Thursday 13 March 2014

Have I become a Volvo Driver!

Over the few years I have owned a Brompton I have gone through lots of different types of front and rear lights. When I first started out I was quite content to venture out into a dark British winter with nothing more than a glorified LED Christmas tree light. These flashed a little but certainly didn't emit a great deal of power.

Times have of course changed. I now have a Hope Vision and Cree on the front. These were mainly brought to illuminate my way on all night rides where one really does need some power in terms of light when you find yourself in the middle of nowhere at 03:00 in the a.m.

The rear is covered by the excellent Knog Blinder and Metroflash. I have provided a link to all of these lights below to all my blog posts and reviews relating to them.

With the mornings getting lighter and sunset becoming later one would naturally suspect that in broad daylight my lights would not see much use. This however has not been the case. My lights are still fully charged and attacked to my my Brompton and when setting off for work or home I turn my lights on. 

As the blog post implies, I liken myself to a Volvo driver. Like the Volvo driver my lights remain on even during the day. It has now become so automatic that I do not give it a second thought. I am not sure that it is any safer but I find unable to set off for work or home without switching them all on.

Are there any of you out there who do the same? I would love to know.





5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the links to the reviews - the Knog Blinder looks ace!

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  2. Yes I do the same in daylight, two front lights flashing, 1 rear fixed and 1 flashing. Anything that helps sleepy drivers spot me is a good thing I reckon.

    Terry

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  3. I'm the same. Although I use the Exposure Flare for my rear which puts out a pretty bright 75 lumens. I've just upgraded to the Exposure TraceR which is fairly similar but is rechargeable using a microUSB cable. Day or night, I've got my primary lights on :-) If it's night, then I also turn on my backup lights (essentially two lights at the front, two and the rear).

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  4. Just got delivery of my Brommie yesterday. Took it on a night ride tonight. I bought it with hub dynamo fitted. Can't see the point of switching my lights off. TBH why would you buy a commuter bike without a hub dynamo? If they're factory fitted it's a no brainer.

    My other two bikes now have them as well.

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  5. picked up a Metroflash rear light based on your review. Blimey, that's bright! Looks pretty good & solid. Cheers!

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