Its a bit early to be thinking about lights but....

chris_bass

Hi

I am in the process of moving house and my commute will change from roads that are lit by street lights all the way to country roads for the most part. In the summer this is awesome and 985383%* better but as we get into winter this might mean commuting in the dark with no stree lights.

Can anyone recommend some decent lights that will be good enough for me to see without street lights?

I did search for lights but there were lots and I couldnt see any that were for non street lit roads.


* actual percentages may vary

spen666

Ay up front & rear lights

iandennis

+1
Brilliant lights

I have one set on comuter and one on MTB, others might be slightly brigher but these are totally reliable and get the job done without any fuss.

joelsim

Good time to buy, the offseason.

I've just bought one of these. The rear is almost blindingly bright, the front looks bright but as yet untested.

http://www.google.co.uk/#sclient=psy&hl ... 24&bih=547

alan_sherman

For commuting: Hub dynamo and a decent LED light to match.

Too old for this

I've just bought the same lights as Joel, got them from Merlin join the vip club costs nowt for an extra 10% discount. £57 for the set even delivered free next day, brilliant service.

I think they are a cracking set of lights.

Alinshearah

Dealextreme is doing the Magic Shine for an unbelievable £30 now. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

badgerman26

wow that is a deal for magicshine, I use the p7 torches and cars flash me thinking am a motorbike on full beam!

bails87

Have a read: http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12660193
The DX stuff is best value for money, will blow any cateye stuff out of the water in terms of power.

walkingbootweather

bails87 wrote:

Have a read: http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12660193
The DX stuff is best value for money, will blow any cateye stuff out of the water in terms of power.

+1 Also consider BoB (Best Offer Buy unltrafire lights)

Unbeatable in terms of brightness for your buck.

chris_bass

Alinshearah wrote:

Dealextreme is doing the Magic Shine for an unbelievable £30 now. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

is there a catch with this?

would this be good enough to see on unlit streets or would it be used as an extra light?

Thanks

Chris

Alinshearah

Chris Bass wrote:

Alinshearah wrote:

Dealextreme is doing the Magic Shine for an unbelievable £30 now. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

is there a catch with this?

would this be good enough to see on unlit streets or would it be used as an extra light?

Thanks

Chris

There is no catch. they are simply the best bang for your buck lights available. The occasional quality problem is the only glitch, but at £30 it is worth the gamble. They are as good as or if not better than any light up to £300. There is about a 100 page discussion in the MTB all about lights, and these time an again get raved about by serious night time off roaders. they are more than good enough for unlit street (some would say two good as the often dazzle on coming traffic)

walkingbootweather

Chris Bass wrote:

Alinshearah wrote:

Dealextreme is doing the Magic Shine for an unbelievable £30 now. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

is there a catch with this?

would this be good enough to see on unlit streets or would it be used as an extra light?

Thanks

Chris

Not at this price. You can buy similar units from UK suppliers (Imported from far east) but these likely to be over £100. Used to be £60ish from DX / BoB.

Some reported quality problems - clips, switches, bad contacts, water resistance, charging etc. but these are pretty few and far between, and this may be one of the improved later generation models. My experience with BoB is that they do communicate and are willing to help you resolve problems. Use Paypal for additional protection.

If you have only used regular bike lights you will be amazed at how bright these are. Be careful to direct them down or you will dazzle other road users.

Alinshearah

Deal extreme are also doing UK stocked version of the P7 for £52 (and no hassle with the custom charges and quick delivery)

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ha-iii-cree-ssc-p7-c-sxo-5-mode-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-4-18650-included-904430864

car.crash

Alinshearah wrote:

Dealextreme is doing the Magic Shine for an unbelievable £30 now. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

i just ordered myself one of these. i currently have the bikehut one from halfords for £50 and its gash.

tincaman

Alinshearah wrote:

Dealextreme is doing the Magic Shine for an unbelievable £30 now. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

There are 4 versions of this one on the site, don't think they are Magicshines but a cheaper copy. The only difference I can see is that the cable joint between battery and light is not recessed so will not be weatherproof. Cracking price though, a bit of silicone grease will help on the joint.

chris_bass

tincaman wrote:

Alinshearah wrote:

Dealextreme is doing the Magic Shine for an unbelievable £30 now. http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterproof-xml-t6-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82510

There are 4 versions of this one on the site, don't think they are Magicshines but a cheaper copy. The only difference I can see is that the cable joint between battery and light is not recessed so will not be weatherproof. Cracking price though, a bit of silicone grease will help on the joint.

does this mount on the handlebars or is it just got the head strap? would this work with a helmet?

bails87

It will attach to bars, and I'm sure you could find a way of making the head mount fit on a helmet.

chris_bass

i guess thats made up my mind then think i'll order one! for £30 whats the worst that could happen?!

Too old for this

Well i put my nice flashing cateye rear light on for the ride in to work last night, seems to be a bit of a revelation suddenly cars and vans are giving me extra room and even waiting behind me when it looks a bit tight, i think I'll be making more use of lights if that is the outcome.

fnegroni

I can recommend the Exposure Lights Strada.
Here is a little review I made
http://wokingham-cyclist.blogspot.com/2 ... -2010.html

n033y

Hi , I have seen brackets fitted the front handlebar of other bikes that enable you to have 2 or more front lights, but cant find any of these. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

unixnerd

If you're getting a MagicShine be sure it's the MJ-836 version with the newer battery. The new battery is properly waterproof, unlike the old one. Easy to recognise as it's silver and has a built in LED charge indicator panel.

defy3man

Hi I currently have the Cateye EL530/LD1100 Light Set and used it through last winter with no probs. One cyclist I know caught me up one evening and he said he thought it was a motorbike in the distance as the rear light was so bright and that was before it got dark, the front light is also bright but I felt that sometimes I was taking a chance going at speed with it. Have just purchased the NiteRider Minewt.700 Dual from mrjerome10 who had them advertised in the classifieds road bikes & stuff so am looking forward to trying them out in the dark and mucky weather that I am going to be riding in this winter.

iPete

Hope2/District3
http://www.cyclistno1.co.uk/gear/access ... rict-3.htm

DF33

LD 1100 is a good buy. Lightweight and bright. under £30 delivered. ok might be a bit pricey for a bit of plastic but what price avoiding being rear ended on a dark morning.
(mean the bike obviously).

andyrr

unixnerd wrote:

If you're getting a MagicShine be sure it's the MJ-836 version with the newer battery. The new battery is properly waterproof, unlike the old one. Easy to recognise as it's silver and has a built in LED charge indicator panel.

MJ-836 is way more expensive though - $98 as opposed to $44

DX/MS lights, as I've said in similar threads in trhe past, have in my experience and from what I've seen from other reports, very iffy QC
Personally been through 2 x lightsets and a further battery pack, and now without a functioning set of lights.
Any problems with DX-supplied items and you need to return to them at your own cost and with the delays involved in that process.
Mine were the 25149 lights :
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ha-iii-ssc ... -set-25149
Seem to be so many variations on a similar theme - might try the cheapo 82150 version and start running them well before they are needed to see what the reliability is like. Worth buying 2 with 1 for backup ?! Or go for a flashlight (91136 ?) since they are simpler/more reliable ?

1 issue with the torches as against the lightsets is that you need to budget for batteries + charger and the runtime is a lot less - the 91136 pointed to above only has 90 mins runtime, whilst the 25149/82150 are 3 - 4 hrs, for me that would mean recharging 2 sets each day as I have a 2hrs+ round trip commute.

andyrr

Just took the plunge/risk and ordered a set of the 82150's from DX. At just over £27 they are really well cheap - worth that - we'll see ... ?
Showing now as awaiting Supplier, hopefully won't take too long so I can get them well tested before really needed ( grr, shorter days approaching, grr )

James_R

I've bought these £17 from evans at the moment. Blindly bright and effective too.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sma ... t-ec024284

fossyant

Hope lights.

Got 2 Vision 1's - fab, not an ounce of trouble.

kiwimatt

Just took the plunge/risk and ordered a set of the 82150's from DX. At just over £27 they are really well cheap - worth that - we'll see ... ?
Showing now as awaiting Supplier, hopefully won't take too long so I can get them well tested before really needed ( grr, shorter days approaching, grr )

Any update - I took a punt on DX as well on the T6 http://www.dealextreme.com/p/t6-waterpr ... -set-82510 fully expect to have to fettle with battery packs etc - but still showing as Waiting for Supplier after 14 days....