Cycling UK Forum

Has anybody any recommendations for a torch mount for one of these ... the diameter is 24mm

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-Sh ... 4c4ddSBXGN


I've tried a few of the cheapies from China in the past and they're pretty meh and last 2 minutes, personally I use the Fenix ALB -10 but it's for a friend of my sons at University and he doesn't really want to spend £15 on one if he doesn't need to.

I did see these and wondered if they were any good
https://www.taclight.co.uk/collections/ ... orch-mount

If anyone else has any other reasonable "budget" suggestions that work and will last longer than 5 minutes would be appreciated.

Do not use a torch on-road without a road lens, please! I think lenses are pretty cheap but I don't have much experience with them. CandBseen is often mentioned I think.

I had a camera that was a similar shape. I used one of those rubber 8 shape things to fix it. Doesn't last forever, but you get your pound's worth. Example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Bicycle ... 2642959931

Nip into a plumbers and get a suitable size "O Ring" loop over torch, under handlebar and over torch ... sorted for e few pence

mjr wrote:Do not use a torch on-road without a road lens, please! I think lenses are pretty cheap but I don't have much experience with them. CandBseen is often mentioned I think.

I had a camera that was a similar shape. I used one of those rubber 8 shape things to fix it. Doesn't last forever, but you get your pound's worth. Example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Bicycle ... 2642959931

95% of cycle lights have no filtration or focus

Cunobelin wrote:95% of cycle lights have no filtration or focus

Which is fine for the low-power Two Ronnies front/rear marker sort, but with those torches, it's dazzling and thereby illegal.

Several ideas here which may help you.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29231&hilit=+tesco

mjr wrote:

Cunobelin wrote:95% of cycle lights have no filtration or focus

Which is fine for the low-power Two Ronnies front/rear marker sort, but with those torches, it's dazzling and thereby illegal.

Nope, not at all illegal.if you have a BS approved basic light, anything else you supplement it with is legal

2 jubilee clips, loop them together, one around the bars and one around the light - sorted.

Cunobelin wrote:

mjr wrote:

Cunobelin wrote:95% of cycle lights have no filtration or focus

Which is fine for the low-power Two Ronnies front/rear marker sort, but with those torches, it's dazzling and thereby illegal.

Nope, not at all illegal.if you have a BS approved basic light, anything else you supplement it with is legal

We've done this dance a few times but no, dazzling lights are always illegal.

Here's an interesting Jan Heine blog thingy about bicycle light patterns. As ever, it ends up with a recommendation for a particular item that Mr Heine happens to sell....

https://janheine.wordpress.com/2018/09/ ... ter-light/

Nevertheless, the argument of the article - that beam pattern matters and requires a well-designed reflector and accurately-placed bulb - seems relevant to all who use a light to see by rather than to be seen by.

Cugel

mjr wrote:

Cunobelin wrote:95% of cycle lights have no filtration or focus

Which is fine for the low-power Two Ronnies front/rear marker sort, but with those torches, it's dazzling and thereby illegal.

Totally depends how you use them ... it'll give 1000 lumens on full power but you only get about 1 hr of battery life and also run the risk of blinding a driver coming in the opposite direction which any cyclist with half a brain can work out probably isn't in their best interest.

Turn it down to the next setting which is about 350 lumen... approximately half that of an average car headlight on low-beam .... point it down and angle it towards the kerb and all of a sudden you have a perfectly safe light that gives about 3 and a 1/2 hours of battery run time and provides ample light to clearly see where you're going.

Witterings wrote:

mjr wrote:

Cunobelin wrote:95% of cycle lights have no filtration or focus

Which is fine for the low-power Two Ronnies front/rear marker sort, but with those torches, it's dazzling and thereby illegal.

Totally depends how you use them ... it'll give 1000 lumens on full power but you only get about 1 hr of battery life and also run the risk of blinding a driver coming in the opposite direction which any cyclist with half a brain can work out probably isn't in their best interest.

Turn it down to the next setting which is about 350 lumen... approximately half that of an average car headlight on low-beam .... point it down and angle it towards the kerb and all of a sudden you have a perfectly safe light that gives about 3 and a 1/2 hours of battery run time and provides ample light to clearly see where you're going.

Read that Jan Heine thing.

One of his points is that a bright area on the road just in front of the cyclist effectively shuts down their iris to the point where they can't see beyond the bright patch. This is the case, I know from experience. So, even if a dimmer glimmer illuminates the road farther out, the bright bit right in front of you prevents you from seeing into that glimmer.

****
On another note .... now that the darker evenings are here, I see many cyclists with lights that are wholly inadequate. Walking the dogs through the village at night (in me reflective jacket) I see a few with "lights" that look worse than those old acetylene things CTC members still used to have when I were a youth. They are a pathetic and feeble yellow glow that hardly serves to be seen by never mind to see by.

Why do so many people prefer the cheap & nasty to the fully functional these days? Is "the bottom line" the only "function" that matters?

It seems we now have light-shaped-objects as well as the bike-shaped ones, both often poured into the world via the so-called supermarkets.

On the other hand, if you've just taken on a lifetime debt of tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds to buy "an education", perhaps a decent bike light (or bike) would be the straw that breaks the donkey's bank account?

Cugel

mjr wrote:

Cunobelin wrote:

mjr wrote:Which is fine for the low-power Two Ronnies front/rear marker sort, but with those torches, it's dazzling and thereby illegal.

Nope, not at all illegal.if you have a BS approved basic light, anything else you supplement it with is legal

We've done this dance a few times but no, dazzling lights are always illegal.

Only if used or pointed to dazzle...... they are NOT illegal as a light if set up properly and supported by a BS light

You also need to inform Cycling UK whose stance on these lights is certainly not in support of your claims.

Some cyclists like to fit extra lamps and reflectors, in addition to the approved ones specified above. This is perfectly legal provided they are the correct colour and in an appropriate position.

These optional lamps and reflectors do not have to comply with any standards, but it's illegal to use some designs of lamp or reflector that have specific other uses. You must not, for instance, show a red light at the front, or a white light to the rear, or fit triangular-shaped rear reflectors on anything other than a trailer.

Please, not again.
Stick to the point.

mattsccm wrote:Please, not again.
Stick to the point.

The point is that someone is claiming the OP's light is illegal, when it is not.

Providing he has a cheap BS approved light to fulfil the legal requirement, he can proceed with his plan to mount this light, despite erroneous advice to the contrary