Cycling UK Forum

Fairly stupid question perhaps. One of my lights is a Lyt N Plus, so it's manually switched. I never switch my dyno lights off normally but sometimes railway staff object to my lights being on. However, the switch on the back of the light doesn't switch the lights off. I assume this is a fault. Before I buy another one to replace it, am I right in thinking that if I move that switch the lights should turn off immediately?

And/or, any other recommendations for a similarly good commuting light, perhaps with a better quality switch? (The side visibility and integral reflector of the Lyt being more important in this case than the beam quality of, say, the Cyo.)

I'm not sure that is a 'fault' so much as a 'feature' of the light, but I don't know for sure.

If you can't stick it I'd suggest that you could fit a second switch to the light (or a single two-pole switch) that disconnects the LED or the capacitor that powers the standlight. But this will be a fair bit of faffing about, a different light is probably a simpler solution.

cheers

Small lightproof bag twist-tied over the lamp.

One of my cheap B&M lights has a faulty switch - faulty since I bought it, in fact. Unlike yours it is also the light-sensitive version so I have simply ignored the fact that I can't turn it on/off by hand.
Tell me, on what grounds do the railway staff object to your lamp shining?

Mine stays on for about 5 minutes after I stop by design. I've always thought that it was a great benefit to have a light on while stopped at traffic lights, junctions etc.

james01 wrote:Small lightproof bag twist-tied over the lamp.

Yeah - like I'm fitting, removing and storing that twice a day

simonineaston wrote:Tell me, on what grounds do the railway staff object to your lamp shining?

Apparently a light means an emergency situation on the platform which will cause the driver to stop the train immediately. Hasn't happened in the best part of a couple of years of commuting, mind

blinkered wrote:Mine stays on for about 5 minutes after I stop by design. I've always thought that it was a great benefit to have a light on while stopped at traffic lights, junctions etc.

My light an my opinion are both exactly the same. But it seems I need to be able to extinguish the light immediately on getting to the station. Or stand outside in the rain for six minutes and then carry the bike through the station so the hub doesn't spin

simonineaston wrote:Tell me, on what grounds do the railway staff object to your lamp shining?

I think I read somewhere (on here?) that unauthorised displaying of a light on a railway was prohibited by railway bylaws. Assume it has something to do with confusion with the lights on trains or signals. Is there anybody who knows or can point to the legislation?

stewartpratt wrote:But it seems I need to be able to extinguish the light immediately on getting to the station. Or stand outside in the rain for six minutes and then carry the bike through the station so the hub doesn't spin

How bizarre. Nobody has ever said anything to me pushing my bike along the platform (and I never turn my light off).

The standlight for most dynamo lights remains on when the light is manually switched off, and most dynamo rear lights don't have a switch anyway.

The B+M 4-D lite plus has a couple of contacts on the side that you can short with a key or something to discharge the standlight capacitor. Otherwise it would be a case of using a battery light instead of the dynamo light. It simplifies the cabling, but means you've got to stop to light up rather than just reaching down and turning the front light on.

When I'm on station platforms, I cover my back light by folding a piece of card around it between rack and mudguard that is otherwise under a spring clip on my rack.

My headlamp standlight isn't bright enough to be mistaken for a signal, white lights aren't used much on our railways anyway (see http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_railway_signals ), it's easily covered by a hand or turned to the side when a train approaches, and it goes out much sooner (4 minutes) than the back standlight (20 minutes).

I've heard different things about bike lights on platforms. I don't know if it's an urban legend or not, but it seems simpler not to argue.

andrew_s wrote:The standlight for most dynamo lights remains on when the light is manually switched off, and most dynamo rear lights don't have a switch anyway.

Hm. Awkward. Basically makes dyno lighting incompatible with British railways, it would seem.

My old IQ fly stayed on until it discharged but my new IQ cyo can be turned off immediately.

Bicycler wrote:I think I read somewhere (on here?) that unauthorised displaying of a light on a railway was prohibited by railway bylaws.

I've heard that too (but just red lights). I think it's that it's important to be able to stop a train quickly, without adding the delay whilst the driver works out whether it's a real red light or not.

stewartpratt wrote:

andrew_s wrote:The standlight for most dynamo lights remains on when the light is manually switched off, and most dynamo rear lights don't have a switch anyway.

Hm. Awkward. Basically makes dyno lighting incompatible with British railways, it would seem.

it is a bit daft too; one of the complaints about standlight lights is that when they are switched on, the main light is dim and the standlight doesn't work until you have ridden the bike a short distance. Since many people wheel the bike a few yards before they mount up, a standlight that came back on immediately would be an advantage.

If (as per my pervious suggestion) a two-pole switch were fitted then the standlight could go off and on again with the switch; everyone would be happy, even the railways....

ps. I see that as fatboy has shown, not all lights are as daft as that.

cheers

fatboy wrote:My old IQ fly stayed on until it discharged but my new IQ cyo can be turned off immediately.

Ah. Which model is that? The premium or the standard one? (I've got a 2011 Cyo on another bike so I'll check that later.) Don't suppose you know if the rear turns off at the same time?

Edit: thinking about it, clearly the rear will still run off its standlight…