The nights are drawing in, bike lights

[mjr]

Is it legal to use a head-torch (on your head) for the front light?

No
but it isnt any more illegal than all those other people who have non-compliant lights, which will be well over half of the cyclists with lights.

Yes it is, because if it's bright enough to see with, you're dazzling anyone you look towards and deliberately dazzling road users must surely fall foul of some law even if the light's not attached to a vehicle.

[meic]

There are dazzling lights and there are head torches.
They have different names because they are not always the same thing. In my rather limited experience of being dazzled by cycle lights not one of the offenders has been a head torch, they have all been mounted on the bike.

[[XAP]Bob]

Is it legal to use a head-torch (on your head) for the front light?

Then there are the ninjas who have no lights whatsoever.

You refer of course to the dead ninjas. They tend to wear dark vests too.

And get seen so easily that they are regularly complained about and shouted at.

IIRC the stats seemed to indicate that they were at worst no more likely to be involved in a collision than a well lit cyclist.

[The utility cyclist]

The then CTC were opposed to the new law to have by compulsion a lit rear light, the thinking was that motorists of the day (1920s IIRC) would just take less care and drive faster during the hours of darkness. That they would NOT be driving at a speed they could stop well within the distance they could see to be clear, a distance being that illuminated from their headlamps, well matters have got worse ever since, motor-vehicles have gotten faster, drivers more reckless and vastly more numerous and with hugely more mass, with only technology built into cars saving many hundreds more thousands of incidents (180,000 killed and injured on UK roads at last count) and yet the onus has being pushed so far onto the vulnerable that we have not only criminalised not having this supposed defence system that alleviates the responsibility of the killers but in fact it means that the authorities now use it as a blame mechanism for ones demise/death if lights aren't bright enough, beyond what current law states (4 Candela isn't it?) or that one wasn't wearing hi-visibility clothing.
it's gone so far that even when lit up very well in a well lit street the authorities won't press for charges of a killer who wasn't even intending to stop at the scene
And all (modern) motor-vehicles are legally adorned with lights that are supposedly legal yet blinding for the most part and still manage to crash into things/people with great regularity.
The whole way of thinking about lights for the vulnerable as opposed to changing the actions of those that present the danger is criminal in itself, just as it is with other so called 'safety' devices and procedures one must follow to avoid incident some of the time.

[gaz]

IIRC the stats seemed to indicate that they were at worst no more likely to be involved in a collision than a well lit cyclist.

Stats thread (probably contains lies and damn lies too ).

[MikeF]

Is it legal to use a head-torch (on your head) for the front light?

no

There's one cyclist around here who uses just that, and surprisingly, even though the light is bright, it's not that noticeable because it's in a position ie height (he's obviously quite tall) that is out of range of expected heights for vehicle lights.

[MikeF]

Oh well. When the evenings become darker I shall just have to start using the on/off button on my dynamo lights. Such a faff. Could leave them on all the time I suppose.

[Paulatic]

Oh well. When the evenings become darker I shall just have to start using the on/off button on my dynamo lights. Such a faff. Could leave them on all the time I suppose.

I've spent a few days looking and studying battery lights. Aaarrrggh I'm not sold on them.
I thought I could no longer justify the expense of a dynahub then tonight I discovered the SP Dynamo for £60 at Spa. Looks good value to me especially as I'll need to buy another hub and light to replace knackered hub. This hub and some new spokes won't cost much more but give me the excellent light and peace of mind I'm used to.
Has anyone experience of the SP hub? (SP being too short to search for here)

[gaz]

Results of "SP" search on forum.

[Paulatic]

Results of "SP" search on forum.

Thanks Gaz, I'd forgotten that route.

[mjr]

Has anyone experience of the SP hub? (SP being too short to search for here)

I've read lots of positive comments and the one cyclist I know who I think has one (on this forum too, but I doubt he reads every topic) seems happy with it. I think they used to be called "Shutter Precision" if that helps search for them.

[squeaker]

Has anyone experience of the SP hub? (SP being too short to search for here)

Have run two SD-8s (one sold with the bike). First one bought in 2012 & still working well. Would buy another without hesitation (unless looking for a really cheap solution for a hack bike.)
HTH

[robc02]

Has anyone experience of the SP hub?

I use an SP hub (as well as a Son and an SA, the latter from the early 1950s - try that with a rechargeable battery!). The first one failed electrically within a few months use and was replaced under warranty. It has been fine since - about three years. I never switch the lights off - well I'd have to reach forward and flick a switch - such a lot of bother

There seem to be very few reports of failures, so, hopefully, mine was a one off. Shimano also offer a range of competitively priced hubs.

I don't think I would buy a front hub that's not a dynamo any more, unless for competition use or I could guarantee the bike would be used for short rides in fine weather only. I've lost count of the times I've been glad of good and reliable lights during daytime, either due to unexpected bad weather, or unexpected delays causing me to ride near dusk.

[Annoying Twit]

...
The Cateye 100 is very cheap. Maybe I should get one of those. Is there anything in the Cateye range which is a bit brighter and has a good inbuilt battery for maybe twice that price? There's also the Cateye HL-EL135 LED.

get the Volt400, it's very sturdy and bright to see in complete darkness. Good battery life, too.
The battery can be unscrewed and with a small cradle can charge your phone

Thanks. I'm going to get the Volt400 RC, the newer one with the updated design for attaching it to things.

I was surprised to see that my current Aldi lights look pretty much like the Lezyne Zecto Drive. The Aldi lights were a lot cheaper though.

The Volt400 will only be for vision at night. I use smaller lights to be seen around town.

So many people suggesting so many legally-insufficient lights. Only the dynamo and lidl ones are good. That's why it's so hard to buy good lights in this country. Why settle for substandard poo?

I bought these:



(I thought they were from Aldi, but it seems I was wrong.) It was a good light, except the front light stopped charging after two or three charges.

These are my current day to day lights, from Aldi. They seem to be OK so far, but I'm still using the power that was in them when I bought them. I'll see what happens after recharging. I like the thick rubber band connectors. They attach well and are stable over bumps.



My partner has just bought a Knog Pop I front light (35 lumens), and so far it seems to be doing the job.

@Gattonero Re: using the volt 400 battery to charge a phone. I have a 20Ah USB battery. So, on long trips I'm not usually short of power. There is admittedly a weight penalty.

[mjr]

Thanks. I'm going to get the Volt400 RC, the newer one with the updated design for attaching it to things.

Get the GVolt if you can. Better lens.

I bought these:



(I thought they were from Aldi, but it seems I was wrong.) It was a good light, except the front light stopped charging after two or three charges.

Lidl. 3 year guarantee I think. It's rather inevitable that there will be a few duds, but I suspect you could get it replaced if you wanted, especially at a time when they have similar lights on special offer. It's normally possible to power it directly from a USB power pack, which should also reveal whether it's a connector or charger/battery fault.