Choosing bike lights

dancook

Hi all,

I used to use these CatEye lights on my old bike
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/images/cateye%2 ... %20new.jpg

But I'm looking to gain more visibility of the road.
The Maxx Daddy is a bit out of my price range, but I've been looking at.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Expos ... 360032326/
and
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Expos ... 360039445/

But this also caught my eye

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Elect ... 360025994/

anyone have any thoughts on these?

Thanks

cat_with_no_tail

One of these:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12623

held in place with one of these:

http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches/lockblock.html

Bargain, you could even get 2 and still save yourself over £100

seataltea

I've got this, it's truly excellent, add a charger, a handlebar clip and four 18650 batteries you should have it for less than £50.

In use and side by side it is brighter than a single headlamp on my new SAAB, wide even spread with a brighter conincal centre. Part of my route home at 2am this morning was along an unlit canal towpath and this SSC P7 based torch lit it easily.

Single battery will run on high for about 90mins and on low for 8hrs+ (left it on low at work and it was still on when I came back at the end of the day). Battery takes about 10secs to change.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15739

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5790

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1251

dancook

thanks I will see what UK options I have to buying these

alfablue

dancook wrote:

thanks I will see what UK options I have to buying these

Probably none - don't worry about buying from Dealextreme, they are reliable and deal with any issues well.

papasmurf.

if you want uk, then probably the fenix ld20\l2d is pretty popular, particular as a helmet light

plenty of people have the deal extreme ones though, so don't be put off by the non ukness

dancook

Thanks, are they not TOO bright for road use? I don't want to blind other drivers on the road, they might swerve into me.....

dancook

Oh, what rear light to people accompany this with?

alfablue

Smart Superflash 1/2 watt, about £10 but one of the brightest you can get. Simple, neat, functional, value.

Northwind

I'd be a wee bit unsure of the P7s for on the road, they're as bright as some old car headlights but they have none of the targeted aim, so they could be a bit dazzling if aimed wrongly (and I suspect to avoid this risk you'd need to aim them low enough that you lose a lot of range). Victims of their own success maybe The lower power setting is still quite effective though, and gives a long burn time to boot.

delcol

i'l second third fourth the fenix torches..

they are bright as hell amazing for off road night rides.

i run a hope vision led 4 on the bars and a fenix tk11 on my helmet..


for my commute i have a hope vison led1 and a fenix ld20 on the bars and one on my helmet,
yes they can dazzle drivers if angled that way but at least you can be seen and be safe,...
i found since i use the fenix hope combi cars stop and give way. especially on roundabouts,

look on photonshop

for rear light i would recomend the blackburn mars. or the mars 2

moggy82

Deal extreme bike lights/ torches have not let me down, id takwe a screenshot of my order history to show how good they are, over the last 8 months i have got addicted to torches and bike lights through DX.

Best setup would be a MTE p7-d sku 16092 on the bars and something like a trustfire Tr801 on your head, less than half the price of say a joystick with about the same output as a maxx daddy (ish). Get 2 Batteries per light, the new 2600's that have appeared today look best. $9.99 each.(for 2), will give you runtime of 2.5 hours per battery on the headlight and 70 mins on full on the bar light (dim to med on fire roads and get 2.5 hours).

And with the exchange rate the best its been for a long while $1.658 per pound, you get a stonking deal. Dont forget a charger and visitor to the uk plug adaptor!

I can provide QR bar mounts for £5 posted if you wanted a better quality mount, see link to my pinkbike in my sig for pics.

Chris

Dazzza

alfablue wrote:

Smart Superflash 1/2 watt, about £10 but one of the brightest you can get. Simple, neat, functional, value.

Not any more im sure blackburn has released a 1w version of their mars light, plus doesn't the smart light have issues with water getting in?

Another vote for the p7, it easily matches and beats bike specific lights worth far more.

For the helmet i use an ultrafire c1 with a superbright r2 host, no modes to fiddle with a 3hr battery life and fantastic throw with a bit of spill to compliment the p7 when running it in low mode on the roads.

No sense in wasting money on a bike specific light when led technology is changing all the time, from what i have read the p7 is about 600 lumen whilst something like the lupine betty is 900 lumen in reality there's little between them, and the lupine is a £500 if not more light.

alfablue

Dazzza wrote:

alfablue wrote:

Smart Superflash 1/2 watt, about £10 but one of the brightest you can get. Simple, neat, functional, value.

Not any more im sure blackburn has released a 1w version of their mars light, plus doesn't the smart light have issues with water getting in?

Another vote for the p7, it easily matches and beats bike specific lights worth far more.

I have 4 smarts, used them in all weathers, no water issues for me, but I have heard the odd tale, but for a tenner they are hard to beat. Blackburn may have the greater power now, but running 2 smarts at a time is only £20 and means you will have a backup should one run out of juice.

Dazzza

True or you can throw in lithium batteries and it won't be much of an issue.

Besides they have side led's as well so drivers can see you better for it.

Here is the 1w mars anyway i have the 1/2 wat version and i get cars giving me a wide berth at night.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=29543

alfablue

True, true

I use NiMH hybrids, they keep their charge when unused unlike regular NiMH so good for this time of year. In the winter I change them weekly, even though they would run a lot longer. I'm a bit to cheap to buy lithiums. :oops:

Dazzza

Well a good pair should in theory last you most of winter in flash mode anyway, hybrids batteries are good, i use them in remotes all the time as you know normal nimh are censored at holding their charge.