Can a rear light be too bright?
zeroseven
Posts: 347
I just fitted a Smart light set. The rear is so bright that I wonder if it borders on being dangerous, when behind the bike its so blinding its impossible to clearly see the outline of the bike/rider. I suppose miss the light, miss the rider is the school of thought, but i'd hate to be stuck behind myself for long.... :shock: well they say you can get ahead of yourself so .....
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Don't be silly, you can't be bright enough! When numbchucks in his Beemer is blinded by the blinkering light i hope he crashes, writes his overpriced ultimate driving machine and impales himself on the steering wheel. I hate beemer's with their mutated looks, saft adverts and turds as drivers0
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Ryan Jones wrote:Don't be silly, you can't be bright enough! When numbchucks in his Beemer is blinded by the blinkering light i hope he crashes, writes his overpriced ultimate driving machine and impales himself on the steering wheel. I hate beemer's with their mutated looks, saft adverts and turds as drivers
Jesus!!
Not a fan of BMW drivers then?Specialized Rockhopper Comp 2009.0 -
Ryan Jones wrote:Don't be silly,
Some irony there....0 -
Put it like this if i get run over by one my repossesed soul will come from hell to extract revenge on them
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zeroseven wrote:Ryan Jones wrote:Don't be silly,
Some irony there....
:roll:
Rear lights won't be dangerously bright, plus with their relatively small band of light the angle which it's concentrated should only be directly behind you, which is good as i want the driver to get out of that band therefore not hitting me.0 -
LjStrone - I'm not far from you....is there a decent bike shop ANYWHERE near here? I seem to have a knack of falling out with them....running out of options
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"Not a fan of BMW drivers then?"
Please.... It's almost always a BMW driver that plays the 'see how close I can get to this cyclist without actually hitting him' game...0 -
garysan wrote:"Not a fan of BMW drivers then?"
Please.... It's almost always a BMW driver that plays the 'see how close I can get to this cyclist without actually hitting him' game...
Hmm it's never the batty boys in the kitted up corsas who think their cool who do that is it?
We live in different worlds then.0 -
garysan wrote:"Not a fan of BMW drivers then?"
Please.... It's almost always a BMW driver that plays the 'see how close I can get to this cyclist without actually hitting him' game...
if you are in the Midlands and see a silver 7 series giving cyclists a wide berth, hanging back so cars in front can pull out to pass cyclists, give me a cheery wave.
grotesque generalisation by complete c0ck jockeys. if thats the game then personally i find its little old ladies in Nissan Micras who shave my elbows when they pass me on my bike.0 -
And where are you and your bike? Sitting at the bottom of the wreckage, knobhead.Ryan Jones wrote:When numbchucks in his Beemer is blinded by the blinkering light i hope he crashes, writes his overpriced ultimate driving machine and impales himself on the steering wheel.Northwind wrote: It's like I covered it in superglue and rode it through ebay.0 -
Ryan Jones wrote:
Rear lights won't be dangerously bright, .
You base this statement on what? I just checked it with a Minolta light meter (I'm that bored - yes) - its off the scale.Ryan Jones wrote:
, plus with their relatively small band of light the angle which it's concentrated should only be directly behind you, .
Well of course its behind me, right in the drivers eyes, thats my point.
My wife's got a very nice 320i Tourer, also silver. A more polite and cyclist / motocyclist aware driver you'll never meet.
Mind that hole.....0 -
I wouldn't worry too much. By the time you factor in distance, dirt etc the brightness to a driver compared to you looking at it at home will be much less. Unless it's an Audi or Merc driver who is right up close (I like beemers).
Just got the missus the brightest rear light I could find. Also switches itself on when it's dark enough and when she moves the bike as i know she will forget. Makes mine look dim by comparison and that is the really bright inline cateye one.0 -
I've never come across a rear light in all the commuting and general day to day riding i do (seeing as a bike is my main mode of transport) that is anywhere near as bright as the lights on most modern cars when coming in the opposite direction, which of course have to meet certain safety standards to prevent them blinding some poor bugger, or at least in theory.
As for the beam, try following a bike from behind then move about 2 foot out, unless it's a real cheapo light, it won't be anywhere near as dazzling. Driver coming directly behind cyclist = bright light, driver positioned to overtake safely = not so bright light. It's what the reflector and diffusers are for
Maybe the nature of my post would have hinted that my "hatred" for bmw drivers was in fact to wind up the bmw drivers out there, and you fell for it 0 -
Andy! wrote:I wouldn't worry too much. By the time you factor in distance, dirt etc the brightness to a driver compared to you looking at it at home will be much less. Unless it's an Audi or Merc driver who is right up close (I like beemers).
Just got the missus the brightest rear light I could find. Also switches itself on when it's dark enough and when she moves the bike as i know she will forget. Makes mine look dim by comparison and that is the really bright inline cateye one.
Distance isn't really a factor when viewing the source, the light you bought the Mrs sounds interesting, what it it?
Mine tends to ride to the shops and walk home forgetting she took the bike, not turning the light on is the last of her problems :evil:0 -
Ryan Jones wrote:
As for the beam, try following a bike from behind then move about 2 foot out, unless it's a real cheapo light,
It is.....sorry. £10. Spent all the money on her BMW. You seem very jealous of BMW's, don't be, they're ok, bit boring most of them.
I'M SO bored I just took the light outside. At about 30 meters I have to move about 5 metres to reach the edge of the beam, thats approx 15 feet more than your 2....into oncoming traffic
Dog with a bone.
Again using the meter (albeit an incident reading), I get a reading of f2.8 at 6 from the Smart', the car (a BMW) gives T1.2, that makes the the bike light 400% brighter. Admittedly I should have used a spot meter but she drove off.
That was fun.0 -
I've got the deal extreme rear and that bugger is bright. :twisted:0
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I got a magic shine MJ816 (its a front light), on full beam mode i get cars giving way to me its great !Show me your green bits i might buy them !0
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zeroseven wrote:Andy! wrote:I wouldn't worry too much. By the time you factor in distance, dirt etc the brightness to a driver compared to you looking at it at home will be much less. Unless it's an Audi or Merc driver who is right up close (I like beemers).
Just got the missus the brightest rear light I could find. Also switches itself on when it's dark enough and when she moves the bike as i know she will forget. Makes mine look dim by comparison and that is the really bright inline cateye one.
Distance isn't really a factor when viewing the source, the light you bought the Mrs sounds interesting, what it it?
Mine tends to ride to the shops and walk home forgetting she took the bike, not turning the light on is the last of her problems :evil:
Don't get you on the "viewing the source".
This is the light: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Catey ... 360053335/
not the prettiest but she doesnt have much seat post showing (shes little) so I figured I could ditch the rear reflector by getting one with a built in reflector (I have to remove her reflectors every time I borrow it and then put them back on :roll: ).
The 1st setting is like F1 pace car lights with a random scatter and the middle LED is an ultrabright one. Very impressed by how bright it is and when still it stays on for 45 seconds and just needs a gentle rock to make it start again.
The pulsing mode is quite cool too as it's like a heart beat which does actually have a bit of a subliminal message to drivers.0 -
Ah, but at what distance?zeroseven wrote:Ryan Jones wrote:
Rear lights won't be dangerously bright, .
You base this statement on what? I just checked it with a Minolta light meter (I'm that bored - yes) - its off the scale.0 -
Put the bike with the rear facing you, leaning against your car, with the headlights on. See which one is brighter.
Then imagine there are dozens of red, white and amber lights all moving about at high speed, and think about how difficult it would be to pick out a single, slow red light.
As a cyclist and a driver, I've never EVER seen a back light that's too bright. Bright enough to daze me very slightly if I stare straight into it maybe, but then the same is true of indicators, headlights and brakelights.
If you still think it's too bright then I'll have it 0 -
Andy! wrote:zeroseven wrote:Andy! wrote:I wouldn't worry too much. By the time you factor in distance, dirt etc the brightness to a driver compared to you looking at it at home will be much less. Unless it's an Audi or Merc driver who is right up close (I like beemers).
Just got the missus the brightest rear light I could find. Also switches itself on when it's dark enough and when she moves the bike as i know she will forget. Makes mine look dim by comparison and that is the really bright inline cateye one.
Distance isn't really a factor when viewing the source, the light you bought the Mrs sounds interesting, what it it?
Mine tends to ride to the shops and walk home forgetting she took the bike, not turning the light on is the last of her problems :evil:
Don't get you on the "viewing the source".
This is the light: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Catey ... 360053335/
not the prettiest but she doesnt have much seat post showing (shes little) so I figured I could ditch the rear reflector by getting one with a built in reflector (I have to remove her reflectors every time I borrow it and then put them back on :roll: ).
The 1st setting is like F1 pace car lights with a random scatter and the middle LED is an ultrabright one. Very impressed by how bright it is and when still it stays on for 45 seconds and just needs a gentle rock to make it start again.
The pulsing mode is quite cool too as it's like a heart beat which does actually have a bit of a subliminal message to drivers.
I just bought one of them for my dad, it's quite bright but it's not going to blind anyone.I have much cheaper lights that seem brighter.Smarter than the average bear.0 -
yeah seen some very bright ones but I guess brighter = less life. The long battery life is one thing I like about Cateye lights. They are not cheap and you can get brighter for the money but they last well and I've seen too many cheap lights that just break by themselves or chew up batteries.0
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Ah, but at what distance?[/quote]yeehaamcgee wrote:
Largely irrelevant There are two ways to measure light, You can measure the light that falls on the meter from a given distance (Incident reading) where the amount of light halves every time you double the distance. However viewing the source doesn't work that way. You can measure the source at 5 metres, 20, 100, the result will be pretty much the same as the power of the source doesn't change with distance. This is what the driver behind you sees.
I checked the light next to her car last night (which I posted before somebody suggested it). it was considerably brighter than the car. If all cars were that bright none of us would get anywhere.
Right, I'm off to measure the distance between the lamposts now in case they give any BMW drivers a fit an any given speeds.
Wish I had a job.0 -
I've had a Magicshine 808 front for 6mts and (battery fail apart) it's been the best £65 I've spent on commuting. Just ordering another for £46 on EBay. They bought out the MJ 818 rear so I had to have it. Wow! it's the first rear light I've ever had that makes drivers change lane to overtake me. All my workmates comment on how awesome it is, while threatening to sue me for retinal damage. The only (slight) niggles I have is that:
1) Connecting both up to one 4400 mAh battery will put it on red in 1.2 hours using full power mode. I have a 50 min commute which makes me have to top up at work.
2) No vertical angular adjustment. So you either cast a ghostly red glow on the tarmac behind you, or, like I've done, wrap a thin width strip of insulation tape on the seat post to angle it up.
3) Flashing modes could be better timed
That said, I've never ridden with so much all round confidence at night. It was foggy here in Glos on Mon, I couldn't wait to get out in it!0 -
Sorry, that's just wrong.zeroseven wrote:
Largely irrelevant There are two ways to measure light, You can measure the light that falls on the meter from a given distance (Incident reading) where the amount of light halves every time you double the distance. However viewing the source doesn't work that way. You can measure the source at 5 metres, 20, 100, the result will be pretty much the same as the power of the source doesn't change with distance. This is what the driver behind you sees.yeehaamcgee wrote:Ah, but at what distance?
If it were a coherent light source, like a laser, then you would be closer to being accurate.
All light energy falls off over a distance, thanks to atmospheric conditions, but also dissipation. If it is spread over a larger area then it will rapidly decrease in observible power.
If your explanation were correct, then we'd be getting blinded by cars driving several miles away, and I could stand on top of Snowdon with my P7 torch, and blind someone standing on the tower of Caernarfon castle.0 -
Your light can never be too bright front or back.
And regarding knob jockey drivers, in my 50,000+ miles per year experience of driving and 25+ years of riding the worst ones normally drive as follows.
In no specific order
BMW Drivers
Audi Drivers (the new BMW drivers)
Range Rover Sport Drivers
Truck drivers (these people used to be the kings of the road now they are just thugs in big motors)
Merc Drivers (including Sprinter vans)
Mr rep (Vectra / Mondeo man)
all the others are just bad drivers I'm not old I'm Retro0 -
I fail to see how the brand of car driven has any bearing on driving skill
What happens if you sell your BMW and buy a different brand ? does your driving improve ? do you become less of a knobber ? no, of course not
If you are a sh*t driver, or a knobber for that matter, your brand of car is irrelevent
(i dont drive a BMW BTW)
IMO the brighter the better. Not like a driver is going to accidentally run you over cause your rear light was too bright eh ?0 -
zeroseven wrote:
Ah, but at what distance?yeehaamcgee wrote:
Largely irrelevant There are two ways to measure light, You can measure the light that falls on the meter from a given distance (Incident reading) where the amount of light halves every time you double the distance. However viewing the source doesn't work that way. You can measure the source at 5 metres, 20, 100, the result will be pretty much the same as the power of the source doesn't change with distance. This is what the driver behind you sees.
I checked the light next to her car last night (which I posted before somebody suggested it). it was considerably brighter than the car. If all cars were that bright none of us would get anywhere.
Right, I'm off to measure the distance between the lamposts now in case they give any BMW drivers a fit an any given speeds.
Wish I had a job.[/quote
Still not making any sense with this viewing source m'larky. Surely what you are saying only applies to fully coherent light which the light out of a bake light wont be.
unless you are talking about the relative intensities of the light next to a car light at the same distance. but things are moving around everywhere so I wouldnt worry.0
