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brightly lit dimwit

Sometimes we only have ourselves to blame. I was cycling through Ewell village this morning wearing the usual dayglo tabard, helmet etc, when a pseudo racer in black skin tight lycra (  24 ) pulled out ahead of me and continued down the hill ahead of me.... nothing wrong there I here you say... well this cyclist thought it was a good idea to fit the brightest rear light he could possibly find, and aim it at eye level to get noticed. Still nothing? Here is the glaring mistake to the idiots amongst us; humans presented with a bright or flashing light aimed directly at the eyes will avert their gaze, and if they are overtaking they will not be looking at the scource of the painfully bright or flashing light, so when said buffoon swerves to avoid a pot hole or other hazard, the overtaking vehicle will be looking elsewhere.

Moral for the story:- if you are too stupid to think of others on the road, get good health insurance or stick to off road cycle paths!

Appologies to all those who already know how stupid this is and have wasted part of their valuable time reading this.

I have got camera footage, and I will extract a still and post it later, so everybody can see what I mean.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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40 comments

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Anthony.C | 9 years ago
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I have a German legal light (they have strict rules over there about bike lights for thost that don't know, they have to have a cut-off like car lights) because I feel uncomfortable about blinding people with bright modern lights and torches, it's a Philips LED Bike Light and apart from not blinding oncomers it's very good at lighting the road. Light shining upwards is wasted anyway.

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harrybav | 9 years ago
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If bright light guy is "too stupid" for not considering and understanding your feelings on his lights, are you also "too stupid" for not understanding his differing views? Once you start splashing it about, that stupidity paint gets everywhere!

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Colin Peyresourde | 9 years ago
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Some bike lights are too bright. They're good on a trail, but on cycle lanes and canal side paths they blind on coming traffic, which is annoying at least and danger at worse.

In most cases I wish they would just turn the bloody light down at the ground so it actually does something useful. You don't need to beam a laser into someone's eyes for them to notice you, and if you do need to guide your way pointing it at the ground will surely help.

As for rear lights. I see some bright ones. But usually the red filter makes them less piercing…..it's the reason rear lights are red.

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PonteD replied to Colin Peyresourde | 9 years ago
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Colin Peyresourde wrote:

In most cases I wish they would just turn the bloody light down at the ground so it actually does something useful.

So are you saying on pitch black paths cyclists should aim their lights at the ground so they can only see 2 or 3 metres ahead? Can't imagine it would help me to see the trees that often stick out across the path on my way home (and these do move from day to day). Next you'll be suggesting they don't go above 5mph.

It is a shame bike lights don't come equipped with a dipped beam trigger to have handy on the bars though (all you'd need is a small microswitch near/on the brake lever/hoods) so if you do meet an oncoming person at least you could easily flick the beam down for a few seconds until they are past.

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therevokid replied to PonteD | 9 years ago
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dazwan wrote:
Colin Peyresourde wrote:

In most cases I wish they would just turn the bloody light down at the ground so it actually does something useful.

So are you saying on pitch black paths cyclists should aim their lights at the ground so they can only see 2 or 3 metres ahead? Can't imagine it would help me to see the trees that often stick out across the path on my way home (and these do move from day to day). Next you'll be suggesting they don't go above 5mph.

It is a shame bike lights don't come equipped with a dipped beam trigger to have handy on the bars though (all you'd need is a small microswitch near/on the brake lever/hoods) so if you do meet an oncoming person at least you could easily flick the beam down for a few seconds until they are past.

actually ... the exposure strada does have a dip function

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oldstrath replied to Colin Peyresourde | 9 years ago
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Colin Peyresourde wrote:

Some bike lights are too bright. They're good on a trail, but on cycle lanes and canal side paths they blind on coming traffic, which is annoying at least and danger at worse.

In most cases I wish they would just turn the bloody light down at the ground so it actually does something useful. You don't need to beam a laser into someone's eyes for them to notice you, and if you do need to guide your way pointing it at the ground will surely help.

As for rear lights. I see some bright ones. But usually the red filter makes them less piercing…..it's the reason rear lights are red.

What is a cycle path please? Some of us aren't blessed with such things. We cycle on roads. We want our lights to ensure the half blind, distracted fuckwits in charge of large metal boxes notice something other than their phones, kids and make up mirrors.

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The _Kaner | 9 years ago
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TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY>>>I NEED THIS REAR LIGHT>>>>>NOW!!!!!!!!!

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The _Kaner | 9 years ago
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TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY>>>I NEED THIS REAR LIGHT>>>>>NOW!!!!!!!!!

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Welsh boy | 9 years ago
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I think that if you are going to moan about cyclist riding on the road with their lights on then you need to do it on a motoring forum, not a cycling one. By the way another victim, have you got a very small penis?

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HalfWheeler | 9 years ago
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Yes, a cyclist wearing lycra, shocking.

Just the other day I saw some football players wearing shorts, a jersey made from light weight material and boots with what appeared to be some sort of blunts nails in the soles. Just with the cyclist in picture a tweed jacket, scarf and sensible shoes would have sufficed.

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bashthebox | 9 years ago
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I'm really confused by this thread. Mr 'Another victim of surrey business' (are you a UKIP voter? You kind of sound UKIPish) was both cycling and driving a truck? Or is your truck pedal powered? You've come in and berated a cyclist for wearing lycra... on a road cycling website?
Come on, if you're trying to troll us, do try harder. You're barely coherent, let alone making a valid point.

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FluffyKittenofT... | 9 years ago
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I find you just can't win on this topic. One person's 'too bright' is the next one's 'too dim'.

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BBB | 9 years ago
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Nothing wrong with lights that bright at the right time of the day (e.g. like in the picture)

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maevans | 9 years ago
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Super bright lights are annoying, especially when at eye level.

However, it appears to be daylight - why on earth do you think he should be in dayglo?

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monkeytrousers | 9 years ago
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Why didn't you just go past?

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Leviathan | 9 years ago
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How bright are your lights? Not as effective as this cool looking fellas. Do you really think your dinner-ladies smock is more effective then these lights? Good luck mate, you sound like you need it. Trolls don't last long around here.

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CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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I got one of those lights, works as it should, first object I looked at in photos.  1

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oldstrath replied to CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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CXR94Di2 wrote:

I got one of those lights, works as it should, first object I looked at in photos.  1

What light is it?

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CXR94Di2 replied to oldstrath | 9 years ago
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oldstrath wrote:
CXR94Di2 wrote:

I got one of those lights, works as it should, first object I looked at in photos.  1

What light is it?

Cygolite hotshot. I ordered 6 from the USA. I believe now you can order them through uk suppliers. From memory they were about £35 once imported.

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oldstrath replied to CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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Thanks

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oldstrath replied to CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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"Cygolite hotshot. I ordered 6 from the USA. I believe now you can order them through uk suppliers. From memory they were about £35 once imported."

Thanks

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CXR94Di2 replied to oldstrath | 9 years ago
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Double post

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CXR94Di2 replied to oldstrath | 9 years ago
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oldstrath wrote:
CXR94Di2 wrote:

I got one of those lights, works as it should, first object I looked at in photos.  1

What light is it?

Cygolite Hotshot. I ordered from USA you can get a niterider model which has nearly the same light output

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redmeat | 9 years ago
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I think 'pseudo-racer' in this instance roughly translates as 'someone who is faster than me and isn't dressed up like a nodding Christmas tree'.

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sergius replied to redmeat | 9 years ago
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redmeat wrote:

I think 'pseudo-racer' in this instance roughly translates as 'someone who is faster than me and isn't dressed up like a nodding Christmas tree'.

Made me laugh  1

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Shep73 replied to sergius | 9 years ago
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sergius wrote:
redmeat wrote:

I think 'pseudo-racer' in this instance roughly translates as 'someone who is faster than me and isn't dressed up like a nodding Christmas tree'.

Made me laugh  1

Likewise.

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farrell | 9 years ago
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I wasted my time reading this alright, nothing to do with the other cyclist though.

What's wrong with wearing black? Do you just see a floating head when someone wears black or something? Can you also not see the two cars painted in black next to him or is your blindness purely reserved for being overly judgmental about other people riding bikes? The guy clearly has retroflective panels on his clothes too so there really isn't a problem with it.

I often think that some people hear other people use phrases like "cycling-ninja" and feel compelled to shoe horn them in to validate themselves.

It would be very easy to say there is nothing "usual" about a dayglo tabard by the way, unless you are teaming it with a set of white gloves and some Vicks Vaporub and who cares if you were wearing a helmet?

By the way, what's a 'pseudo-racer'?

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redmeat | 9 years ago
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Looks fine to me.

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Shep73 | 9 years ago
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So it has come to taking snide pictures of other cyclists as well now?
Personally don't see a problem. He was noticed enough for you to whine about it on here instead of asking him if he could dim it down. Plus it looks like the light has done its job, he got him noticed and no doubt to his destination in one piece.

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Iamnot Wiggins replied to Shep73 | 9 years ago
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Shep73 wrote:

So it has come to taking snide pictures of other cyclists as well now?
Personally don't see a problem. He was noticed enough for you to whine about it on here instead of asking him if he could dim it down. Plus it looks like the light has done its job, he got him noticed and no doubt to his destination in one piece.

Touché.

The brightness of the light was the first thing that I picked up on in the pictures so it's clearly doing it's intended job.

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