Ypedal
100 TW
20w 8) ( dual Lumenators ! )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD32uT5HpdI
[youtube]nD32uT5HpdI[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD32uT5HpdI
[youtube]nD32uT5HpdI[/youtube]
LED bike lane laser tail light
- Thread starter sk8norcal
- Start date
The problem I have with the Lumenator and all the other "bike lights" I have seen, made, or used so far is that they don't have a directed beam that puts the light on the road, but rather a cone of light that includes blinding the oncoming traffic, pedestrians, etc., if the light is actually bright enough to be useful. 
Pointing the light downwards helps with that problem, but then the bright spot of the beam is too close to me, and doesn't help light up what I need to see farther down the road, and actively makes it harder for me to see with what light does get out there.
If someone would make optics for these lights that fixes that problem, giving them the same type of beam shape a car headlight has, I'd want to use them. I haven't figured out a way with anything I happen to have in my stuff, to make that kind of optics for any of my lights.
If I were riding out in non-trafficked areas, no oncoming vehicles or pedestrians/etc. to worry about, I wouldnt' care...but I know I not only dislike blinding headlights (like improperly-done HID conversions in cars), I can't see anything anywhere near them when they're in my eyes, and that has at least a couple of times caused me to almost hit a person crossing the road where they shouldn't be, and a few times caused me to hit huge potholes and stuff. If I had been driving a car, I probably would have hit one of those people, though I might still have narrowly missed the other. I imagine many people have problems seeing when such bright lights are in their eyes, and it probably causes some of the pedestrian/bicycle/car collisions. I'd like to not be a contributor to those.
So I'll take the power consumption hit, as I carry a separate 12V battery for lighting on all but DayGlo Avenger (which needs one too, but uses a DC-DC instead for now).
Pointing the light downwards helps with that problem, but then the bright spot of the beam is too close to me, and doesn't help light up what I need to see farther down the road, and actively makes it harder for me to see with what light does get out there.
If someone would make optics for these lights that fixes that problem, giving them the same type of beam shape a car headlight has, I'd want to use them. I haven't figured out a way with anything I happen to have in my stuff, to make that kind of optics for any of my lights.
If I were riding out in non-trafficked areas, no oncoming vehicles or pedestrians/etc. to worry about, I wouldnt' care...but I know I not only dislike blinding headlights (like improperly-done HID conversions in cars), I can't see anything anywhere near them when they're in my eyes, and that has at least a couple of times caused me to almost hit a person crossing the road where they shouldn't be, and a few times caused me to hit huge potholes and stuff. If I had been driving a car, I probably would have hit one of those people, though I might still have narrowly missed the other. I imagine many people have problems seeing when such bright lights are in their eyes, and it probably causes some of the pedestrian/bicycle/car collisions. I'd like to not be a contributor to those.
So I'll take the power consumption hit, as I carry a separate 12V battery for lighting on all but DayGlo Avenger (which needs one too, but uses a DC-DC instead for now).
Kin
10 kW
I'll be honest, when i saw this I thought this was the coolest thing. I picked it up off ebay for $12, and I'm waiting for the shipment. That said, it might be more fun than useful, in retrospect. I still like it, and will probably use it in addition to other illumination resources.
If I already had one of these, I'd probably use it. But as Dogman pointed out before, I don't find it likely that most drivers in my area would even notice it was there, much less do anything about it if they did (except maybe try to drive between the lines 
).
I imagine if I was riding on light-colored concrete rather than black asphalt, they might be visible enough to do some good. But given the lack of reflectivity of most road surfaces, I don't think most people *could* see them even if they were paying attention, in the average lighting situations of city streets.
Also please note the extremely low radio wavelength of 650mm. :lol: I don't think *anyone* can see *that*.
).I imagine if I was riding on light-colored concrete rather than black asphalt, they might be visible enough to do some good. But given the lack of reflectivity of most road surfaces, I don't think most people *could* see them even if they were paying attention, in the average lighting situations of city streets.
My favorite part is a word I will probably be using frequently to describe various motor, battery, and controller specs (whcih are often completely fictional) from now on: "Specifiction". :lol:Ypedal said:
Also please note the extremely low radio wavelength of 650mm. :lol: I don't think *anyone* can see *that*.
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