A good light set for £30?

[MetalPig]

So, the dark mornings have shown me that i really need to replace my (5 years) old lights on the commuter. Not flushed with money at the moment but can go to around 30 notes, any recommendations for a decent "be seen" front and back set for around that mark?

 

[HorTs]

Have a look at this thread - http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/lights-cree-xml-xm-l-t6.117285/

 

[Linford]

So, the dark mornings have shown me that i really need to replace my (5 years) old lights on the commuter. Not flushed with money at the moment but can go to around 30 notes, any recommendations for a decent "be seen" front and back set for around that mark?

I don't get this 'be seen' requirement. I want to 'see' where I'm going on 700c23 rims with the state of the roads.
You can get 'Be seen' lights in poundland, but if you want lights which actually illuminate the road , go for some of these. Mine cost me £17 and took 1 week to turn up. They are very good.

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/lights-cree-xml-xm-l-t6.117285/unread

Edit..beaten too it

 

[400bhp]

Check out planet x phaart light for "be seen" lights for the front.

Most 1/2w rear lights are very good too. JE James have some stonkers for £4.99.

 

[Linford]

[QUOTE 2739365, member: 45"]If you're under streetlights you only Ned to be seen. In unlit roads your lights are the only thing you've got.[/quote]

The CREE ones in the link will dim down to 'be seen' level. If you need more light on any given section, you can always turn them up for that bit of the ride. If you are only running 'be seen' lights, you just have to stumble along and hope you don't hit anything.

 

[Kies]

Most lightsets from Cateye, Moon, Phaart etc will be fine for "being seen"
My personal preference would be a Cree T6 as linked above, and any £10 rear light. Not many bad ones for the rear. In fact i would say buy 2 rear lights

 

[MetalPig]

Thanks all, yeah my commute is basically all on normal roads under streetlights. Having only been cycling around 3 months this is my first " cold/dark " time and, while i thought the old lights would be enough, they're positively ninja-like compared to some I've seen out on the roads! Particularly the front one. So i will have a read of the cree thread now, cheers

 

[Linford]

Most lightsets from Cateye, Moon, Phaart etc will be fine for "being seen"
My personal preference would be a Cree T6 as linked above, and any £10 rear light. Not many bad ones for the rear. In fact i would say buy 2 rear lights

The CREE T6 one I bought came with a rear light. I howerver am using a poundland one for the back,and it is still going strong after a year. I had a Cateye one and TBH, the mouldings are a bit more swish, but the poundland one does the job just as well.

 

[Buzzinonbikes]

I would say though contrary to a few here and that's don't skimp on the rear lights. I see (or don't) some very poor rear lighting and it is daft. IMHO you need rear stuff to grab peoples attention away from their sat nav/phone/arse. My rear setup cost about £50 so on the high side but day in day out is a worthwhile investment the amount of time I'm on the bike.

 

[LimeBurn]

I have the a cree t6 front from JeJames about £25 a throw and theyre fantastic for the money (so good infact I bought my wife one too, or did I just get another so I had 2??) - I dont see why anyone would need anything more, or less, to be honest, and like someone else mentioned you can pick up a decent rear for less than a tenner - I have an RSP I think its called and its BRIGHT about £8

 

[400bhp]

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/claud-butler-exile-enigma-6-lightset-3w-id79147.html

 

[fossyant]

Certainly recommend looking at the planet X Phaart lights. My lad has the 3watt front and it's pretty bright for £5, and I've got the twin LED rear light (RSP Astrum copy) on the MTB and they have been great. The cateye copy (the one with 5 LEDs) is a bit cheap in construction, but it's survived over a year on my son's school bike in all weathers (taped over the switch to improve waterproofing).

If you search around, you can get the Smart R2 rear for about £12 (RRP £20).

Ideally you want two front and two rear lights.

 

[400bhp]

Certainly recommend looking at the planet X Phaart lights. My lad has the 3watt front and it's pretty bright for £5, and I've got the twin LED rear light (RSP Astrum copy) on the MTB and they have been great. The cateye copy (the one with 5 LEDs) is a bit cheap in construction, but it's survived over a year on my son's school bike in all weathers (taped over the switch to improve waterproofing).

If you search around, you can get the Smart R2 rear for about £12 (RRP £20).

Ideally you want two front and two rear lights.

The Phaart 3w is the same as the Claud Butler I linked to which in turn is the same as the revolution set that Edinburgh cycles sell.

I have two of the 3w front lights. Well put together and more than adequate for be seen lights.

 

[400bhp]

Certainly recommend looking at the planet X Phaart lights. My lad has the 3watt front and it's pretty bright for £5, and I've got the twin LED rear light (RSP Astrum copy) on the MTB and they have been great. The cateye copy (the one with 5 LEDs) is a bit cheap in construction, but it's survived over a year on my son's school bike in all weathers (taped over the switch to improve waterproofing).

If you search around, you can get the Smart R2 rear for about £12 (RRP £20).

Ideally you want two front and two rear lights.

The Claud Butler rears for a fiver are as good as the R2.

 

[TheDoctor]

Get a Cree front light from Ebay, and then get a few cheap rear lights - the Poundland ones are perfectly good, but there's lots of others. Add a set of tiny blinky ones as backups and you should still have change from £30.
Be warned - the Cree ones give you no warning whatsoever that you're about to run out of charge, as I discovered half-way down a hill last night. That's why you need a backup of some sort.