Front lights again

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
New to post and not up to speed on all posts yet.
I am struggling to get a light that has a cut off so you don't dazzle other users.
The lidl one posted up post is what I have along with a spotlight on my head for better visibility at speed which I can direct into hedge when something come the other way. At what has been £9.99 from lidl (bike light set, rechargeable front, rear may be either integral or not) is a good buy for certainly town and at moderate speeds, unlit streets / lanes. Has a good cut off beam on the Lidl.
At speeds of 20 mph down unlit lanes with full tree coverage over head you need something Bright for sure.
I have three Lidl front lights at the moment and each has a different art number along with different beams and colour.
Try and post soon.
On your own late at night at normal speeds I have found that as long as you can make out the white lines and edges of road you can get by.
At speed and with oncoming cars needs a brighter light.

I am at the moment being blinded by other cyclists spot lights, even having to stop on cycle path as I cannot see where I am going.

Edited-
On the link in opening post evans, there is nothing to tell me that it will be a beam that has a cut off to stop blinding other users,for all that money?
Not looked through the entire list yet.

[gregoryoftours]

Hi,
New to post and not up to speed on all posts yet.
I am struggling to get a light that has a cut off so you don't dazzle other users.
The lidl one posted up post is what I have along with a spotlight on my head for better visibility at speed which I can direct into hedge when something come the other way. At what has been £9.99 from lidl (bike light set, rechargeable front, rear may be either integral or not) is a good buy for certainly town and at moderate speeds, unlit streets / lanes. Has a good cut off beam on the Lidl.
At speeds of 20 mph down unlit lanes with full tree coverage over head you need something Bright for sure.
I have three Lidl front lights at the moment and each has a different art number along with different beams and colour.
Try and post soon.
On your own late at night at normal speeds I have found that as long as you can make out the white lines and edges of road you can get by.
At speed and with oncoming cars needs a brighter light.

I am at the moment being blinded by other cyclists spot lights, even having to stop on cycle path as I cannot see where I am going.

Edited-
On the link in opening post evans, there is nothing to tell me that it will be a beam that has a cut off to stop blinding other users,for all that money?
Not looked through the entire list yet.

German lights (by law, I think) have beam patterns that when aligned correctly throw light onto the road but not dazzle other road users. B+M for example make both battery powered and dynamo powered lights of this type. Hub dynamo setups are really good these days, putting out plenty of see-by light although initial expense is high.

[pwa]

On the link in opening post evans, there is nothing to tell me that it will be a beam that has a cut off to stop blinding other users,for all that money?

The Strada 600 does not have the clean cut-off that certified StVZO lights have, but it does have a remote switch that allows the user to switch it to Low when they meet people coming the other way, and the combination of the two beams is pretty good for directing at the road surface and not up in people's faces. It is not your classic dazzler. It is more directed than simple chuck-the-light-everywhere torches.

I may get round to sticking it on a bike where I can compare it with a nice upmarket StVZO dynamo lamp over the next couple of evenings. That might be interesting.

This is all a bit academic because the Strada 600 is last year's model and while £80 may seem a lot for a light it is a lot less than the £200 it was a year ago. And Evans seem to have sold out. Exposure lights tend to last a long time so £80 is very reasonable.

[Sweep]

German lights (by law, I think) have beam patterns that when aligned correctly throw light onto the road but not dazzle other road users. B+M for example make both battery powered and dynamo powered lights of this type. .

Am aware of this.

Possibly a daft question but is the fact that they drive on the other side of the road an issue at all?

[[XAP]Bob]

Not a daft question at all - afaictball yhose I have seen are horizontally symmetrical.

[tatanab]

^^ agreed. In the last decade or more I have used at least 4 StVZO lights, both dynamo and battery. All have had symmetrical beams. Of course they still need to be aligned correctly to avoid dazzle. Some time ago I looked up the requirements about alignment. I have a memory that correct StVZO alignment has the beam centre drop by 50% at a distance of 10 metres. I have my fixed dynamo light set up like that; I appreciate that it is a bit more difficult to reliably set a battery light that is often removed.

[mjr]

Not a daft question at all - afaictball yhose I have seen are horizontally symmetrical.

You can see from my pictures above that all mine are symmetrical, whether German or British standard.

I think car lights should be symmetrical because most signs are reflective now (so overspill is enough to see them), they wouldn't dazzle walkers on adjacent footways and we wouldn't have to mess with lens adjusters when going abroad.

[Bmblbzzz]

A symmetrical dip beam is or used to be a legal option for motorcycles.

[[XAP]Bob]

Not a daft question at all - afaictball yhose I have seen are horizontally symmetrical.

You can see from my pictures above that all mine are symmetrical, whether German or British standard.

I think car lights should be symmetrical because most signs are reflective now (so overspill is enough to see them), they wouldn't dazzle walkers on adjacent footways and we wouldn't have to mess with lens adjusters when going abroad.

They are also much wider, and much brighter, than cycle lights.

[SA_SA_SA]

Not a daft question at all - afaictb all those I have seen are horizontally symmetrical.

Thats because cycle paths alongside roads may result in cyclists cycling on the 'wrong side' of motor traffic: ie nearest the front passenger side*, thus needing a symmetrical beam to avoid dazzle. I presume it also counteracts leaning into corners a bit.

*assuming cars handedness matches handedness of left/right side driving.

[Bmblbzzz]

Until Sweden changed to driving on the right in the late 60s, they drove LHD cars. In other words, they drove on the left but drove cars made for driving on the right. The rationale was that this put the driver in a better position to see the verge on the narrow, twisty roads typical of Sweden at that time. I suspect it was also due to supply: Sweden has a small population, all its neighbours drive on the right, and most of the cars sold in Sweden at the time actually came from USA. Obviously there's Volvo and Saab but presumably it was easier for them to produce for the much larger LHD markets of Germany etc. Anyway, it would seem they were driving with headlights that dipped into the centre of the road. Did it cause them problems? I don't know.

[mjr]

[...] and I'm afraid I'm not going out in the cold dark icy weather just for this - maybe when it's warmer, I'll take some better shots.

These are taken from about 80m away from the lit road, 40m from a white car and about 15m from an oil splodge on the road.

I forgot the torch this time.

[Bmblbzzz]

Shame you forgot the torch, but thanks.

[SA_SA_SA]

....I've just bought one of these for use on the winter bike (which currently has no dynamo). Maybe we should compare reviews? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dansi-StVZO- ... 4047061193 ....

I just bought one of these in a sale:
Its bracket seems compatible (identical?) to to Lidl lamps ones which is handy for me.

I like the fact it uses 2AAs (the most recent AA lidl ones all seem to use 4AAs, did they ever sell the dansi branded as lidl I wonder ?). *Because is simpler for rechargable Nickel AAs as well as nice and compact.