recommend me a mid level front light please?

harrydaisy

looking to spend 30-60 quid for a good qaulity usb rechardgeable light - I don't commute but get out some early mornings and want a good "get me home light".......

ride_whenever

moon meteor, usb rechargable, great bracket and £60.

carrock

to be honest, I'd call £30-£60 budget rather than mid range.

Moon Meteor is only 50 lumens on standard setting, 100 on high setting, and 200 lumens on maximum. which is not great.

You can buy the new Exposure Sirius for £100 which provides 360 lumens and is not made of plastic

alfablue

viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12660193

See this thread for great light advice.

No need to spend much to get lots of lumens if you avoid mainstream / high street brands. 300 lumens can be had easily for £20.

rolf_f

carrock wrote:

to be honest, I'd call £30-£60 budget rather than mid range.

Sub £20 is budget. £60 is plenty enough to get a light that can allow you to ride on unlit roads.

I use a pair of RSP Asteris which can be had for less than £50 each, are quite capable of blinding drivers if mis-aimed and last a good long time between charges (they are rechargeable). Using just the one I found I could ride on unlit roads easily up to about 20mph.

People have a wierdly extravagent attitude to lighting. A lot of folk seem to think you need £200 MTB lights for road use. You don't.

Flâneur

I have just bought a Moon Mask5 @ £30 so will report that after this weeks use, however I do love the Catseye Nanoshot @ £50 and may end up with one (borrowed a friends while he is away) if this doesn't cut it. Both are USB charging so I don't need to worry about batteries

alfablue

I have given up with built-in rechargeable battery lights, fine till you forget to charge them, then what? Better to carry a spare battery. Also,with devices that have built in batteries you have few options when the battery performance drops to an unacceptable level (which it will).

harrydaisy

sa0u823e wrote:

I have just bought a Moon Mask5 @ £30 so will report that after this weeks use, however I do love the Catseye Nanoshot @ £50 and may end up with one (borrowed a friends while he is away) if this doesn't cut it. Both are USB charging so I don't need to worry about batteries

thanks for feedback - someone suggested nanoshot so i may go for that!

carrock

[quote="Rolf F
People have a wierdly extravagent attitude to lighting. A lot of folk seem to think you need £200 MTB lights for road use. You don't.[/quote]

people have a wierdly extravagent attitude to bikes. A lot of folk seem to think you need a £2000 or more bike for road use. You don't.

BUT IT'S NICE TO HAVE!!

whojanicanackerov

Lezyne are tasty

Sammyw23

sa0u823e wrote:

I have just bought a Moon Mask5 @ £30 so will report that after this weeks use, however I do love the Catseye Nanoshot @ £50 and may end up with one (borrowed a friends while he is away) if this doesn't cut it. Both are USB charging so I don't need to worry about batteries

The moon mask 5 is excellent - I used it this year for the London to Brighton night ride

Flâneur

Just a quick update after a quick run with the moon mask 5. Excellent to be seen by. Great for use on the roads with street lights and you know. Not sure I would want to use it without street lights on a bumpy pot holed road. I tend to focus on 10+ yards rather than under my wheels and I am not sure I could plan my lines in pitch black with it.

Comparison - If you live in an area with decent roads or street lights then the £20 saving + size its a good deal. If you live in the countryside and have roads torn up by tractors and a lack of lights I would take the Nano.

When I get out/get caught on the lanes with the Mask 5 and find its amazing I will correct the above

rolf_f

carrock wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

People have a wierdly extravagent attitude to lighting. A lot of folk seem to think you need £200 MTB lights for road use. You don't.

people have a wierdly extravagent attitude to bikes. A lot of folk seem to think you need a £2000 or more bike for road use. You don't.

BUT IT'S NICE TO HAVE!!

Point taken but the thing is, if you can get a week out of one charge of an RSP Asteri at a cost of £100 for two - and they sit neatly and compactly on your bars without clumsy heavy external batteries that serve only to give you an output you can't safely use on roads in built up areas, then you are spending less to achieve more by not buying the expensive lights.

It's a bit like buying a very nice full suspension mountain bike and using it on the road. It's only nice to have if you use it properly!

PS actually, I think pretty much everyone who has a £2000 plus road bike (and I have such a bike) knows perfectly well they didn't need to spend that much!

native son

hi
£75 delivered from germany, philips saferide
great commuter light. probably the best

carrock

Rolf F wrote:

carrock wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

People have a wierdly extravagent attitude to lighting. A lot of folk seem to think you need £200 MTB lights for road use. You don't.

people have a wierdly extravagent attitude to bikes. A lot of folk seem to think you need a £2000 or more bike for road use. You don't.

BUT IT'S NICE TO HAVE!!

Point taken but the thing is, if you can get a week out of one charge of an RSP Asteri at a cost of £100 for two - and they sit neatly and compactly on your bars without clumsy heavy external batteries that serve only to give you an output you can't safely use on roads in built up areas, then you are spending less to achieve more by not buying the expensive lights.

The exposure light I suggested, and all of the rest of their range, dont have external batteries or cables. My wife and I fannied around for years with cheap cateye lights. Then I bit the bullet and bought a pair of Exposure Diablo lights. http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... t-11-35347

cost me £400 and didnt regret a penny of it. and we only ride on the road.

desweller

native son wrote:

hi
£75 delivered from germany, philips saferide
great commuter light. probably the best

That light has a great rep. I was tempted by the dynamo version.

German-sold lights tend to have good beam patterns in general as they have to pass standards that UK-sold lights aren't required to meet. So they get better illumination of what's important for a relatively low lumens value.

chrisaonabike

I have a Lezyne Macro Drive on the front. I pointed it at my Dad at a range of about 100 yards and he said 'Blimey'. It is pretty bright for a light that hasn't got a separate battery pack. Less than 50 quid..

inkz

alfablue wrote:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12660193

See this thread for great light advice.

No need to spend much to get lots of lumens if you avoid mainstream / high street brands. 300 lumens can be had easily for £20.

This.

carrock

ChrisAOnABike wrote:

I have a Lezyne Macro Drive on the front. I pointed it at my Dad at a range of about 100 yards and he said 'Blimey'. It is pretty bright for a light that hasn't got a separate battery pack. Less than 50 quid..

This could be a better yardstick of output than the lumen scale.

Although I'd be tempted to upgrade from a "blimey" to a "crikey". Or possibly even a "jeepers".

Ironic also that "blimey" is a contraction of the phrase " god blind me " hence gor blimey, etc.

paulg99

native son wrote:

hi
£75 delivered from germany, philips saferide
great commuter light. probably the best

+1

ilm_zero7

forget moon - get a Cateye nano shot - around £45 if you shop around - amazing in the Road cc test, and in use too

ilm_zero7

here

http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/347 ... ts-cycling

nevman

Magicshine.

extrusion

native son wrote:

hi
£75 delivered from germany, philips saferide
great commuter light. probably the best

+1

Takes rechargeable AAs so can carry spares too !

sancho_panza

just got lezyne macro drive front - USB and 300 lumens top setting. Rode 70km in the dark last night on unlit country roads with no markings on a cloudy night through the foothills of the Jura and it was amazing.

What a piece of kit! Unobtrusive on the bike and with enough settings to cover all possible situations. Spot on.

alfablue

but you could have spent £15 for the same performance, see thread cited above.