Decent front lights with a shaped beam?

[LittleSkink]

One of my bug bears is cyclists who think really bright lights are actually a safety device not a menace on the roads - mostly the problem is more to do with beam shape than brightness per se, I must get dazzled by other cyclists half a dozen times a day now and don't wish to join them

So I am wondering, now the darker nights are drawing in what light to put on my Christmas list. Manufacturers and retailers delight in telling me how many "retina burning lumens" they have but I actually want a light that was designed properly

Any recommendations folks?

 

[The History Man]

Cut out a little bat in black card and stick it to your light to summon help. Works best on cloudy nights.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

Modeen Car headlight dazzle or contrast blind you more than the bike lights can even try to, even dipped. Nightmare in a car let alone a cyclist.

Even some of the rear brake lights are brighter than they should be on a car.
Probably fine under a standard test at a distance in a set position and not an eye looking at it, but not in actual usage.

Just get something with a diffuser at the front the spread the light.
And dip it rather than point it forward.

 

[LittleSkink]

Re: Re:

Just get something with a diffuser at the front the spread the light.
And dip it rather than point it forward.

I get your point about some car lights, bit I rarely have that problem, Maybe its the bike riders round here but loads of them run these super bright blunderbuss's - which make it really hard to judge their location / speed cos you cant even look in their direction

The inability to "dip" is sort of the problem, these things are "designed" to blast light in every direction with no shaping - and are even marketed by some as "retina busters" !? And the magazines really don't help either, telling everyone how insanely bright they are, but not how useful - it is unbelievable that folks are being recommended to buy 1000+ lumen lights, you can temporarily blind someone with that

Currently I run a natty Smart light, it is well shaped, dippable and not dazzling. The down side is a rubbish fitting, it has fallen off twice on bumpy roads and is sure to do it again

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

The ones I use are beamed in the middle and then a darker outer cast.
Just cheap Chinese style as they are called.
Many I've seen are similar.
To dip, just purchased them down a bit.

The thing is, I've seen many cyclist with normal lights now that are not 'retina burners' I guess.
You can hardly see them between car lights and these new led street lights.
And in a car you really don't notice them.

It's a race to be the brightest on the old road now.
:-(


(And I'm an LED advocate having been involved in making the actual things)

 

[hamster]

If you look for the STVZO German marked ones, they meet the test specs.

I agree that car lights are brighter - however the small size of bike lights can give a greater surface brightness and so more dazzle effect.

For riding off-road I find that a shaped beam actually lights up something useful (not owls' feet). As a result a lower brightness German-compliant light gives more useful lighting. A good example is my Axa Luxx 70 dyno lamp.
Also, it's odd that I rarely ride on full output - a lower light output on my offroad light (Fluxient) doesn't totally destroy my night vision, as a result I get more depth perception and seem to keep some dark-adapted peripheral vision.

 

[cce]

I've got an AXA greenline that I quite like. Had a B&M ixon before. Both were good lights with shockingly poor brackets.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Re:

I turn my lights down offroad too so much easier to see thing.


It's just the modern Car LED lights that have a small point effect in cars that dazzle over the more traditional diffuse light they use.
Known problem iirc and something they are trying to overcome.

Again just get a diffuser for you bike. Get as big a reflector head as you can as well.

 

[xerxes]

Re:

I saw this the other day, a light with a shaped beam and a dip function: http://road.cc/content/review/221409-ra ... ront-light

Road CC have a good beam comparison database too: http://lights.road.cc/index-wide.php

Blue light is more dazzling than other colours due to greater chromatic aberration: http://www.lightmare.org/effect_on_vision.htm, it can be quite noticeable if you have electronics with LED lights or displays, you may find it much easier to read text in red or green or yellow/amber than in blue.

Piercing blue tinted car headlights are really bad for everyone else; it turns out the French that used to have yellow tinted car headlights were right all along.

When cycling I always wear protective glasses and except in bright sunlight, where I may wear dark tinted lenses, I wear yellow tinted lenses; they really help reduce the dazzle from bright blue-ish lights.

 

[hamster]

That's a really interesting point...I will have to dig out those old Ozzo sunglasses with the yellow lenses.