Reelights

[JohnInStockie]

Just finished puting the Reelights on the Twist. Some info for people.

I had to buy 2 Hub gear extensions from Reelight in order to put them on the bike as the normal fittiings are too far away from the spokes to allow the magnets the required 1-3mm distance.

Another thing is that 1-3mm gap. Anyone familiar with putting on speedometers will know how troublesome this can be. Additionally, the spoke attachments are very strong magnets, which means that when you are moving at slower speeds, the attraction of the magnets to the lights makes them touch momentarily. Note that once you get over 6mph this doesnt happen (so all you Torq riders will be ok - unless you see a hill ).

The flash they give off isnt the brightest, but it is quite visible from the front. From the back, with panniers on, it IS visible below the panniers, just. But how many car drivers are looking at the road?

I bought the SL120's, the version that has the standlight for 4 mins or so.

Overall, they do do what they say on the tin, but they could have made them better if they had moved the flashing parts further away from the inducers, so they could be positioned higher up on the bike.

Another idea would to have made the inducers 2-way, so that the spoke mounts also flashed as they go around the frame giving lateral flashes.

John

 

[frank9755]

I just came across these today. Interesting idea - although clearly from John's experience, a little fiddly.

Obviously the power is not coming from thin air; you have to work against the resistance of an electromagnetic field to power the lights - essentially just like a dynamo. Has anyone seen or worked out how much the resistance actually is?

Frank

 

[JohnInStockie]

Hi Frank

From my experience, the resistance is negligable, and much less than the slight resistance than I get from my front hub dynamo. I think the amount of power they require is very very small relatively.

Now I have got used to them, they are an improvement that I am glad I bought as they do seem to make you stand out a little more both day and night.

John

 

[Haku]

Earlier this year I was researching LED bike light options and remembered seeing some years ago a bike with a magnet on the wheel which comes close to a coil so it gives a pulse of electricity to flash an LED, looking into that type of light I found those Reelights which looked like a neat thing but wouldn't have them on my bike for the fact that they only light up when you're moving and they flash.

As a cyclist and a driver (when I get the chance to borrow a car) I absolutely detest flashing lights on bikes, I almost drove over some clod who only had a flashing front light along an unlit road, pulling out into the road he was on there was a mirror and all I saw was a flashing something in it thinking it was a roadworks light I began to pull out but then realised it was someone on a bike - there's almost no way to determine how far away someone is when it's dark, they're moving and the only indication where they are is a single flashing light.

A couple of weeks ago I came across a similar situation but this time I was on my bike, all I could see in the distance was an extremely bright flashing front light, luckily I managed to judge how far away he was but the light was so bright it was almost blinding.

I once saw a bunch of runners out at night and quite a few of them had bike lights clipped to their backs and they were in flash mode, the amount of lights blinking away and the fact that they were blinking made it difficult to tell just how many people there were and how far away they were.

Laws on flashing lights should be changed IMHO.


Aaanyway enough ranting, getting back to the Reelights, I thought there must be some sort of lighting system out there that uses magnets on spokes with a coil pickup on the forks that would store the energy in a large capacitor or small battery so it could power a decent non-flashing LED light setup - but suprisingly couldn't find anything (and I'm usually pretty good at finding anything on the net), the front hub dynamos looked interesting but would be pointless on an electric bike (there's a huge great battery to power them from!) and the dynamo hub would be draining power all the time.

I've decided to finish my reflector LED setup in the next couple of days, almost ran over a badger last night along a cycle path, my 3-LED front light was enough to see it in time to stop a foot away from it but I want to have a better warning of what's ahead

 

[Ian]

Laws on flashing lights should be changed IMHO.

It's not long since the law was changed to permit flashing lights on bicycles as a result of lobbying by road safety experts.
As a car driver I drive 30K miles per year on all types of roads in all conditions and have yet to be dazzled or disorientated by by a bicycle light, flashing or otherwise. Flashing lights are far more visible than an equivalent steady light, and a bright flashing light gives a cyclist the best chance of being seen against a backdrop of bright car headlamps. Having perfected an extremely bright flashing rearlamp and noticing that many car drivers now give me more room, I am now modifying my existing headlamp, increasing it from 7 to 34 LEDs, flashing for daylight and town use, steady for dark lanes.

 

[JohnInStockie]

Flashing lights

Sorry Hahu I have to agree with Ian. As a driver thats given up the car for the bike for my daily commute, I say that flashing lights are far superior for noticing cyclists, and to be honest, your own description of your incidents means that you did see the cyclists too, albeit late.

If I could build a very large rear led reflective panel of flashing red leds, say 18" wide and 2"-6" high and mount it on the rear of my rack I would (and probably will), as from what I have read its the unseen cyclists that are the ones that get hit, at least it seems that from what you read.

On the front, I am thinking of having 2-4 GU11 lights that have the superbright LED bulbs rather than the halogen (constantly on mind you) as well as the flashing one (to grab attention). That way if the bulb goes I can swap on route.

The truth is that even in daylight the Reelights are visible, but they certainly are not good enough to be the only lights on a bike at night.

John

 

[Haku]

The main problem I have with flashing lights is that people who buy them assume they're completely safe only having a blinking light, but if you can't actually see them, only the blinking light then it's bloody impossible to judge how far away they are, exactly where they are just as importantly which direction they're going and at what speed.

In the inceddents I mentioned, I couldn't actually see the cyclists because they weren't near any streetlights - just their blinking lights which made it very difficult to judge where/how far/what direction & what speed they were going.

The law is an ass, the flashing lights law should have included the need for a steady light as well as the flashing one so they get the benefit of a the blinking light but you get the benefit of being able to see where they are and how far away they are even if you can't actually see them.

There's already too many distractions and warnings out on the roads and I don't believe we need any more obstacles to overcome, with a flashing light you have to spend a few moments concentrating on where the light actually is, with a steady light you don't spend nearly so long working out where the light is and what direction it's going.

 

[JohnInStockie]

I say that anything that informs the driver that there is a bike on the road is a good thing. Too many times drivers say 'I didnt see them', and when winter driving I cannot distinguish a bicycle with only steady lights from other traffic on a dark night, at least not usually until we have passed.

Anything that makes the driver have to think, 'there's a bike, better pull out a bit.' is a good thing surely?

 

[Ian]

There's already too many distractions and warnings out on the roads

I agree with that Haku, which is exactly why I want my lights to stand out from all the distractions, too often a steady light is simply not seen. Cycle lamps cannot compete with car lamps on brightness and therefore need something extra to be seen amongst all the bright car lights. I would agree that it is harder to judge distance to a flashing light, but if that forces a driver to think then as John says that can only be a good thing. I'd rather be seen by a confused driver than not seen at all. There should be no problem judging direction of travel, flashing lights still have to be the standard colours.

 

[FatMog]

As a cyclist and car driver I'm all for ANYTHING that attracts notice to a cyclist at night. Surely a sensible road user would be cautious of a UFO (unidentified flashing object ) on a dark road even if they couldn't identify exactly what it was the instant they saw it? To return to a previous rant, if cyclists wore good quality reflective gear at night on their bodies and legs, they would light up like christmas trees as soon as car headlights hit them and be easily identifiable. In addition to lights, of course!

 

[frank9755]

I've now got round to fitting a set of Reelights - thanks to John's recommendation. I've had them on for a couple of weeks and am pleased with them. I went for the 120 type, with a capacitor to keep the lights going for a couple of minutes after you stop.

I use them as a second set of lights. The main benefit is peace of mind in case the batteries on my main lights run out, especially the back one, which I might not be aware of until I got home. They also must make me more visible in dull winter daylight when I might not have thought to put my main lights on. In terms of resistance, you can't tell they are there.

The front one was easy to fit but the back bracket wasn't long enough to go round the hub motor and derailleur, so I ended up just fitting it on the left hand side (ie inside). Not perfect but ok as it is an extra/back-up light.

Frank