Leebo

I do some of my commute on the minute man bike path, less than a mile with 3 street crossings. I run 2 minewt 100 minis, one on the bar and one on the helmet. Also a minewt mini 150 in blink mode , kinda bright. Had a ped yell at me, " lights too bright". I also encounter ninja walkers, ipod zombies and bikers with no lights or reflectors. So where is the balance? Generally the commute is pleasant with walkers and bikers doing their own thing properly. I would rather err on the side of too much rather than not enough light.

Steely Dan

i'm glad the lakefront path here in chicago is illuminated with street lights, or in this case MUP lights

Schwinnrider

Can you adjust your lights to a dimmer setting? I believe in bright lights, but I don't always run the lights on high. Low is enough for plenty of situations,IMHO.

nathan.johnson

There are two reasons for lights: to see and to be seen. Blinking lights are good for being seen and steady lights are good for seeing. On a MUP, you don't need the blinkies. Switch the blinkies to steadies when you're not near a road crossing and it'll be much nicer on the peds eyes.

lostarchitect 

If your lights are "too bright," then they know where you are. Don't worry about them, worry about you.

Leebo

Yes, Multi Use Paths lights, harr, hee.

DiabloScott

If your lights are too bright, they can reduce the ability of the oncoming rider to see the road... this happens to me all the time on the path. I'm looking for the side of the path and judging the distance between myself and the other people on the trail and if a bright light is in my eyes I almost have to come to a stop; this is especially a problem with helmet lights because people tend to shine them in my face.

When you see another rider approaching from the front just put one hand over your bar light and make sure you're looking down or away from approaching riders. It's courteous and safer.

lostarchitect 

Rider, yes. This was in reference to pedestrians.

fietsbob

the one on your helmet may be the problem , as you dazzle them in their eyes,
when you look that way.. turn it off, perhaps, and/or, re-locate it onto the bike too..

BarracksSi

Almost every time I cover or re-aim my light in similar situations, I hear, "Thank you."

When I get blinded by oncoming light, I lose track of both the edge of the pavement and the center -- so I'm not sure if I'll accidentally veer into the rider who's blinding me.

idc

I usually try to make sure my lights are angled down a bit, are dimmed if possible, and I only have small lights on my helmet (if at all). If I'm riding in traffic, that changes.

HardyWeinberg

Same here. Blinking bright lights are never needed on a MUP. Blinding lights at every possible elevation (bars, helmet) is a pretty hostile approach to MUP traffic.

DiabloScott

And also any unlit pedestrians or other trail users in front of me.

My lights are fine for the trail, not too bright and they're aimed down at the ground - I cover them as a clue to the oncoming rider to do the same but it usually doesn't work. I understand the appeal of helmet lights but I don't think most of the users get it. Recently a lot of joggers are using headband lights or something that are almost as bad.

Doohickie

NOS88

On MUPs I ride with just enough light (pointed down) to see the trail ahead of me (either two Fenix LD20s or a single Niterider Mininewt 350.) Helmet light gets switched off on MUPs.

no motor?

This. If your route is like mine where the MUP crosses several busy streets, aiming the light down will help on the path. I've found that a bright blinking light in the day makes me more visible to cars when I'm crossing the busy streets and then the side streets at the ends of my route, and don't phase the meanderthals keeping left, wandering down the middle of the trail, or standing on the path while they talk. But when I'm coming home and it's darker out, the constant bright lights seem to inspire people to keep right or step off the path to continue talking. When it's really dark out, the dogwalkers all seem to be off the path and in the field adjacent to the path, and I'm not sure if that's due to the lights or if they're going where the dog wants to go. I always say something nice to the people who keep right (especially when we keep seeing each other over and over), and over the years have had many many many more people tell me they like my lights than dislike them. Or like the high school kids said one night when I rode slowly through their party on the path, "I thought he was a cop."

ThermionicScott 

Yep. If possible, I try to aim my headlight downward a little when I see someone coming. I even do so around cars.

myrridin

This is not a problem of the lights being too bright, but rather that the light is not directed properly. It should be focused some distance on the road directly ahead of you, with minimal spill (particular up spill)... If done so, then almost no amount is too bright.

gecho

My headlight although bright shouldn't cause problems as it is aimed low. My tail light might be an annoyance but I rarely encounter anyone else on the path in the dark this time of year. The rear light is on my rack, so I have to get off the bike to switch it, which I'd probably do if anyone else was around.

I encountered a guy crouched holding his dog this morning. He was practically invisible, but at least he saw me coming. I usually look for regions that are slightly darker than the surroundings, but often mistake garbage cans for pedestrians.

pwdeegan

my primary light is fork mounted, and difficult to safely reach on curvy, bumpy, MUPs. i realize it can be very bright, but hope that oncoming people have the brains enough to not act like deer and stare into the white. my light has no dual-brightness mode (unless you count turning it off and draining the capacitor---very difficult to do safely while moving). the beam is shaped/focused, but on MUPs is still bright enough to stun kids smoking pot in the darkness. too bad for them.

when it happens that i encounter another bright light (car or bicycle), i use the visor on my helmet to block the brunt of it and keep focused on the edge of the road or path. this always works for me. always. if it happens that you can't see the path, then you need to slow or stop to evaluate that condition, and not fault some other user's light. that's part of riding on varying road conditions.

on the other hand, if it's some moron with a headlamp aimed directly at my eyes, i have the option of returning the favor with my helmet-mounted light. it's my version of flashing my brights at another car. all in all, i approve of bright lights on the bicycles, and live with the consequences of others who feel the same. worse things can happen (like road salmoning with dark clothes and no lights at night).

cellery

I have a solution, but you and many people here may not like it: don't ride on MUPs.

nashcommguy

Sorry, this much lighting on an MUP is ridiculous. A Mi-Newt Cordless 150 on the lowest setting is plenty. One doesn't need a front blinkie of any kind unless riding in traffic w/cars, trucks, buses. If one insists on having a front blinkie on an MUP use a low level one such as the Sette Glo. This is both safe and courteous to other cyclists, walkers and runners. The one person that spoke up is probably representative of the hundreds that have said nothing.

GriddleCakes

If you can, aim your headlights down on the MUP, turn off your blinker, and don't look directly at anyone if you've got a headlamp on. If you can't, come to terms with the fact that you kind of suck.

Agreed. Having to deal with ***holes and idiots who blind oncoming traffic with bright lights is part of riding, but that still makes it the fault of said ***holes and idiots for creating adverse riding conditions. On the MUP I rarely wear a helmet, and even if I do have my helmet on, it doesn't have a visor. I just do the same thing that I do when driving and some oncoming ***hole has his brights on: look down at the edge of the trail and away from the light. Rarely I'll encounter a bright enough headlight to make me block it with my hand.

Poorly aimed, bright, floody lights suck to share a trail with. High powered blinkers suck to share a trail with. Idiots with bright headlamps who insist on looking directly at oncoming traffic suck to share a trail with. These are all easily as annoying as extend-a-leash dog walkers, side by side double-wide stroller brigades, reckless and speeding cyclists, clumps of drunken disc golfers, loose dogs and children, hobo drinking circles taking up the entire path (twice, in the middle of the night, have I seen this), punks who break glass on the trail (gl*******s, if you will), skate skiers who refuse to narrow their stance for passing traffic, moose, entire classes of clueless middle schoolers out on a field trip, winter cyclists who won't move out of the center track for anyone, flocks of geese that cover the trail in smelly wet goose ****, dog walkers that don't pick up their dog's ****, etc...

But cars and trucks suck to share the road with, in my opinion more so than any of the minor annoyances found on the MUP, since none of these pose a threat to my life (except for the moose, maybe). And for every moment of minor annoyance, I'm pretty sure that there is at least an hour of pleasant, scenic, stress free cycling as well.

BarracksSi

Yup. The German generator-driven light on my commuter has a horizontal cutoff that keeps glare pretty minimal. I've also got a helmet light that sprays in a less-desirable full circle, but I haven't used it on MUPs here (which serve well as shopping/commuting routes across the river, btw). If I needed to use it regularly, I'd have rigged some sort of glare shield to make it more civilized.

jputnam

If your lights are too bright, they may look away entirely and have no idea where you are. Don't worry too much about them, everyone's used to dealing with an ******* on the trail, but worry about yourself -- lights that are too bright increase your risk of getting hit.