Break lights turn lights and handle bar lights

[Truepurple]

Im looking for a few different light kinds.

Break lights that come on when you stop on a bike.

Turn signal lights you can use instead of sticking your arm out. Im not as concerned about looking goofy as much as the difficulty and risk associated with taking ones hands off the bar and sticking there arm out.

Lights at the end of handle bars for increased side visability

Ive found indications of each my search but dont know enough of what key words to use to find them for sale anywhere.

 

[Truepurple]

Oops, guess I should have put this in the equipment forum

 

[Mathias Koerber]

On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 20:31:31 +1050, Truepurple wrote:

> Im looking for a few different light kinds.
>
> Break lights that come on when you stop on a bike.

There are brakepads which have a built in LED which lights up when braking..

 

[Simon Brooke]

Truepurple <[email protected]> writes:

> Im looking for a few different light kinds.
>
> Break lights that come on when you stop on a bike.

Never seen these. You could fit a microswitch into one or both of your brake-levers...

> Turn signal lights you can use instead of sticking your arm out. Im not as concerned about looking
> goofy as much as the difficulty and risk associated with taking ones hands off the bar and
> sticking there arm out.

I've seen these - once - they didn't work very well. But what 'risk' is there in making a
handsignal?

> Lights at the end of handle bars for increased side visability

Retro-reflectors in the spokes work extremely well, because the pattern of movement is extremely
distinctive and drivers immediately recognise a bicycle (reflectors on pedals are good for the
same reason). Sticking extra lights on means more batteries, more weight, more maintenance and
more to go wrong.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Error 1109: There is no message for this error

 

[S. Anderson]

"Truepurple" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Im looking for a few different light kinds.
>
> Break lights that come on when you stop on a bike.
>
> Turn signal lights you can use instead of sticking your arm out. Im not as concerned about looking
> goofy as much as the difficulty and risk associated with taking ones hands off the bar and
> sticking there arm out.
>
> Lights at the end of handle bars for increased side visability
>
> Ive found indications of each my search but dont know enough of what key words to use to find
> them for sale anywhere.

Canadian Tire here in Canada used to sell these. Unfortuntely, there wasn't any tricky brake light
activation..I think it was manual. Nevertheless, you DID get turn signals and a brake light with a
switch for either handlebar side. I think both switches together was the brake light or something.
They weren't of the greatest quality, but they worked o.k. Try www.canadiantire.ca. I have no idea
if they still sell them, but it's something.

Cheers,

Scott..

 

[David L. Johnso]

On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 20:31:31 +1050, Truepurple wrote:

> Break lights that come on when you stop on a bike.
>
Something recently advertised were LED lights on the pads. The utility of this is open to debate.

> Turn signal lights you can use instead of sticking your arm out. Im not as concerned about looking
> goofy as much as the difficulty and risk associated with taking ones hands off the bar and
> sticking there arm
out.

Risk?
>
> Lights at the end of handle bars for increased side visability

Available from Nashbar and other places, road or mountain bars, about $20. they even have a flash
mode which would work as a turn signal, if you wanted.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | A mathematician is a machine for turning coffee into theorems. _`\(,_ | -- Paul Erdos
(_)/ (_) |

 

[Rich Clark]

"Truepurple" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Im looking for a few different light kinds.
>
> Break lights that come on when you stop on a bike.

Brake lights on cars are effective because drivers are trained to know what they mean. Nobody would
know how to interpret brake lights on a bike. It would be foolish and dangerous to depend on them to
influence the behavior of following traffic.

> Turn signal lights you can use instead of sticking your arm out. Im not as concerned about looking
> goofy as much as the difficulty and risk associated with taking ones hands off the bar and
> sticking there arm out.

Same argument as above. If anything, moreso: to the extent that drivers are trained to interpret
blinking lights on bikes, it's to interpret them as "slow moving traffic," not as a turn signal.

If you can't handle your bike with one hand, practice is indicated.
>
> Lights at the end of handle bars for increased side visability

As someone else noted, reflectors on moving parts are more likely to be effective for this. The
small single-LED lights mentioned in another post are available, but they aren't very bright -- and
in the glare of automobile headlights, will be washed out completely compared to good reflectors.

If you really want side-mounted lights, you'd do better to get multiple-LED blinkies and clip them
to your clothing or helmet or something facing sideways.

RichC

 

[Mathias Koerber]

On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 19:04:30 +0800, Mathias Koerber wrote:

> On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 20:31:31 +1050, Truepurple wrote:
>
>> Im looking for a few different light kinds.
>>
>> Break lights that come on when you stop on a bike.
>
> There are brakepads which have a built in LED which lights up when braking..

found them: Promax Ipad: https://shop.sunrisecyclery.com/item/10319/

 

[Werehatrack]

On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 13:35:18 GMT, Simon Brooke <[email protected]> may have said:

>Truepurple <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> Im looking for a few different light kinds.
>>
>> Break lights that come on when you stop on a bike.
>
>Never seen these. You could fit a microswitch into one or both of your brake-levers...

I saw a kit somewhere, but was not impressed with the setup.

>> Turn signal lights you can use instead of sticking your arm out. Im not as concerned about
>> looking goofy as much as the difficulty and risk associated with taking ones hands off the bar
>> and sticking there arm out.
>
>I've seen these - once - they didn't work very well. But what 'risk' is there in making a
>handsignal?

In traffic around here, you may not get that arm back from a left-turn arm signal. Still, given the
number of things already on the handlebars of most non-roadie bikes in the area of the grips,
mounting a switch where it would not require taking a hand off the bar might be a challenge. I can't
recall seeing a bicycle in this area with a functional turn signal setup.

>> Lights at the end of handle bars for increased side visability
>
>Retro-reflectors in the spokes work extremely well, because the pattern of movement is extremely
>distinctive and drivers immediately recognise a bicycle (reflectors on pedals are good for the same
>reason). Sticking extra lights on means more batteries, more weight, more maintenance and more to
>go wrong.

Tirefly lights also seem to work well, and are effective from a considerable angle. I've seen a
local night cyclist who had three of those per wheel. I only saw him in motion, so I don't know how
the two extras were mounted; I presume that one was on the valve stem as usual. He used three
different colors per wheel. This would not have been a good setup to try to mix with functional
brake lights or turn signals, though.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy. Words processed in a facility that
contains nuts.

 

[Truepurple]

Whats a retro reflector and how does it differ from a regular reflector?

Ive found lights that turn on from the motion of stopping. But I forgot where I saw the link. Plus it was in euros or something and didn't include alot of details about how it worked.

Heres something else I found. http://brakelite.fws1.com/page10.html
Which seems pretty interesting but its hard to understand how it would work from the website or even how much the light would cost.

I found the bike handle plugs but there no good. They each use two batteries that cost $3 each at walmart yet only last 50 hours. I'm not about to pay $12 every 50 hours of night riding. I hope I can find a light that uses better batteries.

I suppose I could attach lights to my clothing or something but that doesn't seem like it would look as good. Plus on my handbar it would be the leading edge of my bike which would be more affective then in the middle on my helm.

Any other leads or tips for solutions to the three things I mentioned that anyone could offer would be great.

 

[Truepurple]

Anyone know what batteries the tireflies use?

 

[Truepurple]

Found some more stuff stuff

http://www.clipbrite2000.net/turn_signal.htm
http://www.clipbrite2000.net/beamer_2000.htm
http://www.global-merchants.com/home/bike.htm
http://circlecitybicycles.com/lrp/lights.htm

Hmmm

 

[meb]

Originally posted by Truepurple
Anyone know what batteries the tireflies use?

They use button type batteries similar to watches.
Not sure precisely.

 

[Truepurple]

well knowing exactly what battery would allow me to call walmart and find out how much replacements cost to determine long term run costs.

About the turn light. Now that I found some I wonder if I should get them. I suppose I could learn to ride while sticking out my arm.

The biggest issue is only those behind you can see it, well unless there were lights for the front too. If such lights even exist.

 

[Rich Clark]

"Truepurple" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Found some more stuff stuff
>
> http://www.clipbrite2000.net/turn_signal.htm http://www.clipbrite2000.net/beamer_2000.htm
> http://www.global-merchants.com/home/bike.htm http://circlecitybicycles.com/lrp/lights.htm

Depending on this **** to communicate with other traffic will get you killed.

RichC

 

[Andy Kriger]

On 16 Nov 2003 08:33:44 +1050, Truepurple <[email protected]> wrote:

> Anyone know what batteries the tireflies use?
>
>
>
> --
>> --------------------------<
> Posted via cyclingforums.com http://www.cyclingforums.com

3 watch button batteries labelled L1131

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
meb <[email protected]> wrote:

> Truepurple wrote:
> > Anyone know what batteries the tireflies use?

> They use button type batteries similar to watches. Not sure precisely.

Yeah, if only there was some way of finding this information online...what we really need is a
search tool that would allow us to look up arbitrary search terms against a large portion of the
pages on the web.

Hey, wait! I remember hearing about this great resource called "Google" that my friends are all on
about. They say it's even better than Altavista, though I find that hard to believe. Let's try it...

Tireflys [sic] use AG-10 batteries, except for Tireflys Pro Multicolor, which use AG-13 batteries. I
found 10-packs of AG-10s online for $1. Tireflys use 3 batteries apiece.

Look, ask a question that easy to answer using Google, and you will be mocked. Consider yourself
lucky that I have no life and am fighting off a cold by being snarky and inquisitive.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Werehatrack]

On 16 Nov 2003 08:33:43 +1050, Truepurple <[email protected]> may have said:

>Whats a retro reflector and how does it differ from a regular reflector?
>
>Ive found lights that turn on from the motion of stopping. But I forgot where I saw the link. Plus
>it was in euros or something and didn't include alot of details about how it worked.
>
>Heres something else I found. http://brakelite.fws1.com/page10.html Which seems pretty
>interesting but its hard to understand how it would work from the website or even how much the
>light would cost.

I'm not too impressed with their lights; their 7-LED unit can't actually be turned completely off
(the center LED flashes once about every 6 seconds regardless), the switch isn't weathertight, and
the screws which mount the lens are plastic. That said, I got several of them cheap on eBay a while
back, and they have worked without failure on the bikes where I've installed them. I also have made
sure not to put them where they'll get wet.

I have no data about the brake switch, but it looks like its level of reliability would be heavily
dependent upon the installer's skill. They have the installation instruction pdf file available on
the website. (This is clearly NOT a site designed by Sheldon Brown, or me either for that matter.)

>I found the bike handle plugs but there no good. They each use two batteries that cost $3 each at
>walmart yet only last 50 hours. I'm not about to pay $12 every 50 hours of night riding. I hope I
>can find a light that uses better batteries.

If it uses the common LR44 battery, I get those for 75 cents (my cost) for a pack of 10, but they're
a cheap Chinese brand instead of the Duracell or Eveready that's sold at Wal-Mart. They seem to last
about half as long as the Duracell brand; for the money, then, they're a freakin' bargain.

>I suppose I could attach lights to my clothing or something but that doesn't seem like it would
>look as good. Plus on my handbar it would be the leading edge of my bike which would be more
>affective then in the middle on my helm.

It's easy to fabricate an L-bracket from plumber's strap to add side lights to an existing rear
light mount. .

>Any other leads or tips for solutions to the three things I mentioned that anyone could offer would
>be great.

http://tired-iron.com/minibike/elec3.htm

http://www.securityworld.com/recreation/bikebrake.html

I haven't tried any of those on a bicycle, but they exist...and that's just about all I know
about them.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy. Words processed in a facility that
contains nuts.

 

[Werehatrack]

On 16 Nov 2003 10:49:45 +1050, Truepurple <[email protected]> may have said:

>well knowing exactly what battery would allow me to call walmart and find out how much replacements
>cost to determine long term run costs.
>
>About the turn light. Now that I found some I wonder if I should get them. I suppose I could learn
>to ride while sticking out my arm.
>
>The biggest issue is only those behind you can see it, well unless there were lights for the front
>too. If such lights even exist.

Some tirefly units use the LR44, others use an even smaller button cell. I get most of those cheap
from a local importer.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy. Words processed in a facility that
contains nuts.

 

[Dave Lehnen]

Truepurple wrote:
> Whats a retro reflector and how does it differ from a regular reflector?
>
<snip>

They're used by retro-grouches who like sewups, non-indexed shifting, lugged frames, leather
saddles, etc.

Seriously, conventional reflectors are retro-reflectors. They reflect light back on a path parallel
to the one it came in on. Three mirrors, arranged as the inside corner of a cube, do this. Ordinary
reflectors consist of a large number of small corner-cube reflectors molded into a single part.
Aluminizing is not required to make the cubes reflect; total or near-total internal reflection makes
them reflect well.

It's desirable to have the light return in a slightly widened beam centered on its incoming path,
so that enough of the light from a driver's headlights gets back to the driver's eyes. A simple
diffuse reflector wouldn't be bright enough, and a near- perfect large lab-grade corner cube would
put the beam back in the headlights and mostly miss the driver's eyes. Diffraction from tiny mirror
faces and imperfections in cheap molded plastic keep the beam from being too narrow. They might
even mold a tiny amount of curvature into the mirror faces on purpose, but I'm just speculating on
this last bit.

Dave Lehnen