Bicycle headlights
Dec. 14th, 2013 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnridleyI picked up a Philips Saferide light, which is generally considered to be one of the best on-road bike lights available. What makes it good is that it has a car-like beam - a trapezoid shaped beam that gets brighter as it gets farther out down the road, so that the road surface is evenly illuminated, then a full cutoff at the horizon to keep from blinding oncoming drivers.
Unfortunately there are no laws in the US regarding bicycle headlights, so all we get here are cruddy lights with basically flashlight beams. I've put a lens on my old light to make it not so bad, but I thought it would be good to get the real premium light.
I did a review here.
Long story short, the beam from the light is excellent. The batteries, not so much. It uses NiMH batteries and they do NOT like the cold. The light is rated at 2 hours on high - but at -1*F, I got more like 20 minutes before it started flashing the battery meter and refused to kick into high again.
I sent it back, and will keep my eye open for a shaped-beam light with LiIon batteries. Either that or I'll buy one of the light heads intended for dyno hubs, and hook it to a battery myself.
Unfortunately there are no laws in the US regarding bicycle headlights, so all we get here are cruddy lights with basically flashlight beams. I've put a lens on my old light to make it not so bad, but I thought it would be good to get the real premium light.
I did a review here.
Long story short, the beam from the light is excellent. The batteries, not so much. It uses NiMH batteries and they do NOT like the cold. The light is rated at 2 hours on high - but at -1*F, I got more like 20 minutes before it started flashing the battery meter and refused to kick into high again.
I sent it back, and will keep my eye open for a shaped-beam light with LiIon batteries. Either that or I'll buy one of the light heads intended for dyno hubs, and hook it to a battery myself.
