Bike Hack: Front Light Torches
You can now pick up impressively bright LED torches for just a couple of pounds, and these are great for use as bike lights. The question is, how to attach them to your bike?
True, you can get special velcro-fastening brackets, with a pair of cups at right angles - one cup sits on your handlebars, while the other cradles the torch. But surely there has to be a solution using the sort of things you’ve probably got in your tool box, if not actually in your saddle bag?
How’s about this then - it’s yet another use for cable ties, though in this case I’m using re-usable ones that have a thumb tab to release them:
Basically each torch is fixed in place with a single cable tie. The loop it makes goes under the torch and over the handlebar, and I’ve used each torch’s lanyard to attach it to the handlebar stem - just in case the cable tie comes undone / breaks for any reason.
I have often wondered about the light out put of these torches compared to really bright cycle lights, it would be interesting to see some comparative photos taken on a dark night.
Torches are fine for off-road, but their circular beam shape is prone to dazzle and I think quite unsuited for road use and unfriendly to other road users. I suspect they’re not road legal.
In my experience the Fenix L2D [2 x AA cells, textured reflector, 120 Lumen] is quite a lot dimmer than the Busch & Muller Ixon IQ [4 x AA cells, 40 Lux @ 10 metres] and the Lumotec IQ Fly [dynamo, 40 Lux @ 10 metres], plus the Fenix’s beam is circular and far less useful for illuminating the route ahead.
While these are not comparative with torches, here are beam-shots of bike lights, here: http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp
and here: http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/index_en.html
Hope this helps.
The biggest problem with using a torch, and it only becomes a larger problem if it’s a very bright torch, is the shape of the beam. You will almost certainly dazzle oncoming cyclists.
For use on roads or cycle paths with other bikes around you need a beam which is shaped so that it has a sharp cut-off at the top. Also, this way you waste less light upwards and sideways where it is of no use to you, so a “less bright” lamp actually produces more light where you need it.
The lenses and reflectors are carefully designed in the modern bike lights and fairly expensive to make. This is one of the details that is missing in cheap torches.
Coming from a theatre background, I wonder if a simple ‘hood’ off the front of the torch would help with the problems of blinding oncoming traffic, something like traffic lights have, possibly offset to the right?