Big or little lights

Teach

I know there are hundreds of threads on lights and loads of recommendations, but I was curious as to what you actually use, especially when so many are obsessed with weight. I know the big halogen type lights are much brighter, but are very expensive and weigh more. So despite all the advice on here. What do you use. Big heavy and very bright, or light and bright?

what brakes

You dont mention BOTH....

I have small led flashy lights front and back. I also have a large Battery main light up front and a standard cateye style flashy rear light. The flashy lights catches drivers attention far more than a constant light. then you need lights to be able to see where your going! Hence i have both.

rolf_f

what brakes wrote:

You dont mention BOTH....

I have small led flashy lights front and back. I also have a large Battery main light up front and a standard cateye style flashy rear light. The flashy lights catches drivers attention far more than a constant light. then you need lights to be able to see where your going! Hence i have both.

But you can have small lightweight lights that are good enough to see where you are going too! Depends on where you are going. The expensive lights I think are more justified for offroading. On road, I use a small flashy light plus a pair of RSP Asteris for unlit lanes and they are pretty good. One is actually OK in dry weather but two are better and for £41 each, not too expensive. They are small and fairly light - and very neat. The P7 torches are even cheaper and brighter but seem a bit clumsy to me. Running a pair also means less worry about flat batteries and failures.

tri-sexual

LED
halogens are old news - big, heavy. unreliable, power hungry, not as bright (for the same battery output) and light quality is not as good.
HID are amazing but expensive and not as reliable or energy efficent

Monty Dog

If you want something that lights up the road, then you need at least 200 lumens, beyond the range of most normal battery lights. The more light the better IME - particularly if you're riding on unlit roads at reasonable speed. Off road I use a 900 lumen headlamp with a 200 lumen mounted on my helmet.

what brakes

Rolf F wrote:

what brakes wrote:

You dont mention BOTH....

I have small led flashy lights front and back. I also have a large Battery main light up front and a standard cateye style flashy rear light. The flashy lights catches drivers attention far more than a constant light. then you need lights to be able to see where your going! Hence i have both.

But you can have small lightweight lights that are good enough to see where you are going too! Depends on where you are going. The expensive lights I think are more justified for offroading. On road, I use a small flashy light plus a pair of RSP Asteris for unlit lanes and they are pretty good. One is actually OK in dry weather but two are better and for £41 each, not too expensive. They are small and fairly light - and very neat. The P7 torches are even cheaper and brighter but seem a bit clumsy to me. Running a pair also means less worry about flat batteries and failures.

My Main light is a magic shine! which on low setting allows for me to get to (9miles) and from work (normally detour 30-50ish miles) on 1 charge which allows the main beam when going along potholed and dangerous roads etc! Plus if you shop round you can get them for £50-£70. Purrrfek

Squillinossett

I use a Fenix TK11 for the front, its light, and VERY bright (285 lumens) and I can get a good 2.5 hours without the output dipping. I never ride longer than that in the dark anyway.

Plus it was only about £45, then another £20 for the battery and charger.

MrBibble

I got one of these for xmas, asked for it specifically as i use the P4 and their head torch for work, both of these are stunningly bright for such smal units so i was expecting great things for the P7. I'm honestly stunned how bright it is, focus the lens and set to hi power and it lights up the other side of our steep valley - scares the horses and cows lol!

Not riden with it yet but a quick look up the road and it lays down it beam brighter than the HID's on our range rover!!!

Well impressed

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2008/06/24/led_lenser_p7_led_flashlight_8407_/

vorsprung

I usually have a small LED light as a backup
But my main lighting is a generator powered LED

Brommers76

@MrBibble - how do you fix the torch? Is there a bracket to fit it to your bike or have you made one?

Pross

Brommers76 wrote:

@MrBibble - how do you fix the torch? Is there a bracket to fit it to your bike or have you made one?

Use one of these - simple, effective and cheap.

http://www.bexpress.co.uk/pageview.php?page=show_product&ecommerce_stockcode=twoflockb

sub55

Use you guys are all riding around in the dark!
Been through lights at the 40/60/80 pounds price points systems and although they`re alright its not until you use a top end system , you realise how wanting they are .
Currently putting out just shy of 1000 lumens and have a burn time a little over 4 hours.
Powered by a 14.4 V lithanium battery . If i need more than 4 hours of light , simply change the head unit to tailor ampage to time. 500 lumens will last me all night , which is in fact why i bought this particular system. It ment i could do a 24 hr race on one battery and produce enough light to see comfortable. Yes, its a little heavy ,1.2 kg. But its strapped to my training bike ,so. so what if it costs me 0.something of my average speed , that is`nt going to do me any harm. But hitting that bl**dy pothole might.
Only have two issues with it, firstly , you occasionaly get a car who wont dip their lights because your blinding them and secondly , if you leave it on without moving ,theres a chance that temperature build up within the head unit would do it some harm.

MrBibble

Brommers76 wrote:

@MrBibble - how do you fix the torch? Is there a bracket to fit it to your bike or have you made one?

It came with one in the box, bought from chain reaction, lenser item number 7799. On ky mobi atm bit can post a pic later if needed


Hth b

ilm_zero7

the perfect solution!

wheelygood

Hope Twin LED on front is mega bright - not cheap but brilliant - plus any bright LED for rear.Have a 5 LED one- usually have one steady and one flashing.

Stewie Griffin

If she rides in the drops she will cut her own legs off.