring.
2) Order replacement lights when you discover the batteries have leaked or the case cracked last time you had an "off"!
3) Check the batteries, charge them up etc.
4) Move the light mountings over to whichever bicycle you are planning to use as your winter commuting stede.
5) SWITCH THEM ON WHEN ITS DARK / HALF LIGHT.

Cycling on the pavement is not a good solution for riding with no lights!

This ends the public service announcement.

Rufus.

Anonymous

Commuter lights showdown

biondino

M.Cole is spamming again

spen666

Not using lights in the dark is a good indicator that you intend to ignore all traffic rules and signals :twisted:


Well it seems that way from my observations

singlespeedexplosif

5) SWITCH THEM ON WHEN ITS DARK / HALF LIGHT.

preferably before it's dark/half light

Surf-Matt

Just got myself a nice Hope 1 LED and one of those £10 death beam Tesco AA 3W cree torches which I'll helmet mount if needed.

Tested the Hope last night and was amazed - it was not far off having car headlights!

Wanted something compact, easy to fit and remove yet powerful and this really fits the bill.
Also not happy with the idea of shelling out over £100 on a light (this was £71 after discount).

http://www.hopegb.com/voir_visled1.html

linsen

I've been using lights for ages already.

Added advice - carry spare batteries!

snooks

Oh and if you do have lights, they work, and you switch them on.....FFS make sure you don put mudguards, baskets, panniers clothing in front of them!

I'm always surprised by the amount of cyclists that have gone to the effort of getting a set of working lights...then covering them up! :roll:

Anonymous

biondino wrote:

M.Cole is spamming again

haha public service announcements are not spamming!

singlespeedexplosif

Tested the Hope last night and was amazed - it was not far off having car headlights!

you've got very feeble car headlights then
Or, I've got a very feeble Vision 1..it's OK, but not fantastic. The Tesco LED torch is better.

Surf-Matt

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

Tested the Hope last night and was amazed - it was not far off having car headlights!

you've got very feeble car headlights then
Or, I've got a very feeble Vision 1..it's OK, but not fantastic. The Tesco LED torch is better.

Utter bo77ocks. The Hope is about 10000 times better as a bike light. The Tesco light has a strong beam but very focussed and about 70 lumens vs 240ish for the Hope.

You are either using duff batteries or have strange eyesight.

I'll helmet mount the Tesco light if going very much off road but the Hope is perfect for road/light off roading on it's own.

apreading

About 70 lumens is about where I would peg the Tesco light too, and Matt is right it is very focussed. Nice light and would do the job but no way I believe it is comparable to a Hope Vision at 240 Lumens.

How is the beam from the Hope Vision in terms of spill/halo?

Surf-Matt

Apreading - seems very good - almost no halo (beam is evenly spread from the centre) and I'd say that if you have it set to about 15 metres ahead, it lights up about a 3 metre area well enough to see everything.

Sorry, not exactly techncal but it's basically good enough to ride at 25-30mph on a road without any problems on medium, full and 240 lumen mode.

singlespeedexplosif

fair enough - as I said, could be my light. I'm using some good Uniross rechargeables but I'll try some different ones. I doubt it's my eyesight, considering what I do for a job


Lumens schmumens - I've got one of the new Airbike SL1s at a claimed 670 Lumens. The Hope, at 240, beats that for performance. Neither of them are good enough IMO. The Airbike with a Tesco lid-mounted was OK for a slow off-road night ride last week but pathetic in comparison to my L&M Arc. And I certainly don't think it's anywhere near good enough for city centre commuting in the dark.

symo

Now running two Tesco uber torches with Two fish lockblocks upfront, plus a white flashing cateye to grab drivers attention. Also looking to purchase another once they come back in stock.

Had a chance to try them out saturday night and whilst alot of people will say that the spread isn't that good, I found them perfect for a country towpath with no ambient light. Also on the road they announce your arrival around corners better than anything I have ever owned.

Kieran_Burns

I'm getting a little worried about my bridle path commute home now. I have a cateye single shot plus coupled with this: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165636 as the backup

Am I going to be safe with this? (I only cruise at about 18-20 down there)

It's utterly unlit but long straight and no obstructions.... apart from 3 gates but I know where they are

apreading

symo wrote:

whilst alot of people will say that the spread isn't that good, I found them perfect for a country towpath with no ambient light.

I would agree that 2 of them are fine for cycling - the spread outside the main spot isnt bad but one on its own would not be enough.

With the Fenix L20D you could get by better with one than you can with 2 Tescos.

I imagine the Hope Vision is better still.

The Tesco torches are a great bang for the buck - one reason why I have 5 of them (not just for bikes - keep one in the cars and one in the house). I now use the Fenix for my daily commute though.

Surf-Matt

singlespeedexplosif wrote:

fair enough - as I said, could be my light. I'm using some good Uniross rechargeables but I'll try some different ones. I doubt it's my eyesight, considering what I do for a job


Lumens schmumens - I've got one of the new Airbike SL1s at a claimed 670 Lumens. The Hope, at 240, beats that for performance. Neither of them are good enough IMO. The Airbike with a Tesco lid-mounted was OK for a slow off-road night ride last week but pathetic in comparison to my L&M Arc. And I certainly don't think it's anywhere near good enough for city centre commuting in the dark.

Interesting stuff - what's the L&M supposed to be rated at? I do wonder how lumens are actually measured (car lights are usually 700 dipped, 1200 full beam for reference).

Cycling last night (12 miles of very quiet country roads, unlit paths through woods and a bit of town riding) the Hope was brilliant - cast a really strong but well spread beam even on medium mode. Full power was just OTT and I didn't want to blind any drivers!

Kieran- I used to ride the Avon cycle path (Avon Gorge, Bristol) to and from work each day (about 6 miles each way) - most of it is pitch black. Used a Cateye EL510 which is very lame compared to most modern lights including yours - and was fine - never went fast but also never fell off (apart from once after a couple of beers... :oops: ) Your light is similar to mine for brightness - it's more than enough.

The Tesco lights are bit like lasers - high power, narrow beam. Great vfm but easy to get over-excited about them.

singlespeedexplosif

I wasn't sure - but Google suggests high power 650-675 lumens, so in that respect, on a par with the SL1. But far, far, far more useful as a bike light than the SL1.

I'd love to know how they are measured too - brightness at the point of leaving the 'bulb' perhaps? Certainly the SL1 is very, very bright AT the light - and then just dissipates into the surroundings within a few metres. You can see reflective road signs light up a bit, quite some distance ahead, but there's certainly no 'beam' to speak of once you get much more than a bike length or two ahead. The Tesco torch provided an OK beam to go along with this short-distance 'flood' - but the combination was still not fantastic unless you only want to know what's happening a few metres in front of your wheel.

Agreed that the Hope is a lovely-looking and well-put together unit though.
What batteries do you use with it? I'd love for it to be good enough for the commute, so maybe as you say this is what needs to change...? I think (without them in front of me right now) that I'm using the UniRoss 1300mAh Ni-MH?

Surf-Matt

I'm actually using disposable Energisers at the moment - have a HUGE number of them from a while back. They actually perform better (short term) than rechargeables for things like lights.

Your batteries have a very low mAh rating - have you tried the new Hybrio batteries? Rated at 2100mAh and come ready charged with almost no self discharge and bang on for light use. You can get up to 2900mAh rechargeables but the higher the rating, the faster the "self discharge" (charge lost when not in use). Easy to use the wrong batteries that may have been "fried" by an overly basic charger.

Once I run out of disposables, I'm getting those Hybrios and a Technoline BL-700 charger - seem to both work a treat.

benvickery

Do any of you have links to the Tesco LED torch or do they just sell them in the shop??

I've bought a cateye EL-530 recently and I have been using it most nights riding home. It is OK but I need a backup as I cycle down tree lined, unlit country roads. If my light failed, I'd be walking.

How do you fit lights to your helmet? Do you just use a bit of electrical tape?

singlespeedexplosif

Surf-Matt wrote:

I'm actually using disposable Energisers at the moment - have a HUGE number of them from a while back. They actually perform better (short term) than rechargeables for things like lights.

Your batteries have a very low mAh rating - have you tried the new Hybrio batteries? Rated at 2100mAh and come ready charged with almost no self discharge and bang on for light use. You can get up to 2900mAh rechargeables but the higher the rating, the faster the "self discharge" (charge lost when not in use). Easy to use the wrong batteries that may have been "fried" by an overly basic charger.

Once I run out of disposables, I'm getting those Hybrios and a Technoline BL-700 charger - seem to both work a treat.

Thanks - I'll give those a try and promise to re-post praising the virtues of the Hope 1 if this does the trick

Kieran_Burns

Thanks Surf-matt. 8)

I'll find out next week I guess :? but it does sound like I'll be okay... I'll report back and let people know

Surf-Matt

Ben - the little AA ones (I have one) are shop only but the bigger C and D ones can be bought on-line.

The AA one is an excellent little torch - nice and compact and very bright but only in a smallish spot. Great as a back up or helmet mounted light - I'm going to use the Hope helmet mount for mine but zip ties would work fine - maybe use a bit of old inner tube to rest it on so you don't dent the helmet!

Speaking of which, why aren't helmet manufacturers adding helmet mount bits yet?!

linsen

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I'm getting a little worried about my bridle path commute home now. I have a cateye single shot plus coupled with this: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165636 as the backup

Am I going to be safe with this? (I only cruise at about 18-20 down there)

It's utterly unlit but long straight and no obstructions.... apart from 3 gates but I know where they are

I'll second getting a fenix. Very quick delivery, cheap enough to buy more than one if you need it (depending on your budget of course!), though I find one and a flashing cateye plenty.

lost_in_thought

I have now stolen my brother's one of these, after I borrowed it for country night riding he's not getting it back...

http://www.ledco.co.uk/Product_D_Head_Powerchip.asp

philbill1973

Maybe it's just me, but all these "turn your lights on" threads, I think are a waste of time on this forum.

The people that contribute to these threads care about themselves and their bikes so will have lights on them, it's the RLJ idiots et al that don't care about being seen / endangering themselves and giving the rest of us a bad name, and besides they won't be reading a commuting forum.


I know the OP is being public spirited but how many of you guys don't have lights ?

cougie

I think its a good post - most cyclists are not going to pay in excess of three figures to get a front light - and if they read this - they will see there are far cheaper alternatives. Lets face it - most bikes on the road prob cost less than a ton !

Kieran_Burns

I think it's great idea as well - people MAY have forgotten about the clocks changing and get caught out.

Plus, as said above - there's always room for good advice, and I'm very interested in the question about best lights.... truly I'm worried about the bridleway - it was like a scene out of American Werewolf in London cycling down there last Winter.

I actually shouted - "Okay, stop taking the p*ss!" when the mist rolled in across the path right at the end.

The problem for me is that it is either a 10 mile detour, a ride down a MAJOR A road (A516 from Mickleover to Hilton for those that know), or the bridleway.

So, I have the choice of dead knackered, dead dead or dead scared. :?

linsen

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I think it's great idea as well - people MAY have forgotten about the clocks changing and get caught out.

Plus, as said above - there's always room for good advice, and I'm very interested in the question about best lights.... truly I'm worried about the bridleway - it was like a scene out of American Werewolf in London cycling down there last Winter.

I actually shouted - "Okay, stop taking the p*ss!" when the mist rolled in across the path right at the end.

The problem for me is that it is either a 10 mile detour, a ride down a MAJOR A road (A516 from Mickleover to Hilton for those that know), or the bridleway.

So, I have the choice of dead knackered, dead dead or dead scared. :?

You could mix it up a bit and let us know if you're still alive after a week

Kieran_Burns

Or a werewolf! :twisted:

I swear to God - that last time when it was pitch dark was bloody terrifying :oops:

I had owls, bats, bloody mist rolling in and little bleeding eyes peering at me from the undergrowth on either side.

If any of you city types want some serious fear - I'll show you the start of the path and let you go down on your own :shock: