BBB Cycling Australia - Light Guide 2018

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Why is one light better than the other? It’s a frequently asked question and not so simple to answer. But it’s definitely important to know more about the technique behind lights, to understand which light suits your needs the best. Behind every light in our collection is a long process of development which we like to explain to you, to make the best possible decision when buying one of our lights. LIGHTS EXPLAINED Sebastiaan Bowier “<strong>Light</strong>s and electronics look so simple, but it has so much more to offer.” 4
LUX AND LUMEN One of the most heard arguments when buying a new light is: “I want the most lumen possible.” But what does the amount of lumen actually say about the power or the usability of a light? Because, every manufacturer can produce a light with an enormous amount of lumen. What makes the difference? First we have to explain the difference between two concepts: lux and lumen. Lux is the amount of light on a certain area. Most commonly, it is measured on a distance of 1 or 10 meters. When the amount of lux is measured, a brand wants the highest level and with a round bundle, that’s in the middle. Lumen is the total amount of light (in all directions) emitted by that lamp. This can be produced by the LED or the lamp itself. The level of lumen from the lamp itself is lower, because the light has passed the lens, resulting in loss of light. This is the most honest value, because this is the amount of light you really see in front of your bike. The light always has to pass the lens, obviously. That’s why <strong>BBB</strong> always measures the amount of lumen of the light and not of the LED alone. Because that’s not an honest value on itself. STRIKE 300 BLS-71 How does this look like in real development life? Let’s take a look at the Strike lights in our range. When we developed the Strike 300 and 500 we didn’t want to just boost the amount of lumen. We wanted to create two worthy lights on their own. Below you can see the differences between the Strike 300 and Strike 500. Both lights produce 28 lux on a distance of 10 meters. So they are evenly ‘bright’. But the Strike 500 has 200 lumen more light compared to his little brother. The Strike 500 has a broader bundle as well, resulting in 200 lumen divided over a bigger bundle. Why didn’t we choose to use the same lens for both lights? That’s because the human eye adapts to light. When there’s a lot of light, the pupil becomes smaller. With less light, the pupil becomes bigger. With a narrow bundle that’s very bright, the pupil becomes smaller, resulting in everything outside of your bundle becoming ‘invisible’. Because it’s outside the reach of your small pupil. A logic question now would be to ask if every light than has to produce 28 lux on a distance of 10 meters. But that’s not the case. STRIKE 500 BLS-72 The keyword in developing lights is ‘balance’. As a designer of these products you constantly have to keep in mind that the light has to match the needs of each user. A helmet light has to create more of a hotspot, while a light on your handlebar has to have a wider bundle. And a light used on the road has to be about visibility. Each light has its own specific needs and goals. SHAPING THE BUNDLE There are three ways to shape the bundle of light. We can use the classic reflector, a lens and a modern reflector. Classic reflector With a classic reflector there’s not so much control over the light. Basically, the LED directly shines to the outside, only the light that shines to the sides is being affected by the mirror. This produces a lot of rings in the bundle and a bright hotspot, also called the ‘center’. This type of reflection is only used in the low end range of the market. Lens The best way to create a round bundle is to use a lens. The main advantage of lenses is that all the light from a LED can be controlled. This creates a beautiful grading or an extremely bright hotspot. Modern reflector When using a modern reflector, the LED is horizontally placed, shining directly on the mirror. This way there’s maximum control over the bundle. Mainly lights which are StVZO approved has to be developed in this way, because of the complex bundle that has to be produced. The main disadvantage is the loss of a lot of light when using this type of reflector. The Swat BLS-105K has a bundle right in front of the wheel and one further in front of the rider. The bundle in the distance is broad and the amount of light is as equally divided over the bundle as possible. This way we created a functional bundle, but the amount of lumen and lux is not comparable with a round bundle. On the next page is an example of the Swat light. classic reflector lens LIGHTS EXPLAINED LIGHTS GUIDE 300 LUMEN 28 LUX AT 10 METER 60° BEAM ANGLE 13° HOT SPOT ANGLE 500 LUMEN 28 LUX AT 10 METER 90° BEAM ANGLE 20° HOT SPOT ANGLE Taking a closer look at one of the lights from our range with a modern reflector, we can see clearly two bundles. modern reflector 5
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BBB Cycling Australia - Light Guide 2018

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