Lighting Dilemma

Dog Breath

Fairly new to the road biking scene (2 months) and I need to ensure that I am sufficiently illuminated on the roads for a mixture of lit & unlit roads.

I've read through the thread about the Fenix torches and this seems the way I will go, but my dilemma is which one or which combination. I think I've narrowed my choice to either the L20D or TK11.

Will a single L20D be sufficient to see and be seen ? And is it better mounted on the bars or helmet. I know the TK11 can be helmet mounted, but can the L20D ?

IIRC, the TK11 only has 2 settings. Would the general setting of 60 lumens be enough or does it really need to be on the higher setting?

Similarly, with the L20D, is the 94 lumen setting enough light or does it need to be on the max ?

If anyone has experience of these lights, I would appreciate their input to help me decide.

Cheers

DB

keef66

I have the L2D which is a bit older than the L20 (and hence a fiver cheaper), but apart from that nearly identical. Both produce 180 lumens in Turbo mode

I use it on completely unlit roads, and find I use it in Turbo mode all the time. (only use the lower settings when using it as a torch off the bike)

Bar mounted using a lockblock; simple but extremely effective.

I get 2 hours out of two fully charged 2600 mAh Nimh batteries, and carry a spare pair just in case.

Astounding bit of kit.

batch78

Also have an L2D, fantastic piece of kit, usually have mine in high, not turbo, mode, but this'll depend on how much light you personally like to see with, not how easy it'll be to spot you, both are bright enough.

As for bar or helmet mounting, on the bar is fine for 90 percent of my usual evening routes, but I have taken to helmet mounting a second light, this helps on the twisty part of my route and allows me to look into bends before the bars are facing that direction.

Also means that whilst waiting at junctions you can easily been seen whilst checking up and down the road, do make sure its shining onto the road though and not directly into oncoming drivers eyes!

Monty Dog

IME for riding on unlit roads, you need at least 200 lumens fo decent forward visibility - lower settings might be OK under streetlights to conserve power.

cougie

MD - however have cyclists managed to ride at night for all these years ?

200 Lumens is a lot.

DB - I have an L20D on my helmet - mounts really well and a Deal Extreme P7 on the bars - that throws out a huge cone of light and its only about £25 for the torch itself.

Battery life is 70-80 mins - but for about £40 - you can get that a charger and three spare batteries. If I had to get one light - I'd get that.

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/mountain_bi ... w_led.html

ademort

cougie wrote:

MD - however have cyclists managed to ride at night for all these years ?

200 Lumens is a lot.

DB - I have an L20D on my helmet - mounts really well and a Deal Extreme P7 on the bars - that throws out a huge cone of light and its only about £25 for the torch itself.

Battery life is 70-80 mins - but for about £40 - you can get that a charger and three spare batteries. If I had to get one light - I'd get that.

http://www.mtbbritain.co.uk/mountain_bi ... w_led.html

+1 for the P7, i have two fenix lights and the P7. If i could only have one light it would be the P7, AN INCREDIBLE LIGHT BUNDLE FOR THE PRICE.
Ademort

Monty Dog

200 lumens is about equivalent to a 10W halogen and is what you get from the latest 5W SLEDs - the price of these is falling and like the Fenix torches, £50 gets you some serious light output. I'm basing my opinion on riding on unlit roads and trails - you want enough forward throw so that your light beam extends beyond your braking distance. Previously, you'd just hope that you had enough light power to see the edge of the road and to avoid any obstacles, it's only in recent years we've actually had powerful enough lights to actually illuminate the road.

Dog Breath

Thanks for the advice and adding to the dilemma Now I have to decide between the L20D, TK11 and P7

DB

cougie

You dont really - I have the LD20 and I do love it - its a great quality torch - nice long life - fantastically bright too. But it is very focussed - so a pretty narrow beam.

The P7 throws out easily twice as much light as the LD20 and in a wide beam - it will light up your side of the road - its far better. Only price you pay is that you need to stop to swap batteries every hour or so.

Dog Breath

Hmmm. It looks like it may have to be a P7 on the bars, and a helmet mounted LD20, and plenty of batteries.

DB

singlespeedexplosif

other way round if you ask me..

hitthewall

No, P7 on the bars for flood, LD20 on the helmet.

This has been my set up but with another LD20 on the bars as a back-up light. LD20 is a very nice flashlight and useful off the bike.

I've got the flashlight bug. Started with the 2 LD20's and bought a Tesco Cree 3W out of interest, then got the MTE P7 (5 mode 7D model) from DX. Now just taken delivery of 2 x Trustfire TR-801s (5 mode) and an Aurora MR-2 MC-E M Bin 2 mode. The MC-E is fantastic. Probably similar output as the P7 but a little more focussed, more throw and a hot spot. The P7 doesnt have a hot spot as such.

I cant decide which combination to use now....

cougie

I would go for the p7 on the bars and the spotlight LD20 on the helmet. Thats what I do !

pbracing

After reading the recent posts on lights for unlit roads, I gambled £8 the other day on one of the 3watt Tesco AA torches. Couple of releasable cable ties holding it on an old cat eye bracket.
Plenty of light for the job I think. Of course you can always have more power, so I might spend another £8. Bargain.