jefnvk

Could well have been. The whole concept behind it is you will naturally go towards where you are looking. It can be a lot more pronounced on two wheeled vehicles, because you use minute movements in your entire body to steer your vehicle opposed to more overt hand motions to turn. Even so, if you ever look out into a field at a particular object driving past on a straight highway, I'll bet you'll eventually notice yourself driftimg that way. I highly suggest not trying so, I am not responsible if you do!

GeneO 

it takes very little energy to switch an LED on/off so there is a very large battery savings using flashing LED vs steady on.

SylvainG

Indeed, in flash mode, my CatEye is said to last 70 100 hours but just 7 8 hours in low intensity.

martwa

Hadn't really thought about this. I go from street to path and back on many rides.

southpier

after rereading this entire thread (weekly update email), and the thread regarding ear plugs, I am concluding the cycling isn't for everyone. there's a reason video games were invented.

Bryan C. 

Unapologetic flashing light user here. I always run front and rear strobes while riding during the day. The rear is fairly bright but only at max intensity 1 out of every 4 flashes. My older Nite Rider Lumina headlights have a very rapid strobe rate. I recently bought a newer micro version of the same Lumina light and the strobe rate is much lower. Still, I feel that the presence of the light keeps me more visible and safer on the road.

To the point of the thread about using them on MUPs, I rarely turn them off and if I do I always seem to forget to turn them back on. So I just leave them on and not worry too much about it. I have yet to have anyone complain about the lights, even when on group rides.

I wonder what the OP does when driving at night and oncoming cars with bright headlights obscure his/her vision? In these instances I will look down and to the right while using my peripheral vision to monitor how close the oncoming vehicle is. I don't see how it could be any different on the MUP. Seems like a simple solution to me.

I guess some people just enjoy complaining. Or they think their opinions are always the right opinion. Common courtesy does come into play in this situation though. Aiming the light low and/or using a lower intensity light can be helpful. However the idea that riders must buy multiple lights with various light output settings seems overkill at best.

Archwhorides 

Cute Boy Horse

Hello. I occasionally have to put up with people who behave like you, and I don't like it. But like you, they don't get my complaints there and then, only because I don't want to turn my bike completely around and chase after them. That I don't want to waste my time on bottom feeders doesn't mean I don't hate them.

Regardless, your open selfishness makes me wish that one day I came across you while on a ride and could somehow recognize you. I would put your blinky lights somewhere.

Bryan C. 

OK tough guy.

freeranger

I run some very inexpensive lights that are not super bright when flashing. Many of the MUP's I ride have areas with tree cover and are completely shaded. One of the people I ride with occasionally has a very bright front light-bright enough that you could ride with it at night. It is very irritating on flashing-way too bright for me. Agree that some are way too bright-depends on the light. I have a different light for the front if I want to ride at night that is plenty bright--I don't use it when I'm using it to be seen, not to see with. Easy compromise.

livedarklions

OP here--the car question is a bit out of left field--it's actually illegal to run your brights in a car if you're likely to encounter oncoming traffic, so I really haven't run into that problem while driving at night. That kind of proves my point--lighting needs to be adjusted for the situation, and the laws about car headlights reflect that (no pun).

I have never seen car headlights that were so bright that they actually were anything other than noticeable in the daytime.

Every powerful bike light I've ever owned has multiple settings, bright and normal, flashing fast, flashing slow, and steady beam. You're just too lazy to push a button a couple times.

Most of the people I've seen riding with these fast-strobing bright things on MUPs in daylight are pretty sloppy riders. My guess is they use the lights to try to compensate for their utter lack of skill.

Bryan C. 

So you have never encountered bright car headlights on a dark road? My point was more about how to deal with these situations rather than why or how often they are happening.

Look, I get your point. And I can understand how you feel about it. Just don't expect others to change their routines based on your feelings.

And to your sloppy riding skills comment. One of the reasons I use the strobes is due to the idiotic and erratic actions of pedestrians and other cyclists, not my own.

livedarklions

I gave you an answer, you just don't like it. I rarely run into a problem with the headlights on cars at night, and NEVER during the day. That isn't too surprising, an oncoming car is most likely in my peripheral vision--I would literally have to turn my head into the light in order to duplicate the effect of an oncoming bike shining its light right into my eyes. There is nothing peripheral about that situation, you're right in my direct line of vision, obscuring the path I have to navigate.

And you just said that the reason you don't turn them off is because you forget to turn them back on. I'd say that's a pretty erratic and idiotic reason. Most erratic idiots think the other guy is the problem.

Trust me, if you shine the things in my eyes, I will let you know about my displeasure. Loudly.

jitteringjr

There is no law stating you should hold a door for someone right behind you, but that doesn't excuse you from being a ******bag if you don't. Same logic applies here and you are clearly stating you don't want to go down the path of kindness and etiquette. And sorry but running the flashers for the sake of trying to correct bad behaviors in other pedestrians and cyclists is only a false sense of security at the expense of being annoying in your own right.

Bryan C. 

It was a question about how you deal with bright headlights while driving at night. I seriously doubt my small headlight during broad daylight is anywhere near as bright as a car headlight at night. I saw your response, but you never really answered it the first time.

I guess my original assumption was right that you just enjoy complaining. Some people use complaining as a coping mechanism for their problems. I find those type of people very annoying, but that's a different topic. And I didn't start a thread about it either .

And as far as telling me in the road how much you hate my light. Big deal. Like I care about what you have to say over such a trivial thing.

Bryan C. 

Yeah.....well, that's just your opinion.....man.

GerryinHouston

Our point of view is concerned with our safety and those around us. That's why we use blinking lights.

Don't presume that we have not tested them on ourselves first, to see whether they will blind someone in broad daylight (they don't). As a matter of fact, my wife rides right behind me with her blinking light which I see in my helmet mirror continuously. No ill effects!

I haven't left behind a stream of epileptics writhing on the MUP or people falling into the bayou blinded from the satanic strobes either....

All I see is a bunch of guys that are ANNOYED by my decision to run blinking lights in broad daylight.

Normally I am very mild mannered and do not call people names like most of the opposing people did.

However, the OP starting the discussion on this thread issuing the command 'Flashers off the bike paths!' really got my goat!

So, if your esteemed excellencies get annoyed by us mere peasants running blinking lights past your exulted estates...

Oh well, live with it!

I am out of here...

NameTaken

You guys sure are heated about lights. I generally ride a mixed route of roads and MUPs. I leave early so I sometimes forget to turn off the lights. I consider myself a courteous rider. I will slow down for pedestrians and let kids and dogs pass in front of me and always smile at people even if I just slammed on my breaks because they weren't paying attention. I announce myself when passing and I've even said 'my bad' and apologized when things were clearly not my fault. Why ruin someone's day over such a little thing?

That said, I'm also a person who deals with anger management issues. Part of the reason I ride is that it helps me to let go of my stresses and become a more peaceful person. I'm not saying that I am going to fight you because I don't want to be that person. But maybe the next time someone comes riding in your general direction with their light on, consider that they probably aren't doing it on purpose and your immense discomfort will all be over soon. None of us are 'just lazy' or we wouldn't be out riding and that person might just be the guy that does want to be that person.

livedarklions

I'll be fine with that if you don't act like I'm somehow unreasonable when I tell you you need to turn it off.
We're passing in opposite directions--it's going to be a short comment from me.

I do not believe it is just a matter of discomfort--you're distracting people from seeing those kids and dogs, and if you're going really fast, you're making it hard to locate you on the path for the pass.

livedarklions

So if I refuse to complain about car headlights because they aren't a problem for me, that makes me a complainer? I have answered you--I don't deal with it because it isn't a problem. That's an answer, and you flunk basic logic.

Some bike lights are actually rated for many more lumens than car headlights, but more to the point, car headlights aren't pointed at my face, they're not passing within a couple of feet of me, and they're not strobing. Google the Inverse Square Law if you don't understand why the distance matters.

I'll be sure to yell my complaints very loudly in your ear as you go by. Maybe then you can see how enjoyable having your senses messed with is.

Bryan C. 

Flunk basic logic? Apparently you flunked reading comprehension. It was a question about how you deal with bright lights at night. I had to ask twice before you answered my question. Maybe you should read the whole statement before replying.

You seem more intent on preaching than discussing the issue anyway. Sounds like you have anger issues and are taking your frustrations out on people who have done nothing to you. How about you google displaced anger and see what I am talking about. Solve your emotional issues before you start trouble with someone who is more angry and violent than you. If you keep looking for trouble, you will find it.

Good luck.

700

OP: "Flashers off on the bike paths!"
Me: "You're wrong!"

**** !

Hoopdriver

On the road, I believe that blinking lights are less safe than solid lights. Flashing lights are often used for attention getting, but that is only part of the necessary interaction with other road users. First, depending on the periodicity and duration of the flash, the blinking light may be perceived as having a lower intensity than a solid. Secondly, the flashing light has to represent something to the other road users. If the flashers are perceived as a bicycle, then great. If not, then it is just one more light for the driver to filter out while he or she scans for significant light signals. Thirdly, flashers make it harder to just distance and speed. Assuming that you are perceived as a cyclist, the motorist is aware of you, but may not be able to judge where are or will be as he/she closes on you. Also keep in mind that running blinking lights and being perceived as a cyclist may cause other assumptions on the part of the motorist. Like you are going slow and there's plenty of time to turn left across your path.

If your concern is safety, don't stop at getting a motorists attention. Give him or her some additional information by running a number of solid lights that help with distance and speed determination.

southpier

no kiddin'. sound like somebody needs some cornstarch in his dr dentons

shrtdstncrdr

I've never ridden with the blinky setting on my headlight because it always seemed to me it would be like trying to relive the disco era everywhere you go.

But then I'm also the guy who would rather ride by the light of the stars and moon and only use the light when hearing that lonely singular car cutting through the nighttime air.