Folding "Lefty Light Stick" - Keep the cagers at bay!

I've written about my obnoxious left side lights before, but feel it's time for an overview/full show and tell:

Basic ingredients: a mount, a spring-loaded hinge, and a 3' long pole, preferably with a flag our lights.

My "Version 2.0" light mount, seen from above. It's composed of a piece of wood (painted white), two spring loaded cabinet hinges, a trowel and a spring mounted to the trowel via pipe hangers. The wood piece mounts to the bike, the spring on the trowel blade holds the light stick. This is a top view of the assembly, in the "deployed" position:


Top view again, in the "stowed" position:


Here's the assembly viewed from the front of the bike. The light stick itself is the black thing, most of it off camera. I'm using a 14mm x 1mm x 3' piece of carbon fiber trim from dragon plate.com (sold as a 4' length, cut down). For lights I'm using a piece of LED light strip from Adafruit.com. There's an Arduino compatible "Ardweeny" microcontroller board there, but I'm only using it now for simple blinking of the red LEDs... The plan is always more ambitious than the results!


Here it is with the light bar mounted. It just slips into the spring (a couple bucks from Home Depot) and is held in firmly enough to stay with the bike, but gently enough to slide right off for bike stowage:


Here's a close up of the rear of the assembly: Hinges from Lowes are more expensive than Home Depot, but are of better quality. My first version of this experiment used only one hinge, but it failed after about 6 months due to vibration/constant flexing.


Same view, assembly in the "stowed" position:

So my mainstay bike is a folding bike. I don't want to put a bunch of crap on the bike that makes it hard to fold or stow. So, the Lefty Light is mounted via quick releases: These are like $2 apiece at dealextreme.com


Bolt the quick releases to the rear rack. If yoo drill the holes in just the right place, removing the right side quick release allows the whole assembly to pivot down out of the way. Great for getting on and off the train without snagging on stuff. Light mount in stowed position:


Light mount in deployed position:


Here's the mount, and the light, mounted to the bike. I put LEDs on both sides of the stick, so I'm visible from both sides when the stick is stowed, and visible to oncoming & approaching cars when it's out


If you look real close at this picture, you'll notice it's a different mount. My "3.0" version, which ditches the 2x4 wood for an aluminum enclosure by Hammond. I have a 1s 5AH HobbyKing lipo in there, good for about 3 weeks of riding about 10 hours a week.

Here's the whole assembly, with lights on and the light bar stowed.


It tucks in real nice, right up against that Topeak trunk bag. When tucked in, I'm as thin and nimble as a normal bike. That handle is just below seat level on my left - real easy to just reach down, grab that trowel handle, and pivot it out or in.


Here it is deployed - har to see, it's coming out towards the camera:


...and deployed, as seen from the rear:


The 3.0 mount is a little easier to adjust up and down:


The carbon fiber is real nice and flexy. I'm sure the flexibility has saved my life at least once - the one time an overtaking bus passed me real close - easily within 3' because I looked to see the light bar flexec like in this picture. I'll bet if my light stick was stiff, the bus pushing on the stick would have destabilized me and sent me to the ground.


The Lefty Light is pretty effective - it gets me seen and it buys me room on the road. But it must be convenient, as this bike is my daily driver and I constantly fold it/unfold it, bring it on the train, up stairs, etc. The light stick cannot get in the way. Here's where I put it when moving the bike in close quarters:

Your pic links are inoperative. Just upload to forum using 'Upload Attachment', 'Browse', 'Add File', and 'Place Inline' at bottom of edit window. No point in cross-linking to another site...

EDIT - Now Fixed! Cool.

Thanks for that, that's what I'll probably do. There's pro's and con's either way I suppose.

The forum has suffered many broken photo links to 3rd party sites in the past which has compromised the overall content. Probably best to keep your entire presentation in-house

OK,
I've been operating under the premise that the opposite was true - that the embedded pictures sometimes fail.
I have to shift gears for now, I'll fix & get pics up tonight.

For Picasaweb, the only way I know of to post the images is to right click on the actual image shown on the picasa page, and copy the URL/link, then paste that link into the posting form on the forum, using the IMG tags.
Like this one:

Thanks AW!

One of you guys need to patent this thing, but make it weaker. You're not likely to get struck, but if so, all that metal might still cause you to fall.

I bet these things will sell like hotcakes.

Is anyone mass-producing these yet?

MikeFairbanks said:

I bet these things will sell like hotcakes.

Is anyone mass-producing these yet?

Click to expand...

Nope, but I want one. We should all quickly make our own, so that there's enough prior art to invalidate some accessory company's patents. Wouldn't want only one source for Lefty Lights, would we?

MikeFairbanks said:

Is anyone mass-producing these yet?

Click to expand...

I wish! When I built my "1.0" version it was after a frustrating search on the Internet for something, anything that would give me a little more visibility and room on the left.

Necessity is the mother of invention. I put in hard work thinking about this, designing, building... Now I give it over to this community. Anyone want to build one, it's about $35 in parts and can be built with simple hand tools.

From the previous thread - See Flash Flag.

Putting a light on the Flash Flag might be a good plan at night but the flag is better in the day and reflective at night. Drivers will clear it by a a couple of feet to avoid damaging the car finish so you get the desired clearance without actually taking up the road.

Too be honest, I would be afraid of being summarily run down if I had your gizmo hanging out taking up half a lane... certainly no vehicle can pass you without the oncoming lane being clear - the length seems a little over the top and pretty much an in-your-face invitation for counter-attitude.... just sayin'....

That Flash Flag is pretty darn cool.

teklektik said:

Too be honest, I would be afraid of being summarily run down if I had your gizmo hanging out taking up half a lane...

Click to expand...

Being seen, and being in an assertive lane position, makes you safer than hugging the curb. At least one clinical test validates this http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2010/11/29/helping-motorists-with-lane-positioning/.
My personal experience is consistent with what's shown at the link.

The way people drive straight out of side streets onto main roads without storring these days, the most unsafe place to be is hugging the curb.

teklektik said:

certainly no vehicle can pass you without the oncoming lane being clear

Click to expand...

It folds away quite easily and quickly at speed. I'm forced to ride on a lot of four lane roads. Cars can and do change into the left lane to pass. When I turn onto a two lane road (and/or as conditions require) I simply fold it in. It's all context sensitive.

Nice implementation! But I have two concerns:
1) Will it irritate some of the cars drivers? Some of those crazy guys might try to hit the light each time they pass you for fun or just to irritate and scare you back.
2) Is it legal? Will you be harassed by the police?

SamTexas said:

2) Is it legal? Will you be harassed by the police?

Click to expand...

I imagine it depends on the length. Most states have 3' safe passing laws. If it's no longer than that, you're just reminding them of the space you're legally entitled to.

SamTexas said:

Nice implementation! But I have two concerns:
1) Will it irritate some of the cars drivers? Some of those crazy guys might try to hit the light each time they pass you for fun or just to irritate and scare you back.

Click to expand...

Some people will harass cyclists just for breathing. Truth be told I used to have it blinking red on a background of white LEDs. Only later I found out that from a distance it looked pink! I got a lot of homo oriented cat calls (from young men either homophobic, or more likely curious...) I changed the LEDs to the simple red blinky, and most of the yelling stopped.

SamTexas said:

2) Is it legal? Will you be harassed by the police?

Click to expand...

For the most part, police don't know the law. That works both with you and against you. Most local laws require a reflector or red rear light when operating at night. It's red, and faces the rear, ergo it's legal. I've passed many cops and have had what I'll call 1.1 incidents with the police:

• First, the "0.1": Riding North on a 4 lane road with the light stick deployed, a Southbound cop beeped his horn... Not much going on at the time so I think he was beeping at me.
• Second, the 1 time I've been stopped: Riding on a somewhat narrow 2 lane road (one lane each way). No shoulder, the road lined on each side with cars. Ironically there are "sharrows" painted on the road right under my feet. A cop pulls me over (If I was thinking, I should have stopped next to the parked cars... but I rode ahead to a side street and got onto the sidewalk).
  
  After some chatter back and forth here's where we left it: He was heading the opposite direction, when a car crossed the double yellow line (to go around me, presumably) and came right at him. The cop told me to orient the light more upward, so cars can pass without crossing the line.

Hind sight is a curse. After I rode off, it hit me. The cop was pissed because some car crossed the double yellow and probably made him piss his pants. He needed someone to blame, and the bypassing car was long gone (not to mention impossible to ID - ever try to get the numbers off a plate with a headlight in your eye?) Needing someone to blame, he went for the cyclist with the funny lights. I should have stood my ground and told the cop that the guy crossing the double yellow is the one he should be lecturing. But of course that's easy to say after the fact isn't it?

MattyCiii said:

Being seen, and being in an assertive lane position, makes you safer than hugging the curb. .... My personal experience is consistent with what's shown at the link.

Click to expand...

Agreed if there's no shoulder - in which case I just ride in the center of the lane until a shoulder re-appears - no need for special widgets.

MattyCiii said:

The way people drive straight out of side streets onto main roads without storring these days, the most unsafe place to be is hugging the curb.

Click to expand...

Sorry, but the stick it not going to save you from pull-outs regardless of where you are in the lane.... and I've had the accidents to prove it.

See my build - I use daylight bright Blinkys fore and aft that can be easily seen for 100 yards and give me excellent visual presence and consistently wide berth by passers. I watch cars from behind in my mirror, and they are sidling into the center of the road way back there - cars pulling out in front consistently wait a really long time for me to pass - longer than if I was a car.

I think the huge stick attempts to address the issues discussed in the video the wrong way - instead of making yourself more visible so drivers are not caught off guard and have the opportunity to Do The Right Thing, you are trying to ward off cars with a stick by demanding a huge portion of the roadway that you feel is not only appropriate for your vehicle but also for your own personal space. If cars did the same thing and started driving with sticks for their personal space you'd be in a fine pickle.

Different strokes for different folks and if it works for you, cool. I'd rather go with an unmistakable effort for visibility as an invitation to courtesy instead of contentiously demanding it ... and minimize my chances of pushing someone's buttons.

Damn, that looks like a lot longer than 3 feet. I once saw an elderly man biking and had a flag on a thin pole, achieving the same thing. I'm sure it angers a lot of drivers though. I think it's good to use on such 4 lane roads where many drivers are too lazy to use the left lane. It's the law here too.

Hey, have you thought about using a trailer flag?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-safety-flag-Mtb-Road-Bike-Trailer-Brand-Ne-/261098939533?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3ccab5a48d&_uhb=1#ht_1145wt_1021

It would be something you could either leave on top or on the left depending on the situation! And it's much more noticeable during day time

cwah said:

Hey, have you thought about using a trailer flag?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-safety-flag-Mtb-Road-Bike-Trailer-Brand-Ne-/261098939533?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3ccab5a48d&_uhb=1#ht_1145wt_1021

It would be something you could either leave on top or on the left depending on the situation! And it's much more noticeable during day time

Click to expand...

Funny you mention that. That's how I started actually, an orange triangle trailer flag on its supplied fiberglass pole.

You're right, a flapping orange flag at the end of my light stick might improve visibility, I should consider adding it on.

That said it's interesting what people see and what they don't. A couple years back, tired of a$$hole drivers harassing me, I decided to put an unlighted three foot carbon fiber rod in my normal light mount (on a daytime ride). The theory - it's black, nobody will see it, and douchy drivers who like to pass close will get at least a little "screech!" sound as they drag the tip of the unlighted rod down the side of their car. A nice, gentile lesson for them about courtesy. Interestingly, people passed at about the same distance as they do with the lighted stick, and one driver even yelled something to me about the stick. Meaning - some or most drivers saw it, even without the lighting. I only rode like that once - I figured better to have the lights seen than to poke a douche who might pass close, side-light or not.

But again, the flag, or a nice bright pinwheel, might be a good addition!

Where is the 3 foot light saber mounted on the rear rack when we need it.

Probably tap power off it and run the bike as well.

At least you wouldnt' have to worry about it needing to fold when they hit it. :lol:

ZOOOOORCH whups!

Alan B said:

Where is the 3 foot light saber mounted on the rear rack when we need it.

Probably tap power off it and run the bike as well.

Click to expand...

Funny, I was thinking that too, but (the laws of physics being what they are) something more like this

Rear Light Bar

I've considered making a tubular device an inch narrower than the handlebars to mount at the back of the rack to increase visibility and support lighting and reflectors. Perhaps one of those lightweight golf club tubes painted a highly visible color and encircled at the ends with reflective tape. No need for it to bend when hit (since the handlebars stick out farther), though a way to turn it vertical for convenience would be good.