Early the other morning, Daylight Savings Time ended. That meant moving the clocks back an hour, which means that it gets dark an hour earlier. Of course, that means day begins an hour earlier, for now. But within a few weeks, we'll "lose" that hour, as well as an equal amount of time at the end of the afternoon, as the days grow shorter overall.
That means, among other things, that most of my rides home from work will be done in the dark. I suspect the same is true for other commuters. And some of us will be doing at least some part of our "fun" rides in the dark, whereas we might have been doing them in daylight a couple of weeks ago.
Many of us will therefore be using our lights more than we had been--or using them, period, after months of not using them at all. I fall into the former category: I don't avoid night riding; in fact, there are times I enjoy a ride begun after sunset. However, during the weeks and months of long days, I do my nocturnal rides mostly by choice; some of the riding I'll do in the dark for the next few months will be out of necessity.
Thus, I and other riders will be making more use of our bike lights.
It used to be that here in New York--and, I suspect, in other American cities--one rarely saw a cyclist with a high-end lighting system. The prevailing wisdom has always said that bike lights in the city are "for being seen, not for being seen by". Most city streets are well-lit enough that you don't need a bright headlight to see potholes or other road hazards, not to mention the traffic and turns ahead. If anything, I think that for city riding, a headlight needs to offer more side than front visibility so that drivers approaching an intersection without a signal can more readily see a cyclist approaching. Also, I think good side visibility is useful in very tight intersections where, even if the cyclist stops well short of the crosswalk or the "stop" line, a driver could turn into the cyclist's path--or the cyclist him or her self--if he or she is not seen.
If anything, it always seemed (at least to me) more important to have a good tail light, preferably a good, bright "blinky". That is assuming, of course, that you are a nice, law-abiding cyclist (which you are--right?) who always rides in the direction of the traffic.
These days, though, I'm seeing more cyclists with more sophisticated (and expensive) lights than the removable "blinkies" I use. Some are riding with hub generators; others with rechargeable battery packs carried in water bottle cages in other attachments. And I have seen some very high-tech looking lights mounted on handlebars, brake bolts and fenders.
Such systems no doubt have their advantages. But, for the time being, I still prefer the Planet Bike Super Flash I've been using on the rear and PB's Beamer for the front. I think I've spent more on batteries for them than I spent on the lights themselves--and it's not because the lights "eat" the batteries: the lights simply hold up well.
I think I'm reluctant to buy anything more complex or costly because, well, what I have seems to have worked for me (for seven years) and because I often park where theft is a concern. Once, when I parked my Bontrager mountain bike, someone cut the White Industries hubs out of my wheels; I worry that someone might do the same to a generator front hub if I were to use it.
Also, even though I've heard that the all of those new generators and super-lights are better than what was available before, I'm skeptical. Perhaps it's because when I came of age (as a cyclist, anyway), most of the bike lights available were, simply, junk. "Bottle" generators were inefficient, chewed up tires and made a lot of noise ; generators that mounted on bottom brackets and ran off tire treads also ate up tires, didn't work on treads that were too knobby or too smooth, and simply skidded over tire treads if they were covered with rain or snow. Battery lights were heavy, clunky, mounted on flimsy brackets and put out less light than the ones powered by generators. Really, the best light--as Tom Cuthbertson noted in Anybody's Bike Book--was the "armband" flashlight made by Wonder and a few other companies. I used to wear one on my left leg, just below my knee, on the theory that the light bobbing up and down would signal, to motorists, that a cyclist was ahead.
Maybe one day, if I ever decide to build a dedicated tourer or randonneuse, I'll build a wheel around a Schmidt hub dynamo or something like it. But as long as I have to park on city streets, I think I'm going to stick to relatively inexpensive removable lights.
That means, among other things, that most of my rides home from work will be done in the dark. I suspect the same is true for other commuters. And some of us will be doing at least some part of our "fun" rides in the dark, whereas we might have been doing them in daylight a couple of weeks ago.
Many of us will therefore be using our lights more than we had been--or using them, period, after months of not using them at all. I fall into the former category: I don't avoid night riding; in fact, there are times I enjoy a ride begun after sunset. However, during the weeks and months of long days, I do my nocturnal rides mostly by choice; some of the riding I'll do in the dark for the next few months will be out of necessity.
Thus, I and other riders will be making more use of our bike lights.
It used to be that here in New York--and, I suspect, in other American cities--one rarely saw a cyclist with a high-end lighting system. The prevailing wisdom has always said that bike lights in the city are "for being seen, not for being seen by". Most city streets are well-lit enough that you don't need a bright headlight to see potholes or other road hazards, not to mention the traffic and turns ahead. If anything, I think that for city riding, a headlight needs to offer more side than front visibility so that drivers approaching an intersection without a signal can more readily see a cyclist approaching. Also, I think good side visibility is useful in very tight intersections where, even if the cyclist stops well short of the crosswalk or the "stop" line, a driver could turn into the cyclist's path--or the cyclist him or her self--if he or she is not seen.
 |
| Schmidt hub generator (for disc brakes) |
If anything, it always seemed (at least to me) more important to have a good tail light, preferably a good, bright "blinky". That is assuming, of course, that you are a nice, law-abiding cyclist (which you are--right?) who always rides in the direction of the traffic.
These days, though, I'm seeing more cyclists with more sophisticated (and expensive) lights than the removable "blinkies" I use. Some are riding with hub generators; others with rechargeable battery packs carried in water bottle cages in other attachments. And I have seen some very high-tech looking lights mounted on handlebars, brake bolts and fenders.
 |
| Planet Bike Super Flash |
Such systems no doubt have their advantages. But, for the time being, I still prefer the Planet Bike Super Flash I've been using on the rear and PB's Beamer for the front. I think I've spent more on batteries for them than I spent on the lights themselves--and it's not because the lights "eat" the batteries: the lights simply hold up well.
 |
| Planet Bike Beamer |
I think I'm reluctant to buy anything more complex or costly because, well, what I have seems to have worked for me (for seven years) and because I often park where theft is a concern. Once, when I parked my Bontrager mountain bike, someone cut the White Industries hubs out of my wheels; I worry that someone might do the same to a generator front hub if I were to use it.
 |
| "Bottle" generator |
 |
| Bottom-bracket mounted generator |
Also, even though I've heard that the all of those new generators and super-lights are better than what was available before, I'm skeptical. Perhaps it's because when I came of age (as a cyclist, anyway), most of the bike lights available were, simply, junk. "Bottle" generators were inefficient, chewed up tires and made a lot of noise ; generators that mounted on bottom brackets and ran off tire treads also ate up tires, didn't work on treads that were too knobby or too smooth, and simply skidded over tire treads if they were covered with rain or snow. Battery lights were heavy, clunky, mounted on flimsy brackets and put out less light than the ones powered by generators. Really, the best light--as Tom Cuthbertson noted in Anybody's Bike Book--was the "armband" flashlight made by Wonder and a few other companies. I used to wear one on my left leg, just below my knee, on the theory that the light bobbing up and down would signal, to motorists, that a cyclist was ahead.
 |
| Wonder "armband" light |
Maybe one day, if I ever decide to build a dedicated tourer or randonneuse, I'll build a wheel around a Schmidt hub dynamo or something like it. But as long as I have to park on city streets, I think I'm going to stick to relatively inexpensive removable lights.
