Show us your bike light set-up

[BrianMc]

Still looks pretty damn bright, but hey, now that you've mentioned it...

Our eyes adjust. Light meters don't. Surprised me, too. Thought you'd like to know. I stumbled on the twin lights effect at the same time.

Tape/shield on the front glass doesn't ...work ...thought of ...using a semi-circle of mirror in place of the front glass, .. I tried this .. but the foil mirror tends to scatter the light a bit much ...

I was afraid of that. So he likely did it without really testing it.

 

[Bobblehat]

Hey! Don't be ashamed of your set up, whatever it is ... it gets you out and about at night, doesn't it?

Well my set-up might be "old hat", not very hip, not even DIY (apart from the bar switches and wiring for the twin beam) but they have lasted well and work reasonably well for various rides on (mostly) and off road.

Sorry if you've seen some of these photos before in other threads.

Photo 1 shows older Cateye TL-LD130 on the Kraken's seat post, now replaced with 2nd LD1100. Photo 3 doesn't show the Tesco 2AA LED torch that's been added on the left-hand bar as an experiment.

One LD1100 is used on flashing, other used on steady. They both have terrific side visibility as well as very good rear projection. I find the little Smart 7 LED on flashing on the pannier bag gets me a wider berth from passing vehicles than without it. Wish it was AA instead of AAA though!

The 1/2W Smart front LED is used on flashing mode, it has good side visibility, which the Halogens and Tesco torch do not have. The Tesco torch is an experiment to see how I like LED lighting .... I know, I know, I keep saying I'm going to get some main beam LEDs .....

The halogens use a "RC model" 7.2V 3700mAH sub-C pack which has proved very reliable over the years, and still seems to give good run-time even now. Stored on the crossbar in a cheapy tool holder bag that was going spare, there's also room for a 6 NiMH AA's back-up in plastic holder. Only ever used the back-up twice when I forgot to charge the sub-C's when they started to dim half way through a ride. There's enough juice in the AA backup's to run the 6W low beam for some hours, they dip a bit on the high beam though.

Passive "Lighting" too!

View from up front. (minus Tesco torch)

Halogens have now been dropped a few inches by adding a couple of small aluminium bars between the handlebar clamps and the Smart light bracket. Gives the cables a bit more room.

Tesco torch held on with "Torch" brand LED light mount the LBS had in a junk box. Inner tube shroud plus a bit extra tube to match the bracket's diameter better.

Right hand switch ... left hand is mirrored etc. Can switch each halogen on/off independently.

... and not forgetting the old noggin .... used on steady mode on the road .... or as a work/repair light. This is one of the best, cheapest investments I've ever made for safety! The number of drivers who are seen to make the front of their cars "dip" under braking when I look in their direction when they are approaching from a side junction, has to be seen to be believed, compared to before I bought it. It used to be me braking as they didn't bother to "give way" at the side junction, now it's mostly them (I still keep a finger near the brake ... habit )

Sorry to bore the "better than bought" DIY super LED brigade .(I aspire to be one of them some day!) Bobbl@

 

[Matt King]

Our eyes adjust. Light meters don't. Surprised me, too. Thought you'd like to know.

I recharged one light, and compared them visually.
Before: looked identical
After: looked identical...:shrug:
oh well, should be good for a few more months now...

I have run one flat before so I know what that looks like - massive dropoff in output. That's the main reason I run two lights - the NiMH batteries drop off very suddenly at the end.

 

[CyciumX]

El-wire - 20 ft.
NiteFLux Photon Max Extreme (Pmax)
2 x MS900
2 x Cree lights
On paper = 1,350+900+900+200+200= 3,550 lumens... which we know isn't accurate, but we all know its still damn bright!

 

[Matt King]

In for daylight shots of your bike - what frame is that?
/ignorant.

 

[CyciumX]

Its a Trek Y-foil 77 from 1998, but has been completely overhauled with a custom paint job and full Ultegra SL with Dura Ace 7800 shifters.

Don't worry - I have a man's Y-foil thats metallic blue also

I'm actually going to post most pictures after tomorrow night. I just installed 180 L.e.d.s on the frame for the San Jose Bike Party!

 

[Illum]

 

[CyciumX]

I know I'm new here, but even I'm not too oblivious to see how the last set of pictures came to be.

1: I post a few pics of my lights
2: Guy asks what frame I have
3: I post pictures of frame

....does that warrant a snarky comment?

 

[CyciumX]

Unless you are specifically talking about beam shots... in that case - its impossible as I have no suitable area to do so.

 

[Illum]

I was just curious what innovative way you've hid your bikelights in those pics...after looking at them for awhile I gave up and decided to ask instead

oh, :welcome:
No, not a snarky comment at all, I failed to acknowledge the prior request and mistaken it to be pictures illustrative of your bikelights

 

[BrianMc]

CyciumX: I didn't catch the common poster name on the lights/bikes so was also confused. Hard to tell it is the same bike in the dark. Beautiful and interesting bike(s). Not for the likes of me, though: Too little air in those tires for my weight, not sure the cantilevered seat would like me much either!

So you dismount the El-wire and the lights after each night ride? Looked the stuff up:

http://www.elwire.com/whatis.html

Not a lot wiser about how you'd power it, run time, life expectancy etc. Could you post a thread relating your experience with it?

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Simple, no DIY stuff here, but several iterations in, this is what I currently have...

Front: twin Magicshine 808's, Y splitter and extension following the rear brake cable.

Rear: twin "1/2 Watt" flashers. came from different brands but they're identical apart from the badging on one. Love these two side by side, they set up a nice "beat" pattern.

Pack on the back holds the battery. One of the 4x18650 packs is enough to give me at least 3 commutes (~60 minutes total) but I usually recharge after 2 to be sure. Reflective sidewall tyres.

Hoping one day to figure out a proper beam pattern, but with the twin front lights and a slight curve to the handlebar, there is a nice wide illumination. The right one is aimed a little lower to minimise traffic annoyance. Noone has flashed lights at me... yet... Cars generally stop pulling out in front of me ~100 metres away :thumbsup:

Nice bike setup. All you need is a Dinotte 140L tail light mounted on the seat pointed straight back for long range detection and you're good to go. Might have a shop weld a couple pieces of metal together then paint it with outdoor weather paint to seal it. Have the new addition screw onto the seat rails extending out a little with a O==O area you mount the Dinotte and you're good to go. Also consider a minor mod add on to the Topeak bag with two flat strip aluminum bars screwed into the bag with some silicone to re-waterproof it and a O==O mount on it so you have two mounting options for your DInotte. That way if you had the Dinotte mounted on the Topeak you can just take the bag and go after lock up without removing anything else extra as it is all in the bag.

 

[Matt King]

Thanks.

The taillights I have are pretty good, I'm happy with them for reach. The batteries last for ages so frequent removal to charge is overkill.

The back of the bag doesn't present any good mounting surfaces to attach something to, there is a light clip on the rear bottle holder but it doesn't aim well (fabric, duh).

Oh, and also, the bag has refective strips on it, I also wear a safety vest or a cycling jacket with reflective piping...

On another note, I saw a neat trick on Youtube a while ago where someone had strapped a Knog frog to their hub, so it spun around and lit up the rim as they rode.

 

[pushy]

Simple, no DIY stuff here, but several iterations in, this is what I currently have...

Front: twin Magicshine 808's, Y splitter and extension following the rear brake cable.

Rear: twin "1/2 Watt" flashers. came from different brands but they're identical apart from the badging on one. Love these two side by side, they set up a nice "beat" pattern.

Pack on the back holds the battery. One of the 4x18650 packs is enough to give me at least 3 commutes (~60 minutes total) but I usually recharge after 2 to be sure. Reflective sidewall tyres.

Hoping one day to figure out a proper beam pattern, but with the twin front lights and a slight curve to the handlebar, there is a nice wide illumination. The right one is aimed a little lower to minimise traffic annoyance. Noone has flashed lights at me... yet... Cars generally stop pulling out in front of me ~100 metres away :thumbsup:

You could use http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1919 I have and I really like them for road use, no hot spot just a nice even pool of light at the expense of throw, which is not an issue for me. Just unscrew the bezel, remove the reflector, drop in the diffuser then a 1x35mm o-ring on top and screw the bezel back on without removing the front lens.

 

[Matt King]

Not really what I'm after, I'm looking for a beam pattern to rival a proper headlight (be that a StVZO or car projector as a reference). I have some thoughts, using a few DX bits and pieces, but it might wait until winter is over and I'm not so reliant on my lights.

 

[wildstar87]

Here is one I posted back a little while ago:

 

[spankone]

the only trouble is the clicky switch wont cycle modes with out haveing to click it off the half click through the modes then full click on. the standard cap has a different switch that lets you half click through the modes whilst its on. I use these caps just cause I think they look cool

 

[BrianMc]

Santa's brought the parts to remake/make new lights so I'll post the current state of the lights on the good bike:

This light is currently Ver II with an XP-E R3 and two XP-G R5's and 12.7 mm aspheric lenses (ver III to come):




Stacked die "snowman" beam shape:




The wide angle light from one LED was not blocked and a hood with amber sides uses that light to provide some side marking at night:





The Planet Bike Superflash mount now has a Turbo. It isn't as subject to self mode switching as the original back but fussier about snapping in place:




The pivoted light tends to keep the narrow beam in line with following traffic up hill and down, riding the hoods , tops, or drops.

The tail lights now have neither reflector nor lens so use the LED's own wide distribution to be visible from wide angles;




Compared to NiteFLUX Red Zone 4 (200 lumens) mounted between them in picture above, suggests my reading of circa 100 lumens each is a decent estimate.

A Cygolite HotShot resides between the DIY tail lights providing long distance visibility. Seen in the video



The headlights have plastic hoods that need to be redone in aluminum to help heat dissipation.

Beams:

Light aimed close (XM-L T6 & EVA-D, has driver aboard):

Light aimed further out (XM-L T6 & IRIS):

Video of rides of headlights and helmet light (first pass helmet light on low, headlights high, then both high, last headlights low, helmet light on high).

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/5885/2cg.mp4

Video 1: a circa 100 lumen headlight, and the Turbo, then my lights, then my lights adding the ankle Red Zones.

http://imageshack.us/clip/my-videos/42/bod.mp4/

One Red Zone 4 on each ankle works well to say "cyclist".




Additional side visibility was achieved with a pair of cheap spoke lights:

Video 2: No HotShot, twin Red Zone 4s on back with older lensed DIY tail lights:

<embed src="http://img402.imageshack.us/flvplayer.swf?f=P5cd" width="1280" height="740" allowFullScreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"/><br/>

Video3: All together now:

http://youtu.be/Dufn-nEZzyk

The bike:






BrianMc

 

[pick]

Nice video Brian!! Liked being able to see the RZ4's in action...they look great as does your entire set-up!!!

 

[BrianMc]

Thanks. Getting there. Santa brought me stuff to play with. So, I'll have some new threads here.

BrianMc