fietsbob

In the digital world the Cal Vehicle Code is online , if you really need to know.

https://www.google.com/search?q=california+vehicle+code&oq=california+vehicle+code&aqs=chrome.0.57&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

of course CHP interpretation is on the spot and variable. melanin level , etc.

Shimagnolo

If you search for "eddy currents" on Youtube, you will find lots of videos of the effects of moving neodymium magnets close to conductive materials, eg aluminum, copper, etc. I have reproduced this at home with the neodymium magnets I use for cadence sensors, and pieces of aluminum stock from the hardware store.

I am *really* curious on how the Magnic lights harness this effect. It seems like this could make all other generation methods obsolete, *depending* on how much power can be extracted.

Null66

New lighting systems are ordered and in transit.

I'm running:

Active:
rear
1 cateye tl-ld110 screwed to rear rack. I bought a spare in case I ruin this one as I love the 2 row lighting I set 1 to solid, 1 flashing row. It has nice wide angle too...
1 PBSF turbo on the left chain stay on their flash mode.
1 self leveling blinkie. It's older tech, not that bright, nice wide angle, great runtime. It sold me on helmet mounted lights as cars see it as the come over hills much farther then rack mounted lights.

up front
2 cateye el-510 and 530...

Passive
rear
3 strips red 3-m reflector tap on rack stays about 6 inches but narrow
totally covered the crank arms with red 3m tape.

front
2 white 3m reflector strips on forks about 8 inches long
1 wide about 2 inch long white strip on sti mounted mirror


Due in soon
replacing headlights and helmet mount blinkie.

Light and motion 360+ for front and back. Due to run time limitations I'm going to use their pulse mode. So see me, and backup if primary fails.
Cheap dual light 2000 lm magicshine clone as primary head light (hi-med-low-strobe) plan to use med and strobe. I might need spare charger at the office.

Also replace helmet with high viz Specialized helmet asap. I will reflector-ize the heck out it too...


Any input appreciated.

Murray Missile 

Huh. Who'd of thunk it?

zacster

No, they are not the same. Reelights require magnets mounted to the spokes. Magnic lights require no hardware other than the light unit itself.

zacster

I think this is what he patented. He actually made it work. My light is plenty bright, but I don't know how much power the generator really produces.

Here's a funny thing. I built a stir plate for my beer making activities from neodymium magnets, and it is sitting right in front of me. It is a pair of magnets super-glued to a computer fan. An Ehrlenmeyer flask sits on top with an iron stir bar in the flask that turns with the fan. It keeps the beer yeast in suspension for growth and reproduction. I have some extra magnets so I'm going to give a try with my aluminum rim to see if I can feel any effects.

CaptCarrot

Maybe I should have used the future tense "going to do". I know what traditional Reelights are, I have 2 pairs of SL120's on my Hooligan.

What I was referring to (and I am not surprised it has gone unnoticed as it is well hidden) is that Reelight were "supposed" to be demonstrating a what can only be described as a "magniclight of their own" at Eurobike 2013, the "Reelight CITY".

This is a Google cache of their page about it, as the original page is now offline.

Google Cache of "www.reelight.com/visit-reelight-at-eurobike-booth-no-a5-408" - originally posted 15/07/2013

this is what they said
Here is another page that has the same info (but not cached - yet)

Visit Reelight at Eurobike : Cycling Embassy of Denmark

Double0757

Fascinating technology!

That's a good point. I have been stopped by a Florida cop for taking the lane on a narrow 2 lane road, going at 20 miles/hr on a 35 limit. I had the law on my side, but he suggested I take the right side of the lane (thought squeeze between cars and me) or side walk. To make long story short, they do what they want when cops them self don't know the law as well as they should.

Again, fascinating technology and competition to boot! Maybe those magnets are so powerful that they faintly and briefly, magnetize the aluminum rim and create the electricity that way? Just thinking!

Double O

RidingMatthew

do you have closer up view of what the light looks like on the bike and how you rigged it up?

buzzbee

Of course, there is no magic number.
I have 3 on the seat bag (2 face to the sides) and one on the helmet.
The one on the helmet is more visible and animated, since I look around,
I think it gives a better perception of a bike rider and of distance from 1/8 mile behind me, but I could be wrong.
Most of these lights run on AAA Eneloops and are plenty bright for my conditions... 1/2 watt to 2 watt.

zacster

As for blue lights, even the NYC MTA had to turn off the blue flashing lights on their Select Bus Service buses. These are pay before you board buses that make limited stops. There were too many complaints that people thought they were emergency vehicles.

zacster

Hmm, this sounds like a patent infringement, unless they bought the rights to use it.

Medic Zero

Thanks! I ran out before I got to the fork, now I just picked up a replacement (nicer) frame, so that might wait for that bike instead, although I do have more white than I need... Hopefully that is what it looks like in a cars headlights, that is with my (phone) camera's flash. The reflective tape is wrapped most of the way around the tubes so it'll catch light from any direction...

Medic Zero

They will! I had a friend who had a blue headlight on his bike. Cop stopped him and took it from him. Told him he was lucky that was all he was doing!

First I've heard that it is illegal to have a flashing headlight here. Seems most cyclists have them and I've yet to hear of anyone having any problems with the police about that. Although, given how little of the law most police actually know, I suspect they are ignorant of it.

Medic Zero

This is bad advice!

There's a reason blue lights aren't readily available to the public. There probably isn't a state in the union where they are legal.

noglider 

Hello everyone,

Please read this and tell me if you disagree.

There are big differences among various regions of this country and the planet when it comes to regard for the law and how it is enforced. 1. In some places, enforcement may be light but people move about lawfully and orderly anyway. 2. In some places, things are orderly and there is heavy enforcement, too. 3. In some places, people don't give a hoot what the law is and they just do what they want, and they get away with it because enforcement is lax. 4. The fourth type of place is the type where things are disorderly and law enforcement is there with heavy artillery but this doesn't make the place orderly anyway.

You have to take these four different styles into account when talking about how to ride through traffic or how to equip your vehicle. People are shocked at joeybike's riding style, but if they lived where he lives or in NYC, you'd see it in its proper context. I'm not saying it's right or wrong. I'm saying they would feel differently.

Flashing lights didn't seem like a good idea to me, but now that I've seen a lot of them, I see they have their place. If they're illegal, they should be made legal, because I don't think they're overly distracting, nor do they cause confusion that makes it hard to distinguish a cyclist from a law enforcement officer. If they are illegal where you are and you would be cited using a blinky, then by all means, don't use it.

If you don't want to do it AND you think they're a good thing AND you know that users don't get cited for using them AND you wouldn't merely because it's against the law, then you are a stupidhead. (Wow, my browser doesn't flag that word as misspelled.)

If you think they are a bad thing, don't use them.

If you think they are a good thing, use them unless you don't want to be cited AND you think it's likely that you will.

Isn't that all there is to the issue? Or have I left something out?

CaptCarrot

Regarding the legality of flashing lights and blue lights.

In the UK, blue lights are reserved for emergency vehicles only, but in the last few years the law has changed to allow for flashing lights on a bike.

However, before the law was changed, it was unlikely that the police would detain you for having a flashing white light on the front or flashing red light on the rear. They just wanted you to have lights.

Now even if red/white flashing lights are just as illegal blue lights wherever you are, I can guarantee you that you will get less bother from the police if you avoid the blue lights.

Double0757

Yes, no. You hit the nail on the head! Thank you! Double O

Dwayne

Oh, it certainly won't win any beauty competitions, that's for sure I wired in a high-low switch, too, low is regular running lights on the light, high is activating the brake light circuit. I run low at night, plenty bright, and high during the day. On high it uses 0.25A if I remember right, so with my 14.4V 4000mAH battery I have a theoretical run time of 12-14 hours on high, and something ridiculous on low. I usually throw it on the charger every weekend out of habit.

noglider 

Well done, Dwayne!

PatrickGSR94

I'm interested in the brake light function. How does that work? Some sort of microswitch mounted somewhere near one (or both) brake levers?

Dwayne

Sorry, I think my explanation was vague. I can choose between high and low when I turn it on, it's not connected to the brake levers. I've thought about doing that, but I prefer being able to just leave it on high during the day.

simpleton.

I think i mainly depends on where you ride. If you ride in the city with a lot of flashing lights more is probably better. I mostly ride at night on pitch black country roads so I use a Super Flash Turbo and a Knog strapped to the back of my helmet and I have yet to have a problem. Knock on wood.

enigmaT120

We need a chart that plots number of tail lights on one axis, and risk of being hit on the other axis, derived from real world observations. At some point the drop in risk as light numbers increase would taper off, and that would tell us how many to use. I really doubt I can find that data. As a driver I can say that even one red blinky on the rear, if it's a half way bright one like a planet bike superflash or one of the good Portland Design Works lights like I have, is visible for a very long distance in the day time, even when I'm heading into the morning sun.

We need to be careful though that we use one less than what would prompt people to call us paranoid.

no1mad 

I posted earlier that I have four lights in the rear, but after some observation and thought, I don't think that many is really necessary.

I say two decent lights is all you really need. I say two because of the "redundancy by design" concept. You could have one uber light, but if it fails, then what?

I'm going to move the 4D Toplight from the seat post back to the rack (where it was designed to be) and the NR Cherrybomb will either be on the seat post (currently just under the wedge pack) or the helmet, depending on what and where cargo is on the rack.