Lights??

Paul057

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent set of lights? I've really noticed the nights are starting to close in and i suppose i'd better start thinking about lights

LeicesterLad

Most depressing thread of 2011.

MattC59

I use my Hope Vision 2 lights up front, with a Niterider Cherry Bomb at the rear.
The Hopes are really off road lights, but most of my riding is on back roads, so the extra light is great. If I can ride at 25mph on wooded single track, there's plenty of light for the road. Also, they're so bright, other road users treat you with a little more respect. The Cherry Bomb is a 1W LED light and is incredibly bright !! Apparently visible for up to a mile (I can believe it !). I've not used it yet in a group, as I suspect it might be a bit bright for anyone sitting behind me.
I also use a couple of cheap single LED lights as back up, front and rear, just so that other road users can see me if my main lights fail.

Peddle Up!

LeicesterLad wrote:

Most depressing thread of 2011.

Well I'm not going gentle into that good (winter) night. I'm getting a couple of sets of these ! :twisted:

bompington

I quite fancy these


as seen here

Duffer65

I use one of these on the back, it's a bit chunky but I don't need to fit a reflector as well...

http://www2.cateye.com/uk/product_detail/626

LeicesterLad

bompington wrote:

I quite fancy these


as seen here

Is he a borrower?

petemadoc

LeicesterLad wrote:

bompington wrote:

I quite fancy these


as seen here

Is he a borrower?

LOL

This lights are awesome! !

bompington

bompington wrote:

Just looked at that picture and realised that someone's stolen the flyover!

Peddle Up!

bompington wrote:

bompington wrote:

Just looked at that picture and realised that someone's stolen the flyover!

Nah! He just took it out with his rear photon torpedos.

{This is going to be a silly thread, isn't it? }

Paul057

Haha, cheered things up a bit at least eh? Thanks for the links, i'll have a good look at them

Peddle Up!

Serious question. Some of the cycle lights are the thick end of £200 yet there seem to be some decent high power ones on, for example, eBay for £20 or so. What's the difference?

Yes, I know - £180!

Slack

The LED's tend to be the similar, so could be to do with the battery quality...?

marcusjb

Just to add some seriousness to the thread - people get a little obsessed with having the latest and greatest lights out there with light output that wouldn't be out of place on the coast warning shipping.

A lot of it depends on where you ride - if you commute mainly on lit streets in town, you do NOT need some incredibly expensive lightset. A good Cateye blinky front and rear light set it more than adequate. With good road-positioning and smart riding, you'll be fine with just those.

If however, you commute on country lanes, then yes something powerful is nice. Battery powered I use the Ixon IQ from B&M if I take the tandem or fixed out into the coutnryside at night. My main bike, I use a dynamo powered Cyo which is more than powerful enough for riding through the nights (just managed three nights on the trot on Paris-Brest-Paris). Both of these lights are lights to see where you are going with - not to be seen with (i.e. point them down towards the ground) - the big problem is people use super-bright lights and then have them pointing straight ahead, risking dazzling other road-users.

Good rear lights are far more important than front lights for cycling in towns - but you certainly don't need weapons-grade front lights anywhere other than riding unlit country lanes.

Just my thoughts really.

Paul057

These seem pretty good

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/cateye-hl-el320 ... light-set/

Failing that i think i'm going for the mad scientist/warlord laser look as above

Bobbinogs

marcusjb talks a lot of sense. You need to decide where you are likely to be riding and for how long. My club rides on a Thursday night are for ~4 hours in the cotswold lanes. Nothing short of decent lights will do and the canny chaps use dynamo hubs, etc.

For midweek blasts I just have little lights on the front (£20ish) and pick a well light route, but Thursday it is serious lights time. I use the Cateye EL610RC Single Shot Plus which cost £100 but just doesn't really last long enough (I squeeze about 2 hours out of it on full power and then go to low power for the last bit). I also have a EL-135 as standby in case of failure.

Hence, pick your usage and budget and then buy as appropriate.

bompington

I'm just weighing up whether to get a replacement magicshine or not.

Pros - amazing power to £ ratio
Cons - reliability record not great, the cheapest sources are hong kong etc. and notoriously hard to get customer service from.

I quite fancy the new MJ-872 (brighter but more diffuse) to go with my MJ-808, there are a couple of new battery packs out which might address the reliability issue.

pipphillips

Check out 4 fourth lights website ,I'm tempted to buy the holy Moses for my mtb ,I wonder if 2500 might be slightly too much for my road bike though

bompington

pipphillips wrote:

Check out 4 fourth lights website ,I'm tempted to buy the holy Moses for my mtb ,I wonder if 2500 might be slightly too much for my road bike though

Looks great, sadly I have an unwavering principle that I never buy a light which costs more than the bike it's going on.

jewbs

I have a light and motion arc ultra front light which i bought originally for trail riding, i have used it on my road bike on country lanes but it is really powerful so i angle it down and point it to the kerb, i get cars coming the other way slowing down and on a few occasions pulling over and waiting as they are not sure whats coming towards them. Although it gives me a safer feeling and i do set it so not to dazzle on coming traffic i do worry about it being too powerful for the road and i`m considering whether i ought to sell it and get something more appropriate to road use as i can see myself doing more road rides than trail rides this coming winter, i`m also worried about how legal it is or not to use on the road plus it cost a fortune and i`ve hardly used it!!

Mettan

I use 2 6 LED Electron's on the rear and one 5 LED Electron on the front:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=8749

Bright, light, unobtusive, ok-ish waterproofness - do the job.

antlaff

I have a Hope vision 1 on the bars pointed at oncoming cars and a Exposure Diablo on my helmet guiding my way. On the back of the Diablo I have a Redeye and a Exposure Flare on the seatpost. £260 all in put very bright and good quality waterproofed products.

Peddle Up!

Bobbinogs wrote:

marcusjb talks a lot of sense. You need to decide where you are likely to be riding and for how long. My club rides on a Thursday night are for ~4 hours in the cotswold lanes. Nothing short of decent lights will do and the canny chaps use dynamo hubs, etc.

I got caught out during an evening ride last year riding with two friends and returning later than expected. My Cat Eye which is normally OK for lit and semi-lit roads was worse than hopeless along the lanes.

morstar

I found out the hard way about riding country lanes in the dark a couple of winters ago.
I invested in a Hope Vision 1, some very powerful rechargable AA's and a high quality charger. Total cost around £140ish I think (£50 was for the charger). Very happy with my decision. Perfectly adequate for country lanes without being over the top stupidly bright (or expensive).
I went for the Hope as I wanted easy battery replacement and scope to carry spares. AA's and a good charger (that gets good use around the house) appealed more than a bespoke battery system.

If I did have loads of money to spend on lights I probably would have gone down the Ayup route.

Paul057

Thanks for all the advice, but i can't believe how much people spend on lights :shock:

morstar

Paul057 wrote:

Thanks for all the advice, but i can't believe how much people spend on lights :shock:

I know what you mean, but...

There is a huge disparity between lights to be seen by and lights to see by. You can be seen for minimal expense. If you wish to light up a country lane sufficiently to ride along at 15+mph, you are looking at the the best part of £100 for a front light as a starting point.

In my post above I did spend nearly half again but I considered the charger a household investment (which it is). The problem I had with a previous light set I owned was that I would decide I had an opportunity to ride on a given evening, charging up my lights took 7 hours so I didn't ride. Next day I'd have them charged and couldn't ride for some reason or other. The result was little riding and very quickly knackered battery pack from lots of partial charges and very few full discharges.

If you don't ride dark lanes at night, you'll be fine for £20-£50 total. If you do ride unlit roads, one trip with basic lights will be sufficient to appreciate the need for good lights.

sub55

http://www.lumicycle.com/pages/default.aspx

simply the best

geoff_ss

I do quite a bit of aeromodelling and one of the latest 'things' is flying lightweight electric models in the dark. You can buy strips of LEDs to stick to the fuselage and wings etc to make them show up. If I were still commuting I would certainly buy a strip of red ones to stick onto the rear mudguard and perhaps white strips on the front forks.

This is just one potential source:

http://brchobbies.com/?page=shop&catego ... ght+Flying

Geoff

nickyhoward55

my met helmet has a flashing LED in the head strap at the back which is on regardless if i ride day or night (evening anyway, im no night rider). But i really like the look of the led/laser thing. Would really get people looking