In reply to your post about bright rear bike lights (as a recommendation).
I bought a Daylight Bright Bicycle light for $123 which includes postage and
its works very well. The following is some information from me about my
experience with the light.
The light is fairly visible in bright daylight. It is very visible under
street lights at night. I even once had a passing passenger call out: "Your
bike light's on fire!". That is what it must have looked like to him.
The light unit is made and supplied by one man as far as I know.
I don't have any pictures (no digital camera here, but you can see it in a
review in Australian Cyclist magazine from 2003 (see their website)). It
weighs about 100g. Read on for the dimensions.
The backing plate on mine extends up along the longer dimension, so it is
wider than the seat. When mounted on the seatpost it touches the back of my
legs, which is why I mounted mine under the seat via the seat rails. The
light is not aethestically beautiful, but it is functional.
I recommend this light for cyclists, but under the above disclaimers that it
is not perfectly designed. I am happy to have spent the money, but anyone
else does so at their own risk of dissatisfaction. Perhaps get the
manufacturer to send you some pictures.
Kind Regards,
Laurence Dodd.
.....................
The following is information from the manufacturer.
Thank you for your enquiry re the world's brightest bicycle tail light!
For seat post mounting, the mounting plate comes with a U-bolt to suit a
25mm seat post and is $8 extra. Please advise your seat post diameter if not
25mm.
The long dimension would normally be horizontal but people have mounted
these lights vertically with a specially designed mounting plate.
The light is designed to be charged on-bike. You would need a specially
designed mounting to allow easy removal if you wished to remove the light
for charging. For most cyclists recharging would only be required once a
week. One option for a commuter cyclist might be to charge the light at work
during the day.
I make the lights myself here in Sydney and ride to work in the city using
one.
Postage is $8. The lights are not sold through shops.
Regards, Bill Holliday, WMH Electronics P/L
..........................................................................
Daylight Bright Bicycle Tail Light
Cyclists can be put in the direct path of overtaking motor traffic by
chicanes, traffic islands, speed humps and the S-lane's disappearing
left hand lane.
In such situations cyclists are effectively denied on-road access unless
they are able to enter and occupy a lane when necessary. To do this,
cyclists need to be very visible from behind, both day and night.
The Daylight Bright tail light focuses the attention of approaching
traffic on the presence of the cyclist and identifies the cyclist as such.
Daylight Saving causes many commuter cyclists to travel at sunset. A
bright tail light makes cyclists more visible against the setting sun.
The Daylight Bright bicycle tail light stands out from a sea of
headlights, trafficators and other tail lights because of its brightness
and characteristic flash rate.
FEATURES:
Mega-bright:
Has by far the highest flash intensity of any bicycle tail light. Twenty
four high-power LEDS provide more than 600,000 mcd - as bright as a
traffic light. Easily visible at night at 1 km (on-axis).
Internal Rechargeable Batteries
Five internal 650mAh AAA rechargeable NiMH batteries operate the light
for 6 hours in full flash mode or 12 hours in alternating flash mode.
Built-in recharging Circuit:
Any 9 to 24 volt plugpack will power the internal constant-current
recharging circuit to recharge the batteries overnight. A suitable
plugpack is available separately. The light is designed to be recharged
in situ - it is not necessary to remove it from the bike.
A green recharging indicator LED shows when recharging is taking place.
Water resistant design: The light uses a waterproof case with neoprene
sealing gasket between the transparent lid and the tough ABS body. The
batteries are soldered in place - no contacts to corrode and prevent the
light from operating.
Mounting:
The light should be firmly mounted on the bicycle to point directly
backwards. The case dimensions are 115x65x40 mm with two 4mm mounting
holes located outside the sealed volume.
Mounting requirements vary widely depending where the light is to be
attached. A dual-purpose mounting kit, for seat post or backstay
mounting, is available from the manufacturer.
MANUFACTURED BY:
WMH Electronics Pty Ltd
ABN 19 101 848 435
Ph/Fax: 9569-4956 (H)
Email: wmh@ ieee.org
