adequate lights

gazofglos

Hi all i am going to start commuting to work about 26 mile round trip but as i work shift work at least one way is going to be in the dark the journey is 95% unlit country lanes(beautiful on the daylight side of the journey)so i am going to need a reasonably good rechargeable front light i know i could get an all bells and whistles light for hundreds of pounds but i don't have that sort of budget so can anyone suggest anything in the £50 to £100 range that would be good enough :?:

simon_e

gazofglos wrote:

can anyone suggest anything in the £50 to £100 range that would be good enough :?:

Fenix LD20 + twofish lockblock from thephotonshop. 2 x AA, small & portable, plenty bright. I know a couple of people who use two, but one of these is fine for me on dark, wet Shropshire lanes in midwinter.

I've ridden alongside someone who has the Minewt USB unit, which is very neat but quite a bit more expensive and not significantly brighter.

Are you fixed up with a good rear light? Cateye TL-600/610, Smart 1/2w, Blackburn Mars....

gbsahne001

When my expensive ultrabright led light failed (forgot to recharge it) a £25 LED headlight was sufficient to light the way

prawny

magicshine from deal extreme, about 700 lumens for £50 and it lasts for 3 hours on full.

Zachariah

I would have to agree with getting something from Dealextreme. It doesn't have to be the Magicshineeither, that's just the one made especially for bikes - there are tons of other torches using the same bulb.

I got this torch (I just liked the look of it...). Together with charger, batteries and mount (neither of which are the cheapest on offer, the battery choice was arbitrary). All of that came to £38, back in the distant past of January when the mighty Pound was worth a princely $1.60.

I since changed the mount to this one, not because the other one doesn't work, but because when you have to remove the light at your destination, it's much quicker to undo the velcro strap than it is to unscrew it from the solid mount.

Depending on how long your commute is, the Magicshine might be the better option due to better battery life. I chose a torch because my commute is fairly short so a 3-hour lifespan wasn't important, and it's lighter than the Magicshine (and less to carry around with you at the other end...and is a very powerful hand-torch when not cycling).

In short, don't be a mug and buy one of the outreageously priced branded bike lights. The Magicshine and any of the P7 torches have the same LED as branded lights like these, which cost several times the price.

The build quality on my torch is excellent and the light output is quite staggering on full beam, I use the mid-setting for the commute and even that is overkill.

itboffin

prawny wrote:

magicshine from deal extreme, about 700 lumens for £50 and it lasts for 3 hours on full.

Truly turns night into day, i'm getting another one ASAP. It's so bright that most cars stop to let me pass :twisted:

sally65

electron EHP325. excellent

fnegroni

Just remember to have a spare ready!
The 1W (or a 2W if you prefer) Smart Lunar (or Bspoke) does the job for me on unlit country lanes around 7pm in winter...
They can run on rechargeable batteries too.

ince

+1 for the Magicshine. Cars don't tend to pull across or out on you at junctions as ITB said. I have even had a couple of cars flash me.

Anonymous

Deal extreme -do they have warranty and why do they keep catching fire -search forums..,

I went for a hope vision one for £63 240 lumens for 3 hrs (low ower gives 8 hrs) and uses 4xAA instead of £70 battery pack that goes naff after 8 months!

andrew_s

roadrider_james wrote:

Deal extreme -do they have warranty and why do they keep catching fire -search forums..,

If you want the warranty, get the officially imported UK version

Anonymous

I'll admit it is super bright for the price.

coffeecup

I've the light & motion Stella 200. Not cheap (I paid £150), but my point is that it's TOO bright!!!

I use it on pitch black country lanes and have it on the low or medium setting.

It's a great light (battery life is excellent) but I probably could've saved a few quid and gone for something cheaper

Zachariah

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Deal extreme -do they have warranty and why do they keep catching fire -search forums..,

Check their return policy here. As you'd expect, you don't get two-year warranties at these prices.

Regarding the fires, I imagine you're referring to this thread. All I can say is that I have a pair of 18650 batteries and they have been fine so far. Many forumites have the Magicshine, which includes a battery pack made of four off-brand 18650's and they have been fine. As with any consumer product, a small percentage will fail and a tiny fraction of those will fail catastrophically. Your odds of getting an exploding battery are minimal.

'Protected' 18650 batteries refer to an integrated circuit board that will stop the battery from being charged too much or discharged too fast - read this page for a quick run-down.

The thread mentioned above claims the battery spontaneously exploded while on its own, which implies a manufacturing defect not connected to the protection circuit. Since DX sells batteries from all mainstream manufacturers that would supply Western stores, you're not going to avoid this by buying elsewhere.

That link provided by andrew_s shows the EXACT same torch as the DX Magicshine, only for £150 instead of £50. The only difference is the warranty. Ask yourself this: are you the kind of person who buys extended warranties? If you are, then pay the extra.