Rechargeable lights - are these good?!

dangermouse195
dangermouse195 Posts: 2
edited June 2008 in Commuting chat
Hi everyone

Just ought a new bike for commuting and spotted these rechargeable lights on ebay - are they any good please and what is a good price?!!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=010

Many thanks :wink:

Comments

  • always_tyred
    always_tyred Posts: 4,965
    Are you looking for lights to see with, or be seen?

    If the latter, there are a plethora of bright led's out there which you might find more reliable.

    If the former, the e-bay product appears to be competing with brands such as Smart in the £50-60 range. Factor in 2nd hand, questionable brand (the bulbs will be bought in but the battery and quality of connections and weather proofing is anyone's guess) and ebay and I suppose that £20-£25 might be reasonable?? (Sorry - not much of an ebayer myself)
  • dang65
    dang65 Posts: 1,006
    If you're riding on genuinely dark roads then lights of this kind of spec will make a huge difference. Standard "be seen" bike lights or LEDs are completely useless at illuminating a dark road, but these will light up the whole place like it's daytime (slight exaggeration, but near enough).

    I've got a similar cheapo set - not the same make but the same spec and they look pretty much identical. They've done a couple of winters so far and still going strong. Only need to charge them once a week in my case (only 16 miles a day, and a lot of the time I only need the bright lights in the evening anyway).

    So, without knowing that brand exactly, I'd say they look ok.
  • dang65
    dang65 Posts: 1,006
    Always Tyred wrote:
    Factor in 2nd hand...
    As far as I can tell, the lights, battery and charger are new. It just says that the "clips are used, rest is un-used"
  • Belv
    Belv Posts: 866
    I have some of those.
    First winter they were faultless, then i didn't touch them over the summer and they didn't hold a charge as well last winter and i ran them for about 2 hours of use between charges as sometimes they wouldn't quite make 3 hours, depending on how often both beams were used.
    I got them to light up one unlit downhill section of road that i need to use occasionally to get to our second office and whilst i don't feel they provide enough light for safety over about 20mph, they do a good enough job to get me flashed by oncoming cars if they're aimed to high. The 10W light is described as 'not for road use', but i think that's a bit optimistic.
    Paid £25 and very satisfied with their performance for that price.

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