daniell

I am looking for a front headlight to give me visibility during daylight. As I search through Amazon, I see lights advertised with amazing lumen outputs. Some say 8,000. First off, how many would really be needed for my purpose? Also, I would think that many of the high output claims are extreme exaggerations.

DeadGrandpa

I use a Knog Blinder 2, which I bought in 2015. It has a flashing mode and 200 lumens. It's plenty bright to be seen.

raqball

Focus and flash patterns are far more important than lumens in my opinion..

I have a Bontrager Ion 200 and it's fantastic as a daytime running light..

wayold

I don't necessarily disagree, but for me a good front flasher has to alert all potential traffic hazards to my presence. While all drivers are at more or less the same height they may approach me from anywhere in my horizontal field of view. For that reason I prefer a wider flashing beam in front with plenty of lumens to make up for the broader angular distribution. Taillights are a bit different since overtaking vehicles pretty much only approach from directly behind. So there a focused beam with relatively low lumen output can still be reasonably effective.

These days I've gone a bit 'overboard' in the light department (ever since my wife got hit by an SUV last year). I ride with a 3000 lumen flasher up front and 250 lumen in the rear (and dress like a clown on a bad acid trip).

daniell

Which flasher do you have?

raqball

Wider flashing with seriously overkill lumen levels is not going to do a whole lot more than one with a good focus, flash pattern and lower lumen output. Well, that 3,000 lumen light will probably blind and piss drivers off unless it's positioned at an extreme downward angle which then makes it pretty useless as a DRL..

I get it though, people assume the higher the lumens a better the chance of getting seen but that's not been my experience with DLR.. Most of the top brand manufacturers for front DRL only lights do not have insane lumen levels. They pay more attention to focus and flash patterns..

But if you are happy with your setup then cool. Hopefully it's not blinding drivers..

My .02

Polaris OBark

I also use the Bontrager ion 200 as a daytime running light. It is plenty bright, but if caught out at night, it is inadequate.

My wife just got a Cygolite that has up to 700 lumens. It is extremely bright at night, and only the dimmer of the two flashing modes is acceptable for daytime running mode.

Again, Lumens ain't the whole story, but 700 should be more than adequate. It is here, on unlit rural roads. The brighter the light, the quicker you use up the battery charge (and the larger the battery will have to be in the first place).

wayold

I use a Magicshine RN-3000 and agree that 3000 lumen is excessive at night. I typically run it at half power after dark. In daytime though I want to be seen, not only by directly oncoming traffic but by those darting in from the side (my wife was hit by crossing traffic). I'm happy with the extra light output. As far as blinding drivers is concerned all I can say is that in 6 months of regular use I have yet to be flashed, honked at or otherwise engaged by any annoyed drivers. Pretty sure they all saw me though.

raqball

For night riding on trails and such a 3,000 lumen light with a wide beam might be a great decision but when used as a DRL, not so much..

Here is just one of many articles and testing that can be found on the internet..

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear...ights-we-love/

*snip from the article*

Is Brightness All That Matters?

It is tempting to use max lumen output when shopping for a light, but as our testing shows, this often does not indicate how much actual light a given light will produce throughout your ride. A better place to focus is on a light's secondary mode or its medium setting. This is where many lights deliver more consistent light output over a longer, more usable period of time.

One final thing to consider is beam pattern, which can sometimes be the secret sauce that makes a good light great but can also be subjective. For instance, many mountain bikers will prefer to use a wider beam (or flood) light on their bars for general trail illumination. Then pair it with a more focused spotlight on their helmet to throw as much light as possible in the direction they are looking. Commuters, on the other hand, might want a light that combines the two functions by using multiple LEDs with different lens geometries to simultaneously produce both kinds of beams.

Tourist in MSN

Years ago when I used to commute on a motorcycle, I drove highway speeds with a headlight that had 1200 lumens. Or that is what an internet search says my H4 halogen headlamp was good for.

Koyote

One strategy is to buy a much brighter light than necessary and then run it on a lower setting...e.g., my fave headlight is 1300lm max, but on the low (450, I believe) setting it'll run for six+ hours.

Russ Roth

They're often fake numbers on amazon/ebay, which no one has mentioned yet. I have a 2000 lumen headlight with built in battery pack, actually runs at 1800 unless put into boost mode and will only stay there for 30 min to protect the batteries from overheating from the energy draw. I usually run it at 1100 lumens. At 1800 it will run for 2 hours/8hours at 1200 lumen. Its already fairy heavy and if it were any brighter it would require an external battery pack which none of the supposedly bigger lights have either.

wayold

None of us REALLY know how many lumens our lights put out unless we have a calibrated integrating sphere photometer lying about. I went down this rabbit hole a ways last year and have a calibrated lux meter (only measures power per unit area not total lumens) and a home built integrating sphere. Even with that I'm really only confident in my total output measurements to within about 20% or so. One of these days I'll find a lamp with a NIST traceable calibrated output and properly calibrate my sphere, but until then it's all an approximation.

Tourist in MSN

Alternatively you might decide to buy a light that has a battery life per charge that you think is a reasonable number of hours of battery life. Most light manufacturers will tell you how many hours the light will run. Add a contingency (20 percent, maybe 50 percent, etc.) for when the battery is older or when using the battery in cold weather when batteries perform poor.​

rumrunn6

I remember first using a Planet Bike AA battery unit. they used to be measured in watts, mine was 1 watt. the brightness was just fine for daytime "to-be-seen". just did a quick search & found these 3. I suspect any of them would be adequate for that specific purpose

Planet Bike Beamer 3 Bike Headlight

Planet Bike Blaze 150 SL Bike Headlight

Planet Bike BlazeŽ 600 SLX Bike Headlight (rechargeable)