Yes the dude yelled HAY TURN OFF THAT GOD DAMN LIGHT, IT’S BLINDING ME. I stopped in the left turn lane waiting for my green and he pulled up behind me, my Cygolite Hypershot 350 is always set to flash and this is the fourth time someone complained about my little light and BTY it was day time again.
UPDATE. https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/flashing-bike-lights/
by justvapingalong
26 Comments
I’ve seen folks with super bright lights (flashing or otherwise) that are pointed at eye level that makes it blinding coming in the other direction.
Make sure it’s pointed downward to avoid blinding oncoming traffic.
If four separate people complained about my light I’d consider my light.
If four people have complained there is an issue. Flashing lights make no practical sense as they don’t light the road in front of you and they don’t give a driver or other cyclists an easy frame of reference as to how far away you are or how fast you are moving. All they do is irritate everyone.
Get a proper headlight aimed at the road in front of you, not up in the eyes of everyone else and set it at a steady pattern.
I regularly pass someone on my morning commutes who has started using what I’m pretty sure is the same light. It’s too dazzling for urban use, IMO. I actually hooked over to a different route to avoid having to come up right behind them last week.
With the days getting shorter in North America, I am considering getting one of these newer headlights with beam cutoff. I need a bright light to see on dark / wet paths, but I don’t want to blind other people.
I interpret any yelling as confirmation that I’ve been seen and move on with my day.
If I’m behind a car, I just turn my front wheel, or cover the light so it’s not flashing in the drivers mirror.
I point my headlight downward to avoid this very issue. During the winter time, when it’s dark outside, I often get blinded by cyclists using very high lumens headlights & often times have put my hand out to block their light, so I can see.
Everyone hates flashing lights. Get a proper light my dude.
unironically a fantastic advertisement
FYI, this is a rear light. And I have one too, it is very bright. It does have a dimming option.
Obnoxiously bright head lights pointed straight outward is by far my biggest pet peeve by other cyclists. Nothing induces instant rage more than their complete obliviousness/disregard for fellow citizens. If you are traveling thru a dark wooded trail at midnight that’s one thing (light can still be pointed down), but most cyclists probably live in suburban and urban areas with ample amounts of ambient street and building lighting. You don’t need a 300 lumen headlight to see the road. A 100 lumen (at most) headlight pointed down will make you visible to drivers and other pedestrians/cyclists and that’s all you need it to do.
I’ve had the opposite experience once–it was sunny bright and I was shouted at for NOT having a light. I was so speechless I didn’t say a word.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t, that’s the pathos of cycling alright. There’s no ‘correct’ cyclist because every cyclist will receive criticism for this AND that.
Anecdotally I’ve found I’ve received more aggression when my big red light is flashing vs not.
When they yell me me, I respond with “good, it works, you saw me”
Flashing rear red lights are cool?
To be fair, as a cyclist I have seen plenty, and told some, other cyclists their light is too bright, even in the middle of the day. Followed a guy on my ride home that I had to stay way far behind because his rear light was so bright even in daylight.
I personally think solid on and making sure it’s pointed slightly down is the best. Still visible but it’s not annoying or possibly blinding people.
Hypershot 350 is a taillight right? I have the 200 and when I first got it, I tested the light modes in day light to see how they were. I found the flashing ones too bright and blinding even for the day. The only modes that were okay and I only use are the solid at a lower brightness and the pulsing one which slowly gets brighter than goes back to dim and repeats.
Flashing lights are obnoxious and dangerous (hence being banned in many places). If you’re worried about being seen get a reflective vest.
That light is so you see me. Quite often, when that light is on, you still try to pull out in front of me. If it bothers you, yes it is bright, then don’t look directly at it. I’m just trying to not get killed. Sorry.
https://ibb.co/WDpP4vZ. Cygolite with beam cutoff made from 2 chopsticks & tape.
To aim, point at a wall, and note the top of the beam on the wall. Back your bike up a bit, and make sure the light hits the wall no higher than before.
Regarding flash setting… I only do flashing with Knog Frog lights (with coin battery), and only in daytime.
You have to flash the light right into the carbrain’s face or he will not see you. This is the reality. You rather get splattered on the pavement by a random 60mph Dodge charger instead of annoying a few whiny Karens who choose to drive their 4 ton box down a bike lane?
Fuck em is the correct answer. My life is worth more than your comfort.
I have an adjustable light. I always aim it down on the ground when I have someone meeting me, because I know that shit is strong af and there are a lot of cyclists out there who really don’t give a shit.
But people in cars often don’t give a shit either, so if they won’t turn their full beams off just because I’m on a stupid bike, then I turn on full brightness and aim that shit at him until he turns his shit off. Usually they get it instantly, but I had one idiot honk at me while he still had his full beams on.
**OP**, you are NOT an asshole for being safe. And these responses to you are appalling. I don’t think these people that are calling you inconsiderate, etc…commute at all. This sounds like some car driving, peleton, fair-weather, hug the curb, never take the lane, bullshit bikers.
**Stay Visible, Stay Relevant, Stay Predictable**
I’ve seen City trucks with bright flashing white lights on the front and bright yellow lights on the back honestly I’m trying to figure out how to make a tail light that flashes while you pedal but when you are sitting at a stoplight or hitting the brake they just turn a steady red
Fuck that, after repeated near misses from drivers who ‘didn’t see me’, I bought lights called Blinder.
https://www.knog.com/collections/rear-bike-lights/products/blinder-v-rear-bike-light