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Rear lights: which is best, continuous or flashing?

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the light i have now is this

https://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/lights/magicshine-mj-908-8000

 

and was replaced buy this with a new batt that wont now work with the one i have :mad:

 

https://magicshine.com/collections/bike-front-light/products/monteer-8000s-v2-0

 

and a copy of that.

https://www.lupine.de/products/bike-lights/performance-bike-lights/alpha

 

The spread is as important - car headlights have very well designed and large reflectors, shaping light... grab a couple of good headlights from a decent 4X4! Range rover? Should be good for offroad, plus you could dip them for road use. Good reflectors are always going to be large, unless some sort of diffraction grating (as on flat magnifying glasses) is used to shape light into a useful spread, it'd be lighter and more compact, but not as efficient as a parabolic reflector. I've never seen a bike light with an adjustable front lens and small but effective adjustable rear reflector, but I wish there was - it might stop "It's dazzling me!" whingers... I've tried being a respectful cylist, sadly, this wasn't reciprocated by disrespectful and ignorant drivers. Now, I just want to be seen and be safer when cycling at night. If drivers don't like it, they can write to "Points of view", or their MP or something.

Edited by guerney

what you need is power, on flat out the 6 cell pack is done in 1hr even less if it gets hot as just a giant heat sink with leds on the front.

 

or just stick this on my helmet lol but at that power draw you got mins of usage time

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f6mDfc5zg4:325

 

 

 

How about bolting on a motorcycle fairing?

 

 

 

s-l1600.jpg

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/284591077943?hash=

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175012029128?hash=

 

s-l1600.jpg

DSC_0118_01.thumb.JPG.3694750530e96db2ab418971838d70b8.JPG

 

DSC_0592.thumb.JPG.6ed3c85bf7b8752fdb7198fc04442095.JPG

 

it got to hot and blew the led i did get a rc motor cooler that would clip on the under side but also needed power for the fan and also filled it with baby oil but leaked in to the reflector and gave up but when it was working at full power was like a laser beam :p

Edited by soundwave

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it got to hot and blew the led i did get a rc motor cooler that would clip on the under side but also needed power for the fan and also filled it with baby oil but leaked in to the reflector and gave up but when it was working at full power was like a laser beam :p

 

Stick a load of CPU heatsinks all over it with heat conductive glue? Air passing at your usual 35mph would do the rest. ;)

Edited by guerney

I bet this would be very visible on my handlebars at night:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154696434677?hash=

being visible is not the problem at speed i need to throw the light so can see what is coming id not go much faster than 25mph in pitch black with what i have atm.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234349688405?hash=item3690547655:g:XowAAOSwlFVhxZDC

 

if you cant cool the led at max power it will blow up in seconds like a old cpu with no heat sink.

 

you can use a buck converter to power the leds so limit voltage and current but dont try that with the bikes batt as a power supply.

  • Author

It's much easier for a driver behind to judge the distance of a steady red light.

A driver is much more likely to notice a flashing red light.

 

My solution : two lamps - one steady and one flashing - set reasonably far apart.

 

Front lamps -

As a pedestrian, cyclist and driver I ***hate*** these enormously powerful LED front lamps.

They can be completely blinding (far worse than most car headlights).

Their use as point-straight-ahead-death-rays shows no respect at all for other road users.

 

I've just taken a look at mine, from the front in a darkened room, and crikey, yes, they are definitely an extremely bright, dazzling white, and yes possibly blinding. I was quite surprised as it's the first time I've ever taken an actual look at the light from a forward perspective. I just switch it on and go. Never have need to check as it's powered direct from the battery.

 

Nothing like those old large metal ones, powered by their own batteries, which you'd slot onto the front of the bike. They were very mild by comparison.

 

With that said, I certainly wouldn't be up for taking lectures from motorists who come at you full beam on an unlit road. I challenge any cyclist to stay fully orientated in direction before such a car passes.

being visible is not the problem at speed i need to throw the light so can see what is coming id not go much faster than 25mph in pitch black with what i have atm.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234349688405?hash=item3690547655:g:XowAAOSwlFVhxZDC

 

if you cant cool the led at max power it will blow up in seconds like a old cpu with no heat sink.

 

you can use a buck converter to power the leds so limit voltage and current but dont try that with the bikes batt as a power supply.

 

How about filling empty space within, with non-electrically conductive ferrofluid to conduct heat to the torch shell casing, after adding heat vanes to increase it's surface area? Then air passing by at your usual 25mph night time speed would do the rest.

i basically did that just with baby oils as non conductive and also had a heatsink behind the led

 

you can get a power driver with this one.

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/123033440161?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20201210111314%26meid%3D85b9f55fae624c7ab81f29c40f794c73%26pid%3D101195%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D234349688405%26itm%3D123033440161%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv9PairwiseWebMskuAspectsV202110NoVariantSeed%26brand%3DCree&_trksid=p2047675.c101195.m1851&amdata=cksum%3A12303344016185b9f55fae624c7ab81f29c40f794c73%7Cenc%3AAQAGAAACIB1Rin893vB7pNl2XVEv8asbjQfBInkCYegLcQvPXry%252FMYvtl6M2iXe7VIFRRKVph624ChYd683aVRxzwyBoN2DZKS0sBx0dUn7yOrS6YE2MfxJ7QRfVtM8%252F86ZRW4GYXJgZUyi8NQ9ZttxwAokcy8JpbnlqBkDPKcGWdIw%252BHf%252BL9M%252FXQTGaVkk4dDv596f53f%252BdXYnoQxTUMvmjZ4ndzZwlGewKPeZW7cALL7pjn5378FmMZfRb8PYLRkhe%252FLej76dZ%252B1DWQ05fBRLPfUR0L3hC7P7KdbIKl1j2aHruFGZoJahaiLgJuhD0hIOaNdrwRNdGKoal59gN87nKMQUu7mkq4MQm5aWdnkj%252BqfATIGG3uGtrV6NfEywbqn%252Bb4Un8kxyxiKwr6VhnagYeqZyiojzsqc3whhpPSqYpMs%252BOUpGIJJxjBUk6n9WZG2fYbLIeNXNm1EpXOI3C%252BU%252B9FlODmfZFcJS8MxD4M5H8zQKJ5aqJzZnJA2WOe8%252BncFgrNqkqJwEq3bDD0SOvuOnU53qmQIUQhjXk9QDbzbitFJeDAgIQ7ZDXdIvNP6%252FHKGT5CgE0FQvxDnw%252FvLgMJEMCujwxxrnhZnnP0zwArG1Pk8PRgzSK0pDb9FZwJo4t7eOKZjgQADDPXDA1Je7iLh1NRj7dQqATykvhtQL2TT5cYEimQZRq4QKYhqJx66IbkxfpoYYQ6eRefUUKdHY10kmu7JzpiQw%253D%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2047675

 

Very bright for one LED!

 

>>Light output :Up to 4022 lm @ 32 W

 

I think oil becomes more viscous, or some do, as they heat up, but ferrofluid would continue to move as the LED rapidly flashes, resulting magnetic fields would keep it moving - still, you'd need enough rapid transfer of heat away from the casing - cover it with a bunch of heatpipes, or pipes containing freon circulated by a small motor through a large enough radiator, like at the back of your fridge?

I've just taken a look at mine, from the front in a darkened room, and crikey, yes, they are definitely an extremely bright, dazzling white, and yes possibly blinding. I was quite surprised as it's the first time I've ever taken an actual look at the light from a forward perspective. I just switch it on and go. Never have need to check as it's powered direct from the battery.

 

Nothing like those old large metal ones, powered by their own batteries, which you'd slot onto the front of the bike. They were very mild by comparison.

 

With that said, I certainly wouldn't be up for taking lectures from motorists who come at you full beam on an unlit road. I challenge any cyclist to stay fully orientated in direction before such a car passes.

 

Even my weak little 1.5 watt Junstar Bafang headlight looks dazzling when viewed in isolation in the dark, but they can't hold a candle to car headlights, even when they're not on full beam. Honestly, whingeing drivers complaining about cyclist lights being too bright for their precious little eyes, which don't see cyclists when they don't sport bright lights, need to gain a sense of perspective, wrapped up safe barging about in their cyclist mincing steel cocoons on wheels:

 

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/%E2%80%9Cexceptional-hardship%E2%80%9D-loophole-allows-drivers-to-kill-and-kill-again.42572/

Edited by guerney

yep you would need ln2 pumped over the heat sink if it was that small @32w for a single bike light

 

Until a solution is found, we'll have to rely on looking extremely cool :cool:

low

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high

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[ATTACH=full]45275[/ATTACH]

 

 

That bike is so cool, you can tell where it's been, by the frosty trail it leaves behind... ;)

Edited by guerney

This may be of interest to you:

OOOO kerb appeal

when carrots don't work.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmceRLE6ERk:329

 

even with my 8000lm light i cant go flat out as just cant see far enough., the light in the vid was this one and absolute crap but my wheel was not bent in half so better than nothing ;)

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383685964053?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item5955773115:g:hhYAAOSwHuxdnU~3&amdata=enc%3AAQAGAAACoPYe5NmHp%252B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSQuF9OYLb3wphIAOfpJK8RvTuFhi9w0xjNkOQiVClVxcox%252FW4RaBpUyqDTuyYn1Ck2lodk5txrYZo752PmseaN73O%252FqUO%252FfWsgrYrDmLivf1S7vjWjHDNCWqkR23kcErfPy3gS8C3JUltEuOFxIYa0NwigjkF4zfr2N1Kk1vilADSh%252F3PIUi6DUir8jbnHGlZNsexssIcxdgthKOfiXwAePrFQ3FlZN6dtPeKioXzVtQRpN%252BpZYmYfv3%252BguF9%252BwwtThuwDIF8GYTsGDtIAxqc92yn4DieGVhxij0NfJ7dRmbYiEJmnaoivrWZO7hogSu83S%252BseNmlIv2xobpHn69DeLXmE1i1xKZpw5nLijsK%252F9RpMh%252FDiROTIiirUbxO5TcOr75iPlGqQVZ3dlyIx%252Fd6womN6N2xyrfzf5SuMxGsQOVXZ4R%252BPGFPzSN08gI1hUbX2cOM9Vb6uzpgUaQT%252FMB7hKJxfPsPJD0MVlsWIgPljvLN5Dw9U5LeAmoVo1P%252BDjxEybv0uDmg2oWwVRNjkcOq2waObZMTRmA7gXmLVFHJ2MS9X0jgRfBj9VIFJ2XrqaWkcH98OpkOrLoNuUrW6k9f7l0ak0PqN1Zpa7IybXO7n3SwVJarVvcKVOfdR4v2Pw8ykOe1EGR5G784MlYzXjnnXrG3dM%252B6q5th%252FKG05zytVtYOJ7BDPFjNErZjUvDZxBuOAirkL6ZQBWHWjxienix6DuWa83%252BBC463UjASiGngZET4hClsqtNLfia4xc1sCf4LtiZoN1ttvTrbOzQN3ctRzeCYo%252B5KXmoQd0etEuLu%252BtVB3vLaxKNeCc%252Bd7YSlOaOh%252FToULhRoUZSlqea10US11w%253D%253D%7Cclp%3A2334524%7Ctkp%3ABFBMzqfm6MZf

Sure thats 8000lm ?. mine is an exposure at 2000lm(3200lm on reflex mode) and im sure mine projects more than yours.

Yes I know its advertised as that, and above these later models, but it just doesnt look like its 4 times brighter than my lamp.

Also - is your mates rear wheel in true ? looked to be wobbling about a bit.

 

each of the leds is rated for 1000lm but doubt they are running at full power so more like 6000lm real world but they all over rate the light out put

 

each of the leds is rated for 1000lm but doubt they are running at full power so more like 6000lm real world but they all over rate the light out put

Sorry, thought the lamp in your ebay link was the 8000lm one you were referring to, not the magicshine one you have in the you tube link.

 

Those cheap ones coming out of China may claim 8 or 10 thousand lumen, but clearly they are well off that.

Keep in mind a car headlight is between 2000-4000 lumen. So a wee Chinese bike light is claiming to have the power of a pair of the top end car headlights on full beam.

I prefer cycling at night - when else do cars reduce in number enough, for one to enjoy the road? Mind you, drivers are much worse during pub hours, and after they close... even blinder than usual - half awake and slow to react. This helps:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hornit-dB140-V2-Worlds-Loudest/dp/B006TDEV20/ref=

 

It's prevented many a collision with people and vehicles, also works on other animals. Gives you a loud retort to rude beeping *sshole drivers.

Just bought a Hornit - it's loud!

Just bought a Hornit - it's loud!

 

Yes it is! It projects really well too - I don't like the weird shrieking setting, the beep works much better IHMO because it sounds like a noise that a vehicle would make. But the beep is only 120db... still, it gets through car body shells and into driver ears. The little switch to horn jack plug does fall out occasionally, so best test before you ride out. I might ziptie that on or something. I beep everyone and everything pre-emptively, useful for alerting drunks wandering all over the road at night, but especially useful for drivers. Those two AAA batteries last ages. It really annoys drivers, which makes a nice change. A driver cut in front of me with millimetres to spare the other day and beeped, so I beeped back - I heard him shouting "What's he beeping about?"... and because traffic slowed and I had an ebike, I caught him up and shouted through his window that he should allow bicycles as much room on the road as a small car.

Edited by guerney

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