- This topic has 34 replies, 28 voices, and was last updated 11 years, 9 months ago by
Sharethan.
-
CreatorTopic
-
September 15, 2014 at 10:51 am #22378
stefanitely
Hi,
The days are getting shorter and shorter now, and I wish to continue cycling in the evenings after work in the dark.
Can anyone recommend a good cycling front light to see in night time conditions? I will be cycling on mainly unlit B roads in the countryside – so need something fairly powerful!
Is there anything available for £50-100 price range?
Thanks!
:B -
CreatorTopic
-
AuthorReplies
-
I do a similiar commute of A
I do a similiar commute of A roads and lanes and I’ve found the Lezyne Decca drive to be excellent.stealfwayne
As well as standard front
As well as standard front light illuminating the way ahead,and a back up Knog flashing unit. I swear by the Tacx Luminous bar end lights (available from all internet retailers) the quality isn’t great and they are powered by single AA’s but they do ensure i get a little more room on the road. They have a pretty weak light but it’s enough. They also have a comedy element in that they have indicators – press the button on top of the unit and they flash Orange. Very useful.
My other lights are Lupine MTB lights from about 7 years ago – still going strong – superbly bright for the city routes I ride. Newer versions I am sure would be bright enough to send signals to the I S S.MKultra
I think Magic for what they
I think Magic for what they offer are not bad but they are starting to nudge into the same price band as some more established brands on some of their kitI started using the C&B seen who seem to operate out of their garden shed as well as they offer a warranty and some rather interesting new lights including two new self contained lights
One of my mates currently uses the zoom torch on a bar mount for road use as the lens makes it rather less brute force than the bog standard off road lights.
GrahamSt
A good trick that I think
A good trick that I think more people should do is to point a smallish light back at yourself – that way other road users see you and hopefully judge your distance and speed better.I’d like to see some bar lights that incorporated this idea with a small rear bulb shining back at the rider.
MuddyGoose
Here’s a link to the ‘C&B
Here’s a link to the ‘C&B Seen’ one that lots of people use – http://amzn.to/1qcWb3VYou won’t need any more power than that on the roads.
Blue_Brevatto
Well the short answer is ..
Well the short answer is .. yes bloody hundreds and multiplying each year faster than the proverbial bunnys. But before you start I would try answering some basic questions about what you want/need.1. How long does the light have to last between charges? And are you happy (or able) to charge it twice it day ? or only once a day ? or would you prefer to just charge it once a week ?
2. What is your plan when one day you get to 5 o-clock and realise you haven’t charged it and it’s near flat ? Or its been nicked or stops working or you just left it plugged into the home PC? Can you just cadge a lift ? Are you going to provision a (lower spec) “spare” out of the same budget? Do you want a light that in emergency will take a standard AA battery ?
3. Do you see yourself using a helmet mount ? Not all lights come with one, sometimes it’s an add-on for extra dosh. And some lights that come with one are too heavy to be used practically unless you like your helmet straps tighter than a hangman’s noose.
4. You should at least consider a dynamo set-up (no I don’t have one myself nor a beard nor do I pedal in sandals). But some people swear by them. The cost might rule it out – it’s a lot more £££/lumen – and not easily transferable). But at least dismiss it consciously.
5. What are you going to do if the light develops a fault ? It’s not likely but it does happen. Are you happy to buy from an internet retailer and if it goes wrong be faced with returning it by post and arguing with a telephone operator or by email ? And what are you going to do whilst you wait ? Or do you want to be able to go into a high-street shop and demand a replacement there and then to get you back on the road ?
6. What are you going to use it for ? You will need more lumens if you ride fast especially downhill or if you ride quiet country lanes where a fallen branch might lie undisturbed for hours. You need more lumens if you ride unfamiliar roads or ones with a particularly bad surface or prone to farm mud or gravel.
(FWIW on my commute on unlit but well-used and familiar B-roads at around 20mph -ish, I find 100-150 lumens is enough unless the weather is atrocious).Lastly before you get obsessed with getting the maximum possible lumens per buck it’s worth reading this article by Chris Juden explaining why doubling the lumens only increases the effective illumination by a factor or 30-40%
http://www.ctc.org.uk/article/technical-guide/watts-lumens-candles-luxbrokenorange
I dabbled with various
I dabbled with various Chinese Cree LED’s and found them to be very hit and miss with a couple of units giving in mid way through rides, not good it you’re commuting on unlit B roads. I then stumbled across a British company “C&B seen” and went for their 1200lm job and while it was bright enough (retina burning!) the beam pattern was fairly diffuse and a serious concern that I would be too dazzling to other road users. The clincher for me was that I didn’t really like the separate battery pack velcroed under the stem. If there was a chance I might not need it I would ride without it, surely it should be the other way around?In the end I went for a Cateye volt 300. It’s easily bright enough for a deep winters night in the North of Scotland, providing you are keeping speeds within reason (25-30 km/h) which I was quite happy to do given the typical winter road conditions. Has a good burn time. It also has some (good?) side visibility. Finally it’s neat enough that it will sit on the bike on the off chance I might need it. For £38 it is a real bargin.
I paired this with a helmet mounted Petzl head torch, not so much for extra light but a directed beam to look at drivers with, which i find especially useful at junctions and roundabouts.
A couple of extra points to note:
Most of the lights with separate battery packs are really designed for MTB use (big generalization) where you need to throw out as much light as possible with little consideration to other road users. It is actually illegal to ride with lights that may dazzle other road users. Secondly if a light has been designed for use on trails rather than the road there is every chance it will have poor side visibility.
Last point, I promise, the ebay standard Cree lights may not have the sophisticated electronics required to regulate the voltage through the entire charge cycle. This means that while they may be bright when fully charged, as the battery discharges the voltage will drop, resulting in a dimming of the light. Any of the lights from Cateye, Lezyne, Moon or Exposure etc. should not have this problem.
rxpell
I’ve got a big Magicshine
I’ve got a big Magicshine that I use for my commute when its dark (but it cost £115 I think). My wife recently started to bike to her Pilates class twice a week which finishes at 9pm so its dark and I got her a Solarstorm cree light off ebay (it was about £17 incl P&P). I try and go out to meet her for the ride home (after my 50 mile round trip commute) from the class – about 7 miles, 100% dark roads – and the light from her ebay light is actually great. Not as good as the Magicshine but at 1/5 of the cost (Its so good that I’m going to buy one too as an extra one).My top tip for Winter is have 2 x back and 2 x front that are separate so that if one fails you have another.
Ants
I have a Moon XP500 front and
I have a Moon XP500 front and Moon Shield 60 rear – both neat rechargeable units that are easy to leave on the bike most of the time. The separate battery pack set-up would mean that the time I may be out later than expected I would probably have chosen not to attach it. But for commuting the price looks attractive.
Also slightly brighter than my old Pifco lights.baggies2354
I have a couple of Cat Eye
I have a couple of Cat Eye front lights, a Lezyne and a NiteRider 600 which cost £125, last Autumn I took the plunge and purchased a 1200 cree from Deal Extreme for £23, looks very similar to light and motion front light, battery pack hangs under the stem.
It performed faultlessly all winter, I now use the NiteRider as a helmet light.
Delivery time from Deal Extreme is rather long but their selection of lights is amazing.cbrookes75
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pr
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008XH6S4O/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1I just bought this from Amazon, has transformed my night time cycling, battery pack is heavy, but it does exactly what it’s supposed to! Lights the road up brilliantly and drivers dip their beams much earlier than they did before with my puny little previous light, so I think I am more visible too!
If you fancy cheap chinese
If you fancy cheap chinese power but in a UK sold branded package, then the answer is Magicshine. Try the MJ838 as a decent entry level into powerful lights, available from Amazon here – http://amzn.to/1uDElNQ.Check out the mountain biking forums for people’s opinions of good lights. At night in the middle of a pine forest with mist hanging low in the trees and all manner of trail hazards ahead you’ll need a decent light.
SideBurn
Exposure Joystick, had one
Exposure Joystick, had one for years, still going strong. They are at the top of your budget but worth every penny!steviewevie
bamilton wackademical
bamilton wackademical wrote:Pah, new-fangled contraption. I was thinking along the lines of one of these – http://i1256.photobucket.com/albums/ii485/Jelatron/photo-1.jpg
Plus I had one of these on the rear – https://ukmade.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/y.jpeg
bamilton wackademical
MaxP wrote:The thing about
MaxP wrote:The thing about ‘Ever Ready’ lights is that the mounts came with the bike (at least for all of mine). People who had any other colour but grey were chased with pitch forks and flaming torches.Oh those were the days! I can still picture the blue green gunk inside the torch where the battery leaked sigh*
Fear not – you can relive those days
Drivers will see you from literally feet away B-)
-
AuthorReplies
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.