Lights

Cycle surgery has some good sale deals for lezyne lights

Some dude riding around RP the other afternoon - double bar lights and helmet light. Turn 'em down you daft prick.
I'm sure there are regulations which state the height at which bike lights should be placed (seat post or seatstay and fork or bars) which would make helmet lights illegal. I'll try and find it, maybe its in the highway code but then not many motorists let alone cyclists pay any attention to that.

Helmet lights aren't attached to the bike so probably fail in that regard as well. #law

The point is, they are good for MTBing when used WITH a bar light. They are not good when you're a douchebag in RP, blazing away at 50000 lumen.

Agreed.

For a cheapo light this is sweet, has one of the cree LEDs in and has done me well for nearly a year.

1.5m is the max height for a light, so helmet ones are fine when TTing, but not when hipstering about on risers.

For a cheapo light this is sweet, has one of the cree LEDs in and has done me well for nearly a year.

Bargain. What batteries do you use, and how long do they last ?

If it's really 3W, you'd need to find roughly 4 x 2500mAh AAA batteries to run if from to get 4.5 hours out of it. The best lithiums I can find off hand are about half that, and good NiMH AAA rechargeables are usually about 800 to 1000 mAh.

1.5m is the max height for a light, so helmet ones are fine when TTing, but not when hipstering about on risers.

Out of interest where is the figure from as this would help solve an argument at work.

http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/regulations/lighting-regulations

1.5m is the max height for a light, so helmet ones are fine when TTing, but not when hipstering about on risers.

They're still not attached to the bike.

To make my bike fully technically legal, I want front and rear lights that have **only **a flashing mode. Does anyone even sell such a thing, or will I be making my own ?

To make my bike fully technically legal, I want front and rear lights that have **only **a flashing mode. Does anyone even sell such a thing, or will I be making my own ?

Huh?

Front Lamp: "If capable of emitting only a flashing light, it must emit at least 4 candela."

"any flashing lamp that is also capable of emitting a steady light is approved only if it conforms with BS6102/3 when switched to steady mode. Since most flashing lights do also have a steady mode, they're legal but not approved"

"BS6102/3 or an equivalent EC standard"

Yes, whereas if capable of emitting a steady light it must be marked BSwhatever, and nobody sells those.

So I thought I'd go for the legal-by-flashing-only option, like the boris bikes do

Yes, whereas if capable of emitting a steady light it must be marked BSwhatever, and nobody sells those.

http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/reviews/components-accessories/bikehut-exa-bright-led-light-set/

Also, for EC equivalents: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=82114

http://www.thebikelist.co.uk/reviews/components-accessories/bikehut-exa-bright-led-light-set/

It says it conforms to BS6102/3, but my understanding is that it has to actually be marked BS6102/3 to qualify as your legally required front light.

I can't see from the pictures if it is or not.

Also, for EC equivalents: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=82114

Yes, so a German K-marked light would probably be considered legal.

It says it conforms to BS6102/3, but my understanding is that it has to actually be marked BS6102/3 to qualify as your legally required front light.

I can't see from the pictures if it is or not.

Well if it has to be marked to conform and it states it conforms then it has to be marked as such, otherwise you could do 'em for false advertising.

Yes, so a German K-marked light would probably be considered legal.

Their rules state "EC equivalent". Take it up with the rule makers.

I'll stick with buying lights that are bright enough that suit whatever purpose I need 'em for. Standards markings >>>

As I understand it, saying "conforms" just means that they assert that it meets the requirements of the standard, so they would be able to gain the right to mark it BS6102/3 if they paid the testing fee.

For a cheapo light this is sweet, has one of the cree LEDs in and has done me well for nearly a year.

Looks good to me, cheers.

I just use whatever batteries are in the house when it runs out, I only ever really use it on flashing and don't pay enough attention to say when I changed them last, most of my journeys are short and drunk too but it's bright enough for me and dirt cheap, Raleigh sell it for more money too if you like the little rsp logo and think it's worth a tenner

I read* that the Phaart and RSP lights are made by the same OEM using the same mould but the RSP one is brighter. If you want a brighter light, the same £10 will buy two Phaarts and let you distribute your light more effectively and have a bonus safer failure mode, i.e. one out of two lights rather than zero of one lights.

It annoys me that I didn't do this kind of googling before buying a PDW Spaceship 2 for £10 from Wiggle. I've since found that although the Spaceship casts a beam so narrow I suspected the designers never rode bikes, the same case is used for another PDW model which has 3xPricetag and 500% better lighting AND a Smart model. This despite PDW going on about "how they design their lights". FFS.

[*a thread on some other forum which came up as a Google result for search terms I've forgotten]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-CREE-XML-T6-LED-5200-Lm-Bicycle-Bike-HeadLight-Headlamp-4x18650-Rechargeable-/111183275129?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item19e30a2479

My friend just brought this, going to be interesting to see the output but also how long it actually will last...