tjt@kobold.UUCP (T.J.Teixeira) (10/08/83)
Actally, I think that there is some benefit to getting have bicycle lights for automobile traffic as well: not all cars will have their lights on to bounce off your reflectors (especially around dusk). In addition, if your headlight is bright enough, cars can see you coming around corners (or out of driveways), while they might not see your reflectors until it was too late.
lab@qubix.UUCP (Larry Bickford) (10/10/83)
I have used a couple of different lights on my bike.
One is the light made by WONDER (Stamford,CT, I believe).
Had a very good beam, but the 4.5V battery would die without even being
used! That was my biggest beef with it. What was nice was that the light
was easy to remove and take with you (as a flashlight, etc.).
I am currently using a "blinker light" which straps onto my arm.
Apparently operated with a capacitor, the light blinks maybe once a
second or half-second. This increases battery life immensely (anything
has better battery life than a WONDER battery); the guy at Baron's in
Torrance (LA area) said the estimated battery life was 75 hours vs. 6
hours for normal strap-on bike lights. I bought mine in late '81; just
replaced the batteries last August - and I am (at least was until I got
this ankle-weight) a cycling commuter.
Larry Bickford,
{ihnp4,ucbvax,decvax}!decwrl!qubix!labken@turtleva.UUCP (Ken Turkowski) (10/11/83)
I just recently picked up a Union Halogen headlight/taillight/generator
system from REI Coop, and have been pleased with the brightness and
rectangular illumination area.
Ken Turkowski
CADLINC, Palo Alto
{decwrl,amd70}!turtlevax!kentsmith@laidbak.UUCP (Tim Smith) (10/13/83)
OK, the nights are getting longer, and it's time to say this--IF YOU RIDE A BIKE AT NIGHT, USE A GOOD HEADLIGHT AND TAILLIGHT! No whimpering please, just use a light. Of course it adds weight to your bike, but just think of all the excercise you're getting lugging that extra 1.5 lbs around. Many cyclists say "Why should I use a light--cars are the main danger, and as long as I have a rear reflector they'll see me.". I could write a treatise on this--cars are NOT the main danger. It's other dim-witted and dim- lit cyclists and pedestrians that are your major enemies, believe me! Use a light so that you can see and be seen by these people. Enough preaching. What about good lights? I ride long distances at night, but don't commute every day, so I get by with a 6V halogen (Union) headlight and a Union taillight powered by 4 D cells. If I commuted, this would be too expensive, so I would probably switch to a Sanyo or Soubitez 6V bottom bracket type generator. In heavy traffic, I would prefer a battery back up for an all-generator system, though. The Berec head and tail lights are good also, the tailight being particularly bright. Whatever you get, use it. Other cyclists will thank you very much. Tim Smith (...!laidbak!tsmith)
daves@hp-pcd.UUCP (10/13/83)
#R:laidbak:-17400:hp-kirk:18200007:000:384 hp-kirk!daves Oct 11 08:03:00 1983 Bicycle lights do help cars see bicycles. The closest I have come to hitting a biker (the car to my right got him) the bicycle was crossing the road in front of me at a 45 degree angle. All the reflectors (front, rear and wheel) were invisible at that angle. A head/tail light combination are visible from a much greater angle. Dave Serisky Corvallis, OR ....hplabs!hp-pcd!daves
lab@qubix.UUCP (Larry Bickford) (10/15/83)
Aside from a taillight, I have found one solution to have cars see me at a 45 degree angle - Kangaroo Bags, with a special material that reflects light back in the direction it came from, with some scatter. Even at an angle, the material still reflects light back whence it came. I have such a bag on the back of my bike, and for a full 180 degrees around the rear of the bike, there is no excuse except blindness for not seeing the reflected light. Larry Bickford, ihnp4!amd70!qubix!lab
tsmith@laidbak.UUCP (Tim Smith) (10/16/83)
There is a new taillight out by Cat-Eye, the model B-20. At least that's what the version I bought in France is labelled. It runs on 2 C-cells, and has a neat feature: you can adjust the focus of the beam, from narrow and strong (for riding, if you must, on roads with high speed traffic at night), to broad and less strong (for city riding). The main disadvantage of this unit for us tourists and commuters is that it is designed to strap onto the seat post, a site usually obscured on my bike by a rear bag, or something on a rack. But I keep mine for use on my "naked" bike if I want to take it out at night. BTW, since I started doing this crazy randonneur riding, I have come to feel that a bike without fenders and good lights is a "naked" bike. Nothing *WRONG* with that, mind you (except at night without lights), but the more fully-equipped bike is a lot more useful, and the weight penalty is not really that severe. -Tim Smith (...!laidbak!tsmith)
colonel@sunybcs.UUCP (George Sicherman) (11/09/83)
I agree that those square batteries die all too soon. My Union came with its own generator, headlight, and taillight, and they add little to my effort. (To be sure, Buffalo is pretty flat.) I have had to replace the headlight once since I bought the bike in '80. I've also used armlights. Handy, but not too bright and all too forgettable. Anyway, I've often been glad I used a light. My only collision was with another cyclist. He was riding lightless, on the wrong side of the street, in a blizzard.
dap@terak.UUCP (Damon Anton Permezel) (12/10/85)
A while ago I purchased a Sanyo generator (the type whose plane of rotation
is the same as that of the rear wheels) and a Halogen light. I finally got
around to installing them recently. Twice now I have left on the return
trip home from work with a brand new halogen bulb, only to have the sucker
blow out after 40 yards of travel, leaving me to negotiate the remaining
10 miles in the dark.
Not being the type with limitless funds to throw at my bicycle, and with
replacement bulbs being 7 bucks apiece, I decided to attempt the rational
approach and check for electrical compatability.
The bike store claims that the halogen bulbs are 2.5V, 3W. I put a V meter
on the generator, and, as the speed increased, so did the V, smoothly up to
~10V (AC). Then, there was a jump discontinuity in the V reading
(RMS notwithstanding), to about 25 V, after which it backed off smoothly
to ~10V.
Is this normal in a generator? Lacking any understanding of the physics
involved, I am tempted to conjecture that I have found another demonstration
of the Newman energy machine, wherein copper atoms from the windings are
being annihalated right there between my feet!
But seriously, has anyone out there had similar problems with the Sanyo?
Can I put a voltage regulator in the circuit? Most of them that I have seen
are DC.
Please respond via direct mail to {decvax,ihnp4}!terak!dap.
Cheers,
dap
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