Recommendations on front lights for unlit roads?

FoldingJoe

Guys,

OK, after a horrific ride last night whereby I nearly killed myself, on a couple of occasions, by trying to cycle in the dark on unlit roads with a very poor front light, I've decided I need to pick up a decent one.

Next year I'm planning on doing some commutes to where I will be staying in Tunbridge Wells, and as mentioned, the roads I ride on in our area are mainly unlit, so I need something that is going to give me maximum forward visibility.

Heard good things on here about the Magicshine MJ872, so was looking at those on eBay, which seems to be the cheapest place to buy.

Anybody bought one of there and can recommend a seller?

Any other lights recommendations around that price-point?

Cheers,
FJ

5milestogo

Just got some P7's from Deal Xtreme on the interweb - turned up 30 minutes ago. Circa $50. Took 4 days to turn up. Light is great - as yet have to get on road but look at the some of the threads on these pages to get some goods ideas. I did consider the magic shine themselves but it appears that they have a lot of glow form some back plate and the bar connector aint that great. Each to their own though. I'll need to find a way to have these on 'dipped' thought as am sure I'll get shouted at. Road cc does some great reviews of al types of lights.

Kieran_Burns

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/b ... hts-28195/

I think covers everything

Kieran_Burns

Oh wait:

http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/arti ... ling-32289

THAT covers everything.

Gussio

Ayup roadies on the weekend bike, Fenix LD20 with a Twofish mount on the commuter. Would recommend both for your needs. Battery pack on the Ayup lasts longer than than 2xAAs in the Fenix, but is just over twice the price. being able to see where you are going is *such* an advantage

walkingbootweather

For me the definitive word for inexpensive, versatile and super bright lighting is pretty much this. 2 torches with rechargeable batteries, charger and mounts from Deal Extreme or Best Offer Buy will come in at about £50. Use Paypal for peace of mind and expect delivery to take 2 or 3 weeks. I use this set up on very dark, unlit roads and cyclepaths. For proper off-roading I'd suggest at least one more torch, with one mounted on your helmet.

meanredspider

+1 for Ayups. Not the cheapest but very simple, robust & reliable - all the things you want from a lighting set-up.

notsoblue

Ayups are awesome and I'm hoping I find a set in my stocking this xmas. Quick question about the battery pack - where do you guys usually put it?

meanredspider

notsoblue wrote:

Quick question about the battery pack - where do you guys usually put it?

Under the stem. I have the 6hour pack - seems to hang nicely there on all of my bikes (MTB, CX, road)

FoldingJoe

Are Ayups only available on their website, or is there a UK distributor?

roger_merriman

walkingbootweather wrote:

For me the definitive word for inexpensive, versatile and super bright lighting is pretty much this. 2 torches with rechargeable batteries, charger and mounts from Deal Extreme or Best Offer Buy will come in at about £50. Use Paypal for peace of mind and expect delivery to take 2 or 3 weeks. I use this set up on very dark, unlit roads and cyclepaths. For proper off-roading I'd suggest at least one more torch, with one mounted on your helmet.

for myself I've always been rather put off by the rather cheap and cheerful chargers and suggestions to charge in a fire proof container etc...

bails87

I've got a MJ872, it's a quality bit of kit, perfect on the first 2 (of 4) power levels for unlit country roads.

It's had a soaking a few times with no issues, and you can link the MJ818 rear light to it if you want.

FoldingJoe

Where did you buy from Bails?

Gussio

FoldingJoe wrote:

Are Ayups only available on their website, or is there a UK distributor?

Got mine off the Ayup website and they arrived surprisingly quickly (given that they came all the way from Oz). Had them for around 2yrs and at the time the website was the only option.

Gussio

meanredspider wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Quick question about the battery pack - where do you guys usually put it?

Under the stem. I have the 6hour pack - seems to hang nicely there on all of my bikes (MTB, CX, road)

I don't have space under the stem (already cluttered with a computer mounting) so strap the pack to the top of the top tube. The lead between the pack and the light is just about long enough to do this.

walkingbootweather

roger merriman wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

For me the definitive word for inexpensive, versatile and super bright lighting is pretty much this. 2 torches with rechargeable batteries, charger and mounts from Deal Extreme or Best Offer Buy will come in at about £50. Use Paypal for peace of mind and expect delivery to take 2 or 3 weeks. I use this set up on very dark, unlit roads and cyclepaths. For proper off-roading I'd suggest at least one more torch, with one mounted on your helmet.

for myself I've always been rather put off by the rather cheap and cheerful chargers and suggestions to charge in a fire proof container etc...

Know what you mean but never had any problems. Do use a timer though and wouldn't be able to sleep while charging.

FoldingJoe

With the Ayups, what beam pattern did you guys opt for?

bails87

FoldingJoe wrote:

Where did you buy from Bails?

http://search.ebay.co.uk/?sass=bikelightcompany&ht=-1
Delivered quickly, no complaints.

meanredspider

FoldingJoe wrote:

Are Ayups only available on their website, or is there a UK distributor?

Got mine from Oz - here in under a week! Ordered the lead extension to give me some mounting options but didn't need it

Think I went for medium beam pattern. With the two lights, you can play with the angles to get good coverage of near and further away.

notsoblue

meanredspider wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Quick question about the battery pack - where do you guys usually put it?

Under the stem. I have the 6hour pack - seems to hang nicely there on all of my bikes (MTB, CX, road)

I was thinking of using the extension lead to have the battery pack in a saddle bag. Viable option?

meanredspider

notsoblue wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Quick question about the battery pack - where do you guys usually put it?

Under the stem. I have the 6hour pack - seems to hang nicely there on all of my bikes (MTB, CX, road)

I was thinking of using the extension lead to have the battery pack in a saddle bag. Viable option?

Yup - or in a drinks bottle. Be aware that when you charge through the extension, it seems to indicate it's charged earlier than if you charge direct. Dunno why.

Kieran_Burns

meanredspider wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Quick question about the battery pack - where do you guys usually put it?

Under the stem. I have the 6hour pack - seems to hang nicely there on all of my bikes (MTB, CX, road)

I was thinking of using the extension lead to have the battery pack in a saddle bag. Viable option?

Yup - or in a drinks bottle. Be aware that when you charge through the extension, it seems to indicate it's charged earlier than if you charge direct. Dunno why.

It'll be because of the increased resistance - as you charge the battery its resistance will increase until no more current is able to pass. The longer lead will indue some resistance so it will indicate a full charge sooner.

(over-simplified I know but gets the point across)

welkman

My magic shine cell lives in my saddle bag if that is any help. Make sure you use lots of zipties or electrical tape to support the extension lead.

W

meanredspider

Kieran_Burns wrote:

It'll be because of the increased resistance - as you charge the battery its resistance will increase until no more current is able to pass. The longer lead will indue some resistance so it will indicate a full charge sooner.

(over-simplified I know but gets the point across)

Yup - but the lead isn't that long and, when I swapped to just the short lead, there was over an hour of charging still to go. Was surprised how sensitive it was.

FoldingJoe

Bought a Magicshine in the end as couldn't wait until after Christmas (Ayups don't start shipping again until the 10th Jan) for what is effectively a Christmas present!!

Plus, leaves me a bit of spare cash for a windstopper!!

Thanks to Aidso on the forum who I made the purchase from through eBay. Great guy and good swift deal.

roger_merriman

walkingbootweather wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

For me the definitive word for inexpensive, versatile and super bright lighting is pretty much this. 2 torches with rechargeable batteries, charger and mounts from Deal Extreme or Best Offer Buy will come in at about £50. Use Paypal for peace of mind and expect delivery to take 2 or 3 weeks. I use this set up on very dark, unlit roads and cyclepaths. For proper off-roading I'd suggest at least one more torch, with one mounted on your helmet.

for myself I've always been rather put off by the rather cheap and cheerful chargers and suggestions to charge in a fire proof container etc...

Know what you mean but never had any problems. Do use a timer though and wouldn't be able to sleep while charging.

I charge the batteries up at night, batteries I couldn't trust nor chargers while i'm sleeping is rather a non starter.

wyadvd

I do own an exposure maxxd. Its great.

But I have also just succumbed to the twenty quid cree torches on ebay which proport to be brighter than the three hundred quid maxxd, with the same battery life, and rechargeable batteries and a recharger included. I can confirm They are just as bright and look built to last. a bit more spot lighty, but that makes the spot even brighter! I feel done TBH. :roll:

DrLex

Was filtering on the outside of traffic this evening to turn right at a roundabout (with the Philips on steady) and put my £30 DX MagicShine on flash to minimise getting a right hook. Two cars pulled smartly across to the left - think they might have thought that I was plod!

Gussio

DrLex wrote:

Was filtering on the outside of traffic this evening to turn right at a roundabout (with the Philips on steady) and put my £30 DX MagicShine on flash to minimise getting a right hook. Two cars pulled smartly across to the left - think they might have thought that I was plod!

The strobe effect on the Fenix LD20 is a touch on the fast side, fast enough to concern me that it will put drivers into epileptic shock :?

walkingbootweather

roger merriman wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

roger merriman wrote:

walkingbootweather wrote:

For me the definitive word for inexpensive, versatile and super bright lighting is pretty much this. 2 torches with rechargeable batteries, charger and mounts from Deal Extreme or Best Offer Buy will come in at about £50. Use Paypal for peace of mind and expect delivery to take 2 or 3 weeks. I use this set up on very dark, unlit roads and cyclepaths. For proper off-roading I'd suggest at least one more torch, with one mounted on your helmet.

for myself I've always been rather put off by the rather cheap and cheerful chargers and suggestions to charge in a fire proof container etc...

Know what you mean but never had any problems. Do use a timer though and wouldn't be able to sleep while charging.

I charge the batteries up at night, batteries I couldn't trust nor chargers while i'm sleeping is rather a non starter.

It rarely takes as much as an hour for a charge - I do this as soon as I get in, by the time I've had a shower, changed, sorted out my stuff for the morning they are ready to go. As I say I've never had any problems but like you have heard some horror stories, though to be fair I've also heard horror stories about mobile phone and laptop charges causing problems so I'd not leave these charging overnight either.

redvee

Gussio wrote:

The strobe effect on the Fenix LD20 is a touch on the fast side, fast enough to concern me that it will put drivers into epileptic shock :?

I don't have a strobe mode on my Fenix, only an epileptic fit mode

I bought a setr of Magicshines from x-lights on Ebay, £100 for MJ808E & MJ818. The seller should have sent me a new battery this week but cause of the xmas post I'm still waiting for it.