sorry about that, load contents before pressing send.
I'll also endorse the Fenix L2D, it's light, bright (even on
non-"turbo" setting) and convenient -- but pricey. A less expensive
alternative for folks going near a Lowe's is the Lowe's Task Force
Model FT-NS-2C-3W. It's less expensive ($35) and very, very bright.
It's not as well made, but it's good enough. It uses C batteries so it
is heavier and requires a heavier Twofish mount.
There is a problem with any flashlight, and unfortunately with most
dedicated bike lights. They almost all have a circular beam that
spreads out equally in all directions -- which is great if you are
riding through an area with low hanging branches. Really great.
Necessary. But, circular beams are not so good for riding on the
street. Precisely because the beam spreads out equally in all
directions, the only way to keep from blinding oncoming cyclists,
pedestrians, and even motorists is to angle the light down toward the
pavement. This puts the bright part of the beam closer to you and
shrinks the area that is illuminated in all directions. This means
that you can't see as far ahead. It also means that you have less
illumination to each side. Depending on the light and the way you
adjust it you may also become somewhat less visible to traffic. The
brighter the lamp, the bigger the problem with adjustment.
Car headlamps do not have this problem because the beams are shaped
for driving on the street. There is a cutoff and light that would
otherwise be blinding folks is redirected to the road and there is
plenty of "spill" to illuminate a wider area and make you more visible
to traffic to the right and left.
Interestingly many, if not most, European bike lights are also
optimized for street use. These are available in the US, though not
widely, in both rechargeable battery and dynamo powered
configurations. Unfortunately anything from Europe is pricey at the
moment. I do remember hearing a rumor that one of the US companies
(Planet Bike perhaps) was planning a reasonably priced light with a
"street" shaped beam. I hope so. Meanwhile commuters who have the
wherewithal might take a look at the B&M, Spanninga, Inoled etc. lights.
-Bill Obermeyer
PS - there's a good, if geeky, discussion about how and how well
reflectors work by John Schubert on (where else) the Sheldon Brown
site at http://sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html it's information that
everyone should have.
PPS - for a while Lowe's was selling the FT-NS-2C-3W flashlight with a
Luxeon (not-so-bright) LED as well as with the Cree (very bright)
LED. I think that those are gone now, but the package should say
something like 30 times or 60 times brighter.
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