Another "which front light" post!

Mefster
Mefster Posts: 54
edited October 2011 in Road buying advice
I've been checking out other posts on the subject. With the vast choice of lights available I've realised there's probably an ideal light for every requirement.

I've been trying to get out on my road bike early in the morning. My ride usually lasts between 1 and 1 1/2 hours, primarily on unlit country lanes. When there are a few of us the better lights of my friends help to illuminate the way. After a solo ride in the pitch black and rain yesterday I realised I really do need to upgrade my current Cat-Eye HL-EL510. Even with new batteries it was like riding by candlelight- pretty hairy after being dazzled by oncoming cars!

I do have a Hope Vision HID light. Great off road but my battery has died and a replacement will be £50+. The Vision also has a wide (and high) beam spread which isn't great for oncoming traffic on the road.

Checking previous posts, the Moon X Power 300 for £50 from Merlin and the Magicshine MJ-858 (evidently available for £50 although I don't know where) seem good performance for the money.

I'd probably prefer a combined battery/light unit for neatness and convenience, rather than a separate battery. A light that could double as a helmet light off road would also be a bonus.

I'd appreciate any feedback from users of these lights in similar circumstances, or and recommendations of other lights I've overlooked. Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • laguna
    laguna Posts: 24
    I use a Moon X Power 300 and ride on unlit rural roads, very good light, used it all last winter with no problems. Easily able to maintain 18-19mph on my commute. The USB charging is great as I can charge it at work and not have to worry about the charger.
    Also easy to pop off when you get to work. Don't forget the Merlin VIP discount, it comes in even cheaper.
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    I've just been out for the first run with this and my older magicshine together - a claimed total of 2500 lumens! This figure is almost certainly way overstated but what I can tell you is that, for the first time ever, I felt like I could go at full speed on unlit lanes at night: the beam(s) easily picked out objects over 200m away.. For that you need the 2 lights, battery (the newer magicshine battery is more robust and higher capacity), and Y splitter cable which is an extra couple of quid: total about £100.
    The battery held for 1 1/2 hours, you could, of course run 2 separate batteries.
  • Mefster
    Mefster Posts: 54
    Thanks for the responses, guys. The eBay Cree LED seems an absolute steal fo £35. It says it is fully weatherproof and alloy bodied. I know you've not had much chance to test it's log term durability yet, bompington, but does it seem sturdily made?

    I think I may plump for the Moon X Power 300 whilst it has the extra discount. I'm guessing it'll get delivered quickly as well.

    I am tempted by the eBay lamp though...
  • nferrar
    nferrar Posts: 2,511
    If your budget is £50 then you've pretty much already covered the options. If you were looking for something for bars for road and head for MTB then a couple of options to consider are Ay-Ups or the Exposure Diablo (worth buying the remote switch for it to for road use). Both are close to £200 though.
  • andrew_s
    andrew_s Posts: 2,511
    bompington wrote:
    I've just been out for the first run with this and my older magicshine together - a claimed total of 2500 lumens! This figure is almost certainly way overstated but....

    Lets see...
    There's one XM-L T6 LED in it. The data sheet is here (PDF)
    The XML-T6 bin is 280 to 300 lumens at 700mA
    The maximum current is given as 3A, at which point the output is 325% of that at 700mA.
    That also assumes that the LED itself is sufficiently well cooled that it doesn't get hotter than 25°C. If it does heat up, as is likely, the output reduces to 80% at 120°C

    So, driven at 3A, the output is 300 x 3.25 = 975 lumens (max)

    1600 lumens is a pretty big exaggeration

    What is the battery life of the XML-T6 on its own?
    It's 6400 mAh at 8V, so if they are running an out of spec current of about 6A to get 1600 lumens, I'd expect a battery life of 1.5 to 2 hours (depending on driver efficiency).
    If the battery life is longer (about 3.5 hours), then they are running it within spec and telling porkies about the output.
  • bompington
    bompington Posts: 7,674
    Mefster wrote:
    I know you've not had much chance to test it's log term durability yet, bompington, but does it seem sturdily made?
    Light unit looks OK, v. similar to the magicshine, which has kept going fine for a couple of years now. Casing solid, switch would be the only weak point and that seems robust enough. Cables plug together solidly, no water seems to penetrate, the older ones haven't got loose over the years. Battery looks like the older magicshine one, now that could be a weakness - look at this thread for example. I decided to splash out :wink:£28 on one of the newer magicshine ones, not sure if that was the best decision - you can get them cheaper if you look around, but maybe I should just have done like someone said in the light thread I linked to, and used a wee blob of silicone to seal the battery that came with it.
    andrew_s wrote:
    1600 lumens is a pretty big exaggeration
    That's what I meant when I said "way overstated", I've seen these kinds of figures before and you can't argue with the physics. It's certainly way brighter than the older "900 lumen" light, which presumably was also exaggerated - maybe we need a new unit, Chinese Lumens perhaps, something like Gym Watts :wink:
    What I was actually trying to get at is that these numbers are all irrelevant, I'm only concerned with how much of the road I can see*, and I was very, very impressed by that.

    *It is relevant that this was reduced to "none of the road" in an instant when the old battery failed :(