Bike lights

Liamhowells
Liamhowells Posts: 10
edited May 2012 in Road beginners
I am wanting to buy front and rear lights for my road bike that will be reliable and don't need the batteries changing every 2 minutes (preferably rechargeable). But I don't really want to pay more than £20, has anybody got any ideas about which lights would be best for me.
Thanks Liam.

Comments

  • extrusion
    extrusion Posts: 247
    Rear light i can recommend moon gem 3.0, its usb rechargeably, small and bright and light and was 12.50 at wiggle i think. Someoneo n here recommended it and i got one. White one suits my white frame, mmm nice!
  • Rule74Please
    Rule74Please Posts: 307
    Blackburn Flea should be in budget. Bright enough as a front light not to get you run over.

    Seems a lot more powerful than its rating
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  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    £20 for lights ? They are quite important if you want to survive. Personally i go for two on the rear at least. Ive had too many fail to risk just one.
  • Mettan
    Mettan Posts: 2,103
    For the rear - Smart Lunar R2 or RSP Astrum ( ~ £14 each) - for your front, personally, I'd go for a C8 host XM-L T6 (~ £16) and carry one or two spare 18650's - very quick and easy to whip the battery out at the end and put it on charge. For any decent lighting setup you'll have to get used to regular charging - no bigy.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    The cheapest way of getting a bright front light that runs on a rechargeable battery is to use a torch with a bike mount. A lot will also depend on whether it is for urban riding or riding on unlit country lanes. If you're riding in lit areas there are far more cheap options out there than if you are needing to light up the road to see safely ahead. I would also echo the comments above about having at least two on the rear, personally I have 3 rear and two front - you can't have too many things making you visible on the bike.

    Have a look on ebay for good buys, a lot of the cheaper stuff gets shipped from China but there is quite a lot of import stuff that is stored in the country and available within a day or two.
  • singleton
    singleton Posts: 2,523
    I only have lights on my bike for emergencies as I'm usually not out during the hours of darkness. Given this 'emergency use only' brief, I have knog frog strobes on front and rear and they're perfect for what I need - small, light weight, easy to fit and remove, bright and about £15 for a pair.
  • slowbike
    slowbike Posts: 8,498
    You want to be careful about multiple lights on the front - two bright lights side by side can confuse oncomming drivers - they could interpret the lights as being that of a car further away.

    FWIW - rear lights - I run two if riding in the dark - one static and one flashing
    front lights - I run one for identification - usually flashing but static if I want to see the road. If I were to add another then one would be static and the other flashing.
  • bails87
    bails87 Posts: 12,998
    Check Planet X, they've normally got f&r sets of Smart lights going cheap.
    MTB/CX

    "As I said last time, it won't happen again."
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Slowbike wrote:
    You want to be careful about multiple lights on the front - two bright lights side by side can confuse oncomming drivers - they could interpret the lights as being that of a car further away.

    I'm not sure why that would be a problem, people are likely to give you more space and respect if they think you are a larger vehicle. People also slow down more if they aren't quite sure what is coming towards them. That said, I usually have one on strobe and one on constant.
  • hodge68
    hodge68 Posts: 162
    Pross wrote:
    Slowbike wrote:
    You want to be careful about multiple lights on the front - two bright lights side by side can confuse oncomming drivers - they could interpret the lights as being that of a car further away.

    I'm not sure why that would be a problem, people are likely to give you more space and respect if they think you are a larger vehicle. People also slow down more if they aren't quite sure what is coming towards them. That said, I usually have one on strobe and one on constant.
    +1 for 2 up front.
    Ridley Boreas
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  • Gizmodo
    Gizmodo Posts: 1,928
    Pross wrote:
    Slowbike wrote:
    You want to be careful about multiple lights on the front - two bright lights side by side can confuse oncomming drivers - they could interpret the lights as being that of a car further away.

    I'm not sure why that would be a problem, people are likely to give you more space and respect if they think you are a larger vehicle. People also slow down more if they aren't quite sure what is coming towards them. That said, I usually have one on strobe and one on constant.
    There's another thread on here somewhere where the guy hit a car that pulled out in front of him at a junction. The car driver said something along the lines of "the 2 lights looked like a car in the distance" rather than a bike close by.

    I would recommend 2 lights on the front, but I would put 1 of them on flashing, you will get better battery life and it will be more visible to drivers.
    Summer - Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 Team
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