Planet Bike Blaze and Topeak WhiteLite HP--Wired review

[Mostly]

I saw a brief comparison review of Planet Bike Blaze and Topeak WhiteLite HP in Wired today and wondered if anyone has experience with those two relatively inexpensive AA bike lights: Bright Ideas: We Test Two Bike Headlights Head to Head | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

Zero_Enigma mentions using Planet Bike Blaze in this post--19, but other than that I found very little info by searching CPF.

The reviewer recommends Planet Bike Blaze... I guess I'm wondering how it would compare with something like an L2D (pre-Q5) for use as an inexpensive bike light, or whatever other experiences or impressions anyone might have of the reviewed lights.

 

[greenLED]

The reviewer recommends Planet Bike Blaze... I guess I'm wondering how it would compare with something like an L2D (pre-Q5) for use as an inexpensive bike light, or whatever other experiences or impressions anyone might have of the reviewed lights.

No contest. The L2D is a whole lot brighter than a Lux-based light. Something the L2D does not have is a blinking mode (the strobe doesn't work as a useful bike beacon).

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Hi Mostly,

For light output the L2D wins (and I don't own it but the beamshots I've seen I can relate to now that I've some more powerful lighting 2xSSC LED + 4 x SSC LED both DIY. Check my Flickr for beamshots) for riding with but the L2D does not have side visibility and anyone driving looking at the smaller size of the bike will have a harder time seeing you if you don't have some side visibility to make yourself noticed.

I can try and get some photos of the PB Blaze later this weekend after I'm done fixing the very neglected front lawn which is over taken by nearly 2ft weeds.

As my comment in the quote was that the PB Blaze are more a BE-SEEN light and emergency TO-SEE light. Make sure you konw the difference between a BE-SEEN and TO-SEE light.

BE-SEEN = Generally not high powered lighting but mostly good ~100-180 degree (I'm taking a guess from experence with my lighting experiments) visibility.

TO-SEE = Bright forward lighting but mostly high-powered lighting so you can see the road in pitch black enviroments going say ~15kph and faster with lots of light enough to give you a ~3-5 second reaction time from seeingthe hazard on the road/trail to avoiding the hazard. Obviously you want more reaction time if you're riding faster ~30kph+ and especially on decents from hills.


Edit:

My Flickr page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49184877@N00/


Edit:

BE-SEEN degrees is more ~100-220 degrees with most lights in the ~160-180 degree view range.

 

[Mostly]

Thank you both for the good info. I think I do need a "be seen" light, especially one that would get noticed even in daylight. (I usually ride a recumbent, so being seen is even more of an issue, so I've heard). I'm not sure Planet Bike Blaze is what I need... especially since the company site says they're out of stock. Looks like a decent light, though, for the price.

I don't actually ride much at night, but I should... the heat is miserable most of the day for riding here in Central Texas, but I'm riding a bit more so that I'll be in shape to do a little mountain biking in Colorado next month.

I have a Zebralight H50 that would probably work ok on my helmet for a "be seen" light (maybe on medium setting?) and an L2D for a handlebar light "to see." Also have a cheap Schwinn AAA red LED blinker for a tail light. Those should suffice for now, no more night riding than I'll probably be doing, and no faster than I go. Something with a good strobe would be better than the Zebralight, though, for getting noticed... guess I'm really just looking for an excuse to buy more lights...

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Ahh a 'bent. Love those bikes tho I don't own one. Only had about 5-10mins sitdown try on one at a bike clearence fair before. Love the back support.

Having spoken with some other 'bent riders before and seeing a number of them on the roads before in the day and night (about 60/40% day/night (I count dawn/dusk as night times) ) I can see how visibility on the road is an issue for them being so low to the low to the ground. A rider before commented about them almost being run over by a backing up a vehicle because of thier low to the ground profile.

While I know this may seem dorky but the truth is having that yellow/orange extended flag on the rear of your bike makes you more visible and the flags are just slightly under the drivers eye vision while driving so you get them in the best view spot. A dual flag would give you nice side to side redundancy coverage with say a go-kart like feel.

On the cheap you could get 4 PB Superflashes and attach two per side of the 'bent and set on stobe modes which would give you more reassurance when you're making a turn or crossing streets cars can see you on the side. I like that you have a helmet light. It definately lets you aim the light at the target to make sure they see you even if you shake the head a bit with the light waving past them to get thier attention. If you have a soldering iron a thought just came to mind by getting 4 x high power Red or Amber LEDs then putting them into a aluminum pipe with a 15 to 25 degree optic (like the L2 20mm optics that fit into a 3/4" copper pipe fitting which the fitting costs ~50cents) then mounting it on the sides of the bike plugged into one battery pack and get it to flash mode normal flash mode so you can conserve power yet not have a flash too slow that gives to more a gap in the visibility.

Well given your current items on hand I think you might want to put the L2D on the helmet and get to strobe mode and use whatever front blinky you have which is better then nothing. The reason being that the L2D is probably the brightest strober you have right now and being on the helmet you can point that strobe where you need it most day or night so that a car pulling up to the corner to turn you can look at them and the stobe will catch them to pause so you can either wave them to move or slow down.

 

[Zero_Enigma]

That PB Blaze I own is the 1/2W version. Good on batteries and I like the modes on it. I prefer flash first then steady.

That PB 1/2W Blaze mode goes like this: On-Strobe-Steady-Off.

I like that mode setup because it allows me to have the strobe mode first which I use as a turning signal when I'm at a redlight and it seems like frigging 98% of all drivers never know the hand turn signals so when I use the lights AND the turn signals it click in thier heads. At the end of the day the goal is NOT to be road pizza.

Somehow on a 'bent adding such lighting and signals I think looks better then on a bike somehow. To the eye anyways because a 'bent somehow to me has a bit of a F1 race look to me anyways in the bike setup where as on a normal bike you have about 4" of rear rack space or 5" in the back to make the signal/lights look some what proportionate. Ok... that's jsut personal preference there.

 

[Mostly]

Thanks for the responses... Zero_Enigma, your suggestions are starting to sound almost like bling to me instead of just safety features. Maybe I should get spinning hubcaps for both wheels with leds all around the rim?

For some reason Weird Al Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" is going through my head...

I do love my bent, an old BikeE--extremely comfortable. Yes, it looks like it has lots of landscape from the side, but there's not much round tubing--frame is a rectangular aluminum beam. Steering column looks like it has a lot of room, but stuff below the handlebars, if attached to the side, interferes with knees and calves. I think adding a single flasher to the front, whether PB Blaze or something else, will be sufficient.

Thanks for mentioning the safety flags... those are the cheapest safety upgrade that I haven't done yet. I don't mind the dorkiness factor so much as the wind drag, especially with two flags. But adding a little drag is far worth it when you think about the safety factor.

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Thanks for the responses... Zero_Enigma, your suggestions are starting to sound almost like bling to me instead of just safety features. Maybe I should get spinning hubcaps for both wheels with leds all around the rim?

For some reason Weird Al Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" is going through my head...

I do love my bent, an old BikeE--extremely comfortable. Yes, it looks like it has lots of landscape from the side, but there's not much round tubing--frame is a rectangular aluminum beam. Steering column looks like it has a lot of room, but stuff below the handlebars, if attached to the side, interferes with knees and calves. I think adding a single flasher to the front, whether PB Blaze or something else, will be sufficient.

Thanks for mentioning the safety flags... those are the cheapest safety upgrade that I haven't done yet. I don't mind the dorkiness factor so much as the wind drag, especially with two flags. But adding a little drag is far worth it when you think about the safety factor.

Nah not going for the bling there but more like well think truckers on the freeway at night and thier side lighting is what I'm going for. BTW if I wanted you to go 'white and nerdy' I would have hand cuffed you to a Segway with a Erkel glasses, a huge @$$ ring knocker, and a 1980's running track suit. :duh2:

Got a pic of your bike? I'll try to get some pics of the PBSF on Sunday when weather is better and I get the lawn seriously deweeded to look ok in the photo. I don't work well in hot weather/hot sun beating on me :thumbsdow so excuse the background overgrown stuff. I'll have to clear it when it's cooler temps or fall.

A suggestion would be to use a bar extender on the handle bar to get more real estate upfront for the light mount. For nice symetrical look and estethics (sp?) go with a Nitto double clamp bar here and here.

 

[Mostly]

Nah not going for the bling there but more like well think truckers on the freeway at night and their side lighting is what I'm going for. BTW if I wanted you to go 'white and nerdy' I would have hand cuffed you to a Segway with a Erkel glasses, a huge @$$ ring knocker, and a 1980's running track suit. :duh2:

Lol! Sounds like you've seen the Weird Al music video. But what's a ring knocker?

You mean "running lights" on a truck. Yeah, I see what you mean... pretty good to have when crossing intersections. I actually spend most of my time on a few Farm to Market roads that don't have many intersections, though. My biggest worry is pickup trucks coming over a hill or around a curve behind me and not seeing me in time. (Safety flags might really help with this.) I have learned to ride so close to the edge of the road my right foot is usually over grass!

Less likely, but pretty dangerous, is if someone were to be passing when they come over a hill or around a curve oncoming. There's no room to spare (no shoulder)... I have had to run off the road before in situations like that, but that was in my younger days and on a mountain bike. I'd be likely to crash if I had to leave the road on the recumbent--front tire is so small (16") and twitchy.

Got a pic of your bike? I'll try to get some pics of the PBSF on Sunday when weather is better and I get the lawn seriously deweeded to look ok in the photo. I don't work well in hot weather/hot sun beating on me :thumbsdow so excuse the background overgrown stuff. I'll have to clear it when it's cooler temps or fall.

I look forward to seeing your PBSF setup. I won't mind the weeds--only reason our yard isn't weedy right now is that we've had no rain! Well, that and the fact that I'm using an electric mower that wouldn't be able to handle it if I let it get too weedy. Talk about white and nerdy--you should see me mowing with the electric cord trailing behind--looks like I'm vacuuming the yard!

I don't have any online photos of my BikeE. I'll need to set up a flickr or photobucket account one of these days. There's a decent photo at Bicycleman, if it is ok to link directly to that? bike_e_ct_01_lg.jpg (JPEG Image, 541x485 pixels)

A suggestion would be to use a bar extender on the handle bar to get more real estate upfront for the light mount. For nice symmetrical look and esthetics (sp?) go with a Nitto double clamp bar here and here.

Nitto double clamp might not work on the cross bar... can't see it in the photo, but the water bottle mounts are actually above the reflector on the front, so the bottle cage, being right in front of the handlebar, might interfere with the bar extender mount. Hm... maybe if I put the extenders going up instead of forward, that might clear it? Would still make it harder to reach the water, though. Maybe it is time I got a camelbak water system... one alteration--or purchase--always leads to another and another...

Wait, this might be better... inexpensive, too: MINOURA SwingGrip Computer & Light Holder [308-101] : • Milwaukee Bicycle Co. • Ben's Cycle

Yes, probably something like that which I can mount on the vertical bar... right under the bottle cage where the reflector currently sits.

Thanks for the clamp links... quite a variety there! I'm sure to see something that will work for me.

Edit: Ok, I think you have me sold on trying a Planet Bike Blinky! Only question is do I want to pay 70 cents more and get this one--Amazon.com: Planet Bike 3034-1 Blinky Superflash Stealth?

And do I want to maybe clip it to the back of my helmet? (Humming the tune of "White and Nerdy" right now...)

PB website wasn't working, so I googled and not only do they have much better prices at Amazon, but there are some amazingly positive reviews there! Not too excited about PB Blaze now, though... the 1 watt doesn't have a flashing mode like the 1/2 watt does, and Amazon's 1/2 watt one doesn't have the free shipping... also one reviewer says "The Blaze headlight is, on the other hand, disappointing. It has a very narrow, focused beam of only moderate brightness. In flashing mode, the beam is way too narrow as a 'be seen' light, unless the observer is dead center in front of the beam." (Source).

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Lol! Sounds like you've seen the Weird Al music video. But what's a ring knocker?

You mean "running lights" on a truck. Yeah, I see what you mean... pretty good to have when crossing intersections. I actually spend most of my time on a few Farm to Market roads that don't have many intersections, though. My biggest worry is pickup trucks coming over a hill or around a curve behind me and not seeing me in time. (Safety flags might really help with this.) I have learned to ride so close to the edge of the road my right foot is usually over grass!
).

Lol! Sounds like you've seen the Weird Al music video. But what's a ring knocker?

Yes I have seen the Wierd Al video fo 'White & Nerdy' and loved it. It's so geek power love I love it.

Here is the definition of a ring knocker. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ring knocker Normally when there is a group gathering and someone enters the room they knock thier rings on the table. My understanding locally with my experience is only with an engineering friend of mine that went to U of Waterloo and he's got a ring he hand which he wears from time to time when visiting friends at schools. Do me it's kind of like a 'club apparrel' thing like school jackets and such.

You mean "running lights" on a truck. Yeah, I see what you mean... pretty good to have when crossing intersections. I actually spend most of my time on a few Farm to Market roads that don't have many intersections, though. My biggest worry is pickup trucks coming over a hill or around a curve behind me and not seeing me in time. (Safety flags might really help with this.) I have learned to ride so close to the edge of the road my right foot is usually over grass!

Yes. I guess the term I wanted to use was 'running lights' but always thought of them as side visiblity lighting which they are. I'm a bit more urban in my riding but where I live I'm situated in a hilly part (good for workouts) and about 30-40mins to reach semi-rural land and about an extra 10-15 to be in the rural area by bike all uphill tho so I can relate to your riding. I find the worst are the F-150 trucks (I think F150 but I know it's a Ford by the blue/silver logo which you can't miss) with it's longer and wider mirrors which I have been brushed and nearly once hit with one of those when thier mirrors were extended out. The safety flags while you're riding would tend to fly back whichi s why I said they are more for side visibility then as the whole flag is seen fromt he side while you're riding and cutting the wind/air. From behind you will see the orange but not as much of it because it would be a slimmer profile them unless you get soem crosswind which will blow the flag to the side then the driver behind can see you a bit better from a distance.

You should take caution about riding so close to the curb area. While I know country roads people tend to drive a bit faster in the longer stretches still if any car accidents happend and what not the clean up crew always tends to sweep everything to the side of the road where riders are. The more o the extreem right side you are the more likely you might end up with foreign debris in the tire to test your skill and profiency for side road flat repairs. It's a bit better to be more visible on the road and ride in the ~1ft fromt he painted shoulder or curb lane to avoid such debris.

Something such as this can be found (or DIY'ed) to be hanging behind the seat so drivers from a distance can recognize the (assuming universial) universial sign for caution slow moving vehicle which the drivers from a distance might take you as a farmer on a small piece of farm machinary and take the outside lane to give you more berth. The backof the 'bent is always a good place for something like that given it's real estate and zero-drag location.

Less likely, but pretty dangerous, is if someone were to be passing when they come over a hill or around a curve oncoming. There's no room to spare (no shoulder)... I have had to run off the road before in situations like that, but that was in my younger days and on a mountain bike. I'd be likely to crash if I had to leave the road on the recumbent--front tire is so small (16") and twitchy.

I know exactly what you're talking about having come back from a night ride last night. I just got back from about a 20km hill climb so I'm already out of juice so as I come up over a bridge over train tracks I needed to cool the core temp own so I stopped slightly over the peak of the bridge on the downslope. Cars at the intesection in front could see me as everyone seems to always slow down as a reaction to my crazy lighting to get a better look at the crazy guys crazy lighting not sure if it's a moped/motorbike or whatnot being that bright. Well the cars from behind have a long straight away coming around. They won't see me till they just climb up over the peaks flying by. I use a Dinotte tail light which I set to stobe mode when I'm stationary and also in situations like that. The high power lighting of the Dinotte glows off the bridge guard rails as an early visual to the incoming hidden driver and as they go over the peak they tend to brake more because of the 'cop light' effect and I hear lots of comments as people fly by going 's--- thought it was a cop. Is that a cop? A cop?'.

Having just seen the pic of your bike you could o to the local hardware store and buy some hose clamp straps ( http://www.pipehoseclamp.com/productsimages/wormdrivehoseclampminitypeclamp_74489.jpg for reference ) and loop it so you can attack a attach a PVC pipe to the back of you seat tube support. Using PVC keeps the weight down. You want to just take a quick rouhg measurement of the tube size then get a clamp that will fit that. The other clamp you get you fish it in between that first one on the seat tube then attach a cheap PVC tube and make an U shaped extender on the back of you 'bent. That top U part you can mount say 3 PB Superflashes in conjuntion to that yield/slow reflective sign and because the blinkies are higher up they wll be hitting the driver/SUV guys at around eye to nose level in there vision. You can adjust the blinkies high/low if you want so you can catch a trucker if you want. At the height it gives the driver better view of your positon as they cover over the peak of the hill. Strobe mode is best in situations like that for better attention getting.

i====i
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The above is what I'm talking about. You might want to pick grey/black (I think they have gray tubing could be wrong but I know they have white and black for sure) to look better on the back then use a little refecto tape on the sides of the tubing. The ' ==== ' top bar is where you can mount your blinkis with a slight upawards tilt on some of them so they are aimed into the drivers head levl while having one aimed level for distance IDing of you from away.

Nitto double clamp might not work on the cross bar... can't see it in the photo, but the water bottle mounts are actually above the reflector on the front, so the bottle cage, being right in front of the handlebar, might interfere with the bar extender mount. Hm... maybe if I put the extenders going up instead of forward, that might clear it? Would still make it harder to reach the water, though. Maybe it is time I got a camelbak water system... one alteration--or purchase--always leads to another and another...

The Nitto double clamp is fully adjustable in that you can push the clamps closer or farther away from what I understand of them. They are an item I've got on my list to aquire after I get some panniers first for one of my shopping rides. Should you need to have the water bottle mounted elsewhere there are a couple companies with add on (non blazed) mounts you can add to the bike to hold your stuff. Here is a waterbottle holder holder mount that can go anywhere on the front or on the side of the seat tube on the bike for easy side grabbing of h2o.
http://www.twofish.biz/bike.html

Wait, this might be better... inexpensive, too: MINOURA SwingGrip Computer & Light Holder [308-101] : • Milwaukee Bicycle Co. • Ben's Cycle

Yes, probably something like that which I can mount on the vertical bar... right under the bottle cage where the reflector currently sits.

I have used the Minoura SpaceBar before and it's currently mounted on my MTB with shocks. You can see that in the back pages of my flickr page when you see the lighitng attached (fugly non-housed lighting right now). That unit can mount either on the stem or bar. Also if you were riding a normal bike you can mount it in the seat post to give you a wider area for your blinkies to give drivers the impression of a wider object on the road.

Edit: Ok, I think you have me sold on trying a Planet Bike Blinky! Only question is do I want to pay 70 cents more and get this one--Amazon.com: Planet Bike 3034-1 Blinky Superflash Stealth?

To my understanding the PBSF Stealth flashes the same as the original PBSF but just with a white cover on top. If price was the concern I'd just go with the original PBSF seeing as it's only a color difference but the same flashing pattern unless you need it to be color coordinated with your outfit.

And do I want to maybe clip it to the back of my helmet? (Humming the tune of "White and Nerdy" right now...)

It does not hurt to have the light on the back of the helmet but please don't put the blinkie on the back of the helmet as your only light source. I was downtown a day ago and some riders that thankfully used lights did not have them in thier primary locations first. I saw a car almost T-bone a rider who olny had a small blinkie up front but from my 1/2 of the 90 degree angle whereI was lookingat the near accident you cuold not see the front blinkie as the riders hads was covering it. The rider also had only one blinkie on the helmet and thier blinkie was turned away from the driver at the time. I'm not sure if hte driver saw the rider before hand or not but I would think a blinking light is better then trying to ID a human in a glance to see what is where and htier position. It won't hurt to havethe blinkie on the backof the helmet tho you are lower to the ground but any extra lighting is more then welcome to help cut the odds of a car not seeing you.

PB website wasn't working, so I googled and not only do they have much better prices at Amazon, but there are some amazingly positive reviews there! Not too excited about PB Blaze now, though... the 1 watt doesn't have a flashing mode like the 1/2 watt does, and Amazon's 1/2 watt one doesn't have the free shipping... also one reviewer says "The Blaze headlight is, on the other hand, disappointing. It has a very narrow, focused beam of only moderate brightness. In flashing mode, the beam is way too narrow as a 'be seen' light, unless the observer is dead center in front of the beam." (Source).

The 1/2W Blaze (and assuming) the 1W Blaze both use the same aspherical lens which makes the light into a spot. The 1/2W Blaze has a spot light up front. But it's side visibility lens is frosted. The 1/2W Blaze is more a BE-SEEN light then a TO-SEE light but because it's 1/2W of power and brightness allows you to ride safely with that as your main light in an emergency situation at ~13-15kph speeds which isn't bad. I agree wiht the comment on the narrow beam (have not read that review yet) but withthe side light frosting it has IMHO helped me out many times before when ars are coming out of a parking lot while I'm on the road and they (I think) catch the side visibility which stops them in thier tracks. Yes if you're at the lights making a left turn or on coming traffic you'll see the light at max. intensity.

I'll try and get some light shots tonight. It's Simcoe day here (holiday) and I gotta get as much yard work as possible before taking out the flamethrower and a gallon of petrol . I'll put a note to charge the cells when I'm home.

TTYL

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Mostly,

I've done some PBSF distance light shots which I'll have to find and post on my flickr later. Been meaning to submit that for GreenLED's thread a while back but life/work kept bumping that back. I took photos of it a while ago but have to find them again so you can have a better idea of the ranging.

I think I tok the shots at 10 ft paces each distance. More later. Gotta get back to work.

 

[Mostly]

You mentioned that flags would bend back straight behind unless there's a crosswind... I didn't think of that. I recall now that a lot of recumbent riders actually use a wind sock instead of flags. It might be a little more drag, but a wind sock twirling and whipping around should be even more visible, especially from the rear. They also have a bit more style, depending on what you choose, than simple orange triangle flags on white poles.

I hear you on riding too close to the edge. I have some experience mountain biking on narrow trails in Colorado that serves me well as far as picking where I want my wheels to go, avoiding debris, and dodging the broken edges. But mainly I practice that riding on the edge when there is a headwind and I can't hear vehicles coming up behind me. I have a mirror on my bars, but I don't depend on it because it won't stay adjusted, so I'm thinking of getting a helmet mirror (also to complete the nerdy look, of course). In the meantime, though, I fall back into the habit I had way back in high school, when I did a lot more biking, of riding very close to the edge, listening for vehicles behind me, and also snapping a quick look behind every 12 revolutions of the pedals.

Thanks again for all the advice and responses. My wife and I are heading off to go camping in Colorado tomorrow and I won't have email access until Aug. 18th. I'll pick up the thread then...

 

[Steve K]

I hear you on riding too close to the edge. I have some experience mountain biking on narrow trails in Colorado that serves me well as far as picking where I want my wheels to go, avoiding debris, and dodging the broken edges. But mainly I practice that riding on the edge when there is a headwind and I can't hear vehicles coming up behind me. I have a mirror on my bars, but I don't depend on it because it won't stay adjusted, so I'm thinking of getting a helmet mirror (also to complete the nerdy look, of course). In the meantime, though, I fall back into the habit I had way back in high school, when I did a lot more biking, of riding very close to the edge, listening for vehicles behind me, and also snapping a quick look behind every 12 revolutions of the pedals.

FWIW, I've been using a helmet mirror on my bike commute for about 12 years now, and I love it! It lets me keep track of the crazies behind me with just a quick glance. Plus, I can scan with the mirror to look for things other than directly behind. Geeky? Maybe, but my ability to monitor surrounding vehicles is improved.

I've been using a Bacchetta Giro 26 recumbent for commuting for 2 months now, and the mirror is even more important (I can't look directly behind me otherwise). I'm in the process of setting it up with a Schmidt hub dynamo and some homemade LED lights. Still trying to figure out how to mount the lights to the fork, and what I'll do for the dynamo powered taillight (I make my own, including standlight function). Currently, I've just got a Cateye LD1100 taillight.

...sorry to take the thread further offcourse....

Steve K.