Dark ride home - light advice

[GAVSTER]

Very good ride home tonight - for the first ten miles.

Coming out of Edinburgh was fine but when I hit the country road as usual it was pitch dark and I really couldn't see much.

Despite having two lights on the front - both rather small and weedy to be honest - I didn't want to go any faster than really slow cos I could see more than a few feet ahead.

So - as pretty soon I will commuting at least 10 miles plus a day in the dark with no street lights at all to assist I will need lights that can illuminate the road rather than people just being able to see me.

Have looked at Hope 1, some torches etc etc on the web. Am more keen on the idea of a light rather than torch but happy to be convinced either way.

Thoughts ladies and gentlemen please?

 

[Flying Dodo]

From a usability and flexibility point of view I decided on a pair of Hope 1 lights. I felt they gave the best light output per £, coupled with the fact they took ordinary AA batteries.

 

[MacB]

Option 1 - Fenix torch, twofish lockblock, 4 rechargeable AA batteries - covers me for as fast as I can manage for a, mainly unlit, 20 mile commute. Use two batteries going in and the other two coming home and recharge all 4 each night. Should certainly last you a year on the batteries, torch hopefully several years - cost £65 all in

Option 2 - new front wheel, for Winter only, fitted with dynamo hub, Schmidt SON seems the best rated. Run front light, Supernova E3 and back light from the hub. Plus two cheap LED battery lights on flash as backup - cost, including all lights, wheel, tyre, tube - approx £400, the wheel with Schmidt is about £200 and the E3 about £125

Option 2 is what I'd like but option 1 was what I could afford

 

[levad]

Said many time before by many folks ... Ayup.

I do 13 miles with only 1 mile of street lights and they are grrrrreeeeaaaattttt

 

[palinurus]

My hub dynamo setup, including wheelbuilding costs, was about £180 (Shimano hub, B&M IQ Cyo, Open Sport rim, also cheap rear light).

 

[goo_mason]

Said many time before by many folks ... Ayup.

I do 13 miles with only 1 mile of street lights and they are grrrrreeeeaaaattttt

Yep, you can't beat a set of Ay-Ups. 6hr burn time on the battery which recharges in a couple of hours.

 

[marinyork]

Either torch or Hope vision 1 for the cheap(er) costs. The other options are all very good if you have a lot more money.

 

[Amanda P]

For winter commuting, I'd go down the hub dynamo route if you can afford it. No worries about charging or buying batteries, no "will I get home before the lights die" anxiety. No having to remove the lights every day so they don't get stolen, then remembering to put them back on. No broken plasticky brackets.

You don't have to pay SON prices - the Shimano hubs are almost as good. It is worth going for a decent LED headlight like the Busch & Muller ones (Cyo, IQ, Edelux etc).

You'd complain if you bought a car, and then had to pay extra for lights. And they were crap, and broke a week later, or someone unclipped them and walked off with them.

A bike bought for commuting should already have them as standard, and they should be hub dynamo ones.

 

[HJ]

Very good ride home tonight - for the first ten miles.

Coming out of Edinburgh was fine but when I hit the country road as usual it was pitch dark and I really couldn't see much.

Despite having two lights on the front - both rather small and weedy to be honest - I didn't want to go any faster than really slow cos I could see more than a few feet ahead.

So - as pretty soon I will commuting at least 10 miles plus a day in the dark with no street lights at all to assist I will need lights that can illuminate the road rather than people just being able to see me.

Have looked at Hope 1, some torches etc etc on the web. Am more keen on the idea of a light rather than torch but happy to be convinced either way.

Thoughts ladies and gentlemen please?

I had the same sort of problem last year, my solution was a to buy a Dinotte 400L (see it in action here), also see this thread for other ideas...

 

[scouserinlondon]

$11 of magic. If you order now you should have it by October next year

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.26800

 

[Ranger]

I think I probably do the same route as you and have just gone over to Ay-Ups.

I can ride as fast as I like without worrying about not being able to see and there are no worries about battery life as far as I am concerned

 

[fossyant]

Just take advice on here, and pick what's best for you and your budget/needs...

But, get a powerful front light set up.....makes a huge difference... On the cheap, a couple of 3w (or more) LED torches, backed up with a standard (cheap) bike light are a budget way of getting good lighting up.

 

[Inertia]

I tried a made in China special from Dealextreme as I was on a budget

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149

So far Ive been very really happy with it though as Im new to night riding my experience with lights is limited. I can see where Im going though and riding past people someone actually yelled out that it was bloody bright

 

[fossyant]

I tried a made in China special from Dealextreme as I was on a budget

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149

So far Ive been very really happy with it though as Im new to night riding my experience with lights is limited. I can see where Im going though and riding past people someone actually yelled out that it was bloody bright

They are very good, and so far there has been good feedback. Certainly excellent value, and run on the lower output for the road, you are laughing.