Lights. We all-too-often hear about drivers ranting about seeing cyclists riding at night, without lights. Ignoring for the moment that they admit they saw the cyclists, the fact is it really is a VERY good idea to have lights on your bike at night.
To see, or to be seen? That is the question
Lights broadly fall into two categories: lights to allow others to see you, and lights that allow you to see where you’re riding. In urban areas, excluding unlit paths, most cyclists only really need lights to be seen.
The minute you’ll be cycling on unlit paths, or rural roads, things change, and you obviously need lights to allow you to see where you’re cycling.
Not all lights are equal
Let me start by pointing out that not all laws are equal. In the UK, the law states you must have a white light at the front, and a red light at the rear, fixed to your bike, when cycling on the road in the dark. The UK law has no further requirements about the lights themselves.
German StVZO regulations rank as the strictest bike light laws. They require bikes over 11kg to use dynamo lights powered by a 6V/3W dynamo. If your bike weighs less than 11kg, you may use battery lights, provided they meet all other StVZO standards.
Those standards limit the front light to a maximum of 205 lumens, and crucially, require the lights to have a focused beam pattern, so they illuminate the road ahead of the rider, without dazzling oncoming traffic.
“Normal” lights vs StVZO lights
“Normal” lights scatter the light everywhere. If you’re doing serious off-road trail riding at night, that’s exactly what you need, as you’ll need a far more widely-illuminated field of view. There’s a price to pay for that, and that begins with light backscatter being so severe that your own lights will reduce your night vision, making you require even brighter lights.
And there lies the problem. See, super-bright lights are fine if you’re riding alone on the trails at night. However, should you encounter an oncoming cyclist with similarly bright lights, neither of you will be able to see. That’s definitely sub-optimal.
StVZO lights don’t blind oncoming traffic. Also, because these lights focus the beam pattern, you need less light to still be able to see the road ahead. Simply put, the light shines where you need it, and nowhere else. In addition to having lower power requirements (and therefore able to run off a dynamo) it has the massive advantage of allowing oncoming cyclists to be able to cycle towards you in total safety.
But the UK had no law requiring StVZO lights, right?
Yes, that’s correct. As a result, you’re perfectly legal to ride with your midnight-sun front light, even on narrow shared pavements, while totally blinding oncoming cyclists. And if you did that, you’re simply underlining how utterly selfish you are.
I get it – Chinese lights are cheap, so many people use them. If you are one of them, in the dark, witch on your lights, and lean your bike against something. Next, walk 50 metres ahead of your bike, then turn around and walk back, straight towards the headlight. If you can’t see where you’re walking, oncoming cyclists can’t see where they’re riding, because of your lights!
If you can’t afford to replace your uber-bright lights with something decent, then at very least reposition them, so they point far more down to the ground, which will reduce (but not eliminate) you blinding oncoming riders.
Alternatively, compliment your uber-bright lights with to-be-seen lights. Use the uber-bright lights when riding on totally dark paths or roads, and switch them off when cycling on lit roads.
But dynamo lights are feeble and dynamos are noisy
Wait, do you think this is 1982? Yes, bottle dynamos, which rub against the tyre’s sidewall, are indeed noisy, and yes, back then, dynamo lights were absolutely rubbish. But, just like you don’t use a Sinclair ZX Spectrum as your office PC, technology’s come a very long way since then!
Modern dynamo lights almost always conform to the strict StVZO regulations. These days, they use super-efficient LED lights, with advanced mirrors that ensure the light is used just where it’s needed. Dynamos tend to be built into the front wheel hub, and they’re ultra-efficient. You won’t feel any drag from the hub dynamo, and they’re silent.
Fitting dynamo lights to your bike is one of the very best upgrades you can make. You won’t forget your lights, as they stay permanently attached to your bike. As soon as your wheels start turning, the lights switch on automatically, so you’ll never get caught out with uncharged ones. Decent dynamo headlights needn’t be expensive, either.
Even better, you can get gadgets that wire up to the dynamo. During the day, when not using lights, you can use the power to charge up USB devices.
Are you selfish?
Do you have even just a modicum of consideration towards others? On my commute, I changed my route. See, there are a few cyclists riding the opposite way, using the same narrow path, alongside a fast, busy 40 mph road.
I used to ride against the flow of cars, and in places, that shared pavement is 1.5 metres wide. When you cannot see the pavement at all anymore, it’s a problem. That’s because you’re being blinded by selfish oncoming cyclists, so you also cannot see the edge of the pavement. That makes inadvertently cycling off the pavement, and crashing in front of oncoming cars a real risk.
I now cycle a two mile detour, purely because of the utter selfish choices of a few other cyclists. Remember, that’s along a well-lit road, where all anyone needs are lights to be seen. Super-bright midnight-sun type lights along there are ludicrous.
So take my challenge, and go test the brightness of your own cycling lights. If you find your lights are blinding, when doing the challenge, do something about it, and stop blinding other cyclists. Cos if you don’t, you’re loudly proclaiming what a selfish carrot you are.