What's the Best Light

NW Postie

Wanting to start riding again at night, i want something which will boast good burn times but at the same time have a good power output. I have a budget of upto about £250.

What do you guys use and what seems to be best on the market?

jonmack

Try checking out the bikeradar reviews section, for the last month or so they've been putting light reviews online every few days...

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/t ... ghts-28195

NW Postie

cheers will check the reviews out, just thought i'd pop a post in here to get actual user reviews

45rpm

try these

MattC59

Hope Vision 2 on the front.
Great light output, bomb proof, excellent run times (2hrs+ on high beam, ages on low), excellent customer service.

NiteRider Cherry Bomb on the rear.
3LED, flashing or constant, built in reflector, 1 mile visibility. 40hrs run time on 2x AAA batteries.

Been using the Hope for about 3 years now without a single issue.
Been using the Niterider for about 2years with no issues either.

Get a couple of the cheap single LED emergency lights (they've given them away with C+ before) as back up............ just in case !!

cougie

How long are your night rides going to be ?

redvision

any from the exposure range.
i have the exposure race maxx 2 and its incredible. 3 hours burn on max, 10 hours middle and 24 hours dip. i trialled various lights but this one won hands down.

on the rear, defo a blackburn mars 4.0. highly visible and great battery life (50 hours on steady, 150 on flashing)

antfly

If you don't mind spending under £100 the philips led bike light is as good as you are
going to get for road use.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~swhs/fiets/tests/ ... ex_en.html

and you won't be dazzling other road users.

buy_my_cookies

if you are riding on any unlit road check out the advice of the guys on here http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=16481184#16481184 idid and am very glad i did.

ride_whenever

supernova airstream.

An Amazingly tidy little light. Excellent light output and very well made. Not too sure of the run time, but i'll easily get a couple of hours out of mine on full (then get bored and go home)

lemoncurd

Exposure Toro on bars and Fenix LD20 torch on helmet.

The torch is awesome.

motdoc

Lumicycle LED,
Awesome lights, bombproof, british and awesome customer service.
Reccomend (as does bikeradar).

bartimaeus

buy_my_cookies wrote:

if you are riding on any unlit road check out the advice of the guys on here http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=16481184#16481184 idid and am very glad i did.

The main thread isWhat Lights - backed up with the discussion threads.

Most of the recommendations are 18650 cell torches - available very cheaply from Hong Kong or from UK re-sellers. For example a 300 lumen XPG torch will cost you about £12.50 though you will also have to buy the cells and a charger.

antikythera

I've been riding with a set of these for the past two years. They really are excellent for commuting. The first time I road using the rear light, cars were leaving a noticeable distance as they pasted. I figured it was because they weren't sure what they were passing, they are really bright.

NW Postie

cougie wrote:

How long are your night rides going to be ?

Probably in region of 1hr 30 upto 2hrs to get some level of fitness back.

Will go check some of these recommendations out, cheers folks 8)

oldwelshman

I have to say I am impressed with the lights I got from dealextreme.
I paid about £80 for front light which lasts 3 hours on full power so I bought spare battery pack for it also which I strap to top tube. It is equivalent to the lupine lights which cost well over £350. I also bought from the same site some small blue led rear light which are good and an even better rear light for £6 whith 3 rows of leds red/green and blue,
The lights are so good cars slow down as I suspect they think I am motorbike or maybe even police motor bike with the blue lights
Oh and before anyone says, police have seen me and said nothing, if they did I would just put the lights on my clothing as it is only illegal if on the bike !!