I just bought a speedometer for my coker. I am thinking about a light too but I don’t know if I should get a frame mounted light or a head mounted light. What are your suggestions or experiences?
Thanks,
Ben Edwards
A head-mounted light shows you what you’re looking at - you can put the light where you need it. But a frame mounted light is farther from your eyes, so you can see shadows behind obstacles; this will help you spot holes and bumps ahead. With just a head-mounted light you’ll hit stuff and wonder why you didn’t see it.
Twisty paths/roads - head mount. Bumps & hollows - frame mount.
Both is best.
Have fun!
Tim
I ride with just a helmet light. It’s definately better than just a frame light. You can ride pretty much anything you can ride in the day time with a headlight. You need to learn to read the terrain differently to see where bumps are.
As it’s for a coker, you’re probably riding mostly on road, so definately want a headlight.
If you’re DIY oriented, these LED headlights look like a fun thing to make (the first link in the thread)
http://newserver.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28908
If you really get into night riding you might possibly want a frame mounted light, but it isn’t that important, certainly nowhere near as important as a headlight.
Joe
Re: Coker Light
On Mon, 17 Nov 2003 21:05:08 -0600, dazedNcontused
<dazedNcontused@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote:
>A head-mounted light shows you what you’re looking at - you can put the
>light where you need it. But a frame mounted light is farther from your
>eyes, so you can see shadows behind obstacles; this will help you spot
>holes and bumps ahead.
On compact cameras the flash is (too) close to the lens causing red
eye and flat in the face lighting. Sometimes, by way of improvement,
the flash unit is on an extension bringing it further from the lens.
Now would it be a totally mad idea to mount your unicycling light on
some kind of stick protruding from the helmet? Would it compromise the
primary (safety) purpose of the helmet, e.g. if you fell on the stick
or bumped it against something? Or could that effect be mitigated by
making the stick of flexible material?
Maybe you could even make your lights in stereo, one stick pointing
left-upward, one pointing right-upward. On soft-rocking antennae. Then
paint yourself in properly matching green and claim you are from Mars
You get the picture. 
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“My butt has a crack in it , but I can still ride. - spyder”
Put a red LED under the seat at the back. Put a white LED on the frame as low as possible above the fork crown. These are to be seen with by traffic, pedestrians, bicyclists.
Wear a good head torch to see with.
Carry a small but powerful hand torch for additional illumination for tricky sections.
Hey Ben,
You are MY light.
Love,
Dad
