Front light - to see by?

RufusA

I've currently got a nice Smart light set (1/2W rear and 5LED Polaris front) which is great for cycling along lit streets and blinking like a madman!

However am thinking of tinkering around with my route which might take me over unlit streets! Has anyone got a recommendation for a good front light to see with, that will meet the following criteria:

Bright enough to illuminate a patch of road, with enough beam to see potholes etc.
Self contained (ideally no separate battery packs, cables etc. if possible).
Quick release (need to be able to remove from bike and lock up in an instant).
Resilitient to being chucked in panniers, bouncing over potholes.
Not too heavy!
Less than £50.

Battery life isn't too much of an issue so long as it lasts a couple of hours at least and can be recharged in a similar amount of time, or takes conventional batteries.

TIA - Rufus.

alfablue

I don't think you can meet your criteria for under £50. Most lights that you can actually see with will have a relatively heavy battery pack (Smart 10w+2.5 / 6 + 6 etc; Electron 5w + 10w, are the worthwhile ones at sub £50, the electron having a lighter battery). I reccomend a Dinotte 200L at £99, very small and light but does have a (miniscule) battery pack, runs on rechargeable AA's, will give enough light to see by at reasonable speeds. But its £99.

Pagem

alfablue wrote:

I don't think you can meet your criteria for under £50. Most lights that you can actually see with will have a relatively heavy battery pack (Smart 10w+2.5 / 6 + 6 etc; Electron 5w + 10w, are the worthwhile ones at sub £50, the electron having a lighter battery). I reccomend a Dinotte 200L at £99, very small and light but does have a (miniscule) battery pack, runs on rechargeable AA's, will give enough light to see by at reasonable speeds. But its £99.

i'm interested in getting one of these. can anyone point me in the direction to get the best price? i've found them at chain reaction for £99 but this doesn't seem to incldue the batteries or charger.

AntBike

The Cateye opticube will do the job. I've had the 1w one for over a year; batteries last for ages, it's well within your budget and is easily good enough on unlit roads to show you what's coming.

http://www.bonthronebikes.co.uk/228-79582

Pagem

thanks for the advice AntBike.

how does this compare with the dinotte?

incidentally, anyone else think the brand name is apt?

alfablue

Half the price of the Dinotte, 1w instead of 5w, therefore several times the battery life, but several times less bright. It's really dependent upon which aspect is more important to you.

tardington

In the spring I used to come home late through a park which was mostly dark, I had a Revolution wee torchy thing (which doubles as a headtorch*) and a 'proper' cateye - although the Revolution was a damnsight brighter - although the vis ring made it a bit TOO bright in the pitch dark, it interfered with my night vision

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 247m005218
and
http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 247m005209


* though I've never actually used it a that!

RufusA

Having nearly come a cropper by approaching a lamppost (in the middle of an unfamiliar "cyclepath") at speed in the dark as I was dazzled by oncoming lights and my puny LED front light did nothing to illuminate it, I MUST get this sorted this weekend.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to pester my LBS and find a darkened room!

Rufus.

tardington

Good luck! Should of said, but I have those two I said, and I point one down a bit (for the road) and the other more ahead - If I can get a nice helmet light I'll be sorted :-)

Rykard

SJS cycles have got a smart 10w+10w twin pack for £30 that seems good value

alfablue

Pagem wrote:

alfablue wrote:

I don't think you can meet your criteria for under £50. Most lights that you can actually see with will have a relatively heavy battery pack (Smart 10w+2.5 / 6 + 6 etc; Electron 5w + 10w, are the worthwhile ones at sub £50, the electron having a lighter battery). I reccomend a Dinotte 200L at £99, very small and light but does have a (miniscule) battery pack, runs on rechargeable AA's, will give enough light to see by at reasonable speeds. But its £99.

i'm interested in getting one of these. can anyone point me in the direction to get the best price? i've found them at chain reaction for £99 but this doesn't seem to incldue the batteries or charger.

CRC do the batteries and charger for £14.99.

I got 8 x 2800mah NiMH batteries from ebay for about £10.

mbukfan

As others have said bike lights to see by arn't normally a single package as they tend to need a larger battery pack. These are normlly 6 or 12 volt systems
the smart lights use a 6v pack (nominal) with 6v MR16 bulbs. You can get a lot more light by running the bulbs at 7.2volts but the bulbs will burn out sooner. I'd do this by getting 6Nimh C cells from the states.

The other option is to use a couple of the latest torches by fenix. They use a rebel LED which gives out more light per input power compared to any other LED (the best out there before was a CREE LED and bike lights haven't even come to those yet) You might be able to run the on rechargable CR123a li cells and mount them using little brackets
look on www.lighthound.com for details

FWIW I used the housing from some broken smart lights and put a 20w MR16 (philips masterline) bulb in and run at 14.4v (nominal)

RonL

A decent option for me is a Petzl Tikka threaded through the front of my helmet, needs a bit of tweeking to set the required distance but works well. I use it daily on 11 mile commute of unlit cycle track. Good for fastish riding with a great bright light. £30 and long life of battery. I also have an old cateye Opticube fixed to the bars but you certainly cant ride at any speed with that alone.

Jonah2940

I've got one of these (10). Use it on unlit cycle path and it does a great job. Light and rechargeable as well. Comes with helmet mount if you want it that way or bar fixings.
http://www.onyerbike.co.uk/showaccessor ... 88&tid=127

StefanH

Under £50 is the CatEye EL-530 which I used last winter on unlit roads and it was very good. It's only a 1.25W LED but it is more than enough to see by at reasonable speeds. It's also easy on batteries. I use a set of 200mAh rechargables and they last a week between charges (before I notice any dimming), easily.

Shop around and you can get one for less than £45. Wiggle sell them

graeme_s-2

StefanH wrote:

Under £50 is the CatEye EL-530 which I used last winter on unlit roads and it was very good. It's only a 1.25W LED but it is more than enough to see by at reasonable speeds. It's also easy on batteries. I use a set of 200mAh rechargables and they last a week between charges (before I notice any dimming), easily.

Shop around and you can get one for less than £45. Wiggle sell them

I think geargurl on ebay is probably the cheapest place to get that light. They have it with a tail light at the moment, but it's still probably cheaper than you'll find it by itself elsewhere.

Quite a few forumers (myself included) have bought their stuff before and found them to be excellent.

cooper.michael1

Graeme_S wrote:

StefanH wrote:

Under £50 is the CatEye EL-530 which I used last winter on unlit roads and it was very good. It's only a 1.25W LED but it is more than enough to see by at reasonable speeds. It's also easy on batteries. I use a set of 200mAh rechargables and they last a week between charges (before I notice any dimming), easily.

Shop around and you can get one for less than £45. Wiggle sell them

I think geargurl on ebay is probably the cheapest place to get that light. They have it with a tail light at the moment, but it's still probably cheaper than you'll find it by itself elsewhere.

Quite a few forumers (myself included) have bought their stuff before and found them to be excellent.

The Infini contrail is a 1watt LED from CRC it is £20 and a cracking light....better spread of light than the above cateye i have found.

StefanH

An El-530/TLD-1100 set is available for £46.99 from www.bikesyoulike.co.uk. I bought mine from there over a year ago and they are still the cheapest retailer for this combo (in the UK!).

Excellent value, if you ask me. I might even order another set as spares this week, at that price :P