have you guys notice bike LED lights seem to be brighter than car head lights?
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Szemhazai
Enlightened
Yes, they are brighter... the light output may be the same but the light output area is many times smaller. So you have many more candles 
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Sprocketman
Newly Enlightened
Car headlights put out a very focussed beam that is sharply cut off at the top to avoid blinding other drivers. Every country in the world has a standard that requires the cutoff beam. The manufacturers of car lights uses lens and reflector designs to put the light on the road where it belongs and not in the eyes of oncoming cars.
There is no bicycle headlight on the market at present with a beam like that. They use simple reflectors and just throw light in every direction. Try riding with one and then ride with a car light on your bike and you will see the difference in actually seeing the road, particularly on rainy nights and with the glare of lights coming at you.
On trails at night bike lights that throw light everywhere can leave a rider blinking and blinded after they pass. That strikes me as really inconsiderate.
And yes, I use a car light on my bike.
Randy
There is no bicycle headlight on the market at present with a beam like that. They use simple reflectors and just throw light in every direction. Try riding with one and then ride with a car light on your bike and you will see the difference in actually seeing the road, particularly on rainy nights and with the glare of lights coming at you.
On trails at night bike lights that throw light everywhere can leave a rider blinking and blinded after they pass. That strikes me as really inconsiderate.
And yes, I use a car light on my bike.
Randy
hamilgs
Newly Enlightened
Sprocket: Sure there are "low beam" bike lights, as most every European country requires them, and has teh technical spec to back up the verification. Google for "IQ fly" by B & M. I have one and like it.--george
If you're going to make a statement like that you MUST post pictures.
Doesn't the new Light & Motion Seca have a horizontal cutoff? I know it at least shapes the beam into a more ideal pattern than other lights out there.
LukeA
Flashlight Enthusiast
I think I've got a simple and effective way to get an ECE/DOT VOL-type cutoff with TIR optics. Check for a thread in a few days.
I have the Seca 700. It has a pretty complicated reflector, and I know L&M claims it has a cutoff, but it really doesn't. I usually operate it in "Race Mode" where it can be toggled from 100% to 25% power and back. At 25% power, it's still rather bright to the naked eye, and obviously it's still aimed just like it was at 100%, unless I put my thumb under the rear and rock the entire light head downward (it mounts with a rubber strap, so this is a possibility), or rotate it sideways so it's aiming off to the side (also a possibility since the head rotates on the bar mount).
Thinking outside the box a little... one possible way of switching to low-beam / dipped lights is to simply aim the entire light downwards. A mount with a simple mechanical cam? Flip a lever, flip it back. Someone design one!
Bigger picture: even an automotive-quality cutoff is not a panacea. Every night, I get blasted by people coming over a rise, or jouncing up & down over heaves in the road. Likewise, if I'm coming over a rise, the only way to avoid blasting someone is to turn off or re-aim my lights. A certain amount of that is unavoidable.
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Due to new high power LED's I can see it being only a matter of time before countries start to bring in regulation for bicycle lights.
That said it is easy to regulate the latest bike lights as they nearly always have power level settings, so i don't see the need to complicate the optics to achieve ""ECE/DOT VOL-type cutoff "".
Marco.
That said it is easy to regulate the latest bike lights as they nearly always have power level settings, so i don't see the need to complicate the optics to achieve ""ECE/DOT VOL-type cutoff "".
Marco.
Szemhazai
Enlightened
marcopolo even if they do so... There still be a place for a lamps for off road use ie. Germany have their StZVO (Federal Road Traffic Regulations) rules for road lightning - fine but most flashaholics are using stronger non StZVO compatybile lights and there are companies in Germany that are producing this kind of lights.
I was riding on the Capitol Crescent and Mt Vernon trail the other night and the oncoming LED lights were bad enough, but what was worse was that about every 4th rider had theirs on Blink mode. On a freakin bicycle path! WTF! That doesn't even make sense. :thinking: Neither of these trails intermix with traffic and the Capitol crescent is pitch black, how do you even ride with only a front blinker? Their rear blinker was inevitable clipped onto their messenger bag or waistband and pointed at the sky. 
Their rear blinker was inevitable clipped onto their messenger bag or waistband and pointed at the sky.
Do they already have flying cars over there?! :huh:
And apparently mole people too. I was driving Constitution Ave last night near the Lincoln memorial and I was playing turtle and hare with a cyclist on it. Constitution is a cacophony of lights, cars, pedestrian and bikes so he was practically invisible. He had a blinky on the back but the meager reflective strip on his saddle bag was more visible. I thought I recognized the flash pattern as a PB Superflash, but dang was it dim. When I caught up to him I realized why. The superflash was pointed downwards at about a 45 deg angle towards his rear hub.
My observations when driving and riding is the reflective ankle bands, wheel reflectors and those reflective sidewall tires are the most noticeable things you can use. More so than the blinkies in some cases. Use Both!
Reflective anything actually being used is incredible rare though around these parts, except by accident. The cyclists think they are safe with their blinkies pointed at the sky. :shakehead
PrettyBoyTim
Newly Enlightened
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I've been thinking of putting a motorbike or scooter headlamp onto my bike, but I'm not keen on the power requirements. It's pretty easy to get hold of cheap Honda Cub lights, but they use 35W halogen bulbs, which would result in rather onerous battery requirements.
It'd be neat to change one over to LED, but I imagine it would screw up the beam pattern completely.
I was passed by a motor scooter a couple months ago, and its headlight was pathetic, or else completely mis-aimed so that none of the light hit the street (but it didn't look like that was the case).
PrettyBoyTim
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Well, I guess it all depends on the scooter, but to be honest as I only ever ride in London, there are always streetlights and the light is more for being seen than to see with. The reason I'm interested in a scooter or motorbike light is that most bike lights are so small that they just appear as bright pinpricks, giving little idea as to how far away the bike is. A light with a bit of frontal area gives a better idea of range, and I figure if I get mistaken for a scooter the chances of people misjudging my speed and pulling out in front of me are reduced.
I have a comment about that, too... on that same street, I saw a ??? coming towards me with one headlight. It turned out to be a car that had no driver's side headlight or turn-signal/running light because of collision damage. It was difficult to establish its distance, even though it was a full-sized automotive headlight on a Subaru. Without the divergence cue of two lights spaced some distance apart, the fact it's a headlight about 6x12 inches really didn't help me.
This is one benefit to using a helmet light and a bar light together; they have vertical separation and they diverge as the rider gets closer to the viewer. If I need to attract attention, I can lean the bike back and forth a few times, while leaning my head the opposite direction, so the two lights veer in opposite directions; I usually use this technique if there's danger of someone left-hooking me (driving towards me and turning across my path), or pulling out from a side street into my path.
In conditions where reflective material shows up, such as an oncoming motorist planning to turn across my path, I think having lots of reflective material will help fix the "floating pinprick of light" problem too. Here's a photo of my jacket with reflective tape added. It didn't come out looking pretty, but it reflects well when dry. For most people, an ANSI Class II reflective vest and some reflective legbands would be a good alternative, particularly with high-quality glossy vinyl tape that remains highly reflective even when wet.
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As I know, most german bike light will have cut-off beam pattern. The light from Dosun www.dosun.us had be discussed in 2 month ago. also refer to http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=200898
you also can refer to http://www.bumm.de/index-e.html
road bike head light should have cut-off pattern.
Mike
you also can refer to http://www.bumm.de/index-e.html
road bike head light should have cut-off pattern.
Mike
Zero_Enigma
Enlightened
:shakehead
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Szemhazai
Enlightened
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