For the see-by front lights, it’s a big spectrum but we generally start with urban lights with an output around 400 lumen, road lights starting around 700 lumen, gravel or off-road riding starting around 1,000 lumen and MTB lights are usually 1,400+ lumen
Crazy to me, back in my day 450 for mtb was standard and 900 was a lot!
The lens/reflector is just as important, but leds tend to trade lens design for more leds and more lumens. The fall off is much worse than focused lights, but they light up reflective paint amd signs really well, so people think they are working better.
See blinding headlights on cars.
I prefer a Sofirn Q8 Plus - it’s half a kilogram so it takes a lot of duct tape to secure it to the bars, but the 16000 lumens are worth it. Car cuts you off? Double click to just vaporize them.
Now get earplugs and a battery powered train horn to really complete the effect!
Somewhere in the range of a 25 billion lumen strobe.
Seriously though, sometimes it seems like we’re invisible. Got run over a couple of years ago and I’m still salty about it.
I ride festooned in retroreflectors, cameras, and lights for this reason: People magically seem to notice you when they realize they’re on camera and might be held accountable.
Cyclists are split between “why bother have a light at all” and “high-power headlamp that blinds oncoming traffic”.
Not, me, I usually find myself on “Oh shit I bumped it and now it’s pointed straight down!”
at least 1
Use the flashing setting. It halves the battery usage and doubles your visibility
Up front, I usually use a flashing light during the day and a steady one at night.
Cars can’t see a steady light. I’ve had one pull out in front of me and i was right there.
Cars see movement/change, and flashing lights are therefore more visible. Ideally irritating too so they stop and think ‘what the fuck is that annoying flashing light’.
Rapidly turning your handlebars to sweep the light around when you approach intersections helps too
Inattentional blindness. Car drivers should be looking for obstacles and people, but driving eventually conditions you to be looking for other cars and you can miss obvious stuff.
I guess 2 lights in that case, 1 steady so I can see, 1 flashing for the cars to see.
Flashing lights are much harder to predict the movement of.
I think both: steady light so you can see and drivers can properly track you; flashing light to grab attentionThe light on my camera blinks too but I’ll keep the swerving technique in mind since a blinking light at night is tricky. Maybe the solution is more lights!
This is completely illegal in some countries, in France for example.
In Germany as well, afaik.
Not in NZ.
But why do most lights have only a flashing setting that is fit for a rave? I hate when I’m passing someone and they have a bright light flashing rapidly, really disorienting
CygoLite has the Steadipulse setting
Either 69 lumens or 420 lumens
The answer is you need two lights. Trail riding and having a light suddenly fail is not fun.
I do, but the other one stays in my pack. I’ve got a spare front and back light (plus a pocket flashlight that can do double duty as a bike light in a pinch).
