Bright lights

kev2b3

Hi all
i need to choose a good single or set of front lights for my commute. Most of my riding is through lanes and a small off road section which runs through a small woods. I need a light which is powerful enough to be seen by oncoming traffic, so hopefully they can see me and dip there car lights before blinding me and powerful enough to light up the road in front of me on our darkest nights. My ride to work and back take about 160 mins so i need the light to last atleast that long before re charging.


many thanks

ride_whenever

please use the search function and give us a budget, which we will then ignore and suggest AY-Ups

Taita

That is a serious commute! Dedication!

ride_whenever

Actually it sounds like a pretty cool commute, what are you riding for it?

GOLDGPR

kev,

try this post its for Fenix lights should be ideal for what you want and cost loads less than ayeup's (although do think they are good also)

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/forums/vie ... t=12574953

g

RufusA

kev2b3 wrote:

.... powerful enough to be seen by oncoming traffic, so hopefully they can see me and dip there car lights....

IMHO most car drivers will see even a weakish blinky cateye, however unless you are dazzling them, they may not always think they are dazzling you. In my experience, sadly, drivers rarely dip their beams for cyclists. Even if you have super-bright dazzling lights, then unless you have a means of also dipping them, you're not going to win any friends.

As to recommendations, for that type of commute you need something long lasting, robust, and reliable. Ay-Up all the way.

FWIW I was a cheapskate, and (which I now regret) chose a Dinotte 200L-AA version when it was on special offer.

The light is *just* bright enough for unlit lanes on high power. However I struggle with reliability. The battery holder is pants, the connection between the battery holder and the light is pants. With a series of elastic bands, velcro etc. I can just about be confident that it will illuminate for most of my journey.

However if I'm unlucky, go over too big a bump you get a momentary dip in power which puts the lights in to lower-powered permanently on, dim mode. Then you have to stop, remove connector, wait, reconnect and set off again, except if it's raining when it's hit and miss you'll make a reliable waterproof connection.

Additionally the light consumes power even when switched off, so unless you remember to disconnect the batteries from the light at the end of each journey, you can find within a week it's used over half of your power doing nothing.

Battery life for high capacity rechargeables is only 2 hours on high power (real world possibly less). So won't even make your distance.

The lithium version is by all accounts much better but IMHO avoid the AA version as a sole/main source of light.

Rufus.

kev2b3

Thanks for all the replys. I have taken a look at the Ay-ups, sound like a great light but a bit expensive. I might take a look at the NiteRider MiNewt X2 Dual LED Front lights which seem to have a good review.
I am lucky i do have a fantasic commute,although it does get pretty hard in the winter. the best part about it is, i set off from home at 04:00 in the morning and the amount of wild life i see around the lanes is fantastic.Best yong badgers and foxes and the worse was running over a adder.

GOLDGPR

Put a fenix L2d on your helmet then point it at the driver they will soon dip there lights! works great.

andrewc3142

I recently got an Exposure Race Maxx. Compact and bright enough to see by as well as be seen. My commute is about 1hr 45m door to door each way and I figure this justifies the cost, especially with winter coming on.

house_trained

I can vouch for Dinnotte's. I borrowed a mate's for the Dunwich Dynamo, and it lit the country lanes up well. The battery did run out about half way through, but that was after about 3-4 hours, so your commute should be fine.

Not having the money to buy Ay-up's or Dinnotte's myself, I found this site:

http://www.netpcdirect.co.uk/luxeon_torches.php

But I've yet to buy anything from there. They look equivelent to Fenix's, but are a lot cheaper. If anyone's bought one, I'd like to know what they're like. I'll be buying some before winter sets in though

Stuww

I use a similar site http://www.dealextreme.com/ they have proved very reliable with quick delivery from Hong Kong.

I used a high power led head torch and two Fenix clones to do the Exmouth Exodus, plenty of light to descend Cheddar Gorge in the pitch black!!

Tesco's sell a 2 x AA Fenix style torch for £9.99, nice beam and very powerfull. Worth a gamble at that price.

These are good for mounting two torches piggy back http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12000 and these are also worth a look http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13004 , http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8274

I'm slowly collecting a box of assorted torches and electrical bits to rig up a homebrewed light. Watch this space!!

Hope you find something to light the way on your mega commute, thought my 45 - 60 minute each way was long enough!!

Stu