Lights

Vehicles in a queue of traffic turn slightly out of my path.

This is what I love the most about my 1800 lumens..having a moses 'parting of the seas' moment everyday!

But... is there anything that prohibits a push bike from having such an insane amount of lighting?

ECE Regs stipulate a maximum for vehicles.

This bloke discusses the regs.

Maximum authorized total high-beam peak intensity per a vehicle under ECE regulations is 225,000 candela at 12 Volts

I know of nothing specifically relating to bicycles, but it's possible a bicycle may fall under the definition of vehicle for the purposes if this (by inference, through some tortuous links through primary and secondary legislation).

I don't think there is a lumens limit, but just one that states that lights shouldn't dazzle other road users (or words to that effect)

But... is there anything that prohibits a push bike from having such an insane amount of lighting?

You're likely to get pulled over by the police if your beam isn't dipped slightly.

My Six-Pack is 1800 lumen on High.

I was flashed by a TRUCK during last year's 24hr while it was on Medium as it had slipped around a bit on its bracket so was pointing up a bit.

Was does that mean? I don't know but if you blind someone and they run into you, err, look, spaghetti monster!

Are you sure it wasn't spiderman you saw?

Possibly. They both have an affinity for long, sticky strands.

You're likely to get pulled over by the police if your beam isn't dipped slightly.

aimed about 5m > 10m in front of the bike.

Sigh.

I'm currently commuting with over 3,200 lumens and it's wonderful.

Not a car turns out in front of me.
Not a single pedestrian steps out.
Vehicles in a queue of traffic turn slightly out of my path.

It's bliss.

I have just had to send my Six Pack back to Exposure for repair and and reduced to a pathetic little light that a few years ago I would have been very impressed by. Boy do I miss those lumens!
The only thing that worries me is it is a sort of arms race, and people who don't spend mega bucks on lights these days are effectively losing the battle, even if their lights are perfectly legal.

I just got a Cateye Volt 300 which is 300 lumens and ride with that and a Lezyne Super Drive. Either is enough on totally dark country lanes. The beam profile of the Cateye is great as is its "hyper continuous" mode, or whatever it calls it. It's much better than flashing as your never without light.

Particularly with both lights I don't feel the need for more lumens. The only time I struggle to see is when on coming cars don't dip the lights, then I can see bugger all. However I think that's simply being dazzled and more lumens wouldn't help.

I prefer flashing.

Oooh nurse.

I prefer flashing.

I used to, but trying to do fast rides through country lanes, miles from the nearest light and with poor road surface (ie UK) has changed my mind. The now you see it, now you don't option wasn't really working for me.

Sigh.

I find 5 - 10m in front of the bike is not dipped. Experiments in real darkness as opposed to Hounslow darkness show 2 - 5m works for me without blinding drivers.

Out of curiosity, have you checked yourself what it's like to be the oncoming driver with your settings? I ask because it does of course depend on beam spread etc and my magicshines aren't that tight beam and scatter a lot round the edges - but by the sound of your lumen count, so do yours.

^^ euph?

Out of curiosity, have you checked yourself what it's like to be the oncoming driver with your settings? I ask because it does of course depend on beam spread etc and my magicshines aren't that tight beam and scatter a lot round the edges - but by the sound of your lumen count, so do yours.

Yup.

Bright, but not dazzling.

About the same as those xenon lamps on most new cars, just unexpected on a bicycle.

I just got a Cateye Volt 300 which is 300 lumens and ride with that and a Lezyne Super Drive. Either is enough on totally dark country lanes. The beam profile of the Cateye is great as is its "hyper continuous" mode, or whatever it calls it. It's much better than flashing as your never without light.

Particularly with both lights I don't feel the need for more lumens. The only time I struggle to see is when on coming cars don't dip the lights, then I can see bugger all. However I think that's simply being dazzled and more lumens wouldn't help.

Also running one of these and well impressed so far. Feels quality. Battery seems to run and run and it's plenty bright enough for badly lit chaingang rides.

i bought a lezyne micro drive usb and I'm not that impressed with the battery life. I'm having to recharge it every 2 days, after having it on for about an hour (two days, two evening commutes of about half an hour each). I've never had a usb rechargeable light so I'm not sure, but is this normal? I haven't been running it on the brightest setting either.

I'm something of a destroyer of lights and have been through a fair few sets over the past few years. Last year I bought an Exposure Joystick and have been really impressed with it. Not just the brightness but the build quality/design/reliability etc too.

A few weeks ago when it came to replacing another dead rear light I took a deep breath and bought an Exposure Blaze from Wiggle for £90. It's a lot of money but I figured it'd be worth it for the peace of mind. It's plenty bright and seems to be manufacturer from a single piece of aluminium so I had high hopes for its ability to keep water out. After one ride during which it rained for about half an hour, it absolutely shit its pants; wouldn't turn on when I pressed the button, would when I didn't etc etc. I sent it back to Wiggle and they sent me a new one. That one worked fine for a few rides but when I went to switch it on yesterday morning...nothing. Not a single photon. I plugged it in when I got to work, the charging light flashed away and it turned on again. After charging it for a good while I unplugged it and switched it on....nothing again. Plugging it into my wall charger at home confirms that the battery isn't charging at all (LED on the charger doesn't go red).

So my questions to everybody are:
Does anyone else have this light?
Have I been insanely unlucky or is it just shite?
Should I try a third Blaze or just spend EVEN more money on a Hope district in the hope it might be slightly waterproof.

I have used one for a year now, it has been flawless.

I'm something of a destroyer of lights

Maybe you're not sealing the USB charging port properly. If you open the charging port and shove a bit of paper towel in there, does it come out damp ?

If you don't have mudguards, you may be splattering it with too much road slime. Clingfilm is my goto technology for this sort of problem.

Could it be a bit of road gunk that's been transfered to your USB charging lead, and is contaminating each new light ?

This is the magic shine rear.
My 7000 lm front will be here today or tommorrow. Going to run on the fatbike, in parallel with my 1000 lm front. I can see it eating battery life so it'll be for night trails only. Although I will have 2 of these with me.

What's the battery life like on these?

Maybe you're not sealing the USB charging port properly. If you open the charging port and shove a bit of paper towel in there, does it come out damp ?

If you don't have mudguards, you may be splattering it with too much road slime. Clingfilm is my goto technology for this sort of problem.

Could it be a bit of road gunk that's been transfered to your USB charging lead, and is contaminating each new light ?

Well Exposure lights don't have a standard USB charging cable, they have a different connector. The same chargers (I've tried 3) work fine on my other Exposure light so I'm pretty sure it's the light itself.

I actually went further than cling film and covered the charging port (the only hole/point of ingress) with waterproof putty!

Just ordered a moon shield and a mask, no more batteries ftw. Managed to pick them up from winstanleys/ tredz for about £55 delivered in total, not too bad.

I used to, but trying to do fast rides through country lanes, miles from the nearest light and with poor road surface (ie UK) has changed my mind. The now you see it, now you don't option wasn't really working for me.

Clarification: I prefer flashing in town where there's enough light on the road already. Obviously if I'm in the lanes I'll use a full beam.