The Light Thread 2024

[fossyant]

Thought I'd resurrect an old thread to see what people are running for the commute and/or off road and other business ! Things have moved on somewhat, and there seams to be loads of lights now that have a proper beam shape for roads/shared paths. (STVZO style but with some good lumen output).

Commuting

I've been really happy with a cheap cut off STVZO style light I got from Ali-express (over a year's use).

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...o.order_list.order_list_main.4.395e1802JRgMSN

Has a decent cut off and can run it on an unlit path on medium of 3 brightness levels, and cope with people with 'blinding lights'.

When there is no-one about I'll switch on my Fenix BC30v2 with a remote switch - sadly this is no longer available (you fit your own batteries).

There is the BC30R which is similar but comes with batteries.

Very bright and suitable for off road riding. The handy remote means I can switch from a very low mode (when others are approaching) to maximum with a quick press, and then back again - it will also remember the previous mode if you are say using it at medium, then pressing the retina burn button - very useful for MTB riding.

Rear is currently an old C&B seen city slicker, and a Planet X Dogstar - been impressed with the PX light, very bright and lots of side light spill.

I have a Magicshine Seemee 300 being delivered any-day. Bonus is can be used as a day light, and it has a 'bulb' that projects downwards at night lighting up the ground below you.

General Daytime

Daytime, my current favourites are two Lezyne Zecto Drive Max 250's - handy in low winter sunshine when the roads are wet, or when riding under 'stippled light' in summer (tree cover). Battery lasts ages on day flash, and they fit in seconds.

Anything New Out There ?

I have seen the New Magicshine Evo 1700, which looks to be a great commuter light - really good cut off, with a quick access to high beam if needed. Compact and comes with a Garmin style out-front mount with the light underneath. Wouldn't work for me as the commuter bike's brake and gear cables are in the way. It's not cheap at £80, and I've seen 'copies' at £50.

 

[Jody]

Looking for a new off road light but almost everything now has integrated batteries.

What are you using on the MTB?

 

[fossyant]

Looking for a new off road light but almost everything now has integrated batteries.

What are you using on the MTB?

My Fenix or the old C&B Seen front light, and a really old chinese Yinding (Gemini Duo copy from 10 years ago) with separate battery pack (battery pack where you put in your own cells). The Fenix wins hands down as you can take spare batteries, and the remote is brilliant - you can still get the BC30v2 but it's discontinued.

I've a few friends that use the Halfords 1600 off road, but have changed the mount for a Hope one. Battery lasts enough for 3 plus hour rides.

 

[si_c]

Currently use a Lezyne Macro 1300xxl, which fits easily under the garmin mount on my handlebars on both bikes - being able to fit and remove quickly for me is a must. For daylight running I often use a Lezyne 600 as it has a really good daylight flash mode.

I've also got a Cycliq Fly 12 which is set up to use the same quarter turn garmin mount.

For longer rides I'd likely use my Fenix BC30 as @fossyant notes it's really good and being able to swap batteries out is a feature I wouldn't want to lose - certainly means that it's got a lot of longevity. The only downside is that I have to mount it to the bars and I really prefer a clean setup as I look at it - mounting under the garmin unit isn't an option for this lamp as the optics on the lamp mean it wouldn't be putting all the light on the road and possibly shining into oncoming drivers' eyes.

For the rear, I have a Varia RTL-515 and a Lezyne Strip Pro 300. The former is my go to lamp, mostly because of the quarter turn mount which lets me take it off quickly and easily.

Not seen a need to replace or update any of my lights for a few years, which says a lot really.

 

[wafter]

Nice to see some love for units with replaceable batteries; as the built-in stuff seems so obviously abhorrent on so many levels..


I run a little 80 lumen Moon Pulsar (1xAA) on the front to identify myself to others, and a Moon Pulsar (2xAAA) on the back for the same purpose.

I love these and have picked them up for as little as around £15/pr; however the Pulsar has blotted its copybook somewhat by turning off mid-ride - not sure if this is because of a fault or because I insist on running rechargeable batteries - which are lower voltage than alkalines so potentially hit their cutoff voltage sooner.

For illuminating the path ahead I use a Fenix HP25R head torch; which is fantastic. It has a rear-mounted removable 21700 Li-Ion battery that charges via a USB-C port in the body. It has three separate LEDs and will do flood and spot independently on a number of different brightness settings. It also has an articulated head so that it can be oriented sufficiently downwards to avoid blinding oncoming traffic.

Typically I only use this in the evening / at night (as I'm rarely about early enough to need illumination to see where I'm going) and when coming home from the city begin with the mid-brightness flood angled right infront of me, mainly for additional identification. Once I'm out on the tow path or unlit roads I switch to the spot and angle it up a bit to give better coverage of what's ahead.

If I encounter others coming the other way I can orient my head to direct the beam away from them, or indeed straight into their faces should they be some oncoming muppet in a car who refuses to dip their headlights.

The headtorch wasn't cheap, however I'm very happy with it - both for cycling and general use. While I'm wary of supporting Chinese business (tbh how do you not since they now make everything..?) I think Fenix's excellent products and more direct-to-consumer model make them amongst the best for such products currently. Plus, they're one of the few brands that still embraces replaceable cells - which should count for a lot.

I nearly bought one of their bike lights last year; but instead opted for the head torch as it seemed more versatile for the above reasons. They still look great however, and were I to find myself needed a brighter, fixed front light they would definitely be my first port of call.

@Jody - sadly there's not a lot about with discrete batteries any more; as above one of the few are Fenix. I had a bloody good look at their two single-cell lights a while ago; which might be of interest

 

[palinurus]

I've been using an IQ Cyo for years- I can't remember how long (I'm on my second one)- more than 15 years. Currently from a Kasai dynohub.

Also I have a backup rechargeable light from MTB Batteries also used if I use one of my other bikes in the winter. This replaced a Hope Vision 2 I had for ages (it is similar in that it has a separate battery pack- which I like)

On the rear I'm still using an old C&B Seen City Slicker (no longer trading) and a Tooo Cycling DVR80 camera/ light combination. I also have a cheap mudguard mount light- permanently attached and added in case I want to go out to run a short errand without worrying about removing lights etc. In practice I haven't used it so might swap this to my Elephant Bike.

 

[andrew_s]

I've been using an IQ Cyo for years- I can't remember how long (I'm on my second one)- more than 15 years. Currently from a Kasai dynohub.

I've also been using a similar light (SON Edelux) since 2008, when bright white LED dynamo lights started, more or less*. Upgraded once, when the Edelux II/Cyo Premium came out.

Just bolt the light to the bike, turn it on, and forget about it.
With the sensomatic function you don't even have to decide whether it's dingy enough to warrant a light. I does mean that it's quite often on all day at this time of year, but that's not a problem.

*High power white LEDs appeared in battery lights about 2005. I used a DIY LED dynamo light for about 8 months, then a Solidlight (1st commercial LED dynamo light) for about 2 years, before B+M brought out the Cyo.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I only ride on the roads and this year I bought two Halfords 500 lumen front lights and two 50 lumen rear lights

A charge in both front and rear lights last a single direction of the commute very comfortably at full brightness and non flashing, so even in the worst rain or snow I will complete the journey with no fear of flat batteries.

If I were desparate and did a bit of power management flashing rear and droping from 500 to 100 lumens at the front where the roads are lit I could do both directions on a single charge.

Over the last few years I have been using a 150ish lumen Aldi front light on all the time and a 700 lumen front light on the unlit parts, this is a bit of an issue as the 700 lumen, (Lezyne Lite Drive 700XL) is oncoming car driver unfriendly.

Where possible I would drop (Race Mode) from 700 to 100 lumens but sometimes this would leave the road invisible.

So far this winter I haven't been flashed by anyone and in practice there is little difference in useful light between the light pairs, the 700+150 is brighter with less of a spread than the 2x500 but I can't any further down the road with it. The Lezyne also couldn't do a whole leg of a commute at full power on a single charge except on the fastest commutes.

The rear lights work a lot better than my first impression, as you move away from them they become more visible, I run them vertically on the seat stay so close together that there appear to be three leds as the bottom/top leds merge.

I have riden both accidentally and intentionally with and without a hi-vis vest with ScotchBrite reflective strips and I have noticed that with the vest cars do seem to be seeing me earlier and are going in a straight line when passing me rather than still pulling out. This does suggest that maybe more rear light is needed, but would a brighter light really help, especially when it is off because the battery has gone flat!

Ian

 

[Punkawallah]

No lights on the ’fun’ bike - who wants to ride it in the dark?
£shop’s best on front and back on the ‘sensible’ bike, set to flash. Seem to work fine for letting others know I’m there, but their mount tends to break if the bike goes down. Cheap enough to replace, though.

 

[si_c]

A charge in both front and rear lights last a single direction of the commute very comfortably at full brightness and non flashing, so even in the worst rain or snow I will complete the journey with no fear of flat batteries.

That's definitely a concern with battery powered lights - especially in winter when battery capacity is reduced with the temperature, its always safe to assume that whatever life is quoted by the manufacturers is probably best achieved in summer when you actually don't need the lights as much.

If I were desparate and did a bit of power management flashing rear and droping from 500 to 100 lumens at the front where the roads are lit I could do both directions on a single charge.

So far this winter I haven't been flashed by anyone and in practice there is little difference in useful light between the light pairs, the 700+150 is brighter with less of a spread than the 2x500 but I can't any further down the road with it. The Lezyne also couldn't do a whole leg of a commute at full power on a single charge except on the fastest commutes.

That's one thing I like about the larger capacity lights, the 1300xxl I have has a 450lm enduro mode, which is suitable for all but the worst riding and which has a quoted battery life over 8 hours, in practice I'm unlikely to need more than a couple of hours so that's more than enough for me. You can up the power to 800lm which is only 4 hours of battery life.

The rear lights work a lot better than my first impression, as you move away from them they become more visible, I run them vertically on the seat stay so close together that there appear to be three leds as the bottom/top leds merge.

I have riden both accidentally and intentionally with and without a hi-vis vest with ScotchBrite reflective strips and I have noticed that with the vest cars do seem to be seeing me earlier and are going in a straight line when passing me rather than still pulling out. This does suggest that maybe more rear light is needed, but would a brighter light really help, especially when it is off because the battery has gone flat!

I find a steady light rear with a really bright flashing rear light gets me the best results. The 150lm day flash on my lezyne rear is really visible from distance and especially on straighter roads. I tend to use that with a solid light on the Varia rear. Both eke out several hours in the rear comfortably at my preferred settings.

 

[palinurus]

I used a DIY LED dynamo light for about 8 months, then a Solidlight (1st commercial LED dynamo light) for about 2 years, before B+M brought out the Cyo

I remember the Solidlights- they were very popular for a time with Audaxers.

 

[palinurus]

I remember the Solidlights- they were very popular for a time with Audaxers.

Although it's only just dawned on me why- I hadn't realised there were no other options for LED dynamo lighting then.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

At the Front

Using a Moon Meteor Storm Pro (2000 lumens) and a Moon Meteor Vortex 1000 up front.

The former is used in Day Flash during the day at 400 lumens - with that it has an alleged runtime of 260 hours.
At night it's used mode 3 (120 lumens/43 hours) on street lit roads and mode 2 (1100 lumens/4.5 hours) where there is no street lighting. When it's absolutely pitch black (country lanes with high hedgerows) or on off-road trails, mode 1 (1700 lumens/2.5 hours) comes into play. I do angle it down to avoid causing any glare.

It's quite chunky (with two replaceable batteries 3350 mAh) but I do like it's fantastic runtime - I can almost forget about it for most of the year.

The Moon Meteor Vortex 1000 I found wasn't quite bright enough to give me the confidence I needed to ride fast on wet roads when it was pitch black, but I still keep it around as a backup light and at night I'll have it 'Flash 1', for which the runtime is 70 hours.

I'll often supplement these with two cheap USB rechargeable blinkies, for of extra visibility.

At the Rear

On both bikes:

• Cateye Viz300 - Hyperflash (day/10 hours) / flashing (night/45 hours)
• MagicShine SeeMe 100 - off (day) / interactive (night/6 hours) - usually have a charged spare with me
• CateEye Reflex Rack [BS6102-3 / StVZO compliant] - off (day) / constant (night/> 100 hours)
• Hi viz strap thing which has a set of red LEDs to the rear which are used flashing (the fronts gave up the ghost but were way to distracting anyway; runtime isn't great on this so it's very much supplemental)

Additonally on the Gas Pipe Hybrid:

• Smart 0.5W R317 Superflash - flashing (day) / flashing (night) - this is also often carried as a spare for other bikes because it takes replaceable AAA batteries
• Two cheap USB rechargeable blinkies

I also use a Brightside Bike Side Light which is a yellow side light, hung from the top tube of the Gas Pipe Hybrid in constant mode.

Both bikes have all the legally required BS6102-2 reflectors. I'll probably pick up an StVZO compliant front light to use instead of the Moon Meteor Vortex 1000 at some point, so should the worst happen any counter-claim for negligence on account of reflectors/lighting is unlikely.

As you can see, I subscribe to the 'you can never have enough blinkies' school of thought. I've been experimenting and I've found that lighting up the rear of the bike like a christmas tree at night almost completely eradicates close passes. I've also had enough lights 'die' on me that I've long since decided redundant lighting is a must.

 

[Ian H]

SON dynamo & lights on 3 bikes. I switch them on when it gets dark.