Cycling in the dark.

Post by **Mick F** » 6 Sep 2010, 11:53am

Yesterday, I went cycling in the dark for the first time in over fifteen years.

I used to do it regularly when I commuted, so this was an interesting experience. What's changed in those fifteen years?

I have an excellent Cateye LD1100 rear light, but a weaker front one - a Cateye EL320. The front is fine for coming home after dusk and the rear is perfect for anything! Off I went with them shining brightly, but the front EL320 left a lot to be desired. It would be fine in traffic and within street lights, but the beam wasn't too good. Perhaps I need a better front light - how about the EL530?

I remember my Soubitez BB dynamo lighting with a front Xenon bulb and a good lens spreading the bright beam across the road, but the rear light was never that good.

One thing I forgot about, was that you can't see your feet! Clipping in and out in the dark can only be by feel. In the old days I had clips and straps so it was easier. Also, I couldn't see what gear I was in! Before, I had a double with a 6sp freewheel. Easy to tell then, but nowadays with a triple 10sp takes some concentrating!

And also, I'd completely forgotten that speed was difficult to judge.

I enjoyed the ride, it was great fun and perhaps I look forward to winter!

james01 · Post by **james01** » 6 Sep 2010, 12:47pm

Mick F wrote:. What's changed in those fifteen years?......

I enjoyed the ride, it was great fun and perhaps I look forward to winter!

First point: what's changed in 15 years ? Where do I begin!! Seriously, lighting's been turned on its head by LEDs. It's now perfectly easy to get reliable,near-car quality forward illumination at a reasonable cost.

Second: welcome to the night rider club. It's a different kind of cycling, great fun, and I reckon that particularly on rural roads it's actually safer in the dark if you're well equipped.

gentlegreen · Post by **gentlegreen** » 6 Sep 2010, 1:36pm

It's now perfectly easy to get reliable,near-car quality forward illumination at a reasonable cost.

I would take issue with that. I suppose it depends on your definition of "reasonable cost".

I suppose it depend on your night vision. I reckon you need at least 10 watts of LEDs aimed at even a familiar country road or track to make good safe progress, and the small 1 and 3 watt lamps people are using these days are just too physically small - they dazzle if aimed above the road - which they invariably are - and don't get me started on flashing ones. :evil:

I find it necessary to make my own to keep it down to not much more than £100.

kwackers · Post by **kwackers** » 6 Sep 2010, 1:55pm

gentlegreen wrote:
It's now perfectly easy to get reliable,near-car quality forward illumination at a reasonable cost.

I would take issue with that. I suppose it depends on your definition of "reasonable cost".

I suppose it depend on your night vision. I reckon you need at least 10 watts of LEDs aimed at even a familiar country road or track to make good safe progress, and the small 1 and 3 watt lamps people are using these days are just too physically small - they dazzle if aimed above the road - which they invariably are - and don't get me started on flashing ones.

I find it necessary to make my own to keep it down to not much more than £100.

I've got a 10w (dual 5w) Hope fitted to my MTB, I find it great for high speed jaunts through woods at night! But it's overkill for the road - I'd be forever charging batteries - I've considered moving it onto my road bike but never really felt the need...

My little cheap front light just has 3 or 4 'bright' leds - not even sure there's 1 watt in there and I find that fine for 20mph commuting in the dark. Sure, I wouldn't want to go much faster than that but I can see where I'm going just fine and the batteries last months at a time.

Post by **Mick F** » 6 Sep 2010, 2:02pm

Yes, the "affordable" front lights these days aren't powerful enough, but it depends on what you term "Dark".

My Soubitez setup had a big front lamp - very bright AND powerful. It would put a broad rectangle on the road ahead that I could see the road's imperfections and hazards. It was aimed correctly so as not to dazzle - but by goodness it was powerful! I had no worries at all when I commuted. I had "daylight" in front of me.

My Cateye OTOH is brighter, but not more powerful. The beam is like a pencil, without any useful spread, and is really hopeless at dark riding. It's absolutely fine for what it is - for commuting in town with bright streetlights or at dusk/dawn. Cars couldn't help seeing it, but it isn't any use for really seeing the road in the dark at speed - walking pace would be ok.

I'd like to pay for a good front system, but to be honest, it would only be a toy. (But fun nonetheless!)

BSRU · Post by **BSRU** » 6 Sep 2010, 2:49pm

I have a couple of Magicshine 1400's which are fantastic for lighting up dark unlit roads. I have positioned them to point at the road off to the left, similar to car headlights to prevent dazzling oncoming vehicles.

PW · Post by PW » 6 Sep 2010, 2:51pm

Schmidt hub (there's a lighter weight version originally designed for small wheel bikes, but it produces more than enough power for LED headlights). I use a B&M IQ Cyo, which shows every pebble in the road, I'm told the Edelux is even better but it costs twice the price. I don't care about a bit of dazzle, it makes the blighters dip, which they don't otherwise.

vorsprung · Post by **vorsprung** » 6 Sep 2010, 3:00pm

I have a cateye 320. It is just about ok as a "get you home" kind of light but I wouldn't want to use it regularly

All the Cateye lights seem to have a poor brightness for the price of them

Tesco LED torches are better than cateye 320 and cost a lot less.

I dunno what the current best value battery lights for general riding at night are. I am fully generator powered so I tend to follow developments with dynamo lights. If all my generator lights disappeared in a puff of smoke tomorrow I would buy a B&M Ixon battery light on ebay. They aren't the cheapest and probably aren't the winners in the current price vs brightness arms race but B&M lights are unlikely to disappoint

mattheus · Post by **mattheus** » 6 Sep 2010, 4:05pm

The EL530 is pretty useful for 'average' riding. I've ridden many hours of (audax) night-riding with one - they last for several nights, and they're plenty bright enough on good surfaces upto around 20mph. For descending fast or keeping a good speed on rubbish surfaces, they're not upto it. (Dunno about the '320)

But there's more to this;
- I don't spend much time descending, so you can use a cheap, bright, low run-time light as "main beam".
- if you only need 3-4hrs runtime, there are much brighter for similar money.
- The equivalent Halogen of the time (Cateye HL500II) was brighter, ok for descents, with maybe 2hrs good runtime.
- The EL530 is at least 3 years old (a lifetime in LED terms!). Cateye don't seem to be good VFM any more, so I think for the same money you can get something better, not sure what that is. (I think the B&M Ixon range cost a little more, but sound good VFM)

I would be happy to ride all night with an EL530 if I had nothing else with me!

(Actually IME Cateye are pretty reliable, so they're not rubbish VFM, but they're lagging behind now.)

I can't comment on dynamo lights - different kettle of fish.

rbrian · Post by **rbrian** » 6 Sep 2010, 4:14pm

How about supplementing with an LED head torch? You can get a very bright 4 LED Petzl for about £30, and blindingly bright for a little more. It ought to help out with clipping in, seeing what gear you're in, and shining at drivers' eyes until they dip their lights.

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 6 Sep 2010, 4:21pm

Stepping aside from another 'best lights' thread, there is a bit more to this which has little to do with lights. I'm thinking of the difference in road conditions between the working day, and the evening and night. In many urban parts of the country such as round here, the level of traffic is so great that traffic travels only quite slowly during working hours. I'm not talking only about gridlocked or crawling queues but the way that a sort of conformity is imposed - overtaking is often impossible with a near-constant stream coming the other way and so on. After tea, which will soon mean after dark, lighter traffic levels and even lower levels of police patrolling (if that's possible) seem to give a lot of tearaways the opportunity to race about.

PW · Post by PW » 6 Sep 2010, 4:23pm

Keep your eyes open in cheap supermarkets. I got a LED head torch with a focussed beam for a fiver in Lidl last winter. I wear it for commuting so I can aim it straight at the eyes of the clown who's about to pull out of that side road! Also useful for checking the computer out in the sticks etc.

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 6 Sep 2010, 4:35pm

I bought a couple of cheap LED headband lights from Aldi last winter. (£2-99 each?) I bought them as toys for my grandchildren but they are so bright, I decided that they were no good for that as they just wanted to shine them in each other's eyes. They are noticeably brighter than a Petzl Zipka I've had for perhaps 10 years. The flashing mode seems redundant but the beam is concentrated and very bright. (I'd never thought of using one for looking at my feet in the dark.)

gentlegreen · Post by **gentlegreen** » 6 Sep 2010, 4:39pm

I'm not fantastically proud of my assortment of domestic 4 watt, Cree-based spotlights I use to see where I'm going - though they do the job, but for being seen in hand to hand combat in traffic, I have built my own 48 LED lights with something like a 360 degree (semi-spherical) beam pattern - I doubt I'll ever persuade another cyclist to follow suit.

I hate flashing lights with a vengeance in 90 percent of situations - especially when they're 1 or 3 watt white ones aimed at my eyes on an off-road path. I make a point of riding straight at idiots like that.

If I found myself forced to weave in and out of traffic, maybe I would relent and have flashing lights on my helmet, but I would be striving to find an alternate route - even if it was longer.

NUKe · Post by **NUKe** » 6 Sep 2010, 5:06pm

Mick

I have EL530, which I have commuted with on unlit roads over the last 3 years. you will find it much brighter than your 300. It lights up the road quite well to about 30 ft When the batteries are fresh. repudely for 10hour at which point it drops to 1/2 power for the next 90 hours. I've never proved the second part. it usess 4 aa and works well with rechargables. There are now better lights on the Market for not too much more money. B&M do the Ixion.
All though recently I've bought a Dynomo hub and B&M IQ Cyo. My winter bike has an old basta bottle dynamo and Basta hilight. Which is only halogen but gives a reasonable light

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