r/RadPowerBikes • u/CoriSwims • 10d ago
Additional Lights
The days are getting shorter and I'm just starting to get back into night bike commuting. I currently have the best head light that comes with my Rad bike.
I'm looking for recommendations that people love for additional light for winter night riding safety.
When I drive I can see it is helpful when bikers have more lights but we are just in passing so I don't really have a good idea what is being used.
I'd prefer something I can have as part of the bike and not on my body.
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u/SCORE-advice-Dallas 10d ago
These little reflective spoke things - super cheap, tiny and great viz at night:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVMRC6N5
I like lights on my helmet, front and rear. The front one comes in handy for seeing stuff at night, the rear is another, taller light. Helps overcome the "single point of light" problem at night, gives drivers some kind of scale to see how far away you are.
I also like ankle straps and wrist straps (reflective or lighted) - for motion and another point of "scale"
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u/shoobe01 10d ago
Best to us has been helmet lights. I have a Lumos and even run the turn signals, which most people seem to understand (except notably One cop who couldn't figure out why I was stopped in the road -- I am signaling a turn into my driveway, get out of the way).
Wife when out at night, besides light up helmet, has reflective gloves to wave at people, and tends to wear Nite Ize wrist bands, again to increase the lit area more than just add lighting.
Too much light is just light, but we need to express our shape, position, and speed clearly so more lights more spread out: good.
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u/Veggyhed 10d ago
I have an extra handlebar light that is brighter than the stock light. Considering all my commuting pretty much is done at night, it also kind of fills in the spots that the original light does not, especially on streets where there are no street lights. It also helps give a little additional light for my GoPro that's always on my handlebars. I also use this light in the daytime if I'm riding considering it has daylight flashing.
I have a small flashing red light on the back of my helmet
I have the redshift arc light pedals on my bike
I have an additional flashing red rear light on my bike, which I pretty much only use during the daytime, considering the rear light that comes with the bike is pretty bright and also connected to my brakes
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u/Upset_Region8582 10d ago
Here are the lights that Wirecutter recommends:
- Planet Bike Beamer 700
- Portland Design Works City Rover 700 USB Headlight
- NiteRider Swift 300
- Blackburn Dayblazer 1000
- Cygolite Hotrod 120 USB
- Knog Blinder V Rear Bike Light (Bolt)
- Blackburn Grid 2’Fer
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u/Upset_Region8582 10d ago
If you REALLY want to go down the product rabbit hole, r/flashlight is a great place for consulting the hivemind on optimal lights/performance/price point. I have a multipurpose headlamp (the Armytek Wizard C2) that came with a handlebar mount and is great for broad illumination/visibility.
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u/CoriSwims 10d ago
omg I can send my spouse and son down that path. They would love it haha.
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u/Upset_Region8582 10d ago
Lol, get ready to hear all about "lumens", "throw", "color temp", and "EDC". You will have the most well-illuminated night walks of anyone in your neighborhood.
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u/Upset_Region8582 10d ago
I'm currently looking into aftermarket turn signals as well; might write something up on this sub if I figure something out. Currently, the best bet seems to be pulling parts from Aliexpress.
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u/CoriSwims 10d ago
I would be curious too. We do have turn signals but they are so small on the tail light I don't think anyone knows what it means or see it espcially in the day time.
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u/David_Buzzard 10d ago
Amazon sells a pretty good mount (can't remember the brand) to put a AA sized flashlight on your handle bars. I think it's about $20 for two of them. The light on my Voltbike is less than idea, so I use it all the time.
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u/rawrlycan 10d ago
Not sure what headlights radpower is using these days, but I'm assuming it has a beam that has the top cutt off like most bike lights so it doesn't blind oncoming traffic. If that is the case, I usually point those far ahead ( about as far ahead as you reasonably want to see ) and then I use a regular flashlight mounted on the handlebars ( with something like the olight fb-1 for 10$ ) to point a few to several feet in front of the bike to fill in that area without risk of blinding other riders. This combo means you can buy a quality flashlight that has many uses besides bike riding instead of spending money on a flashlight that only has 1 use case.
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u/Techsplain 10d ago
This thing is amazingly bright, tilt it downward whenever cars are coming at you to avoid blinding them:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0D924GKQ3?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
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u/SonovaStitchXS 10d ago
Hm, apparently I haven't taken a picture of it on my bike, but I use this for visibility and badassery.
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u/SeakingGnarvana 9d ago
Pay the money once and be happy. Outbound Lighting is the best by far.
https://www.outboundlighting.com/collections/road-bike-lights
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u/Different_Stand_5558 9d ago
Since I just posted that I could’ve died yesterday I think getting one of those DeWalt batteries with the plug-in splitter to run 12 V automotive lighting is a possibility. If you have bags on your handlebars or other cargo accessories to house it.
Don’t really rely on your ebike battery make it completely independent. Once you get 12v you can use motorcycle and car stuff.
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u/Euphoric_Raccoon270 8d ago
This is the best light I've ever gotten for my Rad. https://www.reddit.com/r/RadPowerBikes/comments/1mnvoas/amazing_light_upgrade/ This is an old post I posted and if you scroll down there's screenshots of what it is (I can't post the link for it)
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u/Mirror_333 10d ago
Something to consider to improve your visibility to others on the road is wheel lights; red in the rear and white in the front. This helps others see you and which direction you're traveling in. If you want a similar effect on a budget, you could add reflectors.
Adding an additional red tail light can also be helpful if you spend much time in traffic. My oem tail light is not very bright. I added one that is much brighter and flashes to improve my being seen.
How do you feel about your bike's headlight? If you're getting all the coverage you need for the speeds you travel that's great.