Bicycle Lights

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What lights do you guys use? And I am talking about lights which which to see and not about the kind that's only good for being seen. I'm not shelling out for HID bike lighting, which is literally a blast. Here's what I use on my bike:

CYOGOLITE HIFLUX 100:

White LED light, puts out light equal to 5W halogen (CYGOLITE claims output equal to 10W halogen, but if that's true I eat my saddle). The light runs on 4 C-cells (alkaline or nimh) for ca 20 hours at full power.

That's my regular driving light. Good enough for speeds up to about 20 mph on decent streets or dry trail. I use the inluded wide lens attachment for a wider beam. Like all white LED lights, this one doesn't offer a full spectrum light either and differentiating colors (grass versus mud or blacktop) can be difficult. On bad roads or bad trails, this light works best if supplemented with one or two halogen lights. For city streets and nice dark roads, the CYGOLITE alone is sufficient. Retail price is about $120, but you can find it on ebay for about $70.

SIGMA EVO, 5W (20 Lux) halogen light with nimh battery pack.

It has a funky beam pattern, which is however useful because it maximizes light output where it is needed. I have two of those lights. I sometimes mount both if I need a lot of light, or I use my

SIGMA MIRAGE EVO 10 Watt (60 Lux) halogen light

That light is far-reaching (lights up road for 150 feet) and makes oncoming car dip their brights. This light is goo for high speed riding or if you want to make your presence known. The SIGMA lights come in a kit: one EVO and one Mirage EVO with a nimh pack and smart charger for I don't know how much (There was a promo and they sold the kit for $50!)

The SIGMA lights are very light and well built. Their nimh battery is very good, but you may want to carry a spare if you plan on riding more than a couple hours in the dark. The SIGMA lights have no remote switches, which sucks, especially if you like to mount your headlights low for optimized road illumination. The CYGOLITE is also nicely made and has a nifty swivel mount that lest you adjust beam angle on the fly. It also comes with a neat bug switch that can be mounted within thumb reach next to the grip. The CYGOLITE can be powered by the SIGMA nimh, because voltage requirements and connector sizes are identical.

I'll see if I get a chance to take some pictures of the various beam patterns this coming weekend.
 
Wow thats a good light collection. Although I've haven't seen any of those headlights before, it seems that the Sigma lights drain a lot of battery. I prefer halogen lamps, they seem to distribute the light better than LED plus full spectrum. How many different light modes does it have? For example high beam, low beam, blinking, etc.. I like having battery packs which you can recharge just by plugging directly to the light. Changing batteries is a bit of a hassle sometimes.

I don't got anything fancy just an inexpensive light set from Kmart. I have the Bell NightTrail light set. It's kind of neat, especially the headlight. Has 4 different light modes almost like a car. High beam, low beam, sidemarker (2 small LEDs) and blinking. In high beam and low beam mode only the halogen bulb is lit. Another interesting feature is if batteries run low it will only let you select LED but you can override it. What I don't like about it is it doesn't project wide enough which makes it hard to see the sides. Takes 4AA for the headlight. Before this I used to tie a flashlight to the handlebar.
 
I own a Dual Viewpoint sold by Perfromance bike. I bought it with the intention of riding offroad some at night or for longer winter rides. The lights operate independantly or in unison and have a decent run time. This is the OLD style with the heavy lead acid battery which slides in the water bottle cage. I used mine a few times and left the battery charging (the instructions didn't warn against it). Needless to say, the I killed the battery. About a year later (shows you how much I used it), I found out and e-mailed Performance. They had me send the WHOLE unit back and provided a replacement at no cost to me. Now THAT's customer service!
 
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it seems that the Sigma lights drain a lot of battery.




The Sigma nimh rechargable weighs under 12 ounces. You can simply pull it off its mount. I have the battery attached to the steering tube and a battery change takes only seconds. Running two 5 Watt lights the battery will last about 4 hours. The 10 Watt light has a low power mode which is good only to be seen.


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How many different light modes does it have? For example high beam, low beam, blinking, etc.. I like having battery packs which you can recharge just by plugging directly to the light. Changing batteries is a bit of a hassle sometimes.




You mean the CYGOLITE LED light? It has two power modes: high and low. I use "low" only when I need the light to be seen and "high" when I need to see. There is no strobe option. Statistics have show strobe lights cause people to get hit more often by cars and that's one reason why strobe lights are illegal in many places.
 
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I own a Dual Viewpoint sold by Perfromance bike.




I've seen their lights online but never in person. I hear their customer service is outstanding. I don't want a bottle cage battery, because that's where I keep my bottle.
 
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You mean the CYGOLITE LED light? It has two power modes: high and low. I use "low" only when I need the light to be seen and "high" when I need to see. There is no strobe option. Statistics have show strobe lights cause people to get hit more often by cars and that's one reason why strobe lights are illegal in many places.




I'm not a big fan of LED lights eventhough they have a long run time. Thats odd most LED lights usually have the strobe option. Interesting I didn't know they would be illegal in some places. I've seen many times people use the strobe mode, they probably think it catches drivers attention. Another reason why it may not be legal is because people might think you are imitating police.

I'm looking for another headlight nothing too expensive. What do you think of Cateye or Planet Bike brand? My preference would be : halogen or xenon bulb, high/low beam mode, uses regular batteries batteries (AA, C), no tools battery change, easy/quick release mount. I'm not really concerned about run time since I don't ride too long after dark. Any suggestions? Thanks.
 
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I'm glad they skipped the strobe function on the CYOGOLITE. I would not miss the low power setting either if it didn't have that either. The more modes you have, the more often you have to press the button to work your way through all the different modes.

If you want an LED light with which you can see, look for at least a 1 Watt Luxeon LED and good optics. All the CATEYE LED lights I have see seem very flimsy and none had an LED light with that you could see. Check the CygoLite HiFlux 100 and 200, which differ only in regard to power source.

If you want to use one single light, a 10 Watt halogen light like wavinwayne's Trail Rat is probably the best option.

On what type road do you ride?
Do you ride when it's pretty much dark (45 minutes after sunset and later)?
How fast do you go?

A red blinking tail light is generally forbidden in the US, but the law doesn't seem to be enforced in the US. As I mentioned, studies have shown that a strobing tail light will actually increase the chance of a bicyclist to get hit by a car. Detection ("What is that thar blinkin', matey?" ), recognition ("That must a bike!") and tracking ("Where and how far is it away?" may be affected by strobe lights.The strobe will in my opinion aid in detection, help possibly with recognition (if every bicyclist uses a strobe light), but will do a poor job at letting other participants track the bicyclist.

By the way, red is the worst color for a tail light! A high percentage of males (up to 10%) is at least partially colorblind and can't see red! Yellow or amber would be a much better choice for tail light color.

I haven't take any headlight pictures yet, because it's too cold (Living in mild California has turned me into a wimp).
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Usually I ride a mix of trail and street, about 40% trail and 60% street. The trails I ride are light to medium. Since we are at the Pacific standard time, I usually keep riding about an hour after sunset. I go fast when I'm riding on the street, can't really go fast on trails. I'll check out the Cygolite and the Trail Rat, probably have to find that at a bike store. The Cygolite Nitro or Night Rover seems ok. I don't have preference for single or dual lights. Most sports stores (REI, Sportmart, etc..) usually don't carry the higher end stuff.

I never use the blinking mode for the tail light only the constant on mode. I've only seen red color tail light, never seen the amber or yellow before.

Yeah its been cold lately and has not rained too much this year.
 
For trail riding at any speed and fast street riding you definitely want at least one 10 Watt halogen light. For the trail, a wide beam is of course much more suitable than a narrow beam which may well be sufficient for street riding. The light should come with a remote bug switch for convencience. I suggest you get a 10W halogen light with wide beam. You can always supplement that light with a second light, if necessary. In case of a nimh rechargeable, make sure you get a smart charger!

REI sells bike lights at or around list price. Ebay, and some online stores, offer much better deals for the same products. If you are near San Mateo, Talbot's Toyland (toy and bike shop) has some nice lights in stock, but they are also overpriced.
 
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