Lighting

catflea
catflea Posts: 21
edited April 2010 in Commuting chat
Another newbie question here I suspect.....

I'm needing a front light to see by (rather than be seen by) and I'm a bit of a cheapskate. Any paticular product reccomendations, and what should I be looking for? I've found a bike light on ebay with a luminense of 11000 (lumens I'm assuming) is that a reasonable figure, or is it a bit carp?

Comments

  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    11000 lumens is mental, they can't mean that, surely!? :?

    Have a look at the What Lights sticky in MTB Buying advice for all the 'lights to see by' advice you'll ever need :wink:
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  • Jamey
    Jamey Posts: 2,152
    Is there a similar sticky thread for front lights "to be seen with"?

    I'm a city commuter and my route is completely lit by street lamps so i don't need to spend too much but would like to make sure I spend wisely and buy something that's not going to stop working after the first downpour.

    Oh, and it needs to run on AAA batteries as I've got loads of spare rechargeable ones lying around.
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  • the_hundredth_idiot
    the_hundredth_idiot Posts: 813
    Have a look at DealExtreme (google it) - you can get some quite powerful torches for relative peanuts. Alternatively, Fenix torches get some good reviews and are probably more better quality than some of the Deal Extreme stuff.

    Then get a TwoFish handlebar clamp (eBay?).

    And Robert's your mother's brother. Blows CatEye stuff out of the water for a fraction of the price (if only I'd known that when I started cycle commuting :( ).
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  • catflea
    catflea Posts: 21
    bails87 wrote:
    11000 lumens is mental, they can't mean that, surely!? :?

    You see, I have absolutly no idea what that actually means!? Its 56 LED thing :shock:
  • will3
    will3 Posts: 2,173
    linky?
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    11000 lumens sounds like you'd be riding with the sun strapped to your bars... I use a Fenix L2D or LD20 or something, can't exactly remember which and it's very bright, but still only about 200 lumens at it's brightest setting. It's strapped to the bars with a 2 fish lockblock. As someone has already said though, there are some very cheap deals through Deal Extreme but I don't know much about them.
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  • lost_in_thought
    lost_in_thought Posts: 10,563
    If I need a light to see by, out in the dark wilds of north Essex, I use one of these:

    ledlenserheadlampa__35587.png

    Pic is link.

    It's really, really bright, and at £26 a hell of a lot cheaper than many of the bike-specific ones. Oh, and it has other uses off the bike too! Bargain-tastic!
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  • Aidy
    Aidy Posts: 2,015
    bails87 wrote:
    11000 lumens is mental, they can't mean that, surely!? :?

    Have a look at the What Lights sticky in MTB Buying advice for all the 'lights to see by' advice you'll ever need :wink:

    It'll probably be 11000 mcd.
  • catflea
    catflea Posts: 21
    It doesn't give the unit - I guessed at lumens because I really have no idea about units of lighting.

    So whats an MCD? and is 11000 reasonably bright?

    Dont have a linky to hand. Sorry
  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    11000 is very very bright, i have a led torch that is about 700 and I can just about go flat out at night on my mtb with it on my helmet, 11000 is probably searchlight type levels and it is almost certainly a mistype, i would hate to see the amount of wire you would need to drag behind you from the generator to power the thing ;-)
  • catflea
    catflea Posts: 21
    Well, I've bought it anyway, For a fiver it has to be worth a punt at least.
  • Mr_Cellophane
    Mr_Cellophane Posts: 690
    Like this 53 LEDS or the 21 LED version. Both say "luminance up to 11000-13000"

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/53-LED-Bright-Bik ... 2305b9c873[/url]
  • cyberknight
    cyberknight Posts: 1,238
    The Hundredth Idiot wrote:
    Have a look at DealExtreme (google it) - you can get some quite powerful torches for relative peanuts. Alternatively, Fenix torches get some good reviews and are probably more better quality than some of the Deal Extreme stuff.

    Then get a TwoFish handlebar clamp (eBay?).

    And Robert's your mother's brother. Blows CatEye stuff out of the water for a fraction of the price (if only I'd known that when I started cycle commuting :( ).

    +1 i have one their torches rated at 200 lumens i got through ebay, if i had seen it here works out abut £10
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  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,752
    Mr_Cellophane wrote:
    Like this 53 LEDS or the 21 LED version. Both say "luminance up to 11000-13000"

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/53-LED-Bright-Bik ... 2305b9c873[/url]

    Hmm, putting myself at risk of being corrected by those with more technical knowledge here, but the SI unit of luminance is the candela per square metre, so that would suggest 11000 cd/m2. Looking this up here http://www.schorsch.com/kbase/glossary/luminance.html I found that that is roughly equivalent to a standard T8 fluorescent tube, so not quite the searchlight that it might have been, but not bad for a fiver. What's the power source?

    EDIT: Just found the answer: 3 AAA batteries, so even less likely to be super-bright without draining the batteries in a matter of minutes, but should be good for being seen.
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  • flamite
    flamite Posts: 269
    Thunder and lightening and pelting rain in Fulham apparently, g/f just rang... gonna be a fun ride home!

    im sure it was blue skies this morning??

    Edit: read fail, thought the title of this post was "lightening."..
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    rjsterry wrote:
    Mr_Cellophane wrote:
    Like this 53 LEDS or the 21 LED version. Both say "luminance up to 11000-13000"

    http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/53-LED-Bright-Bik ... 2305b9c873[/url]

    Hmm, putting myself at risk of being corrected by those with more technical knowledge here, but the SI unit of luminance is the candela per square metre, so that would suggest 11000 cd/m2. Looking this up here http://www.schorsch.com/kbase/glossary/luminance.html I found that that is roughly equivalent to a standard T8 fluorescent tube, so not quite the searchlight that it might have been, but not bad for a fiver. What's the power source?

    EDIT: Just found the answer: 3 AAA batteries, so even less likely to be super-bright without draining the batteries in a matter of minutes, but should be good for being seen.

    That is true, but the light patch (when projected) may only be an inch square and you need to be looking right into it to see that 'brightness', lol - nice concentration, but no area.

    The units can be quite confusing sometimes!
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  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    I Have a p7 Torch that has a nice flood beam to it and puts out 700 lumens, which when projected down looks just like a car headlight for output, it can be set to lower power levels and to flash too, but it's too bright to point horizontally on full power..
  • Radioactiveman
    Radioactiveman Posts: 964
    Recommend a hope vision 1 for commuting, £70 AA powered. Worth getting a spare battery holder as they are a pig to get out.

    Good light on max 220 lumens I think but tbh even on low it is adequate to light unlit roads
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  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Paul E wrote:
    I Have a p7 Torch that has a nice flood beam to it and puts out 700 lumens, which when projected down looks just like a car headlight for output, it can be set to lower power levels and to flash too, but it's too bright to point horizontally on full power..

    I have one of these - fantastic output for the size, and over a broad angle too.

    20 quid for all that power, cannot go wrong.
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    VOODOO CANZO

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  • Paul E
    Paul E Posts: 2,052
    supersonic wrote:
    Paul E wrote:
    I Have a p7 Torch that has a nice flood beam to it and puts out 700 lumens, which when projected down looks just like a car headlight for output, it can be set to lower power levels and to flash too, but it's too bright to point horizontally on full power..

    I have one of these - fantastic output for the size, and over a broad angle too.

    20 quid for all that power, cannot go wrong.

    They are great off road helemt mounted and tilted down on medium or low power I used them on my old commutre in Birmingham and it worked great too with a twofish lock thingy mount.
  • LazyBoycp
    LazyBoycp Posts: 320
    flamite wrote:
    Thunder and lightening and pelting rain in Fulham apparently, g/f just rang... gonna be a fun ride home!

    im sure it was blue skies this morning??

    Edit: read fail, thought the title of this post was "lightening."..

    Spelling fail - "lightning". :wink:
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    LazyBoycp wrote:
    flamite wrote:
    Thunder and lightening and pelting rain in Fulham apparently, g/f just rang... gonna be a fun ride home!

    im sure it was blue skies this morning??

    Edit: read fail, thought the title of this post was "lightening."..

    Spelling fail - "lightning". :wink:
    Very, very frightening!
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  • holybinch
    holybinch Posts: 417
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  • flamite
    flamite Posts: 269
    JonGinge wrote:
    LazyBoycp wrote:
    flamite wrote:
    Thunder and lightening and pelting rain in Fulham apparently, g/f just rang... gonna be a fun ride home!

    im sure it was blue skies this morning??

    Edit: read fail, thought the title of this post was "lightening."..

    Spelling fail - "lightning". :wink:
    Very, very frightening!

    Ok ok, its Friday, or thursday?? brain isnt working...!

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