Q: Effectiveness of flashing front lights in rural context?

[Peter Fox]

[Yes, I am working on a newbies FAQ - If anyone wants to help please
contact me by email - see sig with spamtrap]

I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
_bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see where
you're going. Are they switchable anyway?

--
PETER FOX Not the same since the deckchair business folded
[email protected]
www.eminent.demon.co.uk/wcc.htm Witham Cycling Campaign
www.eminent.demon.co.uk/rides East Anglian Pub cycle rides

 

[Not Responding]

Peter Fox wrote:
> [Yes, I am working on a newbies FAQ - If anyone wants to help please
> contact me by email - see sig with spamtrap]
>
> I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
> light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
> _bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see where
> you're going.

I sincerely doubt a flashing LED will be of any use whatsoever. My fancy
Cateye multi-LED front light is pretty useless in non-flashing mode
when onto the rural stretch of my ride home. Which is why I prefer SON
power or rechargable halogens.

>Are they switchable anyway?
>

 

[Helen C Simmons]

"Peter Fox" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news[email protected]...
> [Yes, I am working on a newbies FAQ - If anyone wants to help please
> contact me by email - see sig with spamtrap]
>
> I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
> light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
> _bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see where
> you're going. Are they switchable anyway?
>

I live in the countryside - no streetlighting.

Bright flashing LEDs are no earhtly use except as a *secondary* light source
to be seen by. They are about as much use as a chocolate teapot when it
comes to seeing where you are going. Not all LED lights are switchable
between steady & flashing modes. My lighting set-up in order that I can see
sufficently well where I am going on unlit Norfolk country lanes is 2 x
Cateye HL-EL300 (5 *large* bright LEDs in each - these cast a decent beam
and effectively British Standard), 1 x SS-L120 LED (3 x very bright LEDs)
and on my helmet I have a single LED headtorch.

The Cateyes are mounted on a Minoura spacebar on my handlebar. The S-Sun is
mounted on the front fork (inner) to illuminate the verge - it can be
difficult to judge where the edge of road/verge/ditch/field is due to the
state of quite a few of the roads and the helmet mounted LED is great for
illuminating road signs and for added WTF factor with oncoming motorists.

Cheers, helen s

 

[Pete Biggs]

Peter Fox wrote:
> I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
> light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
> _bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see
> where you're going.

With sharp eyesight, you might just make out where're you're going on an
unlit road with one of the brightest models on flashing mode, but it would
be annoying and unsafe.

> Are they switchable anyway?

Yes, they all have a steady mode.

~PB

 

[JLB]

Peter Fox wrote:
> [Yes, I am working on a newbies FAQ - If anyone wants to help please
> contact me by email - see sig with spamtrap]
>
> I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
> light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
> _bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see where
> you're going. Are they switchable anyway?
>
If there's enough light to cycle without extra light, it's not needed.
If it's too dark for that and the light is bright enough to illuminate
your path, the effect of it flashing is going to stop your eyes
adjusting to the dark. While it is off you'll see nothing, and while it
is on you will be (up to a point) dazzled. I cannot think of a worse
arrangement.

--
Joe * If I cannot be free I'll be cheap

 

[David Martin]

Pete Biggs wrote:
> Peter Fox wrote:
>
>>I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
>>light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
>>_bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see
>>where you're going.
>
>
> With sharp eyesight, you might just make out where're you're going on an
> unlit road with one of the brightest models on flashing mode, but it would
> be annoying and unsafe.

I had my SMART light switch off suddenly whilst travelling along an
unlit road one night. There was just enough light from the tireflys to
prevent me running off the road after I had slowed right down [1].

Not my lighting methd of choice though.

...d

[1] that 'Oh dear I cannot see a thing, it is a good time to drop
anchor'[2] type slowing down.

[2] or similar words to that effect.

 

[Nick Kew]

Peter Fox wrote:

> I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
> light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
> _bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see where
> you're going. Are they switchable anyway?

A bright front LED did OK for me, though I couldn't contemplate running
it in flashing mode except in an urban (i.e. streetlit) area.

Well, very briefly. About the third time I tried to use it, the d***
thing stopped working. Not batteries or bulbs, just poor construction.
Almost makes one nostalgic for the old never-readys of ones youth, which
could usually at least be nursed into getting you home with a bit of
pushing and shaking :-(

(fortunately I was able to leave it where I'd spent the evening, get a
lift home, then take the bus to Plymouth to collect the bike and ride
home in daylight).

--
Nick Kew

 

[Simonb]

Chris Jones wrote:

> when I try to ride down a
> dark road (or, even more dramatically, off-road track) with a
> flashing light I just fall off!

Judging by your wording, it seems you've tried this more than once?

 

[Chris Jones]

Peter Fox wrote:
> I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
> light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
> _bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see where
> you're going. Are they switchable anyway?

I have experimented with flashing modes on my *really* bright LED
lights, and found that they're no use at all for seeing where you're
going. They can be very effective at attracting attention in bright,
cluttered environments like in town, but when I try to ride down a dark
road (or, even more dramatically, off-road track) with a flashing light
I just fall off! Quite apart from preventling your eyes adjusting to the
darkness, there seems to be some effect on balance. IANA physiologist,
though.

Chris
--
Chris Jones
http://www.solidlights.co.uk/

 

[Ambrose Nankivell]

Simonb wrote:
> Chris Jones wrote:
>
>> when I try to ride down a
>> dark road (or, even more dramatically, off-road track) with a
>> flashing light I just fall off!
>
> Judging by your wording, it seems you've tried this more than once?

All in the name of science, I guess. He makes lights.

A

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Peter Fox
('[email protected]') wrote:

> [Yes, I am working on a newbies FAQ - If anyone wants to help please
> contact me by email - see sig with spamtrap]
>
> I've never had anything but a decent but very standard filament front
> light and hardly do any town riding at night so I'd like to know if a
> _bright_ but flashing LED is any use at all in the country to see
> where
> you're going. Are they switchable anyway?

I think they'd be great for being seen but extremely difficult for
seeing with - you'd give yourself eye-strain.

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

X-no-archive: No, I'm not *that* naive.

 

[Peter Fox]

Thanks. Replies were along the lines I suspected but it helps to put
/facts/ rather than suppositions in a FAQ.

I've schemed out a place for tips like Helen's "a head torch is useful
for..." in the FAQ which doesn't clutter up the main body. It will
become clear later.

re the current thread on lime green lights - I didn't realise these were
still on sale!

>[Yes, I am working on a newbies FAQ - If anyone wants to help please
>contact me by email - see sig with spamtrap]
--
PETER FOX Not the same since the adhesive company came unstuck
[email protected]
2 Tees Close, Witham, Essex.
Gravity beer in Essex <http://www.eminent.demon.co.uk>

 

[Chris Jones]

Ambrose Nankivell wrote:
> Simonb wrote:
>> Chris Jones wrote:
>>
>>> when I try to ride down a
>>> dark road (or, even more dramatically, off-road track) with a
>>> flashing light I just fall off!
>>
>> Judging by your wording, it seems you've tried this more than once?
>
> All in the name of science, I guess. He makes lights.

Indeed - all in the name of thorough product testing. That, and an urge
to try daft lighting combinations at 3 o'clock in the morning during 24
hour mountain bike races...

Chris

 

[Pete Biggs]

Helen C Simmons wrote:
> Bright flashing LEDs are no earhtly use except as a *secondary* light
> source to be seen by. They are about as much use as a chocolate
> teapot when it comes to seeing where you are going. Not all LED
> lights are switchable between steady & flashing modes.

I know not all LED lights have flashing modes but am I right in thinking
that all flashing ones have a steady mode?

Easter confectionery suggestion: chocolate chainrings

~PB

 

[wafflycat]

"Pete Biggs" <pwrinkledgrape{remove_fruit}@biggs.tc> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Helen C Simmons wrote:
>> Bright flashing LEDs are no earhtly use except as a *secondary* light
>> source to be seen by. They are about as much use as a chocolate
>> teapot when it comes to seeing where you are going. Not all LED
>> lights are switchable between steady & flashing modes.
>
> I know not all LED lights have flashing modes but am I right in thinking
> that all flashing ones have a steady mode?
>
> Easter confectionery suggestion: chocolate chainrings
>
> ~PB
>
>

I could have put it better. My Cateye fronts are steady mode only. Any of
the LEDs I have which have a flashing mode also have a steady mode - but not
all of my steady mode LEDs have flashing modes. Well, not unless I whip them
in and out of a black bag quickly ;-)

Cheers, helen s

 

[Jon Senior]

I tawt I taw a wafflycat...



.... I deed, I deed taw a wafflycat!

Jon