Hickeydog

Just thought I'd share my lighting set-up:

I've got 8 lights total. There is a MARS 3.0 on the seat post, another MARS 3.0 on my helmet, an 1 watt LED headlight on my helmet, 2, 9 LED flashlights on my bar along with 1, 4 LED (I think) flashlight, all 3 of which are quite capable of BLINDING you at 50 feet. Also, there is a Cateye, 4 LED blinkie and a Nightrider Newt Mini-USB light, all on the bars. And for additional visibility, I wear a Fred-vest (aka, safety vest)

Here's some pics.

All of the lights on my handlebars:


All of the handlebar lights plus the helmet light:



I attached the flashlights using hose clamps. It works really, really well, although it is somewhat permanent:




Overboard? yeah, probably. But when I'm dodging 3 tons of steel, I need all the help I can get.

steveknight

you need two good lights so you can loose 5# of cheap lights (G)

10 Wheels

Do you accept donations for battery money?
You are a Bright Guy.

steveknight

donations more like with him we need stock in his favorite battery company (G) even with all that light I bet you cna't see the road all that well.

10 Wheels

Depends on how good your night eyes are?
My last 100 mile ride, I was 1.5 miles from home at night.
When I saw the gliter of glass in front of me.
Crunch crunch, Pow Pissss.
My rear was flat.
B & M, + Nite Rider head lights let me know what was about to occur.

bobn

Don't knock it. I live in a community where it is suicidal not to be lit up like the 4th of July. I have 4 lights on the front and two on the rear. 2 on front are Cateyes and one of the rears is the Planet Bike SB. I have been left turned, cut off and backed out of driveways on numerous times. I have heard all kinds of excuses like you don't belong riding here and I didn't see you, you don't have the right of way, so I will cut you off and kill your bicycle riding ass.
Hickydog, you do what makes you comfortable. The batteries are just a small part of the cost of staying alive and in one piece!

Hickeydog

I've probably done 30+ hours of night time riding so far and all the batteries are holding up fine. Heck, those 3 flashlights on the bars are enough for riding at 20mph. Not much faster than 20....which is why I bought that mini USB light.

Also, those 3 flashlights have a wide field of light, so I'm easier to see from off-angle.

And I do accept donations. Cash or check is fine.

steveknight

not saying lots of light is not good. but the cheap lights don't really light up much they are fine to be seen with. but all of them together would not amount to my dinotte 200l I use it on flash mode and and the 600l to see by.

mrbubbles

You are not overboard at all. Light geeks aren't impressed. Some of us own single system that has more than double the output you have on your entire bar, those are blinding at 50 feet. It isn't really bright unless you are cranking out at least 900 lumens (you have no more than 300).

Here's what a 900+ lumen setup look like.

The red bucket is at 20 metres (65 feet).
The yellow bucket is at 50 metres (164 feet).
The hi-vis jacket is at 100 metres (328 feet).

Gonzlobo

I like the tape... although the name of it escapes me at the moment (I like the black 1" aviation variety). It's not sticky, but once it contacts itself, it literally welds in minutes. Good stuff.

cc700

see, i thought i had a lot of light too, then i got a 650 lumen light as an extremely generous gift.

don't mess with battery powered LED's, even if they are 3 or 4 watts. you're fooling yourself into thinking that you can see anything in time... if you're riding at more than 5mph you need a real light.

save the money you'd spend on batteries and get rechargable lights, even if they're just the cheapest rechargable halogen you can find.

mrbubbles

It depends. 3 watt of what? 3 watt at 200 lumen per watt means 600 lumens for a 3 watt system, no, we haven't got there yet, but we are getting there soon. Rechargeable AAs system are fine, I have one, 700 lumens on 6 AAs.

Don't even bother with halogens.

steveknight

halogens are nice when you overvolt them. but then they eat batteries. I had a 12v halogen running at 16v and it was really bright. better then my 11watt HID light. but I had to have a 19v battery powering it.
for weight and lumens LEDS are king now. I just wish the bike lights would drop more in price.

jt4703

I want your lights mrbubbles!! What lights are you using to output that much???

cyccommute 

Even yours is a little weak

4500 lumens



I don't have the same distance checks but I can see reflective signs from up to 7 blocks (640 m) away. I can also see pebbles, glass, potholes, rocks, etc. under street lights with traffic next to me at a nice comfortable 40 or 50 feet. No washout from other sources.

And 40 to 45 mph is no problem

cyccommute 

Overvolting reduces the amperage draw. Amps = watts/volt. A 10 W bulb at 12V draws 0.8 A while the same bulb at 14.4 V draws 0.7A and puts out twice as much light.

I'll agree that for weight LEDs are king. For lumens...not so much. Per unit halogen still put out more light...or can be forced to put out more. Halogens...the ***** of the lighting world

jwbnyc

Mulder called.

Your spaceship is here.

uke

Per Wikipedia, the only lights more efficient than LEDs are high pressure sodium lamps, and the gap is narrowing each day. Halogens were passed a long time ago.

mrbubbles

It's somebody else's DIY pic. My DIY can punch out that much as well.

Lumen pissing contest beyond 1500 is pointless. To some extent.

I dislike the colour of halogens. I prefer pure white/cool white. Halogen colour on snow makes the ground look like piss.

cyccommute 

That may be true for halogen at nominal voltage. However an overvolted halogen still puts out 60 lm/W. I've see no LEDs that can put out 1500 lumens per lamp. They may be getting 160 lumens or more per watt but you don't find them as 10W units. When they get there, I might consider switching but until then halogen still has a place...as does HID.

cyccommute 

Why 1500 lumens? Why not past 500 lumens being pointless? Or 5000? Or 50,000? It's a number. Got lumen envy? I could get by with 2 lamps of 1500 lm each or I could add more lamps (I've got plenty of bar space, lamps and batteries). I find plenty of advantages to having as much light as I now use and very few disadvantages. Having lamps that don't get washed out by every passing car or under every street lamp is on advantage. Having more light then my car has is another. As is the typical motorist response to having that much light coming at them. You were certainly showing off some pretty bright light

As for color, that's personal preference. I detest the LED color. It's like trying to moonlight ski. Not enough contrast to differentiate stuff on the ground. Everything is just a flat monotone to me. Brighter yellower light gives me more contrast, especially when riding off-road. That's one of the main reasons I don't like HID, LED or, for that matter, compact fluorescents.

mrbubbles

Numbers are meaningless. 5000 lumens, that sounds bright, and I'm sure it's bright. Why are stopping there? Put on another lamp or two to jack it up to 7500 lumens, why aren't you doing that?

Because you can doesn't mean you should. That's like using a cannon to kill a mosquito. I started a thread for comments on the P7s, and people are satisfied to point where cars are shining their high beams, are you telling them 700 lumen is hogwash?

Pondscum light is similar to yours, and yet people who that are saying, I like to upgrade that, I don't need 4500 lumen.

In the end, do what you want to do and I'll do what I want to do. Convince people to buy the latest and not halogen, unless you don't want the technology to advance, and I'll convince others to buy the most expensive system they can afford (unless they are on a budget, the P7 flashlights is my choice to recommend).

10 Wheels

40 Lux would be about how many Lumen's?
Thanks



https://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?ID=2692

cyccommute 

I try to convince people to buy the brightest lights they can possibly buy...and more than one of each There is absolutely nothing wrong with halogen. If it is brighter than LED and cheaper what's wrong with it? I'm not here to push technology just because "it's sexy". If technology is useful, I'll embrace it. SIS, STI shifters, threadless headsets, external bearings, suspension forks, etc. I've tried and found to be an worthwhile improvement over the existing technologies.

I've tried LED (several times) and I'm less than impressed. The light is has the wrong color rendition, I have no use or need for flashing, different power levels, etc. If I'm going to carry the light, I want it to be on...full...for as long as I need it. If I need less light (or longer run time), I can turn one of the lamps off or add a lower wattage bulb. I won't buy a commercial system because you pay through the nose for a light that doesn't have the output of an "outdated" halogen system. A Niterider Trail Rat puts out what most commercial LEDs do and way better than many for less money. My DIY halogen puts out more light than anything else I've seen...including most car lights.

I've even tried the P7 (it doesn't have 900 lumens output). Nice light if you only need it for about an hour on high. But I can get the same output as the high beam for a similar price with halogen and get 2 to 3 hrs run time. And, like many LED, it's too directional. I've had too many people pull out in front of me while running LED of various kinds for my taste. The second time it happened, I checked the light for myself and for anything outside of a fairly narrow band, the light is dark to the side.

I'll continue to push halogen, not because I'm a luddite but because I consider it to be the best bang for the buck currently available.

mrbubbles

My point is, people buying LED is an investment in the technology for further advancement. What advancement are you getting when you pay for a $2 halogen bulb? If you aren't willing to jump on the bandwagon, let others do.