Can someone recommend me some lights?

Bustacapp

I have noticed it getting darker recently. Can someone recommend me some lights that meet the following criteria as much as possible:

a) Cheap
b) Powerful
c) Rechargeable

Thanks.

The Real Radioactiveman

cheap ? what does that mean ? less then £20 , less than £100

Powerful ? where do you ride ? country lanes,main roads,is it all lit by streetlights? do you need to see or be seen ?

rechargeable- do you want to use rechargeable removable batteries , do you want an all n one unit, would usb charging be helpful

Answer the above questions and I am sure you will get some quality advice

Bustacapp

The Real Radioactiveman wrote:

cheap ? what does that mean ? less then £20 , less than £100

Less than £50 for both front and rear.

The Real Radioactiveman wrote:

Powerful ? where do you ride ? country lanes,main roads,is it all lit by streetlights? do you need to see or be seen ?

I need to be seen and I'd like massive amounts of lumens.

The Real Radioactiveman wrote:

rechargeable- do you want to use rechargeable removable batteries , do you want an all n one unit, would usb charging be helpful.

USB please.

I saw these on the cycle show the other night (yes I was bored) and thought they were cool. But £40 each?

mudcow007

for uber high power lights look on ebay for magicshine chinese copy lights

they are too powerful for road use though

mpdouglas

Moon Comet (they do a front and a rear). I've been running a rear one for the past year and it's a) very bright and b) I can get 4+ hours on flash mode between recharges (it's a mini USB for charging).

It has survived all weathers and is well made. It comes with an excellent bracket for mounting the rear light to the saddle rails. The front looks identical apart from beam colour. They're about £25 each if you shop around. You can get them as a set (e.g. Wiggle http://www.wiggle.co.uk/moon-comet-light-set/ ). The reviews suggest it's not just me that thinks they're excellent.

andyrr

How cheap ? How much light do you need - fast training rides on poor rural roads or urban use ?
The chinese lights with the head unit and separate battery packs are certainly very cheap for the light output but as someone who has had a number of these I'd add these comments :
The beam pattern is not brilliant : the light output however can be such that the road ahead is still very well lit.
Quality is iffy. Multi-cell packs are often not fully waterproof, the soldering can be poor.
Charging : A lot of the problems I've had have been charging/charger related. After some time (months normally) the supplied charger that indicates that the pack is taking a charge with the red light showing stops doing so and when you know the pack is less than 100% charged the charger still shows a green, ie fully-charged, light. Also the charger cable wiring tends to be thin and the insulation breaks at the connector or the charger end.

What I'm trying to say is that if you are happy to take the risk that you might have to fiddle with the light/charger and that they might even become economically unrepairable after a period of use then you cannot get a light as bright for such a low cost, the Magicshine light types are available for around £30 or so (claimed 700+ lumens).

My most recent Far Eastern-sourced light was a triple LED model :
http://www.lightmalls.com/3600-lumen-3t ... -light-kit
With the available daylight now starting to reduce I tried them out again and the charger just shows a green light when connected up : ie it is not charging the battery pack. I already had to fix the charger wiring on this once plus (due to my own fault when the battery pack fell of the bike and damaged the wiring) I had to fix the battery pack soldering.
That light I think is now even cheaper than when I bought mine last winter but I'm now getting cheesed off with the short lifespan of the type of light with the 4x18650 cells and am sorely tempted to get one of the 501b torches (see the huge thread in the MTB Buying advice).
For that I'd have to get a couple of decent batteries and charger so initially it looks like you ar getting less light for your money but as the light is a single unit and a problem with the battery just means that the 1 cell can be replaced then it should be a more reliable option. Plus that allows for a proper charger to be used - long-term charging of these modern rechargeable batteries does require some care and the cheap chargers can be bad for the batteries and can even be a fire-risk.

If you don't want to go down the cheap + super bright road then there have been some good deals on the Lezyne lights for example.

supersonic

Not USB chargeable, but I have one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XML-XM-L ... 2ec334f5be

Works great, and the rear light is bloody good too!

sketchley

I run a pair of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/ULTRAFIRE-WF-50 ... B007V3JOBA you need one (or two) of these, a 18650 battery for each, a 18650 charger and a bike mount. All mine came dealtime xtreme and for the pair was sub £40.

I have four batteries so always carry two spares (note only needed on 4+ hour night rides). I only need a single on for commuting but have two in case one fails (which it hasn't so far). I use two on night ride on completely unlit road, cannot understand why you would need more. For commuting I tend to use a single in flash mode when filtering and car certainly know I'm coming through. Works great going between two lanes of traffic on the Highway in winter. I take it off flash when not filtering mind and angle it down a bit.....

rubertoe

Which bike mounts Sketch?

sketchley

rubertoe wrote:

Which bike mounts Sketch?

Something like this http://dx.com/p/mount-holder-clip-clamp ... lack-57322 although I play with a couple before I found an ideal one, all depends no size of handlebars etc.

note I ordered the lot for dealtime, torch, batteries, charger and mounts. Took about 21 days to delivery but no problems.

walkingbootweather

Pretty much everything you need to know about cheap and powerful lights from China here.

Or previous discussion

MisterMuncher

The Zecto are grand for what they are, and that is a backup light. The design saves you having to carry two lights in case your front or rear goes out of action. I don't think they'd be a first choice primary front or rear for anyone.

For Urban use, I'm currently running a Lezyne Macro/Micro Drive set. They're perfectly adequate for my purposes, including commutes at ridiculous o'clock. Wiggle do the pack for £60 or so, I got mine in CRC for £50 if memory serves, but I think it was an in-store only deal. They're well made, the mounts seem pretty sturdy, they charge via USB (Rear light plugs straight in, front light has micro USB plug under a screw-on cap) and kick out a decent amount of light for a decent length of time. For forays farther out of town, I use a Magicshine clone. These are hit and miss as stated above.

kennygalbraith

I've used this guy on ebay a couple of times, send him a message and he'll advise what is best.

http://myworld.ebay.com/big_f_d_d/

First.Aspect

I can't stand it any longer. The thread has been on page 1 for days.

No one can recommend you some lights. If you ask nicely, they might be able to recommend some lights to you.

I apologise.

Bustacapp

First Aspect wrote:

I can't stand it any longer. The thread has been on page 1 for days.

No one can recommend you some lights. If you ask nicely, they might be able to recommend some lights to you.

I apologise.

?

Bustacapp

Sketchley wrote:

rubertoe wrote:

Which bike mounts Sketch?

Something like this http://dx.com/p/mount-holder-clip-clamp ... lack-57322 although I play with a couple before I found an ideal one, all depends no size of handlebars etc.

note I ordered the lot for dealtime, torch, batteries, charger and mounts. Took about 21 days to delivery but no problems.

This setup looks great but a little high maintenance/inconvenient for what I'm after.

These look ideal to me. Anyone use them?
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-micro-dr ... pair-2013/


..or for a tenner more twice as many lumens on the front..
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-macro-fr ... pair-2013/

asprilla

The Lezyne lights were on offer (a mistake offer that was quickly withdrawn) a couple of weeks ago and few people picked them up. They are supposed to be very good lights.

rubertoe

I use Leyzene Micro Drives (complimented with a Smart on the front and femtos x 2 on the back).

I aint been squished yet.

Thinking of picking up a new front leyzene.

walkingbootweather

Bustacapp wrote:

First Aspect wrote:

I can't stand it any longer. The thread has been on page 1 for days.

No one can recommend you some lights. If you ask nicely, they might be able to recommend some lights to you.

I apologise.

?

My Aunt, who I live with, could probably recommend you some lights.

Bustacapp

My Aunt, who I live with, could probably recommend you some lights.[/quote]

Can't get onto youtube at work I'm afraid.

Wrath Rob

Slightly different light request. My seat tube is bi-ovalised so the Leznye micro-drive that I've got doesn't fit properly, the hard bit of the mount has too wide a diameter. Can anyone recommend something that's more likely to fit? Anything with a circular bracket is out...

vermin

Wrath Rob wrote:

Slightly different light request. My seat tube is bi-ovalised so the Leznye micro-drive that I've got doesn't fit properly, the hard bit of the mount has too wide a diameter. Can anyone recommend something that's more likely to fit? Anything with a circular bracket is out...

Exposure Flare, using the seat mount?

UndercoverElephant

Wrath Rob wrote:

Slightly different light request. My seat tube is bi-ovalised so the Leznye micro-drive that I've got doesn't fit properly, the hard bit of the mount has too wide a diameter. Can anyone recommend something that's more likely to fit? Anything with a circular bracket is out...

I've been very impressed with the Fibre Flare (shorty) I have on my backpack. You could fit one of them to anything, just about.

Wrath Rob

vermin wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

Slightly different light request. My seat tube is bi-ovalised so the Leznye micro-drive that I've got doesn't fit properly, the hard bit of the mount has too wide a diameter. Can anyone recommend something that's more likely to fit? Anything with a circular bracket is out...

Exposure Flare, using the seat mount?

I normally ride with a saddle bag and a cheapy clip on emergency light attached to it as a 2nd light so this might rule that out. Re. the Fibre flare, I'm not a fan. I think they don't contribute to a bike's lines, but I appreciate that they're good lights with great side visibility.

cyclingprop

Putting some old inner tube cut up between the mount and the post?

Wrath Rob

cyclingprop wrote:

Putting some old inner tube cut up between the mount and the post?

Yeah, that's what I was doing last winter, but it never really stays put and the light ends up swinging out to 1 side. I'd like a proper solution if I can. Unfortunately my wife broke the Exposure Flare I had so I can't remember if that worked properly or not. I'll have to see if I can find the carcass and see if that fits properly. That was a good light, only let down by the poor battery life of the rechargeable battery. 3 hour rides were its limit on flashing mode.

cyclingprop

also: viewtopic.php?p=15665231 although a little old.

and

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/genera ... 38597.html

asprilla

Wrath Rob wrote:

cyclingprop wrote:

That was a good light, only let down by the poor battery life of the rechargeable battery. 3 hour rides were its limit on flashing mode.

They will go for much longer flashing but their biggest drawback is that they randomly change modes if you are unfortunate enough to come across any less than pristine tarmac in London or Surrey.

DrLex

Wrath Rob wrote:

Slightly different light request. My seat tube is bi-ovalised so the Leznye micro-drive that I've got doesn't fit properly, the hard bit of the mount has too wide a diameter. Can anyone recommend something that's more likely to fit? Anything with a circular bracket is out...

Moon Shield? - about £35. Strap is rubber, so ovoid/rhomboid/cuboid all good-to-go.

cyclingprop

Asprilla wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

cyclingprop wrote:

That was a good light, only let down by the poor battery life of the rechargeable battery. 3 hour rides were its limit on flashing mode.

They will go for much longer flashing but their biggest drawback is that they randomly change modes if you are unfortunate enough to come across any less than pristine tarmac in London or Surrey.

You *can* do them up tightly enough for this not to happen, but you *WILL* crack the plastic thread on the lens part of the light.

The Rookie

DrLex wrote:

Wrath Rob wrote:

Slightly different light request. My seat tube is bi-ovalised so the Leznye micro-drive that I've got doesn't fit properly, the hard bit of the mount has too wide a diameter. Can anyone recommend something that's more likely to fit? Anything with a circular bracket is out...

Moon Shield? - about £35. Strap is rubber, so ovoid/rhomboid/cuboid all good-to-go.

This, plus the MS is a great rear light, bright as 'heck' and with an internal rechargeable battery it's light and conveniant.