pete75 wrote:Brucey wrote:Such lights are meant for offroad use only. I've got one and yes it does dazzle others; of course it does, it has a small, bright, unshrouded emitter.
IIRC you can't buy a dipped beam headlight of any kind for other vehicles (or any bright LED bike light that meets German regs) that has a similarly unshrouded emitter; it is a pretty basic requirement for bright lights that don't dazzle others.
cheers
Isn't it the case that all handlebar mounted lights are easily "dippable" just by swivelling them down a bit with your hand.
well kind of, but even if you do manage to achieve that, it usually still leaves the bright emitter on view and the light spill from that is still very bright, well above what is recommended, or indeed remotely comfortable to be near on (say) a shared use path. There are quite a few such paths near where I live and riders using lights like that are (quite rightly in principle if not perhaps in extent) usually on the receiving end of a fair amount of colourful language (which is freely littered with colourful Angle-Saxon adjectives) from other riders.
I have heard of people deliberately riding straight at users of such lights, to carry home their point in a way that can't easily be ignored. Somewhat hazardous, but when you are dazzled, that is the only part of the trail which is definitely going to
be the trail and not the hedge, or a ditch...
.... All a bit mad but I can't blame them actually; anyone who thinks they 'need' a light like that on such a path is basically delusional IMHO, and if you are repeately blinded by the same f-wit every day of the week it is likely to get you to breaking point sooner or later...
I will own up to having used my light of this type onroad as a main beam occasionally but I usually turn it off altogether if there is oncoming traffic once they have spotted me, which is fine since I would normally have another light on anyway.
I have experimented with a crude cutoff (made from self-adhesive aluminium tape) in the top third of the lens but it still leaves too much spill (from the lower half of the reflector) for use on shared paths. I guess it might be OK on some roads with cars though.
cheers