Best bike light for night riding on unlit roads

Im wrong. I meant those
Im wrong. I meant those watch battery strap lights that barely weigh that of a coin. Not really useful on dark roads if viewing is required.
I always ride with a set because at $1 per delivered light, the budget wasn’t stretched and they basically easy. Note. I rode off creek paths a lot during full moon night because they ain’t primary purpose as seek reads. Great spare light though.

hawkinspeter wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Hensteeth wrote:

I have a Lezyne 600xl on my bars set to full / dip at a touch of the button. Also have a Chinese torch with 18650 battery on my helmet which is like a full beam headlight. Any oncoming traffic I switch it off and the Lezyne is sufficient till they have passed. Headtorch would last about 4 hours but you can easily swap batteries. Lezyne about the same on dim setting. Have a look at BangGood or Gearbest. Very good flashlights for very little money. I think mine was about £8 on offer Inc. Battery. Had it for a year now and it is still fine.

I’m a big fan of cheap Chinese 18650 torches. I tried using one (attached to handlebars) that takes a single 18650 and found that it wasn’t quite bright/wide enough for my liking, so I hunted around for ones that take 4×18650 batteries. Now that’s plenty bright enough, but you do have to be careful to aim it at the road, but then what do you expect for a torch that costs £15?

You do have to be a bit careful with buying the batteries as there’s a huge difference in quality and the power rating (mAh) can’t easily be tested without specialist equipment – have a look at http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/ for more info.

I like the 18650 battery torchs too. I usually just use the very tiny cat eye type lights on front but not any good to tour unlit paths on. Torchs are great. Recently battery died. Was working perfect until after a plane ride.
Nowadays battery storage capacity is 4* what I had. Lithium ion batteries last ages if kept cold and at about 40%. Eg half charge in fridge.
If I had some earnings to spend I would look at the triple or quad led light arrays that are cased to suit handlebar mounting. Seen a mtb the other night and he had plenty to view with.

On road I’m watching with assumption that I’m not seen coming. Dark tracks the torchs light enough to maintain small pace. Back end is a Christmas tree. Lol

I have 12 miles of unlit
I have 12 miles of unlit commute and use 2 lezyne super drive lights. One is 1200 luman and the older one is about 700. I run two due to the risk of failure mid ride, with the added benefit of having more light available. I normally run them both on economy mode so maybe 500 & 300 lumen, switching to full power on downhill bits or on stretches where there are potholes. Obviously the faster you go the further ahead you need to be able to see.

More thought needs to go into the design of bike lights. There are times when I would rather have the light pointing further forward to see further ahead but don’t as it would blind oncoming cars. A circular beam pattern is a bit of a blunt weapon.

I run mine for ~2hrs. If you want 4-6 hrs I would definitely take 2 lights. I think my older one is 3/4 years old and still going well. They are quite heavy but equally are pretty bomb proof having been dropped a few times.

Hensteeth wrote:

Hensteeth wrote:

I have a Lezyne 600xl on my bars set to full / dip at a touch of the button. Also have a Chinese torch with 18650 battery on my helmet which is like a full beam headlight. Any oncoming traffic I switch it off and the Lezyne is sufficient till they have passed. Headtorch would last about 4 hours but you can easily swap batteries. Lezyne about the same on dim setting. Have a look at BangGood or Gearbest. Very good flashlights for very little money. I think mine was about £8 on offer Inc. Battery. Had it for a year now and it is still fine.

I’m a big fan of cheap Chinese 18650 torches. I tried using one (attached to handlebars) that takes a single 18650 and found that it wasn’t quite bright/wide enough for my liking, so I hunted around for ones that take 4×18650 batteries. Now that’s plenty bright enough, but you do have to be careful to aim it at the road, but then what do you expect for a torch that costs £15?

You do have to be a bit careful with buying the batteries as there’s a huge difference in quality and the power rating (mAh) can’t easily be tested without specialist equipment – have a look at http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/ for more info.

I’ve got a Mk3 Cirius and it

I’ve got a Mk3 Cirius and it’s had daily use for the last two years with no major issue, pnly problem was the stormport cap not being secure but after two years that was expected but a quick email to USE and a new one was on the post. Nearly bought a newer USE light but the current one does it’s job perfectly with only 300 lumens.

I’ve used Ay up lights, and

I’ve used Ay up lights, and found them very good. They do come with multiple battery packs.  I switched to an exposure Sirius, as it was smaller and lighter, which I’ve had for the past couple of winters and found fine for riding on unlit roads, but I’m not sure that it would have the endurance you’d need.

This gets great reviews

This gets great reviews

Ravemen PR1200 USB Rechargeable DuaLens Front Light With Remote

Specifically tailored lens for commuting too.