Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Monday, October 13, 2014 5:28:01 PM UTC-4, Joerg wrote:
Sir Ridesalot wrote:

just for fun I removed the solar charger from a malfunctioning
lawn light that looks like one of those old round Union
headlights. I hard wired this light to a 4.8 volts battery and
looked to see what it was like. The three LEDs at the bottom of
the three inches diam reflector make a very good be seen light
but they because of the reflector design throw a very small
amount of light to the surface of the road. It'd be useless for
just about any trail riding even with a full moon. I repeated the
experiment the next night but with a 7.2 volts battery. The
amount of light on the road or trail didn't seem to be much more
and the light was still useless for trail riding at anything much
over walking speed. This experiment seems to prove that nearly
any light can work as a be seen light even though it'd ber
useless for seeing anything.


It's not just about to be seen. If the light is steady but the size
of

the light is much smaller than that of a car or motorcycle then car


drivers will think you are still much farther away from them than
you

really are.



The only thing that can (somewhat) prevent this effect is a
flashing

light because cars and motorcycles don't have those except for

emergencies. Or a wider light but then you need several watts of
power.



--

Regards, Joerg



http://www.analogconsultants.com/

You seem to have missed my point. The point is that it takkes a
surprisingly little amount of light being emitted in order to be
seen. Being identified as a bicycle is whole other can of worms.


But that's the important part. Being identified as a bicycle averts "Oh
s..t!" situations where a driver slams on the brakes because he thought
you'd be farther away.


There is still a lack of consensus as to whether a steady on light is
better than or worse than a flashing light.


As long as I have to contend with battery-powered weak LED lights I will
keep them on flash, always. If I could find a big enough rear light that
can reasonably be spliced into a battery pack I'd use a steady light,
maybe. Big as in physically large and a total of 1-2W worth of LED power
in there.


In my opinion, the best colour for avoidance would be amber as that's
the international colour for something that motor vehicles shouldn't
be running into. Flashing amber is best.


Technically not legal to be riding with. Motorists would not necessarily
know whether you'd be coming or going. Flashing red works very well. I
am always glad to see cyclists use flashing lights even during the day
when I am driving in a car (I do that also when on my bicycles). With a
bright enough LED you can spot them 14mi to 1/2mi in the distance and
prepare yourself well in time to pass or slow down.

On my road bike I also use a flashing front light because that lamp has
much less than 100 lumens. With that it's fairly worthless as a driving
light at night unless I slow down to 10mph. On the mountain bike I leave
the front light on steady, in traffic also during the day. Because it's
very bright and I really notice the reduction in incursions into my
path. Still looking for a bigger light there, 1000 lumens or so, for
trail riding in the dark which I'll have to do soon.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/