Comment by Mawr
6 hours ago
If anybody's interested in what the meta is for buying bicycle lights:
1. Reflectors are the best for baseline visibility, they cost nothing and are reliable.
2. The tail light is the important one.
a) Try to find ones with a pulsating mode, blinding other road users by shining bright rapidly blinking lights into their eyes is not good, actually.
b) If you've got the money, consider a radar instead.
3. For the front, decide if you *need* illumination strong enough for you to see where you're going in darkness, or if you can get away with just being seen by others.
a) For the former, make sure you get a front light that has a beam cutoff, preferably a lens-based solution. Then of course, install the light with a proper downwards angle, otherwise there's no point to the cutoff.
4. Side visibility is important, this is usually accomplished by some see-through parts at the business end of the light.
5. DO NOT use blinking modes at night. Blinking is for daytime, use only constant or at most, pulsating modes at night.
6. BTW, the 2nd most important piece of equipment after your tail light is a mirror (>=2inch diameter).
Some recommendations:
• If biking casually or without a need for strong front light, honestly just get the cheapest lights you can get + some reflectors. Having any light at all gets you 99% there.
• Magicshine lights in general, I myself have the EVO 1300 for front and the SeeMee 300 for back. Proper lensed beam cutoff for the front, pulsing modes for the back, and good side visibility for both.
• Bontrager Flare RT for the back — small but powerful thanks to its focused beam. They also seem to have a front positional version but I haven't tried it.
Actually my own recommedation is different.
Having steady rear lights mounted at the socks/ankles is the way to go. The movement of the feets makes you instantly recognisable and standing out from very far away. There is a (australian I believe?) company that sell pedals with integrated lights too but I can't remember the name.
I am still using a regular rear light powered by a dynamo hub though, as batteries can always die without warning.
" b) If you've got the money, consider a radar instead."
Can you explain this? What is this and how does it replace a taillight?
A bike radar alerts you about vehicles behind you. It does not replace a taillight, rather they always (I think?) have taillight integrated. For more details:
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-tests/best-radar-bike-li...
Radars don't save you nor do they tell you which motorist will run you over and which will not. So it doesn't help you take decisions on wether to take evasive actions such as jumping in the field next to the road.
Radars don't push cars away from cyclists.
They are more a placebo than anything really.
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Note that in some (at least European) countries, only steady light is legal.
I’d replace #5 by “don’t use battery-driven lights, use a dynamo hub” (except for e-bikes, of course, which also won’t have strobing lights).