bike light around £100 - Still confused.

peyroux

Hey guys, I bought a set of 20 quid Lezyne front and back lights when I bought my bike just to be seen on the road. I've now discovered the fun of riding Richmond Park but as the natural light drops my bike lights provide no visibility of the unlit road.
I want to pick up a decent front light to give decent vision in this scenario and am willing to spend around 100 quid, maybe a tad more if it's worth it.
I've read a lot of reviews and all seem to have good points and bad, so I was after some first hand experience/personal recommendations.

I was looking at http://road.cc/content/review/47688-trelock-ls-950-ecopower-control-front-light: but got a bit put off by people saying the mount was just a nylon strap that you pull as tight as you can...

Thanks in advance.

pastey_boy

I've just got on of these and it's a fantastic all in one unit, can be had for less then £120 from a few retailers. Mount is solid and although the light is quoted as having 800 lumens it is actually brighter than my 900 lumen nukeproof reactor light.
http://www.electronlights.co.uk/lights/ ... le/terra-3

Tom_UK

I have been using the Lezyne Super Drive for the past 10 months, its worked faultlessly
Great battery life, enough light to descend at 35mph+ at night and its £100

ilm_zero7

peyroux wrote:

I was looking at http://road.cc/content/review/47688-trelock-ls-950-ecopower-control-front-light: but got a bit put off

here is a great tool - scroll down to the active comparison thing
http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/347 ... ts-cycling

then i suggest compare the bangs for buck between the Xera Flashlight - which you can get for around £90 and the Cateye Nano Shot (which I have and is amazing)

native son

Have a look at the Philips saferide. £75 delivered
Designed for road use.
I am more than happy with mine
Very good on unlit roads.

Pigtail

I've got the ecopower. Its probably a bit early to say how good it is, though I'm pretty happy so far.

As it is I don't see the problem with the strap. You pull it tight, put on a safety catch inside which slackens it off a tad, then pull down the latch which tightens the whole thing up. It has a small amount of sideways movement available, which allows you to adjust it for road positioning. I like the battery life. A lot of the lights available give about 2 hours on full power, this one gives 6. I'm running it in conjunction with a small Cateye on flash. I got it for £75 delivered from one of the German companies.

uberkraaft

Love my Lezyne PowerDrive. Brilliant for pitchblack country roads, up to 30mph ... about 3 hour ride time on full beam.

paulg99

native son wrote:

Have a look at the Philips saferide. £75 delivered
Designed for road use.
I am more than happy with mine
Very good on unlit roads.

+1

essjaydee

After reading thread below, I went for a pair of £15 Cree lights and they have been superb, but it's your money.....
http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40013&t=12887759

shimmyhill

I have a magicshine clone and they are very bright but not very suitable for road use, uncontrolled light and blind anything coming towards you - i imagine excellent in the mtb world. I have a different lens that does at least focus the beam better but still no cutoff, fashioning a solution to this is an option but between the worries about the battery pack and charging and the non suitability for road use im going to get a properly designed light.

Im down to the Fenix BT20, Philips or the Trelock LS950 and pretty set on the last one now - the mount is the only downside but resolved by adding something to the bar for it to grip onto better.

drlodge

Tom_UK wrote:

I have been using the Lezyne Super Drive for the past 10 months, its worked faultlessly
Great battery life, enough light to descend at 35mph+ at night and its £100

+1 for the Leyzene Super Drive, I got mine from Winstanley Ikes for £70 + a spare battery for £30. However they've now replaced it with the Super Drive XL which is shorter, and I don't think quite as good looking at the reviews.

rdt

If you decide to go down the inexpensive Cree-LED-equipped torch route, the best one I have is a Trustfire A8.

It's a big sucker as it uses a 26650 battery instead of the usual 18650, but the plus side is a much longer run time than 18650 torches. Maybe 2.5-3 hours on high, much longer (double?) on medium. It's also the brightest of all my Cree T6 LED torches, with the greatest throw and good beam pattern. I use it as my "main beam" lamp on unlit lanes.

For $37 (£23) including decent battery, charger & shipping from HK, it's a bargain. Will need a velcro strap or similar for handlebar attachment.

http://www.keygos.com/product_info.php?products_id=1151