Lights - Its getting to that time of year again!

JesseD

Nights are drawing in so I need to get some winter lights to see me through my commute and some evening cross riding on trails and woods (away from street lighting).

Up until now I have used cheap Cree lights from Ebay which for the road were fine more or less but I wouldn't trust them off road, plus the mounts move about a lot on the bars.

Need something that will run on high power for around 90 - 120 mins and be bright enough to light up a good portion of track in front of me when off road.

What are the thoughts on the Lifeline range of products from Wiggle, this one in particular as its within budget and seems to tick the boxes.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-pavo-2 ... ont-light/

Anyone have one and can comment?

Or do i bite the bullet and go for a Exposure one?

agentorange88

Stick with the imports from eBay. Plenty of options or c&b seen if more UK based.

I have several torches running off single supersized AA batterys. 18--- batteries. All work perfectly and cost around a tenner each. Use 2 on the bars and one helmet mounted. Replaced the barmounts with a twin beam unit last yearcostung around 30quid.

Hope and exposure are great but I can almost buy new lights every year for the expected lifetime of a hope and still save money

bobones

I've had a Cateye Volt 1200 for 4 years now and it's still working perfectly. Easily bright enough for dark lanes and offroad, and the "hyper-constant" setting is great for town riding, day or night.

You can find them for less than £100 these days. The Volt 1600 is also an option to consider.

I've had Magicshines etc in the past, but I cannot be arsed with separate chargers and battery packs so the Volt format is great: just unclip and recharge via USB.

I've got mine mounted centrally on the front brake bolt using one of these, which provides a good beam angle, is really nice and stable, and frees up space on the bars.

singleton

Lezyne 1500 lumen for under £90 ??
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Lezyne-Super-D ... K6S_D_BwE#
I run Lezyne lights and find that while their lumen rating may look low, they give a very usable beam.

cougie

I'd go with age orang. eBay lights have worked well for me.

mamil314

Friekin ebay light users. Blinding incoming traffic should be made illegal, it makes me want to knock their lights out.

agentorange88

Really, so the 1200 lumen cateye is fine but my twin 250 lumen eBay option is not?

if you read the first post properly you would see that it's asking about off road use for which I replied with the options I use.

Just because it's capable of a max output doesn't mean you have to run it on road at that level. And if you want to start talking about blinding people how about the inconsiderate prats that don't dip their headlights when approaching cyclists

mamil314

You might be right. Still, a decent pun, though. Just because Schleppy is slacking, lately.

super_davo

I've always used eBay special Cree lights but this year I saw a Lezyne Hecto Drive 350XL for £15 so I thought I'd give that a go. Mainly for keeping in my saddlebag for an emergency and for this time of year where I might come home in daylight, might come home in dark. And its been a revelation; easy bright enough for unlit roads, really small and well built, easy to charge off USB and run times OK for a couple of nights commuting. Just goes to prove 1. its not all about the lumens and 2. every single eBay light massively overstates the lumen count to the point you don't really know what you're using.

I've since ordered a Lezyne Macro Drive 1100 because I saw one for £45 in Rutland Cycling (£50 less a £5 off £50 voucher posted online). At that price, its hardly worth bothering with eBay Crees; you know as it is Lezyne it will have a quality build, and it will last and last.

JesseD

Thanks for all the comments so far, great knowing what people use daily and for trail riding, hadnt thought about a cheaper second light to use in get me home circumstances!

I have had a cree eBay special for around 2 years and it does blind drivers on the road which is not ideal, but the most annoying thing i found was the O-Ring brackets move around on the bars on the road so I imagine they will be all over the place off road! The other thing that annoyed me was the fact the battery life was at best awful, especially on full beam, would be lucky if I got an hour out of it, I bought a second battery after the first one dies and that was the same. Maybe the batteries wont be better on the branded products, but my guess is that they will.

So far I have narrowed down to these as I want to keep close to between £120 - £150, but am also open to any other suggestions.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-pavo-2 ... untryId=74
http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/bike-ligh ... rsion.html
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/exposure-joysti ... hb-mounts/

mrb123

http://road.cc/content/review/221409-ra ... ront-light

Ravemen? Seriously considering one of these if my current Cree Ebay job ever gives up the ghost.

slowbike

Commute and Offroad are not nescersarily going to demand the same light.

Personally - for the commute/onroad I have a branded light - I've always had Cateye - just because theyre a well known and reliable brand - we're happy with the Nanoshot+ and the Volt700 we've got for the front - they're both good lights with suitable beams - I do prefer the Nanoshot+ for the usability though - being able to click between high & low beam then double click for the hyperconstant is simple to achieve whilst riding whislt the Volt700 flicks through 3 power modes before going to flash - not so handy - I think there's a shortcut to switch between lower powermode and high - but I can't remember what it is - it also has the hyperconstant mode which I think is superb idea when you need to draw attention to the fact you're a bike.
I'd happily look at any of the branded ones - especially that Lezyne Macro at that price ...

For the extra light I wanted on the commute I went for a cheap torch using the 18650 battery - so cheap it's worth it as trial. In the end I got 2 as the first one I bought fails to keep a constant setting (perhaps I went too cheap). Throwing out the light - it's as bright as the Cateye's - but the beam pattern is not as effective (bright center circle) - but for the price it's great at being a backup light and giving the extra light that useful off road. Oh - being a torch it's easy to strap it to the lid too ...

svetty

Blimey! The joystick is now up to Mk12 :shock: :shock:

I must be getting old :?

singleton

My riding friends rave about their "light & motion" lights.
The TAZ1200 rates very highly and is in budget:
http://www.sprocketscycles.com/taz-1200 ... dYYE62ZN3k

figbat

When my ring was slack I wrapped some insulating tape around the shaft to increase its diameter for a better grip. It's a nice tight fit now.

Alex99

bobones wrote:

I've had a Cateye Volt 1200 for 4 years now and it's still working perfectly. Easily bright enough for dark lanes and offroad, and the "hyper-constant" setting is great for town riding, day or night.

You can find them for less than £100 these days. The Volt 1600 is also an option to consider.

I've had Magicshines etc in the past, but I cannot be arsed with separate chargers and battery packs so the Volt format is great: just unclip and recharge via USB.

I've got mine mounted centrally on the front brake bolt using one of these, which provides a good beam angle, is really nice and stable, and frees up space on the bars.

Yeah, the Volt 1200 is a really great light. I recommend it any day. It's OK for dark lanes even on low.

jlloyd

figbat wrote:

When my ring was slack I wrapped some insulating tape around the shaft to increase its diameter for a better grip. It's a nice tight fit now.

Mate, wrong forum...

Alex99

JLloyd wrote:

figbat wrote:

When my ring was slack I wrapped some insulating tape around the shaft to increase its diameter for a better grip. It's a nice tight fit now.

Mate, wrong forum...

One internet point awarded to both