arrrrgh lights
ashleydwsmith
Posts: 693
I currently have an exposure joystick and a moon meteor for the front, but want something thats feels a bit brighter for night riding - i cannot afford the likes of exposure.
i was looking at the lt450 from halfords - partly as i work for them so get good discount - but is 450 lumens enough?
Cheers
Ash
i was looking at the lt450 from halfords - partly as i work for them so get good discount - but is 450 lumens enough?
Cheers
Ash
0
Comments
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450 lumens wouldn't be enough for me on unlit roads. Maybe OK for city centre riding?
I use the MK7 Joystik on my helmet - 400lumen on Flash and a Lezyne Deca Drive on my bars - 900lumen. I generally run the Deca in "race mode" so I can quickly flick between 250 and 900lumen.
Edit:
Some nice lights on here:
http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/accessories/lights/front
No idea though if they are any good...0 -
I use an eBay CREE special. £20 will get you a very bright light that I use all winter for cycling on pitch black country roads. Not as bling as buying some £250 Hope R8s but they do the job at a fraction of the price. And cars will flash you thinking you've got full beam on.0
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cars will flash you thinking you've got full beam on.
Cos blinding other road users is cool!- - - - - - - - - -
On Strava.{/url}0 -
Indeed don't be a prick, point it downwards, at the road, you know the thing you need to seecars will flash you thinking you've got full beam on.
Cos blinding other road users is cool!Bianchi Infinito CV
Bianchi Via Nirone 7 Ultegra
Brompton S Type
Carrera Vengeance Ultimate Ltd
Gary Fisher Aquila '98
Front half of a Viking Saratoga Tandem0 -
I use an eBay CREE special. £20 will get you a very bright light that I use all winter for cycling on pitch black country roads. Not as bling as buying some £250 Hope R8s but they do the job at a fraction of the price. And cars will flash you thinking you've got full beam on.
...which will be closely followed by them smashing into you head-on because you've just blinded them.
I've got one of the ebay lights and they have a good output, but the beam is too round. I recommend you stick a piece of electrical tape over the top 20% of the lens, as it gives a defined cut-off which stops blinding oncoming traffic, without affecting the effective range of the light.0 -
off the original topic, but if you have the cheap "ebay" cree lights or similar, the diffuser lens might suit some purposes better..cheapest i've seem em.. £2.40 delivered, mine took the 39mm version though the smaller 29mm is available too, for me it made the light much more commute friendly, though as others mention, you still need to angle it down
http://goo.gl/blJNWJ
http://goo.gl/tFbVQOTell the stars I'm coming,
make them leave a space for me;
whether bones, or dust,
or ashes once among them I'll be free0 -
i very much like my cree lights, i only found fiddling about with where the battery was going etc the only issue. in the end i put a bag on the top tube and stored it in that. on a slightly different note i would have liked one as my rear light. is there a red defuser or something like that?enigma esprit
cannondale caad8 tiagra 20120 -
1 or 2 of these:
http://www.lightmalls.com/501b-cree-xp-l-v5-flashlight-ultrafire-501b-1800-lumen-5-mode-led-flashlight-1-18650-op-reflector
on the bars, attached with a couple of loops of MTB inner tube.
A couple of 18650 cells out of an old laptop battery
an 18650 power bank from e-bay either a 1, 2, 3 or 4 cell unit as a charger
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5V-Dual-USB-Power-Bank-18650-Battery-Charger-Box-for-Samsung-iPhone-4S-5C-5S-6-/331540388461?var=&hash=item4d3158da6d
The above light is also available in XM-L2 for around £5 and tbh given its only about 15% less efficient than the XP-L LED, its fine.
Point them down like a dipped set of headlights and you've got a light that will push a genuine 800 Lumen on high and a sensible 120 Lumen on low and nobody will be dazzled.
Road test here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kQL6UnNmjk&t=0m55s
These are the older XM-L V1 LED at 0.8A (medium mode), so about 600 Lumen combined. You should get around 3hour run time, on medium, but 10 hours on low.0 -
on a slightly different note i would have liked one as my rear light. is there a red defuser or something like that?
It's way too powerful for use as a rear light. :roll:0 -
I just ordered a Light & Motion Urban 800 for £80 from Singletrackbikes. It received a good review on road.cc
I also considered the Niterider Lumina 750, which is available for £60 from Highonbikes. That's well reviewed too, but the beam pattern didn't seem as good as the Light & Motion.0 -
i very much like my cree lights, i only found fiddling about with where the battery was going etc the only issue. in the end i put a bag on the top tube and stored it in that. on a slightly different note i would have liked one as my rear light. is there a red defuser or something like that?
Red balloon over the lens works0 -
on a slightly different note i would have liked one as my rear light. is there a red defuser or something like that?
It's way too powerful for use as a rear light. :roll:
^^^^this. if you ride in front of me with one it would end up in the gutter.
rear light only needs to be a "be seen" light, not a "see the way" light.Bianchi Infinito CV
Bianchi Via Nirone 7 Ultegra
Brompton S Type
Carrera Vengeance Ultimate Ltd
Gary Fisher Aquila '98
Front half of a Viking Saratoga Tandem0 -
I used torches as front lights until recently - LED Lenser at first, and then one or two different ones from DX.com. The Twofish Lockblock is a good choice for attaching them to the handlebar. They're perfectly good for riding on or off road, but it's worth getting good batteries for them.Specialized Roubaix Elite 2015
XM-057 rigid 29er0 -
on a slightly different note i would have liked one as my rear light. is there a red defuser or something like that?
It's way too powerful for use as a rear light. :roll:
^^^^this. if you ride in front of me with one it would end up in the gutter.
rear light only needs to be a "be seen" light, not a "see the way" light.
I would agree with that - a 0.5 - 1w is all you need at the rear with a few flashers to draw attention to you. The exception would be riding in Fog, in which case a more powerful LED can be helpful. but still in the under 5w category. Current top end CREE LEDs are all 10w and throwing 122 lumen per watt.0 -
That's more lumens than comes out of my motorcycle headlight and you're doing 120kmph on that.450 lumens wouldn't be enough for me on unlit roads. Maybe OK for city centre riding?
I use the MK7 Joystik on my helmet - 400lumen on Flash and a Lezyne Deca Drive on my bars - 900lumen. I generally run the Deca in "race mode" so I can quickly flick between 250 and 900lumen.
Edit:
Some nice lights on here:
http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/accessories/lights/front
No idea though if they are any good...
Just to confirm, the 400lm is its max output and as said above I run it on flash. The Dec Drive I run in race mode so I switch from 250lm when on lit roads and use the 900lm when on unlit back roads etc...0
