lights for london night riding

jewbs

I want to get some lights for use riding around the streets of london after dark. I am toying with the idea of getting either a lezyne super drive or power drive for the front or going all out for a exposure joystick and using the exposure red eye rear light with the lead attached to the joystick.

Would like to hear peoples opinions who use these lights or any other suggestions.

MattC59

I used a Cateye light (can't remember the model, but it was £24) on the recent London NightRider. On flash mode, it was very noticable to others, more so than a lot of others I saw that night.

It wasn't so great at illuminating the road surface though, but it depends on whether you want it so that you're seen, or to see where you're going ? For really dark sections, fast sections or areas where I really didn't want traffic to miss me (Crystal Palace park and Oxford Circus) I used my Hope Vision2 MTB lights. Most other riders thought they were being followed by a car when I switched them on.

northpole

There are so many things going on in people's minds on London's roads. My view is to have as bright a light as your wallet is comfortable with. Generally they may irritate some folks however, every so often they may just make the difference that saves you from a nasty collision. I have used a Hope Vision 2 for a couple of years on the front and a cherry bomb on the rear - both have performed faultlessly for my daily commute. I recently bought a Hope R4 and District rear light. I find the rechargeable batteries very convenient easily hooking the charger up without having to remove the battery/ batteries.
Peter