Leisesturm

Some of you continue to double down on the FAIL of presuming that any lights, Hi-Viz, Whirlythings and/or etc. will prevent 'stuff', is naive, obtuse, and sarcasm provoking. And your aggrieved, outraged, and/or petulant overreactions to my pointing out the obvious is beginning to wear thin. Please stop. No one is suggesting that cyclists prowl around cities Ninja! But obviously cyclists in distressingly large numbers FAIL to exercise good defensive riding techniques and get injured and killed as a result. I don't think it is a bad thing to FORGET about the fact that the other guy is at fault if ________________. It is irrelevant. The bottom line is you are in for a world of hurt if you rely on that as any justification for your inaction in the face of sudden crisis. A word to the wise is sufficient. I'm oversold here. Auf wiedersehen.

Leisesturm

WRTA = With Respect To The Above. I have no need or desire to abuse total strangers online. But there really is no need to defend or point out the obvious.

Happy Feet

Other than being trollish the only way I can interpret your response is that you assume, by using a light, I then simply ride with no further concern for stopping at all or that, because I have the right of way, I plan to intentionally ram cars with my bicycle because I am in the right.

Both pretty whack conclusions.

Happy Feet

What a tantrum.. and as suspected, based on some childlike presumption that by using a light a cyclist abandons all other means of self preservation.

So, just for you here's a PSA:

If you use lights don't forget to use your brakes. One is not a substitute for the other.

Whew! Glad we caught that one.

jefnvk

Ah, thanks for clarification.

I'll leave the rest of it there, because I think we are arguing the same point, but my original comment was solely in relation to who is legally at fault.

rseeker

What does "chip on board" mean? Does that mean it has the charging hardware built in?

bobwysiwyg

Wondered myself, found this;

https://www.digikey.com/en/articles/...board-cob-leds

SHBR

Nothing used on a bike will ever compare to a modern squad car outfitted with full blast emergency lighting, nor should it.

That is my reference for blinding, and this is only a problem for me at night.

This thread is about daytime running lamps.

Its quite unlikely that typical bicycle lighting systems will cause any harm to other road users during the day.

Here are a few situations that are far more troublesome.

Sunrise or sunset, going into the direction of the sun.

Midday sun on a clear day, against a snow covered landscape.

Perhaps most difficult, whiteout conditions in a snowstorm

All road users will have to deal with at least one of these situations at some point, sometimes frequently.

At best you might get noticed if you have light(s), which is all you can hope for.

rumrunn6

looks like a CREE, no?

rseeker

So, nothing to do with charging hardware (as I had wrongly guessed). Thanks for the link, that's a nice write-up.

VegasTriker

A better picture of what a COB inside a bike light looks like.

You can actually count the 16 LEDs in this COB. They come in square, round, and rectangular versions. This one is a 1W 3V DC COB that I bought for some DIY bike lights. It is a red taillight that uses a 18650 Li-ion battery, something that is hard to find in bike taillights. The size is 60X8 mm and it sells for under a dollar. The controller for it was also less than a dollar so the entire light without battery was just a couple bucks. This Raypal 2266 light has 26 LEDs in the COB and can be bought for as little as $4 from overseas vendors.

They are becoming a lot more common in home lights too. I replaced a couple of can ceiling lights and they are all COBs. Here is one naked COB that runs off 110V AC (no converter) is 20W, 2400 lumens, and cost $1.60. It's amazing.

Happy Feet

Yes. Riding into the sun in late afternoon is one of the worst for me. As a driver I know how hard it is to see things against the glare.

Perhaps daytime lights don't make as much sense in sunny states but with fall/winter coming on in northern latitudes l find myself commuting in darker dawn/dusk conditions as well as rain.

It's just part of bicycle commuting in less than ideal conditions, like fenders, helmets and visible clothing.

rachel120

Same thing with the sun at your back. Oncoming drivers are going to have a very hard time seeing you. A blinky light might actually make you safer than a car with static lights because the on/off might catch oncoming drivers' vision better.

Rollfast

Okay, I'll bite. Since HIDs have been around for so long, and were standard equipment of new cars before LEDs became more common, and retrofiitting would imply making a US model in line with European cars that were out long before the US had them (i.e. composite, with small replaceable bulbs)...

I have to Wiki this because I think I've read about it a few times...and my dad was a mechanic as well. People always bring it up and I have no idea where it comes from.

Rollfast

It's those BLUE lights they stole from Kmart...XENON.

mr_bill

OK, brief history of the sorry headlamp regulations in the US.

Just before the war, (before the US joined WWII, there was already a war) STATE regulations in several states required that cars sold in their states had to have TWO 7" round sealed beam reflector headlamps. These states were big markets, so soon enough (after the war ended) EVERY car sold had only these sealed beam headlamps. And there was much rejoicing.

But then about the time Sputnik was launched, several American manufactures convinced enough STATE regulators to allow cars to be sold with FOUR 5 3/4" round sealed beam headlamps. And there was much rejoicing. (And many tailfins, because, tailfins.)

Then in the summer of love, regulations were drafted to FEDERALIZE automotive lighting standards. These came into effect in 1968, so by the time a man walked on the moon, the FEDERAL standard codified - the existing state regulations. And there was much rejoicing.

Then the oil crisis begat another round of FEDERAL draft standards, and in addition to ROUND headlamps, RECTANGULAR sealed beam headlamps were introduced. Even more amazing, their dimensions were 200x142 and 165x100 mm! By the time Richard Nixon resigned, cars could be sold with these new fangled lights. And there was much rejoicing.

Then Ronald Reagan became US President, and FORD (the automobile company, not the former President) petitioned the government to end the madness, liberate their engineers, stylists, and marketeers, and allow a headlamp assembly to be sold with a REPLACEABLE bulb. I know, radical stuff which was available all around the world. After TWO YEARS, the regulations were finalized so that so-called COMPOSITE headlamps could be OEM equipment on cars sold in the US. And there was much rejoicing.


However, the BULB that could be sold in a LAMP ASSEMBLY had to be standardized so you could REPLACE the bulb, and there are a number of BULB standards available. You can even look in your owner's manual to find the exact type of bulb that your car requires, assuming you can find your owner's manual that you've never read. But the key is, given a LAMP ASSEMBLY you could match it with an inexpensive BULB. And there was much rejoicing.


Which brings us to illegal HID conversions. The HID bulbs are approved for use in PROJECTOR lamp assemblies.
Illegal aftermarket HID conversion kits are all about adding the necessary electrical changes for putting an HID *bulb* on a car. If you REPLACE the reflector lamp assembly with an aftermarket retrofit projector lamp assembly (and they exist), then you are good to go. However, if you put that bulb in a reflector lamp assembly, you are likely to get a ticket.


The standard is FMVSS No. 108

And if you want you can read the Dear Mr. Deetz letter, which in summary says "duh, no, you can't put that bulb there."


More than you wanted to know.

-mr. bill

mr_bill

Since in North America this is the time of year where sun is most troublesome for people on bikes, I want to expand a bit.

Going into the direction of the sun is only ONE of the problems, where not only are YOU having trouble seeing, but people behind you are also having trouble seeing.

But anytime *you* have a long shadow, your long shadow POINTS to people who may not see you.

So if your long shadow is pointing to 12 o'clock, oncoming people may not see you. Left crosses and pull outs are more likely with your back to the sun.

Similarly, if you are crossing an intersection and your long shadow points at either 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock, people in that direction may not see you.

AND, if you can see long shadows pointing AT you, even if you can't see the sun be aware that you may not see something in that long shadow.

-mr. bill

hotbike

"....Most trucks have a sign that says lights on for safety because their insurance companies require it for the same reason motorcycle headlights are on whenever it's running because it's safer and it helps the companies in a lawsuit. It will help you to."
-Merziac

I have to agree with what merziac said.
And now the photos :

The new Headlights are COB LED's .

Made a Pushbutton for the Brake Light. Brake Light is manual, I either have to hit the yellow button, or the red panel rocker switch (which will make it stay on) . There is a loud Piezo Alarm to accompany the Brake Light.

This time I am using a Motorcycle Battery, Also , there are LED Light Strips on the Tail Box

hotbike

You can click on these photos, they are actually large thumbnails, to get the high resolution photo :

The Headlights and the Tail Light

The Tail Light and the Brake Light. The Tail Light becomes six times as bright when the Brake Light Button is pressed, which really gets the attention of the driver...

Overhead Views showing the Teardrop Shape , and the Air Horns

rachel120

This morning there was fog so I not only had my front light on, I decided on steady instead of blinky. Not a heavy fog but I couldn't see oncoming traffic over 200 feet in some areas.

And my light definitely helped. Twice someone oncoming making a left turn waited what I thought was beyond reason for me to pass by. So yeah, I was clearly visible.

wingless

Like the air horns.

Here are A/V clips of my +140 db horns and whistles.