Hot answers tagged lighting
8
Paint it with fluorescent paint and then illuminate with ultraviolet lights (and white LEDs serve this purpose fairly well).
There are also glow strips/panels sold mostly to (oddly) computer hackers who like to light up the inside of their computers. And probably a few other specialty markets.
Of course, you'd have to rig up some sort of power supply. ...
6
i have been using the Supernova e3 Triple for night-time singletrack missions for the past two winters.....all I can say is awesome, completely awesome. 870 Lumens. bright.
I used a Shimano Alfine dynamo hub and built a complete 'night wheel' with a DT 4.2d rim, it has rubber and a rotor mounted so swap-over time is very quick. We have months of mud, ice ...
5
The Bicycles Stack Exchange Blog now has the most comprehensive bike taillight review on the internet (to our knowledge):
Review of the Best Bicycle Tail Lights in 2012
In total I reviewed fifteen different tail lights. The Cygolite Hotshot performed best in the most categories, but there are several other lights which did quite well. If you're looking for ...
5
The main things to look for when purchasing new lights:
How bright are the lights? Can you see them for a few feet, a block, half a mile, etc?
What is the angle of visibility of the light? It does you no good if you can only see the light from one single point - you want to be sure your light can be seen from a wide range of angles, especially for your ...
5
I don't believe these are "better" or "worse" than other lights, rather they are a supplement to other lighting systems. I think the inventors' claims about forward and rear illumination are somewhat questionable as it won't compare to a real head/taillight of similar cost.
However, I think they would provide some improvements in side and off-angle ...
4
The answer, as others have said, is "both." However, if you are only going to use one light, there is a disadvantage to that one light being helmet-mounted. When the light is mounted close to the eye, everything that is illuminated is "flattened" since, from the eye's perspective, there are no shadows to provide information about depth. In particular, it's ...
4
I recently bought a new rack specifically because my old rack had no good spot to attach a light to. Well, that, and it has a broken weld causing it to rattle. The rack I bought is this one. I got the Bontrager Flare 2, which easily attached to the rack with a single bolt. The light has 3 modes, which are steady, strobe, and random. Random works well if ...
4
Peter White has done a lot of testing of dynamo headlights and has even put together comparisons of luminance. I have the Schmidt Edelux and love it.
3
It's not clear from your question whether you ride regularly a bike, but really the best way to understand the requirements for a product like this is to get on a bike and do a bunch of riding around at night.
When you do this you'll find that the visibility of signalling at night is not as big a problem as all that. First, the proper approach to making a ...
3
Reasonable cost could mean a problem depending on your budget, because a good LED light for dynamo-hubs should not be cheap.
My suggestions, based on what I've seen (at night, during some randonneur events) are:
From Busch & Müller, the IXON models. Their light is obscenely strong, reaching 100m+ with a good cutoff, thus without annoying other riders ...
3
Yes, with easy to spot 'caveats'...
On 'Critical Mass' bike rides there are all kinds of imaginative lighting setups that give individual riders individuality. We like creativity in cycling and how everyone is different. Undoubtedly these lights are cool and would be fab on a Critical Mass ride. Therefore, for that reason 'yes'.
Caveats...
LED lights are ...
3
For a lightweight light that clamps to a seatpost all you need is a piece of pipe of the appropriate diameter and some way to clamp it to your rack. I'd recommend about a 5" length of plastic or steel electrical conduit (though buying such a short length may be difficult). Or a length of wooden dowel will work. Clamping it to the rack will require some ...
3
There's no single answer to this other than "do what works for you". While the optimal answer to this question is to have both a helmet light and one mounted on the bike, not all cyclists have the money to do that.
That said, there are a few things that can help you decide, Mac or PC helmet- or handlebar-mounted light:
Will you be using more then one ...
3
In an ideal world, use both. A wide beam light on the handlebar keeps the light on the road in front of you, even when your viewpoint changes, which can save you if an obstacle comes up in front of you in a hurry.
However, if the trail curves sharply, and your light is fixed to the handlebar, then the light can be pointed in the wrong direction, which can ...
2
One possibility is to use extra rubber shims to use the seatpost attaching mechanism to attach to the stay of your rack, like so:
You might be able to use something like the Low down light mount bolted through that hole to give you a little bit of post hanging from the hole and use that with the seatpost mount...
You might be able to mount the hardware ...
2
The easiest way would be to use a low-dropout voltage regulator. You SHOULD regulate the voltage to a stable 5 volts anyway, because you can hurt some electronics by providing them lower voltage than the expected 5.
That being said, you can't just go get any old voltage regulator, because most have a dropout voltage of 2v - 2.5v above their target, meaning ...
2
From my trials with spoke lights I have not found ones that I like, but I have learned a few things about them that might be useful to others with more money.
Illumination - It is important to recognize how much light the lights can put out, and not just when the batteries are fully charged.
Batteries - There are a multitude of spoke lights with all sorts ...
2
I found two seemingly solid options for dynamo powered lights suitable enough for night riding. However, I havn't had any personal experience with either, but both claim to be up for the task.
SuperNova E3 Triple
Exposure Lights Revo Dynamo Mk1
Both of these put out about 800 Lumens and offer a paired rear light which is chained through the front light, ...
2
Typically you need to purchase a light designed to work with a bicycle dynamo due to the power characteristics of a dynamo (lights need DC current). A well sorted hub dynamo (I personally have had great luck with Schmidt hubs) can produce up to about 6W of power depending on your speed and the design of the hub, which is a reasonable amount of power to work ...
1
When I ride at night, I just use those "pant leg bands" with a velcro closure, that have reflective material completely around the band. They fit easily around a forearm or wrist, and are easily illuminated by vehicle lights from any direction. They take no batteries at all and last until they are somehow lost. They can be used at any time of the year in any ...
1
You most probably damaged the rear light and are risking damage the voltage regulator on the front, too, since the huge majority of generator hubs provides 6 Volts.
If the regulator on the front is sophisticated enough, perhaps it is using just enough current and voltage to feed the light, but I think most circuits use a Zener diode, that actually make the ...
1
Find a bolt that fits the thread and diameter that is about 2" long, then some 1.25" washers, and a 1" diameter PVC x 2" long. Bolting the PVC to my rack gave me plenty of space to use any light I wanted with ease.
I don't have a photo of this, but I have this on two of my racks and love it. I break lights from time to time (mainly in storage or locking ...
1
This is perhaps a bit tangential, but your question seems to assume that spoke lights will increase visibility at night...which may be true to an extent, but only to people viewing from perpendicular to your direction of travel. Consider that you might get a better return, in terms of visibility-where-it-matters by improving your front and rear visibility ...
1
While this wont be as consistent as the image above, wrapping your bike with electroluminescent wire will be 10x cheaper and faster, plus last longer.
Amazone sells it pretty cheap here
I have used it on bikes, Halloween costumes, kid toys, etc. Its super flexible, durable and safe. 9ft runs on 2 AA batteries. Tape or zip tie it on as needed.
1
I suspect you will find that most of the chargers that run off hub dynamos take this into account. For example, http://www.thinkbiologic.com/products/reecharge-power-pack in the (pdf) manual say:
The ReeCharge is charging when the green light on the side of the
ReeCharge is lit. NOTE: The green light is only on when the wheel
rotates fast enough to ...
1
One option for front lights would be to replace them with torches and rubber/velcro mounts such as below, these would be interchangeable and fit pretty much anything - I have even got my iPhone on to one.
As for rear lights you may have to invest in 3 sets of the same light. alternatively in the past I have had to DIY mounts using elastic bands in ...
1
Cateye seem to have quite a few mounting options including an adapter bracket for a rear rack.
Or you could get a light designed to mount to a rack which many of the German ones do like Busch and Muller.
Then you have the no bracket style lights like the ones from Knog that you should be able to mount to a rack.
1
If you want something purpose made I know that there are lots of rear lights that come with reflector mounts as included options. For example, here's one from Blackburn.. Look around and read the specs, or ask your LBS for suggestions (there are lot's of crappy lights out there and every shop has their favorite that's proven itself to be durable). There are ...
1
Basically your variables (not independent) are cost, brightness, and battery life (if not using a generator). With regard to the battery you have rechargeable and disposable, which is perhaps another variable (definitely not independent of cost).
You need to decide first what sort of use you will give the lighting system, both in terms of brightness needs ...
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