# Philips SafeRide for Commuting



## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

when i first saw a picture of it i thought it was some kind of a joke ... but as i have looked into it, it looks like it might work:

@ 400 lumens:

https://reviews.mtbr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Philips-SafeRide2.jpg

it produces illumination close to NR @ 3600 lumens:

https://reviews.mtbr.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Niterider-Pro-30002.jpg

the difference being that NR puts the light EVERYWHERE and philips puts it on just a small patch of ground.

however for commuting, when combined with a helmet light, maybe this is just the ticket ?

the SafeRide will not get in anybody's eyes and if you need some motorist to see you - you aim the helmet light at him.

what do you think ?

i didn't want to return NR 3600 because after restocking fee and buying a replacement light i thought there wouldn't be any $ left defeating the purpose - but Philips is only $175 - so by switching from NR 3600 to it some $ can be recovered.

the biggest downside to SafeRide seems to be battery life. powered by 4 AA rechargeables users report about 1 hour battery life on high. this is pretty bad. but it also has a low with a usable run time.


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## MMacD (Sep 12, 2012)

I'd swear I read somewhere that Philips are coming out with a v2 that addresses some of the problems. Unfortunately, I can't find it again (that presumes it was a real experience rather than something I dreamed).

Being strictly an urban-streets utility cyclist, from the beamshots I've seen here and at Peter White's, I'm sold. It's definitely the best light I've seen for urban use. 

If I must, I reckon I'll get out my jeweler's saws and drillbits and mod the light to get past its short battery life, complicated battery access, and cheesy switch.


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

MMacD said:


> I'd swear I read somewhere that Philips are coming out with a v2 that addresses some of the problems. Unfortunately, I can't find it again (that presumes it was a real experience rather than something I dreamed).
> 
> Being strictly an urban-streets utility cyclist, from the beamshots I've seen here and at Peter White's, I'm sold. It's definitely the best light I've seen for urban use.
> 
> If I must, I reckon I'll get out my jeweler's saws and drillbits and mod the light to get past its short battery life, complicated battery access, and cheesy switch.


what do you like about it ? are you currently having issues where your light is blinding traffic ?


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## MMacD (Sep 12, 2012)

androgen said:


> what do you like about it ? are you currently having issues where your light is blinding traffic ?


I currently stay off the road at night because I don't have lights -- the old ones never really worked to my satisfaction, and with the new LED ones just looking at the beam shots for all the units til now told me that they would cause problems. I was going to roll my own, but my time is so overcommitted already that I finally had to face reality. So I was going to buy the least-awful one that didn't cost a fortune, but happened to see the PSR and ta-daaa. If bad comes to worse, I'll carry extra batteries with and just swap them. And cycling only for utility these days means most of my trips are under 2 hours road time anyway.


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## Maximus_XXIV (Jun 7, 2009)

Check out the German brands B&M and Schmidt. They both have lights with cutoffs.


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

Maximus_XXIV said:


> Check out the German brands B&M and Schmidt. They both have lights with cutoffs.


i want something decently bright, and i don't want dynamo. i don't want wires to my front wheel because i have to take it off every time i transport the bike ( which is often ).


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## Infinity123 (Dec 11, 2009)

MMacD said:


> ..and with the new LED ones just looking at the beam shots for all the units til now told me that they would cause problems.


That could be fixed: https://forums.mtbr.com/6541406-post11.html

I just ordered a new light, and hope I can make a cap for that one as well: https://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/new-clone-3-x-xml-t-6-49-88-shipped-814616.html


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## Maximus_XXIV (Jun 7, 2009)

androgen said:


> i want something decently bright, and i don't want dynamo. i don't want wires to my front wheel because i have to take it off every time i transport the bike ( which is often ).


Well, then it is good for you that they make lights with batteries. The brighter ones seem to be fairly bright but only you can decide what is enough for you.

Busch&Muller battery powered bicycle lights


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

Maximus_XXIV said:


> Well, then it is good for you that they make lights with batteries. The brighter ones seem to be fairly bright but only you can decide what is enough for you.
> 
> Busch&Muller battery powered bicycle lights


looks good ! less revolting than the Philips to look at IMHO. and for the price of philips you can use two of these and get better battery life.


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## JohnJ80 (Oct 10, 2008)

I just bought a Light and Motion Taz 1200 for my daughter who I caught riding around the university the other night without a light. Very impressive - great beam shaping. Needed to be an all in one. If it were a separate battery and light, she'd never use it. This is really quick to take on and off the bike and is really bright with a nice wide beam from the front wheel forward.

J.


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

JohnJ80 said:


> I just bought a Light and Motion Taz 1200 for my daughter who I caught riding around the university the other night without a light. Very impressive - great beam shaping. Needed to be an all in one. If it were a separate battery and light, she'd never use it. This is really quick to take on and off the bike and is really bright with a nice wide beam from the front wheel forward.
> 
> J.


nice beam but doesn't really seem to have any beam cut off up on top.

L&M seems to be the best at getting most efficient use out of Lumens but they don't seem to be concerned about blinding others the way Philips and B&M are.


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## JohnJ80 (Oct 10, 2008)

The TAZ lights have three less in a triangular pattern with two leds on the top. The bottom led has a diffuser over it to light the near field area. The two top ones seem to have an optic and a reflector that spread the beam.

I think the phillips light is trying to comply with some goofy EU standard which, IMO, is unnecessary.

J.


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

JohnJ80 said:


> The TAZ lights have three less in a triangular pattern with two leds on the top. The bottom led has a diffuser over it to light the near field area. The two top ones seem to have an optic and a reflector that spread the beam.
> 
> I think the phillips light is trying to comply with some goofy EU standard which, IMO, is unnecessary.
> 
> J.


philips and B&M indeed are trying to comply with "goofy" regulations, but for road use i think that is very appropriate. i wish something could combine the output of a proper off-road bike light with those "goofy" german beam patterns.


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## Maximus_XXIV (Jun 7, 2009)

androgen said:


> philips and B&M indeed are trying to comply with "goofy" regulations, but for road use i think that is very appropriate. i wish something could combine the output of a proper off-road bike light with those "goofy" german beam patterns.


Yes, an 800 lumen light with a cutoff to minimize blindness in other road/MUP users would be nirvana. I am building up a Philips dynamo today that I am hoping works pretty well for fast morning riding.


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## MMacD (Sep 12, 2012)

*Truly an EXCELLENT light for utility cycling/commuting*

I'd to make a quick run to the hardware the other night when my light was already tired from being used as a flashlight through the day. It conked out on the way back, but having the thumbscrew in place of that M3 socket-head (see my post on usability elsewhere) made all the difference. I swapped out the tired batteries and was on my way again in 2 minutes.

Although the light is fine as it is (I keep it on high because my age has provided me with cataracts that reduce light transmission), I'm going to see about doing a LED upgrade next summer similar to Petherman's, but using a slightly different approach because of having no "machine-shop" tools available to me.

Cars seem to swing wider when passing now that I have the Serfac taillight on the rear rack, and a Cygolite Hotshot velcro'd to my helmet. They look lethal when flashing madly.


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## CHnuschti (Nov 12, 2008)

Philips Saferide 80 sale at Roseversand Germany, 52 Euro, -19% german VAT/UST if bought outside EU. Current version with 35/80 lux.
Only today, just 3 hours remaining ...
Philips Scheinwerfer LED BikeLight SafeRide 80 günstig kaufen im Online Bike Shop www.roseversand.de


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

CHnuschti said:


> Philips Saferide 80 sale at Roseversand Germany, 52 Euro, -19% UST if bought outside EU. Current version with 35/80 lux.
> Only today, just 3 hours remaining ...
> Philips Scheinwerfer LED BikeLight SafeRide 80 günstig kaufen im Online Bike Shop www.roseversand.de


that's a great price.

also the one in their pic has a ball joint mount. mine doesn't have one. the ball joint would allow you to level the light horizontally which i'm unable to do. on the other hand the ball joint would probably make the light even less suitable for off roading than it already is - the light is just too heavy to be held like that.


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## CHnuschti (Nov 12, 2008)

I don't think the new mount is an improvement at all, I guess the old version is better and more sturdy. However the new version has 35/80 lux modes, which IMO is a more usable gradation than the 20/80 lux in the previous version.


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

CHnuschti said:


> I don't think the new mount is an improvement at all, I guess the old version is better and more sturdy. However the new version has 35/80 lux modes, which IMO is a more usable gradation than the 20/80 lux in the previous version.


both mounts are bad. the new one is less secure. the old one makes the beam project crooked. but the Ixon IQ Speed costs 4 times as much ...


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## CHnuschti (Nov 12, 2008)

Just a sidenote. I don't really share your enthusiasm and your eulogies for the Ixon IQ Speed when compared to the Philips Saferide. I've owned and used the IQ Speed some months, mainly on the roadbike. It was usable and OK, but not more, and somewhat on the bottom side of the "usability" on road bikes. Maybe there is some improvement if you use 2 Ixon IQ Speed side by side, but I guess even this way they are not very competitive in terms of price/value ratio.

See these comparative pics, shot in the same location with same settings. Markers are at 5, 10, 30 meters
Ixon IQ, Ixon IQ Speed, Philips Saferide 80


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

CHnuschti said:


> Just a sidenote. I don't really share your enthusiasm and your eulogies for the Ixon IQ Speed when compared to the Philips Saferide. I've owned and used the IQ Speed some months, mainly on the roadbike. It was usable and OK, but not more, and somewhat on the bottom side of the "usability" on road bikes. Maybe there is some improvement if you use 2 Ixon IQ Speed side by side, but I guess even this way they are not very competitive in terms of price/value ratio.
> 
> See these comparative pics, shot in the same location with same settings. Markers are at 5, 10, 30 meters
> Ixon IQ, Ixon IQ Speed, Philips Saferide 80


that is fascinating ! you have quite a collection !

a few points.

1 - if i was using IQ Speed it would certainly be with 2 light heads. to me that's the entire point of that system - the symmetry.

2 - in your beam shots both Ixons are aimed lower than the SafeRide.

never the less the beam shots are certainly very useful. the two main differences i can see between Ixon and SafeRide are:

1 - the Saferide has much more spill directly in front of the front wheel

2 - the Saferide projects a more pyramid shaped light patch whereas the Ixon projects a more rectangular one.

would you agree ?

what specifically don't you like about the Ixon ? this is very interesting ! i have been looking for direct comparison between the two lights on the net but couldn't find one !


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## CHnuschti (Nov 12, 2008)

Well. I still use the Ixon IQ when I'm on road as "civilian". For a road bike the IQ Speed IMO just has not enough power/output in general and enough flood in particular. And a distinct drawback is that the near field just in front of the wheel has almost no light in the first 2 meters, in both IQ and IQ speed. 
And I remind you that the IQ/IQ speed is an improved version introduced somewhere in 2009 with a better, but still deficient near field illumination, the previous model had almost no light in the first 5 meters:
See this post with the beamshot comparison: IXON IQ Speed von Busch-Müller - Seite 15 - MTB-News.de - IBC
As for the pics in the post above, the "spot" of all beamshots is aimed at more or less on the 10 meters marker, so I think it is a kind of representative comparison.

This post here shows the comparison between 1 and 2 IQ speed: IXON IQ Speed von Busch-Müller - Seite 5 - MTB-News.de - IBC , the improvement IMO is not really breathtaking.


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

CHnuschti said:


> This post here shows the comparison between 1 and 2 IQ speed: IXON IQ Speed von Busch-Müller - Seite 5 - MTB-News.de - IBC , the improvement IMO is not really breathtaking.


it requires login to view the pic. would it be against the forum rules for you to repost those pics here ? do our attachments work again on MTBR ?


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## CHnuschti (Nov 12, 2008)

I've put them online
first 2 pics 1 IQ speed, 3/4/5 2 IQ speed. Not very good pics however, not so informative.


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## androgen (Apr 28, 2005)

CHnuschti said:


> I've put them online


thanks bro.

you know, it's not really bad, but considering the price it really should be better than that i guess.

also, for $139 that i paid for Philips i can accept sub-par performance, but the Ixon IQ Speed costs as much as Seca 1700 but its performance is still on the Philips level ...

that said, i just realized B&M has IQ2 system which looks like exactly what you wanted. the problem is so far it only comes in Dynamo ... ( Luxos U and Luxos B )


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