I just had a thought. Biking with a super-bright headlight on a bike is sort of like biking with your "brights" on in a car. What if those powerhouse lights had a button (attached by a wire to a convenient spot on your handlebar so that you don't have to take your hand off of the "steering wheel" to push it) that would toggle the light between super-bright to not-so-bright when you see an oncoming cyclist ahead who ALSO has a light. It would take a little getting used to, but might be a good solution. I'd use that feature if it were out there!
-india *********************** India Viola Stretton Lab Zoology Research Bldg. 1117 W. Johnson St. Madison, WI 53706 608.262.3336 *********************** "How can we learn from our mistakes if we don't first acknowledge them?" -Anonymous "We exist in the bacterial world, not bacteria in ours" -Stuart Levy ----- Original Message ----- From: Eric Westhagen <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, December 11, 2008 2:25 pm Subject: Re: [Bikies] Finding opportunity from crisis? (Bikie attack) To: "Ross, Arthur" <[email protected]>, BikiesSubmissions <[email protected]> > > > Dear Arthur Ross, > > > > That was excellent information. It is obvious that the Cat Eye > Opti-Cube is not suitable for bicycles. It is an excellent flashlight > for around the house, though. One cannot adequately see more than ten > feet on the roadway and I ride at twenty miles per hour. Fortunately, > I know my roadway and use the same one for training. Possibly they > don't even make a bike light which could put out a beam as you > describe. And if it is set for that distance, the imprecision of such > lights if strapped on would certainly blind oncoming bicyclists. Is > there any solution? And if the ten foot focused light costs $4O, just > think of what the sixty foot focused light must cost? > > > > Eric > > > > Ross, Arthur wrote: > > > Let's take a best case scenario. An experienced bicyclist able to > achieve 0.5 G deceleration, riding on a good, hard, dry surface, > traveling at 15 miles per hour. Braking distance for 15 mph at 0.5G is > 15.1 feet. In terms of reaction time, tables from the 1980's used .75 > seconds. Tables I have seen more recently use 1 to 2 seconds. In 1 > second at 15 mph you travel 22 feet. Thus at 15 miles per hour with a > 1 > second reaction time you need a light that lets you see at least about > 40 feet ahead of you. If you can only see 20 feet ahead of you, you > should slow down to 10 miles per hour to be safe. If you are traveling > 20 mph get the best light available (56 feet braking plus 1 sec reaction > time). > > Arthur > > > > Arthur Ross, Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator > City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division > 215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Suite 100 > PO Box 2986 > Madison, WI 53701-2986 > 608/266-6225 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Martin > Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 12:19 PM > To: Eric Westhagen > Cc: Meiers, Steve; BikiesSubmissions > Subject: Re: [Bikies] Finding opportunity from crisis? (Bikie attack) > > Topic: bike lights > > I agree with Eric about the cost of "cheap" bike lights. They used to > be > a pain because the batteries would drain quickly, but with LEDs, even > the cheap ones seem to be getting expensive. > > My question is whether bikes actually need to be "focused" and "white." > In my experience, the "cheap" LED lights offer next to nothing in terms > of helping me see where I'm going. If anything, they're distracting. > What I want from them is that cars see me from the front, so I'd rather > have a bright unfocused light that flashes in all directions (except at > my eyes). > > So, are there cheap *unfocused* front lights? Any recommendations? > > On Dec 11, 2008, at 12:05 PM, Eric Westhagen wrote: > > > > We have discussed bike lights from all sides in previous years. > And > nobody should venture out at dusk or later without a red light for > their own protection. But the lack of a focused white light seems > more of a question as far as bike to bike accidents are concerned, > and these white lights seem not as cheap as has been implied here. > > Maybe there are cheap white lights, but I have not seen them myself. > > I do know that my model of light, the Cateye Opti-cube is a $30-$40 > light, depending on where one buys it. Are there actually cheap > focused lights for sale at Madison bike shops? My Cateye, cost $30 > something at a Seattle bike shop and it was in the $40 range listed > "on line." Before one promotes white lights at a give away status, > some cheaper source of reliable, well focused lights must be found. > Does anybody have a suggestion? > > Eric Westhagen > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
