Best sub-£50 lights

ross_mcculloch

I don't do much night time riding but I'll soon be going out for a few night rides and need to get a new front light.

The people I'm going with all have fairly pricey kit and will pretty much light up the trail for me. I'm after something under £50 that will give me a decent light without me having to carry a battery pack on the bike itself.

Anyone know of any bargains at the moment?

Andy B

As far as I know you won't get anything decent that doesn't come without a battery pack that you have to mount on the bike.

I use a set of Electron EHP 315's, you get approx 2 hours on max brightness 10w & 5w bulb on & about 3 hours with the 10w only

The Spiderman

Have a look at the Electron EHP315s £47 0n Merlin or CRC.I ran them last year and surprisingly good,for the cash.

ride_whenever

carrots...

supersonic

BLT Metrino:

http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/pr ... p=0&gclid=

Very well made, neat battery pack.

Underscore

Consider a Fenix L2D Q5 torch with a two-fish lockblock. I use one on my helmet and am well impressed with the amount of light and the runtime.

_

ross_mcculloch

Think you guys are right, I probably will need to bite the bullet and get something with a battery that mounts on, they're all good suggestions.

Where exactly would the Metrino battery pack mount onto my bike?

At thi price range should I always be choosing Halogen over the smaller LED units?

(I'm new to all this just incase it wasn't obvious!)

rrsodl

ross_mcculloch wrote:

I don't do much night time riding but I'll soon be going out for a few night rides and need to get a new front light.

The people I'm going with all have fairly pricey kit and will pretty much light up the trail for me. I'm after something under £50 that will give me a decent light without me having to carry a battery pack on the bike itself.

Anyone know of any bargains at the moment?

In that case go for the Fenix L2D Q5 - I have the Fenix P3D Q5 and it's excellent but the batteries last only one hour.

2 x L2D Q5 would be aboutr £60 and I would not be surprised that they outshine some of the more expensive and heavier lights your friends have -- I still think that just one L2D would be plenty.


Rick

Milkie

I bought a 2nd hand Cateye Stadium 3 for £55.

I'm well impressed for the money. Damn bright, lasts long too.

But it is a bit of a gamble buying 2nd hand, especially when the batteries are well expensive.

pocketsprocket

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... m153.l1262

I've just ordered these for £30 including delivery, i'll give an update when they arrive in the next fortnigh! :?

ross_mcculloch

The Cree lights have been recommended elsewhere, seems a total bargain.

Will you pay much in export tax since they're coming from Hong Kong?

Also, do the LED lights not produce a very narrow beam compared to halogen, ie does it not make night time riding difficult?

dirtbiker100

leds can be just as wide or wider than halogen - it depends on the lens, not the bulb.

pocketsprocket

ross_mcculloch wrote:

The Cree lights have been recommended elsewhere, seems a total bargain.

Will you pay much in export tax since they're coming from Hong Kong?

Also, do the LED lights not produce a very narrow beam compared to halogen, ie does it not make night time riding difficult?

Well they've just arrived today, i've got some 2800mah batteries on charge at home so i'll find out this evening.

They arrived 4 days after I ordered them!! No import duty to pay and it appears very solidly constructed.

The reflector has the orange peel finish which removes the rings that often plague high powered LED lights.

One thing that has surprised me is how tiny the whole unit is, approx 4" long.

I'll give an update after i've tried it out tonight.

Matteeboy

I have this one and to be honest, it's fine for most night riding.
Also doubles as a powerful torch!

About £40 or so and used one for years. Battery useage not too bad and it uses AAs so you can nick them from you remotes!

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... 20Opticube

ross_mcculloch

I look forward to getting a report back on the Cree lights, does the battery pack just strap under the handlebars?

gk141054

Can't comment on the quality, but check out:

www.dealextreme.com

I have brought from there and know loads of others who have so they are legit... stuff comes from HK so takes up to 2 weeks, but postage is free on all items and they are damn cheap too!

Just search for "bike lights" or something!

For just over £5 delivered, this might be worth a try (53 led's) http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2933

M

spongtastic

Go for the Fenix with orange peel lense, they light up my garden which is 120ft long. Buy a battery box for 4 AA's and you'll be able to go for 6 hours.

Have used in place of my Electron 315's which I could never be bothered to charge.

pocketsprocket

ross_mcculloch wrote:

I look forward to getting a report back on the Cree lights, does the battery pack just strap under the handlebars?

Yes, there's an adjustable elasticated strap that wraps round the battery pack. The pack itself looks to have some level of waterproofing built into it with a rubber strip integrated into the edge of the case.

The button on the back of the lamp appears to be made of a luminous plastic.

ross_mcculloch

DealExtreme...Is there a reason why their LED lights are so phenomenally cheap other than the fact that they're coming from Hong Kong?

gk141054

Most everything on that site is dirt cheap mate....

Is there a reason its cheap... its made in China of course....

I think £5 delivered for a 53 LED light is crazy cheap... i'll certainly be getting one when I finally get my bike. If it breaks, its only £5, but its the same as the old watch scenario.... how many people say that the £10 fake they got from Turkey outlasted their £200 H Samuel one....?

pocketsprocket

Well i've been out tonight and used the lights...

Really surprised at how good they were. I went for a ride up Rooley Moor towards Ding Quarry in Rochdale.

The light is powerful, I can only compare them to the Smart 12.4W twin lights I had before and this tiny unit blows them away.

Beam length is probably about 30M and there is a good spread of light, it's not too spotty..

I'll post pictures in the morning of the lights in use.

pocketsprocket

Apologies for the quality of the pictures, but I was using my phone to take them!

The pictures were taken when it was completely dark with cloud cover and no moonlight.

The light gave enough beam for me to ride down the hill at about 20mph and be able to see any rocks/ruts.

It could do with throwing a bit more of a longer beam, but it's still very impressive.

Without Lights



With Lights (same place)



Another

SPOODZILLA

Deal extreme. You want the Ultrafire C2 Q5 1 way. £13. I bought 2 of these, 4 18650 3.7v batteries for £10 and a charger for £3. Fixed to the bike using hose clips from aldi, £2. Batteries give at least 6 hours of light each. I have one torch on my helmet and one on the bike, plenty of light. £40 the lot.

I understand the fenix torches are good, but when I can buy 3 ultrfires of the same price, I know who gets my money

pocketsprocket

I've had a play about with the picture, still can't get a realistic level of light, but this one's better.

ross_mcculloch

I can't get over the coverage you get from the Cree, thanks for the photos pocketsprocket!

Is that just one Cree unit you have attached to your bike? Did the battery pack attach under the handlebars ok without too much movement?

Spoodzilla...you reckon one of these would do for mounting some of those lights you mentioned from dealextreme?

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.792


http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8274

omegas

The first 2 pics probably give a good idea of what the light does as the sky is dark in the background.

The other 2 pics if you brighten them any more in Photosuite the sun will come out……. Lol

pocketsprocket

Omegas, you're right! Can I photoshop the ride before I go out?

In reality thought, the light produced by the single cree light was bright, but the tiny lens on the phone didn't allow enough light in to give enough detail..

omegas

Yes have to agree it is difficult to give a true representation when taking a photo of how good a light is.

Can not remember what light company I seen a advert for when they had taken the photos at night in the snow making the light look really good and we all know the snow reflect the light everywhere.

The problem with purchasing good lights is they cost a lot of money for what they are and they don’t always turn out to be as good as the manufactures make out.

If you can purchase on recommendation or try some out it make a big difference as the quality of build and parts can be very poor for the hammering they take off road.

The Cree light looks a good buy for 200 lumens as your not paying out a fortune and even if you get a season out of it, its well worth the money.

pocketsprocket

The thing is that i'm not exactly brilliant on a bike anyway, i'm always learning so i'm not outriding the lights anyway.

I've finally got a new bike (2007 Orange G2) which has transformed my riding overnight - I can actually feel the bike underneath me and thanks to better forks and hydraulic discs I can ride over more technical stuff without having to worry if i'm going to get chucked off or not be able to stop in time.

I'd read someone say that they had the same lights and they were better than some Exposure Joystick lights they had tested and i'd seen some screenshots it...



IMO the B200 isn't quite as bright as that, but it's probably 3/4 of the strength for lkess than 1/4 of the price.

they're probably nearer this shot of a Dinotte Ultra 3W

pocketsprocket

this pic was taken (in a dark garage) after 3 hours of riding on the same set of batteries .. I forgot to take the camera on the ride.. Dope.

SPOODZILLA

ross_mcculloch, sorry I've not been back sooner, no doubt you've made a purchase by now? I'll try and get some pics loaded tonight of my fixing solution. 3 metal O rings that have screw adjusters on them, hose clips!! Not that you'll need to worry about lights over the coming weeks - its getting lighter every night.