Dark country lanes, which front light to buy?

SXI82

Hi,

I am in need of a new front light and mainly ride on dark country lanes, would appreciate any recommendations for which front light to buy/or avoid.

Thanks

napoleond

Have a look ate commuting forum, loads of advice there!

BigLee1

I use one of these, great down dark country lanes http://magicshineuk.co.uk/products/Magi ... MJ-808LSET

spasypaddy

exposure strada

t4tomo

ultrafire cree torch off ebay from china / hong kong with a mounting bracket is your cheapest option. Shipping takes 2-3 week though

Mettan

Go to Ebay UK and get either an XM-L T6 501b, 502b or C8. There are plenty of 'UK sellers' (either UK-native or HK/China droppers) with UK stock selling these torches for around £13 - £20.

As an example, this dropshipper has got UK stock at a UK warehouse for fast shiping (3 - 4 days to your door):

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UltraFire-100 ... 415fbaeda9

And for a UK-native seller:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ultrafire-WF5 ... 19cd809ef8

deswahriff

...last winter I used two of the Cree/Ultrafire torches descrived above...perfectly adequate for our unlit, potholed country lanes here. For this winter, I've been using a Magicshine and one of the torches on my helmet, which has been an improvement.
btw. I always carry a spare torch in my pocket...in this price bracket, reliability can be an issue

Mettan

Yes, 'reliability' varies depending on the host and manufacturer typically - for all budget torches, regularly tighten the tailcap (using a pair of scisors), and make sure the pill is screwed or seated firmly in the head. I've got 2 XM-L T6 502b's, one XM-L T6 C8, and one 4-emitter MC-E 501b - all of them at some point have needed a quick ''tighten up'' - only takes 3 minutes, and then 100 % reliabiity again. Quick and easy to do, and ensures smooth running.

schlepcycling

I have a mate who's just got one of these
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XML-XM-L-T6-1800-Lumen-LED-Cycle-Bicycle-Lamp-Bike-Light-HeadLamp-Headlight-/300640393669?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item45ff9059c5

springtide9

I had a good look a week or so ago and asked the same question.. I found these at CRC for a good price...

Hope Vision R4 LED Li-on Epic: £212.00
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=70457

Hope Vision R4 LED Li-on: £180.00
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=70455

edit.. with this code: 2XBFM4UR8HZXT2 you'll get another £10 off.

Haven't been out on the road yet, but the beam is pretty good. It does seem to have some focus direction (so hopefully will not blind car drivers), but also a decent amount of spread.
The Epic has double the battery life to the standard R4. Note that the battery is separate to unit.

The Hope light is extremely well made, light and made in the UK

nferrar

Exposure Strada for me, Ay-Ups with intermediate beam + powerboost option are a good alternative to. I use Magicshine lights off-road but they're way too floody to use safely on-road, if you're happy blinding car drivers coming towards you on narrow roads then go for it though

SXI82

Thank you for all the replies, will have a look at the links provided

meanredspider

Ay-Ups are perfect - very robust, just the right amount of light, high quality and a reasonable price

TOM14S

I bought an ebay cheepy CREE and ride in the dark alot.
Really no point splashing out big money. Seems good quality, light produced is brill, I feel confident riding with it. I went for one with the smaller battery pack 2x 18650 Batterys rather than 4x.
I've ridden for two hrs on full beam and battey didn't die. Even if the light only lasts a year or two i'm still well in pocket and would just buy another.
I do also have a v. cheep Knog light as a back up incase battery runs out or light fails.
N.B. I had to adapt the mount to fit O.S. handlebars

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XM-L-T6- ... 27be09aceb

mfin

Only thing Id say about some chinese ones, is I had 3 from DealExtreme, I cant remember which ones but 900 lumen and my mate got 1 and my brother got 1. One of mine packed in, I bought a new LED for it and replaced it, it worked again. Then another one of mine packed up.... then my mate's packed up, so I donated him the body of my broken one in case he could fix his with the bits... also my brother's packed up.

Before getting into all these I used an Exposure Maxx-D (the first one), and have a Joystick Mk2 still, I sold my Maxx-D a good while back. Ive now gone back to Exposure and use a Toro Mk3 which puts out pretty much what the original Maxx-D did.

I had got in the habit of riding with two of the DealExtreme ones on the bars out of paranoia one would die. I also noticed that the brightness dims off quite quickly and it seems within 15 mins or so they'd only be putting out 80% of what they first do when switched on with a fully charged battery, so I used to carry a few batteries as well.

Only my experience, of course, they are cheap (so you can buy ots of them if needed), and may be a lot lot better now, so many of these chinese lights out now, Im sure some of them are very reliable by now. Exposure lights do cost quite a bit but they seem very reliable (so far no problems) and the QR mounts are brilliant.

ai_1

I would strongly recommend the Philips Saferide 80 lux.
It's not the prettiest or the lightest but it's got an excellent shaped beam similar to a car headlight which won't blind oncoming traffic but won't leave you short of light either. On high power it gives you a good wide pool of light from immediately in front of the bike out to a distance of about 70 metres and wide enough to cover at least 2 road lanes. The first 35 or 40m is evenly lit and easily bright enough to make out any features on the road surface (small bumps and debris, potholes, etc). The light intensity fades from about 40m out to 70m which is about as far as you need. I find the Saferide gives enough light to comfortably cycle at 40km/h on unlit roads in the dry and it doesn't give you the tunnel vision impression you get from high intensity spotlights nor does it blind oncoming traffic. The low power setting is sufficient for slower cruising in the dry (25 to 30 km/hr) but I don't find it quite good enough in the wet.
One possible dealbreaker might be the duration. You only get 2hrs of full power before it drops to the low power setting. This may or may not be enough for you. Switching batteries during a ride isn't practical. The mount is also less solid than I'd like although it is up to the job on normal surfaces. I had mine come loose on one occasion when I did a bunny hop.

If these 2 issues were addressed it would be the perfect road light. As it is, it's still an excellent light at pretty good price so long as duration isn't a problem. It's the only one I could find at a reasonable price that gave a good amount of light but in a useful format (not a symetrical spot/flood beam like the magic light and deal extreme options).
I briefly considered the Trelock LS950 as it looked good on paper but in side by side tests with the Philips light it's reportedly way behind on performance.

You should be able to get the Philips Saferide 80 lux from Bike24 or Rose for under €100.

You'll find lots of useful info on lights at the following website including in depth reviews and beam pictures of the Philips light and others:
http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/Philips_LED_bike_light/index_en.html

ctc

Half my commute is down dark country roads. I got a Moon Power 300 from eBay for £39. I've been very happy with it. I can recharge through usb at work. It tells me when it needs recharging and its survived a few drops onto concrete.
I also use their 60 lumens back light. Again very happy

fish156

I've recently bought a pair of Lezyne Power Drive Lights.

I like to use a pair of front lights - one pointing down for close range, one more level for seeing further afield. Also in case one fails (most likely because I've forgotten to charge it).

£99 for the pair from CRC with their 'TEN£' 10% promotion.

ilm_zero7

there was a review of front lights recently in Cycling Weekly I think - for me a Cateye HD 450