Public Announcement - check your batteries

Kieran_Burns

It's getting dark now and next week the clocks go back so the evening commutes will be in full darkness.

I've 'seen' several cyclists with lights that are near useless due to nearly flat batteries. We're not just talking students and POBs here, some of these have been 'proper' cyclists with all the kit and no working lights.

Could people check their lights front AND rear?

I'm honestly getting greater space and time on the roads now I have my lights on. It REALLY helps.

Wrath Rob

Try riding through Richmond Park after dark. How some of those people see where they're going is a mystery, let alone be seen by anyone else? They must have some really close calls with the deer. Saw one lady last night who was riding with a very weak puddle of light 2m in front of her and with no rear light. Crazy.

TheStone

Wrath Rob wrote:

Try riding through Richmond Park after dark. How some of those people see where they're going is a mystery, let alone be seen by anyone else? They must have some really close calls with the deer. Saw one lady last night who was riding with a very weak puddle of light 2m in front of her and with no rear light. Crazy.

I'd prefer that to those that go round RP with the power of a lighthouse on their handlebars.
Seriously dangerous to anyone going the other way.

rubertoe

I see too many of both... and neither are good enough.

CiB

Seems to me a lot spend all their budget on a portable sun for the h/bars leaving 99p for some dimly lit red sweet wrapper type arrangement hidden under the saddle facing the back.

It works at both ends. See and be seen.

roger_merriman

TheStone wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

Try riding through Richmond Park after dark. How some of those people see where they're going is a mystery, let alone be seen by anyone else? They must have some really close calls with the deer. Saw one lady last night who was riding with a very weak puddle of light 2m in front of her and with no rear light. Crazy.

I'd prefer that to those that go round RP with the power of a lighthouse on their handlebars.
Seriously dangerous to anyone going the other way.

I regularly see a chap with no lights in Bushy at 7am, My lights pick up his HiVis.

and at the other end going home at 9pm I see folk with good powerful lights on flash in Bushy, really unpleasant that.

veronese68

Why can't people check their batteries at the enf of their ride? Knackered batteries may look fine for the first few seconds, but rapidly fade.

asprilla

Wrath Rob wrote:

Try riding through Richmond Park after dark. How some of those people see where they're going is a mystery, let alone be seen by anyone else? They must have some really close calls with the deer. Saw one lady last night who was riding with a very weak puddle of light 2m in front of her and with no rear light. Crazy.

It's the joggers that get me.

I'd been riding home though the park all summer and not seen a single jogger. Dark evenings come and suddenly it's full of them, all dress in black.

I just don't understand.

iPete

Rode through RP at 2am the other week, the moon was up so I turned my lights off, it was ace. With lights on the road its v.hard to see the anything not in the beam as your eyes don't adjust.
It's the people with uber lights that are fecking annoying.

tgotb

Asprilla wrote:

It's the joggers that get me.

I'd been riding home though the park all summer and not seen a single jogger. Dark evenings come and suddenly it's full of them, all dress in black.

I just don't understand.

Same here. In massive groups across the full width of the road, with no regard for any other road user.

I actually hit a jogger last week. I was overtaking a large herd of them going up Ballet School Hill; the ones at the back were shouting "Bike" to the ones in front to warn them, as I crawled up the 4' wide strip of road that they'd left on the extreme right-hand side. Suddenly one of the joggers at the front shouted "Stop" and a guy in front of me turned sharply right, straight into my path :shock: I may have used several words that my kids aren't allowed to hear...

When the park shuts, they do the same thing around the roads where I live; no regard for bikes, cars or any other road users. Does my head in...

Paul E

I check mine weekly, and my batteries

Initialised

Like wise, I've been running on basic lights up to now but today they felt a bit under powered when I left the street lights behind.

So, err done!

redvee

Already sorted new batteries for the lights that need them. As my commute home will be in the dark year round I'm going to be buying batteries frequently.

Kieran_Burns

Rechargeables and good charger. Carry a backup set of non-rechargeables just in case.

I like the magicshine for the charge level indicator. It's a big failing of the Hopes that they have no warning until they go into flash mode.

iPete

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Rechargeables and good charger. Carry a backup set of non-rechargeables just in case.

I like the magicshine for the charge level indicator. It's a big failing of the Hopes that they have no warning until they go into flash mode.

It is annoying but have you ever had them go flat?

It was proper dark this morning and I was a little bemused by cars waiting to pass and giving a wide berth... then I realised the Hope was doing its magic at the back, it really does change drivers behavior.

Kieran_Burns

Pretty much. I was 15 miles from home and both the vision 1 and vision 2 went into flash mode. It was a bit of a buggeration as I was on a pitch black bridleway at the time.

Given that the epic battery costs as much as a 808e, I think someone got their prices wrong.

The district 3 though... it has the same effect for me. I only have it on the low setting as well.

Dellsinho

I'm a stickler for rear lights. I always have at least 2 on the go in different locations on the back, usually one high up, bag/helmet, and one on the seat post and I would advise people to do the same.

Most of my cycling done in the dark is on my commute which is street-lit the whole route so not as fussed about having an extremely bright front light - I don't need it to see by. Although saying that, I still wouldn't want to look down the barrel of my front torch. :idea:

Watch out for the ninjas.

Paul E

I have a knog on my helmet, a smart on the seat post and if it's grotty another smart type on my bag too

sketchley

Don't just check you batteries when you set off, as first time you switch them on they will be fairly bright, the will go dim quickly if the batteries are low. So check them when you get home, ideally put the bike against a wall and walk 100 yards back ad look again.

Also make sure your mudguard, bags, coat etc are not obsuring the light.

Please also be aware a single light attach to the top of your rucksack or back of the helmt is likely to be invisible once you are bent forward over the handlebars. Also note that most people look up the road and not down the road so a high up light is seen much later than a low down one.

Simply put if you want to be seen quickly from behind attach a light to the back of bike, below saddle hieght, and make sure it's not obscured by anything and the batteries are fresh!

sketchley

Also...

Poundland

Multi Led Front Light £1
Multi Led Rear Light £1
Batteries for both £1
Screwdriver to fit them £1

Job done for £4 - Ok they are not great lights but good enough for lit streets. There really is no excuse for no lights!

tgotb

Always use two back lights - that way, if one fails (for whatever reason) the other should keep you safe. If they're the same type, try not to change the batteries at the same time, so that they don't run out simultaneously.

Front lights, you can get away with one decent one, as you'll see if it stops working. That said, having a spare means you can still ride home if it stops working for something other than a battery issue.

I have been though goodness knows how many lights, and I have *never* found one which is totally failure-proof. The closest I've got is a Magic Shine with soldered connections, but anything with removable batteries will fail sooner or later, normally when the contacts get corroded/dirty.

Most of the Knog lights I see look quite cool, but are basically invisible; I really don't know why people bother...

DrLex

*hugs Shimano hub dynamo & lights*

Anyone planning on teaming up a shutter dynamo and an Exposure Revo? or has the FCN modifier not been agreed?