See and be seen
Lighting technology on bicycles is developing rapidly. While 10 lux light intensity was still a peak value a few years ago, winter cyclists now have ten times that amount at their disposal! You can never have enough light on your bike. Upgrade to the latest headlights and rear lights, the effect is clear! If you have to ride through completely dark passages, you are well equipped with an additional helmet light: This is because, unlike a fixed headlight, the light cone always follows your gaze.
StVZO-compliant bicycle lighting
A front headlight and a rear light are mandatory in order to ride your bike in compliance with the German Road Traffic Licensing Regulations (StVZO). Both must be approved by the Federal Motor Transport Authority. This ensures, for example, that they do not dazzle oncoming traffic when correctly adjusted (read more about the correct adjustment of a headlight below); a rear light must not have a flashing function. The lights must be attached to the bike in such a way that they do not slip while riding.
The bike light can also be operated with batteries or rechargeable batteries. Our colleague from TOUR magazine has Seven bike light sets tested.
In addition to the lighting, reflectors are mandatory:
- a large white front reflector
- a large red reflector at the rear
- Yellow reflectors to the front and rear of the pedals
- Three options for reflectors on the wheels: 1. a continuous reflective strip on the tyre sidewall, 2. two yellow spoke reflectors per wheel or 3. reflective spoke clips on each spoke
If your bike's lighting system is permanently installed, the following tips will help you with proper maintenance and care. You should check the connections once before the dark season in particular.
Check lighting system
Check your lighting system in good time. Contact problems only occur in exceptional cases with today's standard two-core and usually internally routed cabling: Dynamo or connecting plugs are often corroded or tarnished. Open the plug connections on the dynamo, from the front light to the rear light and the connections to the rear light, which are often routed under the bottom bracket.
Check the surfaces and scrape off any matt coatings cleanly. Contact spray ensures the flow of current even when wet and prevents renewed corrosion. Heat-shrink tubing or adhesive tape protects the connection from moisture ingress. Older lights can be replaced quickly: nothing improves safety as much as good light!
Set your bike headlights correctly
Bright headlights in particular must be glare-free and have an optimum beam range. Measure from the floor to the centre of your luminaire. At a distance of five metres, the centre of the light cone should still be half the height of the wheel.
Protect electrics
Insulate the plug
Slide a piece of shrink tubing over all the plug connections of your lighting system. Under a low flame, the plastic shrinks and seals hermetically, the current flows undisturbed.
Clean contacts
Corroded contacts will conduct again without any problems if you scrape the affected areas free with a screwdriver or, where possible, sand them free.
Contact spray against moisture
An occasional application of contact spray to the plug and contacts displaces moisture, improves conductivity and also prevents the formation of insulating deposits in the future.
