Comments on: How well doth it light the way? http://kentuckybicycling.com/06/2008/how-well-doth-it-light-the-way/ Todd Van Campen on average-guy commuter bicycling Mon, 28 Feb 2011 19:31:30 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: torrilin http://kentuckybicycling.com/06/2008/how-well-doth-it-light-the-way/comment-page-1/#comment-296 torrilin Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:06:28 +0000 http://kentuckybicycling.com/06/2008/how-well-doth-it-light-the-way/#comment-296 I've test ridden an Uptown with the LED light. On the up side, it's quite efficient. On the down side, it's not as visible in daylight as the halogen bulb in the older light. I haven't tested it in night-time conditions. Most of my riding is in daylight, and the most common reason for me to turn my lights on is that it's foggy or rainy... so the LED is a minor downgrade for those purposes. (in general tho, if money is no object, get the Uptown... it is a lovely bike and is very well thought out) IME the more visible a light is in daylight (even poor daylight) the better it works at night. The LED light has the blue tinge that is common in "bright" lights. This is very bad, since such lights tend to blind glare sensitive people easily and they do more damage to night vision than a warmer toned light. So it's a basically good light with some common weaknesses. The halogen light on my Villager works well for being seen and for seeing. It is very bright, so it can be seen a good 200 or more yards away. It definitely meets WI's legal requirements for a front headlight, even on a fairly bright street. On dark bike paths, it's bright enough that I can see the road well and ride at full speed (which is slower than Joe Breeze *g*). If I was doing a lot of night riding, I'd supplement it with a headlamp on my helmet. It can be difficult to read street signs with just the generator light, since it's aimed well for seeing the road. Having a light I can aim directly at signs would be helpful. On both the Uptown and the Villager, the front's standlight has a very short duration. I consider this a problem, and I would not be comfortable using the front light as my only light for night riding. It would be too easy to disappear visually to crossing and opposing traffic. Again, a helmet headlamp would solve this problem. I’ve test ridden an Uptown with the LED light. On the up side, it’s quite efficient. On the down side, it’s not as visible in daylight as the halogen bulb in the older light. I haven’t tested it in night-time conditions. Most of my riding is in daylight, and the most common reason for me to turn my lights on is that it’s foggy or rainy… so the LED is a minor downgrade for those purposes. (in general tho, if money is no object, get the Uptown… it is a lovely bike and is very well thought out) IME the more visible a light is in daylight (even poor daylight) the better it works at night. The LED light has the blue tinge that is common in “bright” lights. This is very bad, since such lights tend to blind glare sensitive people easily and they do more damage to night vision than a warmer toned light. So it’s a basically good light with some common weaknesses.

The halogen light on my Villager works well for being seen and for seeing. It is very bright, so it can be seen a good 200 or more yards away. It definitely meets WI’s legal requirements for a front headlight, even on a fairly bright street. On dark bike paths, it’s bright enough that I can see the road well and ride at full speed (which is slower than Joe Breeze *g*). If I was doing a lot of night riding, I’d supplement it with a headlamp on my helmet. It can be difficult to read street signs with just the generator light, since it’s aimed well for seeing the road. Having a light I can aim directly at signs would be helpful.

On both the Uptown and the Villager, the front’s standlight has a very short duration. I consider this a problem, and I would not be comfortable using the front light as my only light for night riding. It would be too easy to disappear visually to crossing and opposing traffic. Again, a helmet headlamp would solve this problem.

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