After some further consideration and testing I ended up moving the Superflash to the lower disc tab mount. This allows the blinkie to be oriented more vertically. I think for highway riding you want your LED optimized for longer sight lines and lower viewing angles than in the city. If I was riding the majority of my KMs in town I would stick with the upper mount as it keeps the blinkie tilted up slightly more which would be better for viewing from a vehicle at the shorter distances typical of city driving. Although LED bike lights are efficient and bright they have the disadvantage of losing power dramatically as the viewing angle changes sidways or up/down from a straight on perspective.I might be able to mount a Superflash on both disc tabs giving me the best of both worlds, but for now I think that is overkill [as I'll also be using a helmet mounted red blinkie] and I want to keep the weight down.
4 comments:
Do you have a blinki on the back/front of your helmet??????? ( your bike looks FASTTT ) :-D
Yes I also have a Planet Bike red blinkie I can add to my helmet. It isn't uber bright, but I think its height and the movement with my head make it useful. I am hoping PB come out with a brighter helmet mounted blinkie.
Don't forget that with Schwalbe tires the side view is reflected in the sidewalls. I like the fact that you ride with at least two blinkies in the rear. You could probably hang a MEC turtle light off the back of the seat if you wanted more.
B
Although I have a Schwalbe Stelvio on the front it doesn't have the reflective sidewall stripe. Neither does the 406 Kojaks I put on my Taifun. The Vredestein trire on the rear has no reflective stripe either. These are all considered racing tires so I guess they wanted to save the weight and didn't think a reflective sidewall stripe was a useful feature. They also have very soft/flexible sidewalls which might cause an issue with adding such a stripe.
I do have some turtle lights, but this isn't going to be a commuter bike so I won't likely use them. For visibility on the highway at night I think it makes more sense to use really bright LEDs like the Superflash so you can be seen at long distances.
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