Lights too bright??

cougie

02GF74 wrote:

jds_1981 wrote:

Yes, your lights can be too bright and badly angled.
Get one designed to illuminate the path, not blind oncoming people if you're going to be using shared spaces.

I cycle along a canal path and it can be a nightmare if someone has bought a magic shine style light and angled it straight ahead. With one of those in your eyes it is hard to see anything.

If you are one of those people you are a aunt.

Assuming you are not disabled has it not occurred to you to rotate your head so that you are not facing the light or partially close your eyes?

It seems some people are looking for an argument.

How the hell can you see where you're going with your eyes closed or looking the wrong way.

It's not rocket science. Don't blind others.

Jonesinamilion

Of course lights can be too bright*!

I have a torch problem, currently owning a few for different reasons., on occasion some get mounted to my bike but I'm careful how they are used & mounted / angled, a few ranges of brightness that I own and thoughts on output levels....

Klarus MI6 - keyring about 90 lumens - of no use for riding
Fenix E15 about 450 lumens - Plenty enough to see where you're going at lower speeds.
Nebo Big larry inspection light around 400 lumens but far too floody
Nitecore EA4 pioneer circa 1000 lumens; I struggle to think of any riding application where this output would not suffice.
Olight intimidator kicking out well over 3000 lumens; too bright and would definitely be a hazard to pedestrians and other riders / drivers.

My bike as standard has a couple of knog frog that serve to let people know i'm there without being intrusive; then mount an appropriate torch to the bars to match what i'm doing.

*theres a lot of Chinese / amazon types of light that claim outputs that are simply not accurate; good quality torches actually achieve their claimed outputs. Beam patterns are also a huge consideration, not just output, flood as opposed to throw is my preference. The human eye is drawn to moving objects / flashges to strobe is a huge plus if you need to be seen.

Yes, be safe & be seen but consider others.

ken2255

I have found that while too bright front lights on bikes are annoying to oncoming vehicles and no doubt other bikes too, at least they are on the other side of the road, the worst problem I have encountered very recently was on a usually fast, unlit curving section of road with me in a car behind a bike which had an insanely bright rear light, I could see nothing at all beyond the light and that's no exaggeration, I had to stay behind the bike because I had no idea where the road went or if anything else was heading my way. Lights like this do not make the cyclist safer, quite the opposite in fact because most drivers would probably have just chanced it rather than endure sitting behind the blinding red light.

plugp7

Deleted double post.

photojim

Unfortunately over-bright lights on bikes are becoming more of a nuisance on the road. At night I drive a lot more than I cycle these days, and frequently see cyclists with dazzling lights, both front and rear. They irritate me and I'm a lifelong cyclist and supporter of all things cycling. I would imagine they could inspire real aggression in some road users.

I used to do a huge amount of cycle commuting in the dark - mostly 17 - 30 mile stretches, and mostly on rural lanes. Its just not necessary to have over-bright lights - particularly when most of the time you are going to be travelling at less than 20mph.

Possibly riding in an urban area with street lighting a more powerful light would be acceptable - to help you stand out from the mass of other lights.

I would add that I have almost no experience of off-road riding at night - but it is worth considering that if somebody is out for a walk on a path in the dark, they may not be happy to meet a floodlight coming past them.

Jim

roger_merriman

photojim wrote:

Unfortunately over-bright lights on bikes are becoming more of a nuisance on the road. At night I drive a lot more than I cycle these days, and frequently see cyclists with dazzling lights, both front and rear. They irritate me and I'm a lifelong cyclist and supporter of all things cycling. I would imagine they could inspire real aggression in some road users.

I used to do a huge amount of cycle commuting in the dark - mostly 17 - 30 mile stretches, and mostly on rural lanes. Its just not necessary to have over-bright lights - particularly when most of the time you are going to be travelling at less than 20mph.

Possibly riding in an urban area with street lighting a more powerful light would be acceptable - to help you stand out from the mass of other lights.

I would add that I have almost no experience of off-road riding at night - but it is worth considering that if somebody is out for a walk on a path in the dark, they may not be happy to meet a floodlight coming past them.

Jim

The high powered and flashing in dark places such as unlit lanes or big parks and what not yes it’s fairly unpleasant.

This said I commute 12 miles though london though shared paths/parks/roads etc. And it’s only from cars/vans that I’m blinded by glare, I might curse the guy with the light on epileptic disco mode but I’m not blinded by it, though admittedly I don’t like it!

But I am blinded by cars so that it’s difficult to see exactly far ahead.

To a extent I think some (though not all) of the bike lights are too bright is folks not expecting bikes to have bright lights, I test my lights I stand the bike and test the modes somewhere pitch dark, and walk around the bike etc, on full it’s blinding no surprise there, on low it’s not remotely.