Commuting Lights

steve adlem
steve adlem Posts: 16
edited November 2012 in Road buying advice
Hi

I'm sure there has been countless threads on what bike lights are best but I am going to be quite specific as to what I'm looking for so hopefully I will get some of your thoughts and opinions on what's best.

I'm looking for a front and rear light to use for commuting. I want something quick and easy to fit/remove so the rubber band system seems very good to me.
I would like something without a battery pack to carry, so I'm thinking a USB charger light maybe.
And obviously I'm looking for the maximum amount of light/lumens so I can see on dark roads but more importantly be seen myself.

I ride a Specialized Tarmac and a Specialized Allez if that matters at all.

I initially started looking at the Exposure Flash/Flare recharge combo, but think I've drifted away from that thought after doing a bit more reading. I notice Cree XML type lights look pretty powerful but as I see it they have to plug in to a battery pack to be used? Basically I don't know.

Any advice and opinion welcomed.

Thanks
Steve

Comments

  • lotus49
    lotus49 Posts: 763
    Look on eBay. There are some extremely bright torches that are well made (solid anodised alu bodies) and can be fixed to the bars with a bracket that you can also buy on eBay.

    I paid £22 inc P&P for a torch that is so bright that is dangerous to look at. It can also be set to flash if you want to use it during the day.
  • mabbo
    mabbo Posts: 117
    Just bought one of these, yes one from China. Ordered on Tuesday 02nd Oct, arrived on Thursday 11th October.
    Three T6 LED's. Currently not had a chance on a fully dark road, but the strobe is incredible, lights up reflective road signs 800 metres away. The low beam lights the road in front of me in daylight !!!! So cant' wait to try it on high beam.
    I'll post full pictures on a dark road when the clocks go back.Plus run times etc.

    Newest 3800LM 3x Cree XM-L XML T6 LED Bike Bicycle Light Lamp HeadLamp Headlight ( 271070207412 )
    2012fashionstore
    http://myworld.ebay.com/2012fashionstor ... 7675.l2559
    Find them on e-bay. About £38.
  • fossyant
    fossyant Posts: 2,549
    mabbo wrote:
    Just bought one of these, yes one from China. Ordered on Tuesday 02nd Oct, arrived on Thursday 11th October.
    Three T6 LED's. Currently not had a chance on a fully dark road, but the strobe is incredible, lights up reflective road signs 800 metres away. The low beam lights the road in front of me in daylight !!!! So cant' wait to try it on high beam.
    I'll post full pictures on a dark road when the clocks go back.Plus run times etc.

    Newest 3800LM 3x Cree XM-L XML T6 LED Bike Bicycle Light Lamp HeadLamp Headlight ( 271070207412 )
    2012fashionstore
    http://myworld.ebay.com/2012fashionstor ... 7675.l2559
    Find them on e-bay. About £38.

    Ordered the same one for the MTB, but not here yet. Was sent around. 2nd Oct after order placed on 20th Sept.
  • Redhog14
    Redhog14 Posts: 1,377
    Got a range if lights in my house - I have a Deal Extreme Magicshine light whilst it lacks the neat all in one packaging it is a very capable light for MTB off road nighttime nonsense as well as the commute on unlit cycle paths. The OH has a a set of Exposure lights and whilst they are very neat they don't appear to me to offer much more than that. I hope to add the Exposure Joystick or similar to the range over the winter as a head mounted light is very useful. When commuting I combine these with small blinking LED's 1 x front and 2 x rear.
    Was lookign at the new series of Lezyne lights they other day and they look very good and are cheaper than Exposure.

    http://dx.com/p/ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-sxo-3-mode-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-25149
  • rdt
    rdt Posts: 869
    mabbo wrote:
    Just bought one of these, yes one from China. Ordered on Tuesday 02nd Oct, arrived on Thursday 11th October.
    Three T6 LED's. Currently not had a chance on a fully dark road, but the strobe is incredible, lights up reflective road signs 800 metres away. The low beam lights the road in front of me in daylight !!!! So cant' wait to try it on high beam.
    I'll post full pictures on a dark road when the clocks go back.Plus run times etc.

    Newest 3800LM 3x Cree XM-L XML T6 LED Bike Bicycle Light Lamp HeadLamp Headlight ( 271070207412 )
    2012fashionstore
    http://myworld.ebay.com/2012fashionstor ... 7675.l2559
    Find them on e-bay. About £38.

    Where are folks sticking the battery pack for lights like this? Attaching to bars? In a seat bag? In a drinks bottle?
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,824
    Got one of these, or very, very similar one, from lightmalls not ebay.
    Cost was the same but had to be fed-ex'd to me which was another $16USD
    Very bright, on low it's sufficient for most lit and unlit roads where the surface is ok, mid setting and it is great for identifying potholes etc on rougher downhill sections, high doesn't seem to add a lot - not sure if each LED comes on seperately and they are overlapping each other ? If you need a light to actually see the road on unlit sections then these are superb, if it's more for you to be seen then they are overkil reallyl.
    Also these Far Eastern bargain lights do sometimes have issues with QC and the battery packs need looking after and charged with a little care and attention - I've been through a few of the P7 lighsets from Deal Extreme myself although last years is still working fine after I thought I'd blown it when the wiring at the charger shorted momentarily (the insulation had broken).
  • andyrr
    andyrr Posts: 1,824
    Also locations for battery packs - I've put them under the stem, under the rear of the saddle and at the junction of top tube and head tube or seat tube, could also stick it in an old drinks bottle in your bottle cage. They're pretty neat things - 4 x slightly larger than AA batteries held together in a small nylon pouch with velcro.
  • pkripper
    pkripper Posts: 652
    I had one of those generic Hong Kong lights and the reported battery issues put me off, and so recycled the battery and called it quits. Now have a lumicycle 3si, a moon comet and hope vision 1 on my bars for the commute. On a budget the latter two on their own would be sufficient for the front. I couple these with an exposure flare and moon shield on the rear of the bike and a niterider cherry bomb on the bag.

    Oh, and. Magic vision softshell. London streets at night are a bit dodgy so I'm happy to be over lit.
  • mabbo
    mabbo Posts: 117
    Fixed this light battery under the cross bar, behind the steering head. Neatly tied all wires behind the front reflector. So everything is kept neat and in order, and not in the way. The light is fixed on top of the handlebars, pointed down so as not to dazzle oncoming cars, although the strobe still seems to bug them,see below.
    Used it this morning on a dark unlit country road for the first time. In truth, the low level, one LED on, is good enough to see about 50 - 60 yards, with a good spread across the road. Good enough for in town riding. The medium setting is two LED's on. That definitely gives a lot longer throw, hard to judge the distance, but further than many of the cars that passed me on dip beam. Over 100m of good visibility. High setting with all 3 LEDS does not seem to offer much more really on a flat wide road. Improves the close up spread a little. I cycle a lot down single track unlit roads though, so when I get the chance on one of those I'll see if the high setting helps in spotting bends with embankments, etc. Strobe is awesome, all 3 LEDS, once daylight kicked in I used that. Had several cars flash me...obviously think it's to bright, but hey, at least I know they've seen me.
  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    I'd look no further than the Philips Saferide 80lux.
    It's not particularly high on lumens but it's one of the only lights available with proper optics so it puts the light where you want it. It intentionally spills some light right and left and it has a cut-off to prevent dazzling oncoming drivers. The beam pattern and itensity is similar to a motorbike headlight but in a much more compact package. It uses USB charging.
    The main downside is duration. The duration on full power is fairly limited (~90mins I think) but it will last a further couple of hours on low power. high power is perfect for cycling on unlit roads. It lights a roughly rectangular area pretty evenly starting right in front of the bike and extending out to about 45m beyond which it drops off gradually to about 70m. There's no hot spots of intense light which ruin your night vision. Only limited light is spilled left, right and above the horizon. This is plenty to ensure you're seen but not enough to blind oncoming motorists or cyclists. The best comparison is a dipped car headlight or motorbike headlight.
    I'd strongly suggest you do a quick search for this light. you should be able to find beamshots that show what I'm trying to describe. The cheap high intensity axial beam lights are really only suitable for MTB use. On the road this is a much better solution both for you and oncoming traffic! I got mine for about €95/£75 last winter.
    In my opinion the only reason I'd recommend anything else at the moment is if the duration is insufficient for your requirements.
  • rdt
    rdt Posts: 869
    Ai_1 wrote:
    I'd look no further than the Philips Saferide 80lux.
    It's not particularly high on lumens but it's one of the only lights available with proper optics so it puts the light where you want it. It intentionally spills some light right and left and it has a cut-off to prevent dazzling oncoming drivers. The beam pattern and itensity is similar to a motorbike headlight but in a much more compact package. It uses USB charging.
    The main downside is duration. The duration on full power is fairly limited (~90mins I think) but it will last a further couple of hours on low power. high power is perfect for cycling on unlit roads. It lights a roughly rectangular area pretty evenly starting right in front of the bike and extending out to about 45m beyond which it drops off gradually to about 70m. There's no hot spots of intense light which ruin your night vision. Only limited light is spilled left, right and above the horizon. This is plenty to ensure you're seen but not enough to blind oncoming motorists or cyclists. The best comparison is a dipped car headlight or motorbike headlight.
    I'd strongly suggest you do a quick search for this light. you should be able to find beamshots that show what I'm trying to describe. The cheap high intensity axial beam lights are really only suitable for MTB use. On the road this is a much better solution both for you and oncoming traffic! I got mine for about €95/£75 last winter.
    In my opinion the only reason I'd recommend anything else at the moment is if the duration is insufficient for your requirements.

    Here's an ultra-comprehensive review of the Philips light:-

    http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/ ... ex_en.html

    It'd be nice to see one with lithium batteries to reduce the weight/bulk.
  • mabbo
    mabbo Posts: 117
    There are of course replacement lenses available for the Chinese type LED's to spread the beam more square if required. Only about a fiver.
  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    mabbo wrote:
    There are of course replacement lenses available for the Chinese type LED's to spread the beam more square if required. Only about a fiver.
    Yes but these are just a basic shaped flood beam. It's nownere near equivalent to proper designed-for-purpose optics.
    The point with your car headlights and the Philips Saferide is that the beam is the right shape but also has the right spread of intensity. An even spread from the light will not produce an even spread on the ground because it does not hit the ground at 90 degrees.
    As light travels out from your light source it diverges so that at double the distance you only get quarter the light intensity. So if you use a symetrical beam like a torch or a torch type beam with a basic diffuser the foreground will be lit much more brightly than anything further away unless of course there's a hot spot as there is with most torch beams. The hot spot is always either so small as to create tunnel vision (contrast between the spot and the lower intensity around it is too high to be useful) or is larger and suffers the same problem of varying intensity with distance.

    The Saferide is carefully arranged so that the further away the beam is pointing the more light is focused in that part of the beam so that the intensity of the light is very even across the area illuminated, with no hot spots. This makes it much more comfortable and safe to use. There's no tendency towards tunnel vision and you're much more aware of your surroundings. Again the best way to describe this is by comparing it to a car headlight. Similar shape, maybe slightly narrower but not much dimmer.

    If you were to turn a Saferide upsidedown it would be rubbish - all the light would be hitting the ground right in front of you with no light in the distance and you wouldn't be able to maqke it much better simply by pointing it higher.
    However, if you turned a syetrical beam with one of the cheap diffusers upsidedown nothing would change. That's because all this lens is doing is spreading the light left and right. It's not equivalent to proper optics.

    Hope this helps.
  • rdt
    rdt Posts: 869
    Seems Philips have a revised product list:-
    (in German - will need translating if not using Chrome)
    http://www.newscenter.philips.com/de_de ... ke2012.wpd

    - There's a new "ActiveRide" model for MTB use; this uses a Lithium battery pack, and has a lower-power on-road mode with a different (non-dazzling) light pattern. Much pricier (~€190+) than the SafeRide commuting light.

    - Revised "SafeRide 80" model with slightly more battery capacity (but still NiMH), different mounting. Unsure of any other changes. Similar price to existing model.

    I'm interested in a SafeRide 80 for road use - particularly the idea of not dazzling oncoming drivers as I likely would have done with the torch-based MTB setup I was considering. By not using Lithiums the SafeRide is a bit of a dobber, and the runtime isn't great, but it's looking like maybe the best option for me currently...

    The new SafeRide 80 is showing on Bike24.net as available 6th November, for ~£95 for UK delivery from Germany.
    https://www.bike24.net/1.php?product=40 ... ||251||1||

    Not yet showing on the philips-shop.co.uk site (still showing the existing model, which is now out of stock in the black finish - think they had a recent clearance promotion on).
  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    Rose bikes have the Philips Saferide 80 for about €95/£75UK. Looks like the existing version though.
    http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/search/find/?q=philips

    I haven't read your link yet but I'd be interested to see how much the duration is improved on the new model. As I mentioned in my previous posts, that's the one feature that might not be good enough for some. If you commute 45mins each way on unlit roads and can't charge during the day the existing model is at it's limit. If you can re-charge it'll work great as a commuting light for most people.
  • rdt
    rdt Posts: 869
    Ai_1 wrote:
    Rose bikes have the Philips Saferide 80 for about €95/£75UK. Looks like the existing version though.
    http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/search/find/?q=philips

    I haven't read your link yet but I'd be interested to see how much the duration is improved on the new model. As I mentioned in my previous posts, that's the one feature that might not be good enough for some. If you commute 45mins each way on unlit roads and can't charge during the day the existing model is at it's limit. If you can re-charge it'll work great as a commuting light for most people.

    Tiny improvement seems likely, if the only change is the slight battery improvement and not the electronics. I've emailed Rose to see if/when they'll be stocking the 2013 model.
  • jordan_217
    jordan_217 Posts: 2,580
    I have two LED Lenser P7 torches and velcro bike mounts all bought from Amazon for just under £90. Very well made and a cinch to fit/remove, take AAA batteries and have 4-5 hrs runtime on brightest mode.

    I can ride on unlit rural roads/tracks at normal speeds with this set up, switching to the normal setting on lit roads. Had them 2 years with no issues.
    “Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired.”
  • Hello guys,

    Thought I'd jump into this as its the question on my mind at the min!

    I ride 25 mile commute to work on my road bike and have come to the conclusion the single led cheap light I have has caused me a few too many early morning wake up calls! Especially above 20mph!

    I am looking at a serious upgrade as most of my cycle is country lanes or unlit main roads and once a car is coming at me I might as well have no light as it takes my focus!

    I have narrowed to the Lumicycle 3si with the uprated power pack or just stumbled across before I pressed buy the Four4th Exodus.

    Anyone got, seen or used these and there views? I know the exodus is helmet mount but have seen a bar mount for it.

    Sorry for the hijack but kind of adds 2 more lights to the party.
  • ai_1
    ai_1 Posts: 3,060
    Hello guys,

    Thought I'd jump into this as its the question on my mind at the min!

    I ride 25 mile commute to work on my road bike and have come to the conclusion the single led cheap light I have has caused me a few too many early morning wake up calls! Especially above 20mph!

    I am looking at a serious upgrade as most of my cycle is country lanes or unlit main roads and once a car is coming at me I might as well have no light as it takes my focus!

    I have narrowed to the Lumicycle 3si with the uprated power pack or just stumbled across before I pressed buy the Four4th Exodus.

    Anyone got, seen or used these and there views? I know the exodus is helmet mount but have seen a bar mount for it.

    Sorry for the hijack but kind of adds 2 more lights to the party.
    Those both look like axial beam lights, is that correct? If so I'd still consider the Philips Saferide 80lux a better light for road use for the reasons I mentioned in my earlier posts. This is providing the duration is sufficient - you might not manage a full 25 mile commute if you need high beam the whole time - depends how fast/slow you are! I find the Philips perfectly adequate for speeds in excess of 40km/h. Also the Philips is about £75 versus £200 approx for the two you're considering.

    With regard to dazzle from oncoming car lights - I often wear amber tinted lenses when I cycle in the dark. I find they do a good job of reducing dazzle. I think yellow lenses should do the same.
  • Good call on the lense tint, may give my yellows a try tonight.

    Thats the trouble the duration of a better power light minus a good power pack with them.
  • rdt wrote:
    Ai_1 wrote:
    Rose bikes have the Philips Saferide 80 for about €95/£75UK. Looks like the existing version though.
    http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/search/find/?q=philips

    I haven't read your link yet but I'd be interested to see how much the duration is improved on the new model. As I mentioned in my previous posts, that's the one feature that might not be good enough for some. If you commute 45mins each way on unlit roads and can't charge during the day the existing model is at it's limit. If you can re-charge it'll work great as a commuting light for most people.

    Tiny improvement seems likely, if the only change is the slight battery improvement and not the electronics. I've emailed Rose to see if/when they'll be stocking the 2013 model.

    Did you hear back from Rose?

    I have a magicshine clone and while it is super bright i do worry about blinding oncomming drivers and there is no control over the beam so it does seem to waste a lot of light - very tempted to get the Philips but would want the newer one - it is a shame its not li-ion but there would be enough burn time for me anyway!
  • rdt
    rdt Posts: 869
    Shimmyhill wrote:
    rdt wrote:
    Ai_1 wrote:
    Rose bikes have the Philips Saferide 80 for about €95/£75UK. Looks like the existing version though.
    http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/search/find/?q=philips

    I haven't read your link yet but I'd be interested to see how much the duration is improved on the new model. As I mentioned in my previous posts, that's the one feature that might not be good enough for some. If you commute 45mins each way on unlit roads and can't charge during the day the existing model is at it's limit. If you can re-charge it'll work great as a commuting light for most people.

    Tiny improvement seems likely, if the only change is the slight battery improvement and not the electronics. I've emailed Rose to see if/when they'll be stocking the 2013 model.

    Did you hear back from Rose?

    I have a magicshine clone and while it is super bright i do worry about blinding oncomming drivers and there is no control over the beam so it does seem to waste a lot of light - very tempted to get the Philips but would want the newer one - it is a shame its not li-ion but there would be enough burn time for me anyway!

    Yes, they said they don't yet know if they'll be selling it.

    I was pretty disappointed to see that the new model still used NiMH batteries. So, I've decided to go down the route of using a couple of XM-L T6 flashlights in the interim until the best lens/led/battery technology comes together at a decent price, as it no doubt will in the (near) future.
  • If you're shameless and prepared to DIY, it's possible to have a decent amount of light aimed where it's needed - and have it properly controllable from handlebar switches :-



    Cheap domestic LED spots, plus misc. food containers.

    The big light is for firing at ignorant Audi drivers and idiots on shared paths firing off-road lights in my eyes - though I'll sometimes use it if I'm forced to ride at night on trunk roads.

    The only commercial light that has ever impressed me was a 1 watt B&M driven by a bottle dynamo - probably the best use of 1 watt - a shame it's so expensive.

    My own lights get the job done though.
    Giant ATX 830 45mm Country-Plus tyres. age 50, 18 stone, flappy hi-vis, basket, bell, kickstand FCN=15 ?,
  • Thats some epic ghetto DIY you have going on there!

    I got a new lens for the MS clone and while it helps with beam pattern it does nothing for oncomming drivers being dazzled :(

    Looking at this bad boy now, could be a very good light for what i want http://www.myfenix.co.uk/retail/fenix-bt20-bike-light