Rechargeable front light around £50

rapleyr

Can anyone suggest a front light for evening/night use, occasionally on unlit country roads? Is the price reasonable for what I want? I already have a set for flashing front and rear, just need a front to be able to see when it is dark.

Thanks in advance

rapleyr

Or would something in this price range be better

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/moon-x-power-33 ... ont-light/

imposter2.0

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XML-XM-L ... 234a703e0e

rapleyr

Do you have one of these? I checked ebay but assumed they wouldnt be any good because of the price.

kfinlay

I think this is a great light as it puts light where you want it (on the road) and doesn't blind other road/path users. Good quality, has a very good run time, good spread of light and bang on budget.

http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/busch-mueller-ixon-iq-premium-led-139357/wg_id-302

Salsa

I have one of the Ebay ones linked too above, have to say it's overkill for the road so it's rarely used. I only use it when I'm riding pitch black lanes in the country, or off road night riding. It's a pain carrying the battery pack about and I bought a diffuser lens for it to improve the beam pattern from a big dot to a letterbox mode.
http://www.amazon.com/MagicShine-Gemini ... B004WLCLQY
I use my Niterider a lot more, lasts longer, fits easier and is bright enough.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/nite ... -prod86897

imposter2.0

rapleyr wrote:

Do you have one of these? I checked ebay but assumed they wouldnt be any good because of the price.

I do have one, although not from that particular seller. As someone commented, it's probably more light than you need - even for dark lanes, but I still think it's awesome and you can't really go wrong at that price.

bendertherobot

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-power-dr ... 60657179uk

£9 over budget but worth it. This is the loaded pack as well so extra battery for you.

Superb lights.

kfinlay

Imposter wrote:

rapleyr wrote:

Do you have one of these? I checked ebay but assumed they wouldnt be any good because of the price.

I do have one, although not from that particular seller. As someone commented, it's probably more light than you need - even for dark lanes, but I still think it's awesome and you can't really go wrong at that price.

I have one of those chinese lights too but found the beam pattern too much of a spot. Instead of a diffuser lens I put some sticky forsted glass film on the lens and it made it much better - much softer transition from spot to edge and wider spread too. Can't say I trust the batteries though as they seem to degrade quickly (although cheap to buy a replacement pack). Also get lots of flashing from oncoming traffic (bikes and cars) so it must blind other quite badly as I try to keep it pointing low enough - it's mainly this reason I think the Busch & Muller one I previously linked to is ideal for the long term.
HTH

rapleyr

Thanks for the replys, will get one ordered

Cheers

diy

I run these on all my bikes, 1 or 2 for the road bikes, 3 or 4 for the mountain bikes. They cost 5 quid for an XM-L2 LED (which is the v2 of the XM-L above)
http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf- ... ch-1-18650

You'll need some 18650 cells (old laptop battery) and a charger and a bit of inner tube to attach it to the bars.

They are brilliant and can run at between 200 lumen or 800 Lumen (genuine not theoretical) depending on the mode you choose - the cells will last an hour on high or 3-10 hours on medium or low mode. They also have a strobe mode and SOS mode which aren't that useful.

I personally wouldn't go for a cheap light with an external pack because the cells are normally junk and don't last long.

they are also available in a XP-L LED which is just out:
http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf- ... 50-battery

DKay

kfinlay wrote:

I have one of those chinese lights too but found the beam pattern too much of a spot. Instead of a diffuser lens I put some sticky forsted glass film on the lens and it made it much better - much softer transition from spot to edge and wider spread too. Also get lots of flashing from oncoming traffic (bikes and cars) so it must blind other quite badly as I try to keep it pointing low enough.
HTH

Just put a strip of electrical tape horizontally over the top 25% of the lens. No more blinding traffic, nice clean cut-off to the beam. Job done.

kfinlay

DKay wrote:

kfinlay wrote:

I have one of those chinese lights too but found the beam pattern too much of a spot. Instead of a diffuser lens I put some sticky forsted glass film on the lens and it made it much better - much softer transition from spot to edge and wider spread too. Also get lots of flashing from oncoming traffic (bikes and cars) so it must blind other quite badly as I try to keep it pointing low enough.
HTH

Just put a strip of electrical tape horizontally over the top 25% of the lens. No more blinding traffic, nice clean cut-off to the beam. Job done.

yeah will give it a try but unfortunately doesn't solve the shitty battery problem (although I'm sure I'll be able to sort that out)

diy

As most MTBers will tell you there are huge benefits to running two lights on the bars, as wide apart as you can, even at lower output.
1. It significantly reduces shadowing as there are two sources of light
2. You can angle your left light down and your right light in, like a dip beam.
3. No single point of failure if one fails
4. less spottiness, which arguably improves peripheral vision

If you want to see what two 501b (older XM-L T6 LEDs) look like on medium (camera's always make the img look dark) These were running on medium 0.8A ~ 300 Lumen each.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kQL6UnNmjk&t=0m55s

iron-clover

If you want to take a gamble with the second hand market you can get some seriously good lights for that price.
I got my first Hope Vision 1 (which works brilliantly with 2300maH rechargable AA batteries, no worries about the condition of built in batteries) for around £50 a couple of years ago, and you occasionally see them cheaper. The unit new can be had for £65 though which is well worth it for Hope's product back up.
It is easily capable of lighting the way at speed on unlit roads even in its second lowest setting, and will run for hours and hours.

I also just bought an Exposure Joystick Mk 6 off fleabay for £40 last night (to compliment the Hope on fast night rides for the same reasons as DIY, or as a helmet spot light)- as I said it is a gamble as to battery condition etc but chances are you're still going to get an awful lot of light for your money.

MisterMuncher

I've had great success with the Lezyne Power Drive for unlit road use. Batteries common and cheap enough to keep a charged spare on you, too. 60 quid from CRC for the "Loaded" pack with 2 batteries and bar and helmet mounts. I ran a smaller light (Lezyne Macro) as well, pointed down for pothole spotting.

Just seen Bender was way ahead of me there, but yes, excellent light. Failing that, any German transport Authority approved light will generally give a more usable beam than raw output figures would suggest.

bendertherobot

The Power Drive is, arguably, all you need. Even so the beam pattern is not ideal for oncoming traffic. But, then, nothing in this thread is unless you're talking some of the German lights.

I currently run a Philips Saferide 80 for seeing where I'm going and a Macro Drive as a flasher. But it's a useful back up to have if the Philips runs out.

kfinlay

bendertherobot wrote:

The Power Drive is, arguably, all you need. Even so the beam pattern is not ideal for oncoming traffic. But, then, nothing in this thread is unless you're talking some of the German lights.

I currently run a Philips Saferide 80 for seeing where I'm going and a Macro Drive as a flasher. But it's a useful back up to have if the Philips runs out.

Hence the BUSCH + MÜLLER IXON IQ Premium LED (80Lux@10m) I mentioned earlier which also uses rechargeable AAs and bang on budget.
Philips Saferide is also well reviewed but is more expensive (I think).

Both have very good beam patterns and thats every bit as important to me as output for roads but off-road has different requirements.

MisterMuncher

I use the Macro down-angled in town, then fire up the Power Drive for the back roads. Round these parts, oncoming traffic really isn't an issue.

matt_cartlidge

I'd look at this http://road.cc/content/review/143954-ma ... ront-light

£59 if I didn't have so many lights I'd get one

rapleyr

I went for the lazyne power drive from wiggle

Thanks for the advice

Anonymous

Cateye Volt 300 would seem to fit the bill nicely.

diy

I must admit I don't get why people buy the lazyne lights. Inside you get a 3 year old CREE XM-L T6 LED and a 2.4Ah 18650 battery with a charge unit and driver and handle bar clamp.

You can buy panasonic's flagship18650 cell with 3.4Ah for around £10 and lights which use the later XM-L2 or XP-L V5 or even XM-L U3 LED for about £5-10

At 1.5A a T6, produces ~500 Lumen once warm.
the XM-L 2 version produced 100 more for the same power, the XP-L version almost another 100 more than that.

A light is a "bulb" a battery and and switch, surely the bulb and battery are important?

Ouija

I agree. If you wanted something from a known manufacturer in that price range with the brightness of the cheaper Chinese XM-L based torches then the Fenix BC30 covers all the bases. XM-L2, remote switch and a commuting friendly beam. Makes the Lezyne and most of those German commuter lights like Ixon look silly.






Descriptions:
The Fenix BC30 Bike Light puts self-contained 1800-lumen max output at the ready. Remote burst activation and the exclusive Dual Distance Beam System make the BC30 effective on road or trail up to 170m. Choose 18650 rechargeable or CR123A batteries to power four brightness levels and a warning mode, all guarded by a rugged bar-mounted housing.

Features:
- Utilizes two Cree XM-L2 T6 neutral white LEDs
- max 1800-lumen output
- powered by 18650 x 2 or CR123A x 4 (Not included)
- Instant burst activation with the remote pressure switch
- DUAL DISTANCE BEAM SYSTEM
- 4 brightness levels plus warning mode
- Digitally regulated output - maintains constant brightness
- Quick attach and detach handlebar mount sized for
- 22mm-35mm handlebars
- Easy, secure adjustment of the light's direction
- Made of aluminum alloy and quality plastic

Size: approximately 12.7 x 5.1 x 3cm (BC30 Main body)
Weight: approximately 163g (BC30 Main body)

Package Includes:
1 x Fenix LED Bike Light BC30
1 x Handlebar Mount for the BC30
2 x Handlebard Mount Shims (one thick and one thin)
1 x Remote Pressure Switch
2 x spare o-ring (one black and one red)

diy

looks like a great light, but IMO pointless having two LEDs so close together as a road light, but a convenient and powerful light. Seen any clones around yet?

bendertherobot

diy wrote:

I must admit I don't get why people buy the lazyne lights. ?

Road riding. But, even so, they're not often ideal. But given their lesser outputs far less annoying than 1800 lumen monstrosities.

Take it even lower. Why would someone buy a Philips Saferide over XML 5000 lumens. Because, for riding on the road, it's simply a better proposition.

The OP wanted a light to see. A 600 lumen Lezyne is good at that. Ditto the Cat Eye. Good prices, good back. Reasonable output at a reasonably social level.

diy

My comment was why buy a 50 quid light which uses old technology when you can get a 20 quid set-up using up to date tech. I appreciate that people might not care. Lumen output is not what causes dazzle. There are 5000 lumen car headlights on the market, tactical lighting as its known is anything above 200-300 (used to be 80) its more about where its pointed and if anything lumen/mm2.

bendertherobot

Old tech? The lezyne has an LED at the front and rechargeable batteries.

bendertherobot

You can see the LED on this mega drive. Same across the range. Just LED's with reflectors.

http://superlight-bikeparts.de/bilder/p ... lights.jpg

Same as well for the Philips Saferide. Though that does clever stuff with much lower ouptuts.

Ouija

You'll find some reviews for the BC30 here and a reasonably good Youtube video here...

And a comparison against a Solarstorm X2 (right pic) on high...

fatsmoker

I use a Cree from CandBSeen front light. Bit of a faff with the separate battery pack that straps under the stem, but it has a decent charge time. £50.