It seems to me that most modern bike lights are really clunky to operate, I'm amazed we tolerate such poor design. Here's an example of one of my lights: • Press power button to turn on the light. • Press power button to choose modes o There are 5 steady and 5 flashing, so you’ll need to press it up to 4 times if you want to choose a different mode. Make sure you don’t miss the mode you want otherwise or you’ll have to cycle around them again. You’ll may also need to stare at the light so that you can tell what mode has been selected. • Press 2 sec to toggle between Steady and Flashing modes. o Don’t go over a bump of the light will think that you are double-clicking and go into Boost mode. Most importantly, don’t take your finger off too soon or the light will switch off. • Double click the power button to toggle to boost mode. o Why isn't boost mode simply a sixth mode above. Don’t click too slowly otherwise the light will just change standard modes. • Press and hold the power button about 1 sec to switch off o But don’t press it too long otherwise you’ll just change it from flashing to steady mode. FFS what’s wrong with having more than one button? I know it might increase manufacturing costs a little, but these are not inexpensive items. I'm not complaining about any one manufacturer - they all seem to be as bad as each other.
true that the vast majority of lights only get the one button. the Ravemen in this test has two, one which toggles between full and dipped beam and one that cycles the modes. plus it has a remote. even then it's easy to get confused!
@@roadcc I would like a staged sliding switch for the brightness and a button for high beams that can be lightly pressed to flash or fully pressed for continuous. I never use the flashing setting on front lights as it seems pointless, they are meant to help me see, but I can't see if they are flashing, and they are plenty bright to be seen without flashing and potentially confusing oncoming traffic. I would also like to be able to link a pair to function in unison as I find having one light either side gives a better spread ad helps other road users to calculate distance better by giving them 2 points to judge depth! Rather have 2 dimmer lights than one ultra bright!
Much of my commute is on a shared use path that is narrowed by council failure to trim back vegetation. As evenings got darker I was often blinded by some selfish cnuts coming the other way with beams brighter than the car headlights on the adjacent road. Two of them even more dazzling than cars on full beam. Because they could see and I was blinded I was forced to slow down well before they got to me and pull right over to the edge of the path. Three days since the clocks went back and this pair are really getting to me. Only one thing for it .... today my 900 lumen torch went on a "steerable" mount. Mostly pointing down at the surface 10m in front of the bike, but a little thumb pressure on the rear enable to re-direct a face full of photons in a very antisocial direction, before flicking back down to see the tarmac. Sorry guys, I know YOU were the ones to have to slow down today, but if you want an arms race I do have an even more powerful torch ....
I remember the days when the only front lights available were 1.5W Eveready s. You would pray for cars to be behind you so the car's headlights would able you to see the road! Then I bought a Cateye Stadium, it changed everything.
When I was a kid, my mother had a set of Duracell lockable lights, my vague recollection was that they were not terrible, however they chewed through 2 * D batteries at a horrible rate!
I remember walking on the canal in London in the winter and came across cyclists there where they had something super bright, completely blinding any pedestrians there while zooming past. The lowest setting not being low enough is now a deal breaker for me when I shop for bike lights, as it's needed for when I don't want to be a total dickhead to others (also make sure it has a mount that allows me to easily and quickly adjust the angle)
you just need to find something with a proper dip/cutoff like the German STVZO lights, you can have it very bright without dazzling/annoying other people, it bothers me there aren't more of those types for a decent price and high brightness, also i'd love seeing more fork mount ones (i.e. for where your fenders mount on most citybikes)
Get a Solar Storm headlight from Ebay. £12.99 and they upset everyone lol. Give 'em a test. Great for forest trails at night! Why spend loads on lights when these are around. Oh btw, had mine for around 7 years now, still going very strong.
Got a solar storm and with a good third party battery pack, great for overnight rides. Only need the lowest setting most of the time, and will get 9 hrs. We all know a lot of car lights these days are incredibly dazzling and probably over spec. But I have also taped over a bit of the lenses to make it a bit more driver friendly.
Yes, lots of power + StVZO is the way - like Lupine SL X in e-bike. I just wish the prices were less horrible :D The non e-bike versions from Lupine have separate battery pack, I don't like it. I have two bikes and all in one + two mounts, one in each bike, is wayyy better.
Great video. Personally I use 2 x Lezyne 1300XXL (for gravel / off-road). Would always recommend carrying 2 lights if you do any amount of night riding and the high / low beam function is essential. They’re also very reasonably priced - think I got mine for £50/ea, which is a bargain IMO. Whilst the Lezyne 1600 is (obviously) brighter, the runtime compared to the 1300 is significantly lower for little benefit in actual visibility. 👍
if youre in the city at night a simple 100 lumen flasher will be fine.. during the day i use a 500 lumen flasher.. if there are no street lights, then that is another issue
I see a lot of these light videos discussing battery life, yet so many lights lack pass-through charging. That allows you to use it while also charging it or powering it from an external battery pack. Outbound lights are the only ones that have pass-through charging as I could find. That would let you carry a large power supply in a saddlebag and wire it up to your headlight, GPS, and phone on a long night ride so you don't need to worry about your headlight running out or carrying a spare headlight. USB battery packs are cheap, cheap, cheap compared to a second light and are a much more versatile solution since I want to charge other devices as well. Are there others that I've missed?
It is not just the brightness but also how you point the beam. I hate it when I am blinded by on coming riders with a bright beam aimed to high. Point it at the ground , that where the pot-hole are not my face......
Totally agree about buying a light with a higher lumens rating than you’d generally use. I have a Moon meteor that goes to 450 lumens, but mostly just use it on its lower power pulsing mode around town the battery in this mode lasts me a couple of weeks, but it’s handy to have that extra power if I need it occasionally on dark paths.
My problem with the German beam is the low hanging bramble I encountered on a shared path which left me with a bloody forehead. However, my less bright 400 lumen regular beam gives me plenty of head room and good speed.
Yes, they are. I often get blinded by them. It's (kinda) okay if I'm walking or running, but when cycling or driving it gets pretty dangerous. If the lights are angled down, as you say, it's not so bad.
Now, that lights are so powerful, its no longer about adding more lumens each year, but how that power is used. Lights with a cut off and the ability to use like a car headlight, i.e. High and low beam would be good to see more of.
@@roadcc Non blinding light pattern or separate low/high beam is mandatory in multiple central European countries for light to be legal for road use. And would expect any civilized country to have road traffic regulation making other road users blinding/dazzling lights punishable offense. You just need to stop advertising lights fit only for off road use.
Glad to see you included a couple of Ravemen lights in your test. They're kind of a lesser known brand but do an excellent job at providing low glare options mainly focused at road and path riders. Unique engineered lens shapes also provide excellent overall visibility and minimal top spill at lower lumen settings than what I typically need with other brands. Very reasonably price too.
I agree with you. A few weeks ago I purchased that Ravemen PR2400 and I have to admit that it's fantastic. I use it to ride the DH trail next to my home. The low and medium settings give you plenty of light for riding uphill on dirt and paved roads and a good beam cut to avoid blinding oncoming drivers. When you crank it to the maximum setting you have a very good, broad flood light paired with a powerful beam that is projected far enough to spot obstacles and jumps in time. I pair it with a 2000 lumen Wasaga light on the helmet, in order to have a secondary spot light that follows my gaze through tight corners. Together they are great! My personal sun for night riding 😂
I note that none of the comparisons for bike lights these days (including magazines) review anything from Lupine? I know they're insanely expensive and no one seems to sell them in the UK. They do provide units that tick all the boxes as far as dipping and not glaring drivers and other cyclists. They're also bomb proof and you'll never need to buy another bike light.
I tend to put my lights under the handlebars so that I can light up the road whilst also making it more friendly for oncoming traffic. My setup is a Cateye volt 400 & 800 on one bike and a Lezyne lite drive 1000 on another.
@@roadcc I think so. Just think if you had a light pointing dead straight on the top of the handlebar vs dead straight below the bar. That 5-10cm of change could be the difference between blinding an oncoming driver or not. Plus it looks neater and less cluttered below the bars in my opinion.
Yep, that's the way to do it. It's much easier to get a bike computer and a big light to play nicely this way. I wish light manufacturers would realise this and design their lights with under-bar mounting in mind.
Actually it’s the opposite - you’re making the angle from the light to the ground shallower, increasing the frontal aspect of the light to oncoming traffic. But realistically it will probably make no difference as you’re talking such tiny amounts.
@@Catcrumbs The only problem(s) with mounting it under the bars is that it you can knock it with your knees when out of the saddle, plus it makes it very difficult to use the high / low beam setting. Agree it does look smarter though. 👌
I don't mind static lights, even bright ones, but driving up a dark road with a flashing white light coming towards you is horrendous.. I think that flashing front lights should actually be banned.. aye aye I get the fact that they draw attention to you but they're fkn brutal when driving towards one. Especially on lanes etc.. I'm surprised they're actually legal?? On any motorised vehicle they must be static.. should definitely be the same for push bikes..
I totally agree when riding as it gets dark, and in the dark, flashing should be banned. However during the day (especially early morning, when the sun is low), I think that flash is incredibly useful, and not at all uncomfortable.
Did you mount all lights perfectly horizontal? Otherwise comparing between brands would be difficult. One or two degrees tilt up could already burn holes in your eyes.
short answer: no. but you don't mount all lights the same, the amount of light and the type of beam will affect how you mount it when you're using it. and that will affect how dazzling it is to other road users
With most often and loudest hyped lights having LED directly visible behind symmetric lens few degrees don't really matter. They are always more or less dazzling, unless being pointed heavily downwards, or at so low power that its user won't see much either.
My understanding is that the use of the "German" beam pattern is limited by the high cost of developing reflectors of this type. (Schmidt, for example, buys theirs from B&M). I have a light with a typical round beam, and the uneven illumination wastes much of the light, while keeping the beam down to avoid dazzling drivers limits its range. If a German-style light were available with a higher output, I think they would be very popular.
There are high power lights with cut off light pattern low beam mode: ruclips.net/video/OgHxAayG4uA/видео.html ruclips.net/video/3j2mmCFs8YM/видео.html People just need to stop advertising these basically road use illegal in civilized countries lights!
Maybe you should try Supernova, Lupine or Lezyne. They all offer StVZO lights like the Sigma in your video but with additional "Fernlicht" which an app translates to main beam, which you can turn on via remote switch when there's no oncoming traffic.
5:09 CatEye AMPP200 - Adequate for low speed. bright for the eyes 5:44 Sigma Aura 80 - Good bright light for down on the road and straight ahead. Poor lighting at the sides. German StVZO 7:09 Moon Rigel Lite 700 Lumen - Narrow and tall beam, reaches into distance. Adequate side visibility 8:03 Ravemen CR450 - Flat beam and good wide beam 8:51 Sigma Buster 700 lumens: Good bright, inspires confidence, can be piercing 9:36 Lezyne Superdrive 1600XXL, 1600 Lumen: Very bright, too bright for oncoming road users. Should be pointed down to avoid blinding drivers, give confiidence. 10:58 Ravemen PR2400, 2400 Lumen: Very bright on the ground, does not dazzle oncoming road users as much as Lezyne so because centre beam points downwards.
On the same day, a motorist told me that my bike’s rear light was too bright and a bit later a random guy in the group told me that the light was too dim. I replaced it with a multidirectional light. We’ll see.😉
Depends on where you’re riding, the type of light spread-spot light or more dispersed beam- the ideal light would be a light that combines spot light effect and a dispersed beam and an added ground effect light that points directly down on the front tire itself. A three tiered light. Other than that, light management is the key. Angle it down or lower the intensity when approaching other riders or cars… this is what I do. I prefer spot and my buddy has a dispersed light. When we ride tandem, the lighting is superb. But when we have to ride behind another there’s too many shadows. Be great to be able to crimp the head beam and have that ground effect light. Have yet to see this.
definitely depends a lot on where you're riding, if there's no-one to annoy it can be as bright as you like! not sure we've seen a 3-tiered light either...
Does making a hood for your headligh help? I bought a strong tactical flashlight without too much thought and then on the first trying out realised I can't use it with a clear conscience. I commute on a dark and narrow cycle path and also need a strong light for road trips and don't want to compromise on my speed. Some people make hoods made of alluminium and claim it solves the issue, but does it really and without compromising the visibility?
I hate other cyclists trying to blind me. Especially on unlit cycle routes shared with pedestrians who are doing their best to be invisible by wearing black. Are there any considerate people walking and cycling in the dark these days.
Unlit shared path, pedestrians wearing black carrying no torch followed by three cyclists whose bright idea was just to have reflective sticker plastered all over their bikes with no lights. All getting blinded as by my cheap to be seen cycle light as I cycled carefully along. Now gone for 400 lumen sucks to be them.
I own a colnago master x light that i purchased from a famous basketball coach. I no longer feel safe riding it because of lights like this. Lights like this light have made me give up cycling. They made it too dangerous.
I'm not sure how the vehicle drivers are with bicyclists in your area are but here in Canada, bicyclists are somewhat invisible when it comes to sharing the road. I'm both a bicyclist and just recently, became an e-scooter enthusiast. Even though my scooter has a built in headlight, I still prefer to ride with the accessory lite added to my handlebar extender. Perhaps the 1000 lume is all it takes for a motorcar to understand that we scooter riders deserve some asphalt under our feet too!!
As I stand in a convenience store in southwest Iowa USA watching light in the sky fade after sunset while drinking coffee - I’m THRILLED having watched this test as I try to decide what new headlight to order. I’m on my bike now. I love to ride at night when traffic fires down. I was running a Cygolite 800 and a Blaze 800 together. The Cygo was rained on and lost its mind! It has a longer too narrow beam but good battery life on medium. The Blaze has a wider too short been with very poor run time. I want one excellent light! You had two of the three brands I’m currently considering. Why is it the Brits have most of the good bike lite reviews on RUclips 🤷🏼♂️👍 ✅ THANKS 🙏🤪
I wish all lights came with 2 buttons one for switching modes and 1 purely for dipping to lowest beam the second button should just have 1 singular function having to cycle through 1 button to not blind someone is incredibly inconvenient.
myy main mode of transport is a bicycle and i hate oncomming cyclists with these super bright, lights is very annoying and dangerous they should tit the lights downwards
A small company in the US called Outbound Lighting make a great light called the Detour. Unmatched lens design that projects massive amount of lumens without light spill, to avoid blinding the oncoming drivers. Featured packed go to their site for more info.
They aren't bright enough. I use multiple headbeams that are over 900Lm each and they aren't bright enough. If people want to get mad at me for no reason and try to scare me using their cars then I have no problem ruining their night vision. My rear like has a bright red flash and lasers that point to the ground making long lines showing my boundary.
Nitecore BR25, amazing pattern, 3 zones and with a clear cut-off. Tail: MagicShine SeeMee300. Both lights illuminate (white and red) under the bike so im better seen too! But tbh in my country people are cheap and spend money on booze, many commuters are like ninja in the morning, with no lights at all.
It seems to me that most modern bike lights are really clunky to operate, I'm amazed we tolerate such poor design. Here's an example of one of my lights:
• Press power button to turn on the light.
• Press power button to choose modes
o There are 5 steady and 5 flashing, so you’ll need to press it up to 4 times if you want to choose a different mode. Make sure you don’t miss the mode you want otherwise or you’ll have to cycle around them again. You’ll may also need to stare at the light so that you can tell what mode has been selected.
• Press 2 sec to toggle between Steady and Flashing modes.
o Don’t go over a bump of the light will think that you are double-clicking and go into Boost mode. Most importantly, don’t take your finger off too soon or the light will switch off.
• Double click the power button to toggle to boost mode.
o Why isn't boost mode simply a sixth mode above. Don’t click too slowly otherwise the light will just change standard modes.
• Press and hold the power button about 1 sec to switch off
o But don’t press it too long otherwise you’ll just change it from flashing to steady mode.
FFS what’s wrong with having more than one button? I know it might increase manufacturing costs a little, but these are not inexpensive items. I'm not complaining about any one manufacturer - they all seem to be as bad as each other.
true that the vast majority of lights only get the one button. the Ravemen in this test has two, one which toggles between full and dipped beam and one that cycles the modes. plus it has a remote. even then it's easy to get confused!
@@roadcc I would like a staged sliding switch for the brightness and a button for high beams that can be lightly pressed to flash or fully pressed for continuous. I never use the flashing setting on front lights as it seems pointless, they are meant to help me see, but I can't see if they are flashing, and they are plenty bright to be seen without flashing and potentially confusing oncoming traffic.
I would also like to be able to link a pair to function in unison as I find having one light either side gives a better spread ad helps other road users to calculate distance better by giving them 2 points to judge depth! Rather have 2 dimmer lights than one ultra bright!
Great test. Would be good to have some standards around lights to make it easier to make informed purchases, rather than rely on marketing claims.
that would be nice :-)
ANSI-FL1 is a standard that exists for flashlights but companies tend to ignore them. Usually only the more pricy lights have details like these.
Much of my commute is on a shared use path that is narrowed by council failure to trim back vegetation. As evenings got darker I was often blinded by some selfish cnuts coming the other way with beams brighter than the car headlights on the adjacent road. Two of them even more dazzling than cars on full beam. Because they could see and I was blinded I was forced to slow down well before they got to me and pull right over to the edge of the path. Three days since the clocks went back and this pair are really getting to me. Only one thing for it .... today my 900 lumen torch went on a "steerable" mount. Mostly pointing down at the surface 10m in front of the bike, but a little thumb pressure on the rear enable to re-direct a face full of photons in a very antisocial direction, before flicking back down to see the tarmac. Sorry guys, I know YOU were the ones to have to slow down today, but if you want an arms race I do have an even more powerful torch ....
I remember the days when the only front lights available were 1.5W Eveready s. You would pray for cars to be behind you so the car's headlights would able you to see the road! Then I bought a Cateye Stadium, it changed everything.
ha! remember the first cateye front LED lights that had green LEDs in them? those were one of our favourites :-)
When I was a kid, my mother had a set of Duracell lockable lights, my vague recollection was that they were not terrible, however they chewed through 2 * D batteries at a horrible rate!
I remember walking on the canal in London in the winter and came across cyclists there where they had something super bright, completely blinding any pedestrians there while zooming past. The lowest setting not being low enough is now a deal breaker for me when I shop for bike lights, as it's needed for when I don't want to be a total dickhead to others (also make sure it has a mount that allows me to easily and quickly adjust the angle)
you just need to find something with a proper dip/cutoff like the German STVZO lights, you can have it very bright without dazzling/annoying other people, it bothers me there aren't more of those types for a decent price and high brightness, also i'd love seeing more fork mount ones (i.e. for where your fenders mount on most citybikes)
Get a Solar Storm headlight from Ebay. £12.99 and they upset everyone lol. Give 'em a test. Great for forest trails at night! Why spend loads on lights when these are around. Oh btw, had mine for around 7 years now, still going very strong.
was it one of the torch ones, or the 2-part ones? we might take a punt on one...
Got a solar storm and with a good third party battery pack, great for overnight rides. Only need the lowest setting most of the time, and will get 9 hrs. We all know a lot of car lights these days are incredibly dazzling and probably over spec. But I have also taped over a bit of the lenses to make it a bit more driver friendly.
What you need is a Lupine SL AF or SL AX - power with the StvZo certification. Expensive but the real stuff 😜
Yes, lots of power + StVZO is the way - like Lupine SL X in e-bike. I just wish the prices were less horrible :D
The non e-bike versions from Lupine have separate battery pack, I don't like it. I have two bikes and all in one + two mounts, one in each bike, is wayyy better.
Great work lads! I've upgraded from a cateye 70 to 100. So so happy. Now l can see those pesky joggers and bike riders without lights much sooner
Exposure Lights Optix All Terrain was in the Pipeline, unfortunately it was never produced 😠 that would be the perfect light!
Great video. Personally I use 2 x Lezyne 1300XXL (for gravel / off-road). Would always recommend carrying 2 lights if you do any amount of night riding and the high / low beam function is essential. They’re also very reasonably priced - think I got mine for £50/ea, which is a bargain IMO.
Whilst the Lezyne 1600 is (obviously) brighter, the runtime compared to the 1300 is significantly lower for little benefit in actual visibility. 👍
if youre in the city at night a simple 100 lumen flasher will be fine.. during the day i use a 500 lumen flasher.. if there are no street lights, then that is another issue
I see a lot of these light videos discussing battery life, yet so many lights lack pass-through charging. That allows you to use it while also charging it or powering it from an external battery pack. Outbound lights are the only ones that have pass-through charging as I could find. That would let you carry a large power supply in a saddlebag and wire it up to your headlight, GPS, and phone on a long night ride so you don't need to worry about your headlight running out or carrying a spare headlight. USB battery packs are cheap, cheap, cheap compared to a second light and are a much more versatile solution since I want to charge other devices as well. Are there others that I've missed?
It is not just the brightness but also how you point the beam. I hate it when I am blinded by on coming riders with a bright beam aimed to high. Point it at the ground , that where the pot-hole are not my face......
definitely, even the least bright lights in this test were quite annoying when tilted up...
Totally agree about buying a light with a higher lumens rating than you’d generally use. I have a Moon meteor that goes to 450 lumens, but mostly just use it on its lower power pulsing mode around town the battery in this mode lasts me a couple of weeks, but it’s handy to have that extra power if I need it occasionally on dark paths.
My problem with the German beam is the low hanging bramble I encountered on a shared path which left me with a bloody forehead. However, my less bright 400 lumen regular beam gives me plenty of head room and good speed.
Yes, they are. I often get blinded by them. It's (kinda) okay if I'm walking or running, but when cycling or driving it gets pretty dangerous. If the lights are angled down, as you say, it's not so bad.
The German style are defo the best ones, both in what you can see and not blinding other drivers
Now, that lights are so powerful, its no longer about adding more lumens each year, but how that power is used. Lights with a cut off and the ability to use like a car headlight, i.e. High and low beam would be good to see more of.
totally agree. a proper dip/full light would be ace. maybe we'll hack one together :-)
@@roadcc Non blinding light pattern or separate low/high beam is mandatory in multiple central European countries for light to be legal for road use.
And would expect any civilized country to have road traffic regulation making other road users blinding/dazzling lights punishable offense.
You just need to stop advertising lights fit only for off road use.
Glad to see you included a couple of Ravemen lights in your test. They're kind of a lesser known brand but do an excellent job at providing low glare options mainly focused at road and path riders. Unique engineered lens shapes also provide excellent overall visibility and minimal top spill at lower lumen settings than what I typically need with other brands. Very reasonably price too.
I agree with you. A few weeks ago I purchased that Ravemen PR2400 and I have to admit that it's fantastic. I use it to ride the DH trail next to my home. The low and medium settings give you plenty of light for riding uphill on dirt and paved roads and a good beam cut to avoid blinding oncoming drivers. When you crank it to the maximum setting you have a very good, broad flood light paired with a powerful beam that is projected far enough to spot obstacles and jumps in time. I pair it with a 2000 lumen Wasaga light on the helmet, in order to have a secondary spot light that follows my gaze through tight corners. Together they are great! My personal sun for night riding 😂
I note that none of the comparisons for bike lights these days (including magazines) review anything from Lupine? I know they're insanely expensive and no one seems to sell them in the UK. They do provide units that tick all the boxes as far as dipping and not glaring drivers and other cyclists. They're also bomb proof and you'll never need to buy another bike light.
we used to get lupine lights, but they're hard to find in the UK these days
I tend to put my lights under the handlebars so that I can light up the road whilst also making it more friendly for oncoming traffic. My setup is a Cateye volt 400 & 800 on one bike and a Lezyne lite drive 1000 on another.
do you think it makes a difference that they're a bit lower?
@@roadcc I think so. Just think if you had a light pointing dead straight on the top of the handlebar vs dead straight below the bar. That 5-10cm of change could be the difference between blinding an oncoming driver or not. Plus it looks neater and less cluttered below the bars in my opinion.
Yep, that's the way to do it. It's much easier to get a bike computer and a big light to play nicely this way. I wish light manufacturers would realise this and design their lights with under-bar mounting in mind.
Actually it’s the opposite - you’re making the angle from the light to the ground shallower, increasing the frontal aspect of the light to oncoming traffic. But realistically it will probably make no difference as you’re talking such tiny amounts.
@@Catcrumbs The only problem(s) with mounting it under the bars is that it you can knock it with your knees when out of the saddle, plus it makes it very difficult to use the high / low beam setting. Agree it does look smarter though. 👌
I don't mind static lights, even bright ones, but driving up a dark road with a flashing white light coming towards you is horrendous.. I think that flashing front lights should actually be banned.. aye aye I get the fact that they draw attention to you but they're fkn brutal when driving towards one. Especially on lanes etc.. I'm surprised they're actually legal?? On any motorised vehicle they must be static.. should definitely be the same for push bikes..
I totally agree when riding as it gets dark, and in the dark, flashing should be banned.
However during the day (especially early morning, when the sun is low), I think that flash is incredibly useful, and not at all uncomfortable.
Not banned but flashing light should be use at the correct time... Never on an unlit dark road.
Well, if you're in the car presumably you've got headlights. Flash back!
My light will reach 1000 lumens but i only use it full power on poorly lit country lanes because i need to see where I'm going.
Did you mount all lights perfectly horizontal? Otherwise comparing between brands would be difficult. One or two degrees tilt up could already burn holes in your eyes.
short answer: no. but you don't mount all lights the same, the amount of light and the type of beam will affect how you mount it when you're using it. and that will affect how dazzling it is to other road users
With most often and loudest hyped lights having LED directly visible behind symmetric lens few degrees don't really matter.
They are always more or less dazzling, unless being pointed heavily downwards, or at so low power that its user won't see much either.
Well presented and informative.
My understanding is that the use of the "German" beam pattern is limited by the high cost of developing reflectors of this type. (Schmidt, for example, buys theirs from B&M). I have a light with a typical round beam, and the uneven illumination wastes much of the light, while keeping the beam down to avoid dazzling drivers limits its range. If a German-style light were available with a higher output, I think they would be very popular.
yeah, it is a bit more expensive to make a light with a beam like that, but we're sure there'd be plenty of demand
There are high power lights with cut off light pattern low beam mode:
ruclips.net/video/OgHxAayG4uA/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/3j2mmCFs8YM/видео.html
People just need to stop advertising these basically road use illegal in civilized countries lights!
Maybe you should try Supernova, Lupine or Lezyne. They all offer StVZO lights like the Sigma in your video but with additional "Fernlicht" which an app translates to main beam, which you can turn on via remote switch when there's no oncoming traffic.
5:09 CatEye AMPP200 - Adequate for low speed. bright for the eyes
5:44 Sigma Aura 80 - Good bright light for down on the road and straight ahead. Poor lighting at the sides. German StVZO
7:09 Moon Rigel Lite 700 Lumen - Narrow and tall beam, reaches into distance. Adequate side visibility
8:03 Ravemen CR450 - Flat beam and good wide beam
8:51 Sigma Buster 700 lumens: Good bright, inspires confidence, can be piercing
9:36 Lezyne Superdrive 1600XXL, 1600 Lumen: Very bright, too bright for oncoming road users. Should be pointed down to avoid blinding drivers, give confiidence.
10:58 Ravemen PR2400, 2400 Lumen: Very bright on the ground, does not dazzle oncoming road users as much as Lezyne so because centre beam points downwards.
On the same day, a motorist told me that my bike’s rear light was too bright and a bit later a random guy in the group told me that the light was too dim. I replaced it with a multidirectional light. We’ll see.😉
you can't win sometimes, eh...
One man's meat is another man's..........................and all that.
Good vid 👍
Depends on where you’re riding, the type of light spread-spot light or more dispersed beam- the ideal light would be a light that combines spot light effect and a dispersed beam and an added ground effect light that points directly down on the front tire itself. A three tiered light. Other than that, light management is the key. Angle it down or lower the intensity when approaching other riders or cars… this is what I do. I prefer spot and my buddy has a dispersed light. When we ride tandem, the lighting is superb. But when we have to ride behind another there’s too many shadows. Be great to be able to crimp the head beam and have that ground effect light. Have yet to see this.
definitely depends a lot on where you're riding, if there's no-one to annoy it can be as bright as you like! not sure we've seen a 3-tiered light either...
Does making a hood for your headligh help? I bought a strong tactical flashlight without too much thought and then on the first trying out realised I can't use it with a clear conscience. I commute on a dark and narrow cycle path and also need a strong light for road trips and don't want to compromise on my speed. Some people make hoods made of alluminium and claim it solves the issue, but does it really and without compromising the visibility?
I hate other cyclists trying to blind me. Especially on unlit cycle routes shared with pedestrians who are doing their best to be invisible by wearing black. Are there any considerate people walking and cycling in the dark these days.
Unlit shared path, pedestrians wearing black carrying no torch followed by three cyclists whose bright idea was just to have reflective sticker plastered all over their bikes with no lights. All getting blinded as by my cheap to be seen cycle light as I cycled carefully along.
Now gone for 400 lumen sucks to be them.
I own a colnago master x light that i purchased from a famous basketball coach. I no longer feel safe riding it because of lights like this. Lights like this light have made me give up cycling. They made it too dangerous.
We need an aftermarket solution for flashlights, a lens that gives a flat broad beam.... Then we can focus a flat beam, that would be ideal...
I'm not sure how the vehicle drivers are with bicyclists in your area are but here in Canada, bicyclists are somewhat invisible when it comes to sharing the road.
I'm both a bicyclist and just recently, became an e-scooter enthusiast.
Even though my scooter has a built in headlight, I still prefer to ride with the accessory lite added to my handlebar extender. Perhaps the 1000 lume is all it takes for a motorcar to understand that we scooter riders deserve some asphalt under our feet too!!
As I stand in a convenience store in southwest Iowa USA watching light in the sky fade after sunset while drinking coffee - I’m THRILLED having watched this test as I try to decide what new headlight to order. I’m on my bike now. I love to ride at night when traffic fires down. I was running a Cygolite 800 and a Blaze 800 together. The Cygo was rained on and lost its mind! It has a longer too narrow beam but good battery life on medium. The Blaze has a wider too short been with very poor run time. I want one excellent light! You had two of the three brands I’m currently considering. Why is it the Brits have most of the good bike lite reviews on RUclips 🤷🏼♂️👍 ✅ THANKS 🙏🤪
I wish all lights came with 2 buttons one for switching modes and 1 purely for dipping to lowest beam the second button should just have 1 singular function having to cycle through 1 button to not blind someone is incredibly inconvenient.
Thnx
Well made
It should be illegal to use these lights, the blue light in LED appears 40 percent bright to ongoing traffic, no matter what the lumen meter says.
but you still get drivers pulling out on you are knocking you off and saying sorry mate i did not see you
As a car driver, bike lights that flash and riders with badly adjusted beams that dazzle are an absolute nuisance.
should only flash in day or lit areas at dawn and dusk. All road users need to remember to dip.
myy main mode of transport is a bicycle and i hate oncomming cyclists with these super bright, lights is very annoying and dangerous they should tit the lights downwards
A small company in the US called Outbound Lighting make a great light called the Detour.
Unmatched lens design that projects massive amount of lumens without light spill, to avoid blinding the oncoming drivers.
Featured packed go to their site for more info.
They aren't bright enough. I use multiple headbeams that are over 900Lm each and they aren't bright enough. If people want to get mad at me for no reason and try to scare me using their cars then I have no problem ruining their night vision. My rear like has a bright red flash and lasers that point to the ground making long lines showing my boundary.
You're the person that blinds me on unlit cycle paths with pedestrians who try to be invisible wearing black. Selfish and inconsiderate
Nitecore BR25, amazing pattern, 3 zones and with a clear cut-off.
Tail: MagicShine SeeMee300. Both lights illuminate (white and red) under the bike so im better seen too!
But tbh in my country people are cheap and spend money on booze, many commuters are like ninja in the morning, with no lights at all.