Lighting

Brendo said:

I am thinking of doing some around the block type riding at night
rather than sitting on the trainer. It won't be on any major roadways,
mostly just the local neighbourhood, and street lighting will be in
place. On eBay there are 100 different LED light sets, but I am
assuming that there are mostly crud. If they werew any good, they
would sell for more than $6.95.

for 'be seen' lights I use the little elastic LEDs. RRP is around
$15, so $7 on ebay isn't that far off. before anyone says 'dangerous
idiot' I ride a lot at night (a -lot-, over winter, maybe 300+km a
week is at night) and I find that if used well, they're very good 'be
seen' lights.

Quoted message said:

Good brand and model of lights are???

I'm v.happy with racetech for front white LEDs. I have one on my bars
and one on my helmet. And, a red LED on my helmet too.

Quoted message said:

If there are any parameters needed let me know, I'll try to narrow the
search down as I find out things I didn't know that I needed to know.

Rear LED's are a bit more critical than fronts. They need to be 100%
reliable. I'm testing 'smart' at the moment. I used to use Visalight
'Eclipse's but they don't make them anymore and mine fell off one
night on an MTB ride.

Bleve said:

Rear LED's are a bit more critical than fronts. They need to be 100%
reliable. I'm testing 'smart' at the moment. I used to use Visalight
'Eclipse's but they don't make them anymore and mine fell off one
night on an MTB ride.

One thing I like about the Smart light is that if power is interrupted
for any reason; going over a nasty bump for example, it defaults to
solid on rather than solid off when power is restored.
--
Cheers
Euan

In aus.bicycle on 25 Mar 2007 23:36:05 -0700

Brendo said:

I am thinking of doing some around the block type riding at night
rather than sitting on the trainer. It won't be on any major roadways,
mostly just the local neighbourhood, and street lighting will be in
place. On eBay there are 100 different LED light sets, but I am
assuming that there are mostly crud. If they werew any good, they
would sell for more than $6.95.

I found that the 5 LED front lights were very good, and any of the
flashing rear ones ditto.

You will often find them sold together for not much.

Or check torpedo7.com.au they have a light set on special for 20 bucks
that looks good.

Zebee

Bleve said:

Brendo said:

I am thinking of doing some around the block type riding at night
rather than sitting on the trainer. It won't be on any major roadways,
mostly just the local neighbourhood, and street lighting will be in
place. On eBay there are 100 different LED light sets, but I am
assuming that there are mostly crud. If they werew any good, they
would sell for more than $6.95.

for 'be seen' lights I use the little elastic LEDs. RRP is around
$15, so $7 on ebay isn't that far off. before anyone says 'dangerous
idiot' I ride a lot at night (a -lot-, over winter, maybe 300+km a
week is at night) and I find that if used well, they're very good 'be
seen' lights.

Quoted message said:

Good brand and model of lights are???

I'm v.happy with racetech for front white LEDs. I have one on my bars
and one on my helmet. And, a red LED on my helmet too.

Quoted message said:

If there are any parameters needed let me know, I'll try to narrow the
search down as I find out things I didn't know that I needed to know.

Rear LED's are a bit more critical than fronts. They need to be 100%
reliable. I'm testing 'smart' at the moment. I used to use Visalight
'Eclipse's but they don't make them anymore and mine fell off one
night on an MTB ride.

So seeing as it is mostly a 'Be Seen' light, the output is not really
an influential issue? If that is the case, I could easily be lit up
for $30. With two on the front (bar and helmet) and two on the back
(seatpost??? and helmet) seeing me in the dark shouldn't be an issue.

Brendo

Zebee Johnstone said:

In aus.bicycle on 25 Mar 2007 23:36:05 -0700

Brendo said:

I am thinking of doing some around the block type riding at night
rather than sitting on the trainer. It won't be on any major roadways,
mostly just the local neighbourhood, and street lighting will be in
place. On eBay there are 100 different LED light sets, but I am
assuming that there are mostly crud. If they werew any good, they
would sell for more than $6.95.

I found that the 5 LED front lights were very good, and any of the
flashing rear ones ditto.

You will often find them sold together for not much.

Or check torpedo7.com.au they have a light set on special for 20 bucks
that looks good.

Zebee

Looks very good. I will check with a couple of LBS to see what they
have in stock, but unless you are looking to 'Bogan'* up your bike
with huge spotlights, this could be much cheaper than I thought.

Brendo

* Not sure about the rest of the country, but in WA the best way to
bogan up you ute is to stick four HUGE spotties across the roof, whack
on a VHF antenna, and slap on a Bundy Rum, Ocean Beach Hotel, or RMW
sticker (or to reach Grand Bogan status, all of the above).

Brendo said:

Bleve said:

On Mar 26, 4:36 pm, "Brendo" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I am thinking of doing some around the block type riding at night
rather than sitting on the trainer. It won't be on any major roadways,
mostly just the local neighbourhood, and street lighting will be in
place. On eBay there are 100 different LED light sets, but I am
assuming that there are mostly crud. If they werew any good, they
would sell for more than $6.95.

Quoted message said:

for 'be seen' lights I use the little elastic LEDs. RRP is around
$15, so $7 on ebay isn't that far off. before anyone says 'dangerous
idiot' I ride a lot at night (a -lot-, over winter, maybe 300+km a
week is at night) and I find that if used well, they're very good 'be
seen' lights.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Good brand and model of lights are???

Quoted message said:

I'm v.happy with racetech for front white LEDs. I have one on my bars
and one on my helmet. And, a red LED on my helmet too.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If there are any parameters needed let me know, I'll try to narrow the
search down as I find out things I didn't know that I needed to know.

Quoted message said:

Rear LED's are a bit more critical than fronts. They need to be 100%
reliable. I'm testing 'smart' at the moment. I used to use Visalight
'Eclipse's but they don't make them anymore and mine fell off one
night on an MTB ride.

So seeing as it is mostly a 'Be Seen' light, the output is not really
an influential issue? If that is the case, I could easily be lit up
for $30. With two on the front (bar and helmet) and two on the back
(seatpost??? and helmet) seeing me in the dark shouldn't be an issue.

Brendo- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

In addition, for safety (and to give motorists even less reason to say
SMIDSY) would reflective tape on the heels of your shoes, and possible
the seat stays be worthwhile?

Brendo

Brendo said:

Brendo said:

On Mar 26, 3:22 pm, "Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Mar 26, 4:36 pm, "Brendo" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I am thinking of doing some around the block type riding at night
> rather than sitting on the trainer. It won't be on any major roadways,
> mostly just the local neighbourhood, and street lighting will be in
> place. On eBay there are 100 different LED light sets, but I am
> assuming that there are mostly crud. If they werew any good, they
> would sell for more than $6.95.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for 'be seen' lights I use the little elastic LEDs. RRP is around
$15, so $7 on ebay isn't that far off. before anyone says 'dangerous
idiot' I ride a lot at night (a -lot-, over winter, maybe 300+km a
week is at night) and I find that if used well, they're very good 'be
seen' lights.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Good brand and model of lights are???

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm v.happy with racetech for front white LEDs. I have one on my bars
and one on my helmet. And, a red LED on my helmet too.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> If there are any parameters needed let me know, I'll try to narrow the
> search down as I find out things I didn't know that I needed to know.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Rear LED's are a bit more critical than fronts. They need to be 100%
reliable. I'm testing 'smart' at the moment. I used to use Visalight
'Eclipse's but they don't make them anymore and mine fell off one
night on an MTB ride.

Quoted message said:

So seeing as it is mostly a 'Be Seen' light, the output is not really
an influential issue? If that is the case, I could easily be lit up
for $30. With two on the front (bar and helmet) and two on the back
(seatpost??? and helmet) seeing me in the dark shouldn't be an issue.

Quoted message said:

Brendo- Hide quoted text -

Quoted message said:

- Show quoted text -

In addition, for safety (and to give motorists even less reason to say
SMIDSY) would reflective tape on the heels of your shoes, and possible
the seat stays be worthwhile?

You avoid SMIDSY by being where they're looking and being visable. A
LED on your helmet is best for aiming right *at* drivers when they
come up to T intersections. They tend to notice an LED aimed right in
their eyes. It's not bright enough to burn uot a retina etc, but it is
quite noticable, and that's the point.

Quoted message said:

Brendo

I got a Cateye EL-530 off eBay ex-US at a favourable price. (The
seller was "Gear-url" if I recall correctly. He runs a well known US
bike shop.)

It isn't as bright in terms of overall output as a proper halogen set
of course, but throws a focused beam for quite some distance, so it
actually lights things up further away than my 15W halogens. It also
has a reasonable side beam around the focused core which lights up
things reasonably well, but I have it running at the same time as my
halogens. The basic idea is that having a nice bright LED light with
a long battery life makes a good backup in case I forget to charge my
halogens, plus the focused beam shines a bit further down the bike
path.

I've heard good things about the 5000X from Planet Bike. Its cheaper
than the Cateye and its Xenon bulb throws out a lot of light for a 6V
4AA battery powered unit, several times more candlepower than the
Cateye. The battery life isn't that great though, which is why I went
with the Cateye, which for my purposes as a backup light was more
suitable I think.

For tail lights generally cheap eBay red LED blinkers are ok, but get
three of them. 🙂

Travis

Brendo said:

In addition, for safety (and to give motorists even less reason to say
SMIDSY) would reflective tape on the heels of your shoes, and possible
the seat stays be worthwhile?

I've got a yellow fluoro reflective vest which I got from one of the
big aircraft hanger hardware places for about $10, with the bright
reflective strips. Its great for commuting at night, when worn in
addition to bright active lighting of course.

Travis

Brendo said:

Good brand and model of lights are???

For a well-piced and very effective battery light it's hard to go past the
S-Sun 3 LED headlight and taillight

http://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/prod1082.htm - head light
http://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/prod1083.htm - tail light

The tail-light in particular is extremly bright, throwing a focused beam
that is visible in daylight for about 500 metres, and it gives out a bright
side glow that is visible for a full 180 degrees. Runs on 3 AAA batteries
and is waterproof to boot. The headlight is able to throw a good beam on the
road.

Both of these are streets ahead of the little button-cell elastic fastened
blinkies. I've observed riders with these on as the sole light around town
and they are disturbingly not visible in traffic.
--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

Brendo said:

Brendo said:

On Mar 26, 3:22 pm, "Bleve" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Mar 26, 4:36 pm, "Brendo" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> I am thinking of doing some around the block type riding at night
> rather than sitting on the trainer. It won't be on any major roadways,
> mostly just the local neighbourhood, and street lighting will be in
> place. On eBay there are 100 different LED light sets, but I am
> assuming that there are mostly crud. If they werew any good, they
> would sell for more than $6.95.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

for 'be seen' lights I use the little elastic LEDs. RRP is around
$15, so $7 on ebay isn't that far off. before anyone says 'dangerous
idiot' I ride a lot at night (a -lot-, over winter, maybe 300+km a
week is at night) and I find that if used well, they're very good 'be
seen' lights.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> Good brand and model of lights are???

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm v.happy with racetech for front white LEDs. I have one on my bars
and one on my helmet. And, a red LED on my helmet too.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> If there are any parameters needed let me know, I'll try to narrow the
> search down as I find out things I didn't know that I needed to know.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Rear LED's are a bit more critical than fronts. They need to be 100%
reliable. I'm testing 'smart' at the moment. I used to use Visalight
'Eclipse's but they don't make them anymore and mine fell off one
night on an MTB ride.

Quoted message said:

So seeing as it is mostly a 'Be Seen' light, the output is not really
an influential issue? If that is the case, I could easily be lit up
for $30. With two on the front (bar and helmet) and two on the back
(seatpost??? and helmet) seeing me in the dark shouldn't be an issue.

Quoted message said:

Brendo- Hide quoted text -

Quoted message said:

- Show quoted text -

In addition, for safety (and to give motorists even less reason to say
SMIDSY) would reflective tape on the heels of your shoes, and possible
the seat stays be worthwhile?

Brendo- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yes, put it everywhere. I've even seen it put between the lugs on an
MTB tire - someone didn't have a lot to do one night, evidently!

On Mar 26, 9:35 pm, "Peter Signorini" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Brendo said:

Good brand and model of lights are???

For a well-piced and very effective battery light it's hard to go past the
S-Sun 3 LED headlight and taillight

http://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/prod1082.htm - head lighthttp://www.deanwoods.com.au/store/prod1083.htm - tail light

The tail-light in particular is extremly bright, throwing a focused beam
that is visible in daylight for about 500 metres, and it gives out a bright
side glow that is visible for a full 180 degrees. Runs on 3 AAA batteries
and is waterproof to boot. The headlight is able to throw a good beam on the
road.

Do *not* use these as a sole rear light, they're very bright, but they
are unreliable. My experience with these has been that they cut out a
lot, and the brackets break. Fine for a front light, because you can
turn them back on again, but as a tail light, they are a bad, bad
thing.

Quoted message said:

Both of these are streets ahead of the little button-cell elastic fastened
blinkies. I've observed riders with these on as the sole light around town
and they are disturbingly not visible in traffic.

That depends on the button, some are dim, some are very bright, and
they're very reliable in my experience too.

Brendo said:

Zebee Johnstone said:

In aus.bicycle on 25 Mar 2007 23:36:05 -0700

Brendo said:

I am thinking of doing some around the block type riding at night
rather than sitting on the trainer. It won't be on any major roadways,
mostly just the local neighbourhood, and street lighting will be in
place. On eBay there are 100 different LED light sets, but I am
assuming that there are mostly crud. If they werew any good, they
would sell for more than $6.95.

I found that the 5 LED front lights were very good, and any of the
flashing rear ones ditto.

You will often find them sold together for not much.

Or check torpedo7.com.au they have a light set on special for 20 bucks
that looks good.

Zebee

Looks very good. I will check with a couple of LBS to see what they
have in stock, but unless you are looking to 'Bogan'* up your bike
with huge spotlights, this could be much cheaper than I thought.

Brendo

* Not sure about the rest of the country, but in WA the best way to
bogan up you ute is to stick four HUGE spotties across the roof, whack
on a VHF antenna, and slap on a Bundy Rum, Ocean Beach Hotel, or RMW
sticker (or to reach Grand Bogan status, all of the above).

Brendo I think you need to fight back by building a bogon bike.
Four HID lights across the 'bars, a few red flags sticking out the side,
a couple of mirrors and some Bundy stickers and you'll be in with the
crowd! Don't forget the big belt buckle on your nicks.

Friday

Travis said:

I got a Cateye EL-530 off eBay ex-US at a favourable price. (The
seller was "Gear-url" if I recall correctly. He runs a well known US
bike shop.)

"Geargurl" on ebay, and she also runs 3ringcycles.com - very helpful and reasonable shipping.

I got a Cateye HL-EL410 light for the front which is REALLY bright and visible as a flasher, but not great to see with in fixed mode. Also have a CREE LED torch on the handlebars for seeing with.

On the back, I have one of the bright S-Sun Eaglefly flashers (recommended by Bicycle Victoria, but I will watch out for it after Bleve's comments!) plus some little blinkies on my helmet.

bikes.com.aussun rear 9 led.htmlOpen ↗

Having been hit and damaged by a SMIDSY at night last October, I take care to be well lit up these days!

On Mar 27, 12:44 am, roshea <roshea.2o2...@no-

mx.forums.cyclingforums.com said:

Travis Wrote:> I got a Cateye EL-530 off eBay ex-US at a favourable price. (The

Quoted message said:

seller was "Gear-url" if I recall correctly. He runs a well known US
bike shop.)"Geargurl" on ebay, and _*she*_ also runs 3ringcycles.com - very helpful

and reasonable shipping.

I got a Cateye HL-EL410 light for the front which is REALLY bright and
visible as a flasher, but not great to see with in fixed mode. Also
have a CREE LED torch on the handlebars for seeing with.

On the back, I have one of the bright S-Sun Eaglefly flashers
(recommended by Bicycle Victoria, but I will watch out for it after
Bleve's comments!) plus some little blinkies on my helmet.

http://www.bikes.com.au/p/310304/ssun-rear-9-led.html

That's not the dodgey one, AFAIK, those ones are good. It's the 3 LED
torch one that's no good.

Bleve said:

Rear LED's are a bit more critical than fronts. They need to be 100%
reliable. I'm testing 'smart' at the moment. I used to use Visalight
'Eclipse's but they don't make them anymore and mine fell off one
night on an MTB ride.

I bought 4 Vistalite Super Nebula's from Pricepoint.com in the USA a
couple of years back. They are very similar to the original vistalites
and screw on to a bicycle reflector mount or you can modify your rear
reack like I did to take them. Very bright and will last 10 years or
more based on previous experience. The only problem with Pricepoint is
that they ship exclusively by DHL to Australia, so the overall cost of
the light is very high unless you order multiple items.

Peter

Brendo said:

* Not sure about the rest of the country, but in WA the best way to bogan up you ute is to stick four HUGE spotties across the roof, whack
on a VHF antenna, and slap on a Bundy Rum, Ocean Beach Hotel, or RMW sticker (or to reach Grand Bogan status, all of the above).

Over here, in the Bogan Capital of Straya, we have "Our State, Our Rum" stickers (only I don't think there's a comma in there). Pin d!cks.

Lotte

Brendo said:

* Not sure about the rest of the country, but in WA the best way to
bogan up you ute is to stick four HUGE spotties across the roof,

They don't even need to be wired up.

Quoted message said:

whack on a VHF antenna,

Four is a good number. One antenna has no cred at all.

Theo

quote='Bleve'On Mar 26 said:

In addition, for safety (and to give motorists even less reason to say
SMIDSY) would reflective tape on the heels of your shoes, and possible
the seat stays be worthwhile?

You avoid SMIDSY by being where they're looking and being visable. A
LED on your helmet is best for aiming right *at* drivers when they
come up to T intersections. They tend to notice an LED aimed right in
their eyes. It's not bright enough to burn out a retina etc, but it is
quite noticable, and that's the point.
[/QUOTE]

Agree with most of that. Reflective tape is good, but it only works for traffic behind or in front. Traffic on the T of a T-intersection will not light up your reflective tape until it is too late. For that you need the LED light that you can aim in driver's eyes. They notice this most of the time but *not always*.

White reflective tape can be bought for about $10 per metre from a ship's chandler. Look for self adhesive SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) grade tape. Some of that on the head tube is more reflective than the front reflector that came with your bike. I've got it on the head tube, front forks, top tube, down tube, rear seat stays and cranks. It doesn't stay on the cranks to well due to occasionaly rubbing, but next time I buy some tape I'll try wrapping it around the crank, so that car to the side, in front or behind will get a flashing reflection. I'm yet to find a source of small quantities of good red reflective tape at reasonable prices. I've got SPD pedals with pedal cages on one side, so I should stick some tape on those too.

My front lights are of the "see the road" class rather than the "be seen" class. Weighs about 700g (I'd need to check this) for about 6 hours run time.