I wouldn't worry about cutoff beam on your lights. Just aim the light down a bit at the road and not straight out in front of you. I run the same lights on trail as off, but on the road I'm generally using lower output. Flashlight beams vary greatly so for people to say that flashlights are a bad option isn't accurate. Yes the Nitefighter lights you mentioned are an inexpensive option and seem better quality than the average Chinese lights. I bought the BT40s simply because it was so cheap and they are one of the few offering neutral white options right now. The Bt40s is a bit floody for road riding and more suited to trail IMO, but still it will work. The neutral white beam is what makes the Nitefighter lights desirable right now and if it came in the standard cool beam color most of us probably wouldn't give those lights much thought. Well I guess the battery pack is of decent quality too compared to the typical junk Chinese packs so it has that going for it too, but they are also priced a bit higher than the typical Chinese stuff too. My only concern is waterproofness of the nitefighters, but time will tell on that one as I haven't given it a rain test yet. You are right though the nitefighters don't have a cutoff so they aren't going to be any less offensive to oncoming traffic than the typical flashlight beam other than the neutral tint is less harsh on the eyes.

 

I believe some countries require lights with cutoffs, such as Germany. We don't have that here in the US. You can aim them a little lower if necessary, or just lower the intensity of the lights if the drivers start getting pissed.

 

if your going to be riding just roads, dont use high powered lights like we do on trails or make sure they at least have lower settings (thankfully most bike lights do), angle them down. The thing of not using "flashlights" isnt a thing of directly angering drivers if used properly, they work just fine on the road as long as your responsible. Flashlights are more of a run time issue but any bike lights are going to piss drivers off if not used correctly. Ones with cut off beams just have a ledge that sticks out over the emitters on top so the cut off does NOTHING unless the light is pointed down like it should be anyway.

 

Do I need lights with cutoff beam pattern?

No....but for the type of riding you mentioned they could be better if the design were right.

MaximusHQ pretty much nailed it. Aim the lights down and you should be fine. For something like paved commuter paths a lamp like the NF BT21 can work very well when on the lowest level of output. Pointed down and on low ( it is very low ) it works very well and shouldn't blind any on-coming traffic.

Personally, for the type of riding you suggest I usually use a single emitter LED torch set on one of the low settings. Once again pointed down it is very inoffensive to direct on-comers and still allows me to see what I need to see. On roads ( with no direct head-on traffic ) I'm more inclined to use a regular dedicated bike lamp ( set at an appropriate angle and output ).

 

One thing I would like to add is I wouldn't be overly shy about using a bright enough light level to see the road in front of you well. Years ago I would run my lights too dim to see everything in front of me especially with oncoming traffic. I ended up riding right through potholes and whatever garbage littered the side of the road. Luckily on was on my mountain bike and it got me through without crashing. Now I run what ever allows me to see the road clearly even with oncoming traffic. There is more for a cyclist to lose if they hit a big pothole and crash then if some motorist is offended by your light light has to slow down. Sure have consideration for the motorists, but worry about your own safety first.

 

I have to agree 100%. When on the road you use the light in a way that both protects you ( get's you seen ) and lets you see what's in front of you. While you don't want to annoy people personal safety ALWAYS takes a priority. Besides, the way I look at it if you drive a car at night on a regular basis ( like me ) almost every vehicle represents a minor annoyance. Bright lights are "bright lights" and while driving they are all around you. Eventually you get used to the occasional "Superbright" car or truck lamps and learn to deal with it. This is why I never overly criticize someone using a bright bike lamp when on the road. For the most part they are extremely rare and generally not an annoyance factor anyway. Besides it really makes no sense to overly criticize a cyclist using a bright lamp when many motor vehicles are using much brighter lamps that are much more annoying ( and much more common ). The cyclist on the other hand needs to see what's in front of him and just as important, needs to be seen. Being seen helps keep him alive. Bright lights help him/her achieve that goal. If any criticism is to be levied at cyclists it is usually because "They DON'T USE BRIGHT ENOUGH LIGHTS TO GET THEM SEEN".

I personally have never seen a road cyclist using a lamp that was too bright. On the other hand about 80% of the people I see riding bikes on the road at night are not using lights bright enough to get them ( adequately ) seen or to draw attention beyond a couple hundred feet...and Oh how I wish that wasn't so.

Last night I saw a guy that was using a very nice set-up ; bright front lamp, bright rear lamp and a couple small wheel lights on each wheel. When you see something like that on the road it is almost impossible NOT to notice them.

If you want to go with a flashlight, try one with a small reflector/lens size like the highly regarded Convoy S2+ (my EDC is a Convoy S2 neutral white). Smaller reflector means the light is flooder and therefore not concentrated into a motorists eyes. The beam being more floody means it's more even rather than having a really bright hot spot with dim spill.

-Garry

Yep, that the Convoy S2 was my newest purchase. Makes a great back-up or commuter lamp.

 

If you want to go with a flashlight, try one with a small reflector/lens size like the highly regarded Convoy S2+ (my EDC is a Convoy S2 neutral white). Smaller reflector means the light is flooder and therefore not concentrated into a motorists eyes. The beam being more floody means it's more even rather than having a really bright hot spot with dim spill.

-Garry

 

The thing with a cutoff light beam is that you get the light where you want it. On the road in front of you so you can see the road without blinding traffic. With, let's say BT21, pointing down on low you will see much less of the road and still blind traffic more than for example a Philips Saferide (I know I have both lights and I have done som tests).

 

While I can see some advantage to a cut-off beam pattern for commuter paved paths where there is the possibility of direct on coming traffic, I don't think that such a design is necessarily the best option for road use. On the road you actually want to be seen by traffic that is approaching and you also want to see things in the peripheral that might become a hazard to you cycling at night. From that perspective a "cut-off" beam pattern could be considered counter-productive. Unless we start talking about lamps that emit over 2000 lumen and are in very close proximity to another person I don't think any lamps designed for bike use are going to be a major hazard or annoyance to vehicles that are driving down the road. ( when used properly )

If you routinely drive at night ( like me ) you see many sources of bright lights that are terribly annoying. There are cars with the new LED/HID lamps, trucks with lamps that are mounted higher, emergency vehicles with high power strobes, road construction crews with lamps designed to mimic daytime conditions, the list is almost endless. Not to mention that almost everyone has had to drive into the sun during sunset at some point. A bright bike lamp pales in comparison to ANY of these things.

If you're going to criticize a cyclist using a bright bike lamp you need to put all other road factors into the proper perspective in order to give the night cyclist a fair shake. It continues to baffle me that I consistently read ( from other people's posts ) how very bright bike lamps are, "Blinding to road traffic". To me this idea is one of the biggest urban myths I have ever come across. When I drive at night I get blinded almost every night by various vehicles or various sources of bright light. When I say "blinded", I'm talking about the need to either look away from where I'm driving or to adjust my mirrors or to lift my hand to shield my eyes. The only time I've every been blinded by a bike lamp was while mountain biking on trails and I came upon someone else using bright lights ( direct head on traffic that passed me in very close proximity.)

Lately I've been seeing more people using bright LED bike lights when riding their bikes on the road. This pleases me because the last thing I want to do is run into someone riding a bike at night. The more these people stand out the better and more safer they are going to be. Never, and I mean NEVER have I ever had to either turn my head away or lift my hand to shield my eyes from someone riding a bike with a light that was too bright ( when on a road ). In the future if that ever happens I'll be sure to talk about it.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. I ended up ordering the Cygolight Dash 320 for my bar light. I wanted something bigger/badder/brighter, but I think the Dash will do fine for my type of riding within my sleepy country neighborhood. I'll strap one of my flashlights to my helmet for now. Maybe once I prove to myself (and my wife...) that I can really get into cycling, I'll pony up for something better.

 

The lupines are great lights, no questions about that. But I still don't understand how you can recommend a 3200 lumens full beam light only, for road use.
And can someone tell me why it is such a bad idea to have a bike light with a cutoff beam when you are biking in traffic.

 

Have you ever tried one? Think about what it's like when you turn on your high beams in a car on a dark rural road. Same thing on a bike and just about the same amount of light. Descending on a road bike on such a road I probably have need for more light than a car because I'm on skinny little tires.

If you don't think you need that much, then don't buy that much.

If you aim a conical light down, you get the same effect for all intents and purposes as a "cut off" light.

Just a comment on the initial post. Would you like cars to drive around in traffic with just fullbeam lights?

Of course not. But I do think it's reasonable to have as much light as a car does. We're both vehicles. A car headlight on low beam is around 1300 lumens, if I recall.

J.

 

Question: How important is light cutoff?

Just a comment on the initial post. Would you like cars to drive around in traffic with just fullbeam lights?

 

I just see a big potential in reflecting the beam in a more smart way than just throwing it away in a cone.
I'm still amazed how good the saferide works considering the little amount of light it throws.

I also have 1,2,3,4 and 7 emitter lights with conical beams that I use when mountain biking. I have experimented quite a lot with elliptical optics on my Gemini Duo and Yindings. Those lights give you more light on the road, yes. But the beampattern is still better with saferide imo.
It is sad that the saferide have other flaws (bad battery time, bad emitters etc etc) and that philips does not produce the saferide anymore. It would have been interesting to here what you think if you got the opportunity to try one out.

 

I just see a big potential in reflecting the beam in a more smart way than just throwing it away in a cone.
I'm still amazed how good the saferide works considering the little amount of light it throws.

I also have 1,2,3,4 and 7 emitter lights with conical beams that I use when mountain biking. I have experimented quite a lot with elliptical optics on my Gemini Duo and Yindings. Those lights give you more light on the road, yes. But the beampattern is still better with saferide imo.
It is sad that the saferide have other flaws (bad battery time, bad emitters etc etc) and that philips does not produce the saferide anymore. It would have been interesting to hear what you think if you got the opportunity to try one out.

Yes, it would have. If built today using the better / brighter more efficient emitters the Saferide would undoubtedly be more popular than the original. Sad that Saferide decided to fold rather than to innovate and upgrade the product.

When the Saferide lamp initially came out I remember thinking at the time that I was not very impressed with any of the videos or beam photos I was seeing. To me it looked too dim and the throw too limited. Not to mention from what I could tell from the beam photos the overall beam pattern was not evenly uniform.

There are companies that endeavor to design bike lamps that try to control the beam pattern more. Fenix is one. There are also some German lamps that also use the "Cut-off" design but the last I time I read up on those ( yrs ago ) most of those were still somewhat under-powered. Perhaps there are some better offerings now.

The Chinese on occasion take a stab at trying to create a commuter bike light. While most of those tend to look very funky "This One" shows some promise. If you read the product description apparently the lamp is designed with a cut-off beam pattern. Funny because the Chinese didn't really know what to call it so they describe it as such...

( Kaidomain ad ) >...The NEXTORCH® B10 is a perfect light for riding, urban city and around-town commuting. It features patented RSL™ technology to provide a unique rectangular spot, delivering a 160 degree wide beam and whole-road lighting for greater visibility to guarantee rider's comfort and safety. The anti-glare design allows distinguishing the areas to be lit and those to be left dark, illuminating the road without disturbing pedestrians. The B10 has 4 modes, max output up to 400 lumens powered by 4 AA batteries. A low battery indicator keeps you from getting caught in the dark. The tool-free FlexStrap mount bracket that allows you to quickly and easily attach the B10 to virtually any handlebar.

...it would be interesting to see one of these in person. The ad beam photos look promising but alas it is best not to trust the manufacturer's ad photos. Sooner or later someone will buy one and review it. At least the price is right. If it has decent throw and an evenly dispersed beam pattern one of these might fit the bill for someone looking to buy a self-contained bar lamp for commuting and or paved bike commuting paths.

 

The 10x45 is narrower laterally but the beam beams a thin strip of light. Something more towards 20x45 would be good for that purpose but not sure they even make an optic that will do it. I know leddna doesn't, not sure beyond that.

 

Fenix has som kind of lens that looks interesting. But I don't think one can buy them separately...
Fenixlight Limited

 

And the elliptical lenses also "cutoff" the beam both on top and on the bottom of the beam. So you loose light in front of your wheel. You only want to cutoff the top of the beam.

 

I have long wanted a reflector from the Saferide to build a cut-off beam light with.

Spent a fair bit of time testing parabolic reflectors cut in half, trying to duplicate the Saferide. Not an easy job. None worked well enough to warrant building with.

 

Still buy them on amazon . $140 though

As for the fenix lens, its a one piece optics specifically made to fit fenix dual light heads. And its not a cut off (the over hanging lip of the casing does that job, just not great at it) its basically like an elliptical spot rotated 90deg, so you have a strip of light I. A line from the front tire out to the main spot. But the lip cuts it off so it doesn't continue upwards into eyes of on coming traffic.

 

Still buy them on amazon . $140 though

Just a bit much for a reflector!