Help me buy lights

[HLaB]

What’s wrong with AA?

I found lights that used AA's would come apart occasionally. A light with AA's has the advantage though that when the batteries fail you can replace just them, when usb rechargeable batteries fail the whole unit needs replaced :-/

 

[RoubaixCube]

I found lights that used AA's would come apart occasionally. A light with AA's has the advantage though that when the batteries fail you can replace just them, when usb rechargeable batteries fail the whole unit needs replaced :-/

Just get the torch like lights that use 18650's

 

[Blue Hills]

I don't think it is so much that the brackets are naff rather than the lights themselves being heavy.

Most lights that are actually powerful enough to see with (rather than be seen) and have decent battery life are usually quite heavy - often having 4AAs on board or a big rechargeable battery.

Sheer inertia means that hitting a bumps or potholes can result in the bracket moving around on the bars, which can result in everything suddenly going dark - not good! If you manage to get the bracket tight enough not to do this, it then becomes difficult/impossible to adjust the aim of the light on the move, which can be very handy.

I had exactly this problem with a Philips Saferide. It weighed a ton and I spent more time trying to point the thing in the right direction than looking where I was going - completely useless and only really fit for the bin. This was an expensive light at the time too, recommended by the 'you get what you pay for' merchants due to it's German style optics. It also had rubbish battery life, was unreliable and at 80 lux, not exactly bright.

If your light doesn't weigh much, you can have the best of both worlds. It isn't as affected by bumps and can be fairly loosely mounted for quick on the fly adjustments.

The correct solution to the problem is to decouple the weight of the battery from the lamp - just like the Chinese do with their excellent quality yet reasonably priced lights.

Nothing wrong with the mount of the ixon iq.
It is 80 lux i think.
Which is fine.
I'm not trying to fry the trees on my night rides.

edit - that's a hell of a generalisation at the end of your post. Anything chinese is good?
Do you use these lights onroad in deep night?
If so what's the beam pattern like?

 

[Lovacott]

I find angling my light slightly downwards is the answer. If it is just illuminating the bottom edge of a road sign I'm happy.

It's quite capable of lighting a sign up completely.

I have two lights, one either side of the handlebars (MTB).

The RHS one is aimed down 20 degrees and in towards the side of the road and the one on the left is aimed very slightly to the left and down about 10 degrees.

This lights up the road very clearly (daylight clear) for about 10 metres but allows me to see the surface ahead for about 20 metres. There are a lot of potholes on the 2nd half of my commute and although I have built up a mental map of where they are during my daylight rides, I still want to see them (one 500 yard section of downhill road is a bit of a minefield and it's hard enough during the day).

When I set the lights up, I made a point of standing ahead of the bike to check for "dazzle".

The brackets on the light can swivel left and right and lock into place with a pretty firm click every 5 degrees of turn or so. I go over some pretty bumpy terrain and they stay locked in position. I can move them a few clicks on the fly if needs be with a simple firm turn.

I bought them after reading the very positive reviews on Amazon. I know a lot of Amazon reviews are made up, but those ones are pretty easy to spot. The only downside to these lights is that the back ones are not that great. They work fine but are on the small side. As I have two, it isn't a massive problem but I wouldn't want just one of these on the back of my bike.

 

[Mo1959]

My current favourites are Cateye Velo on the front which are usb chargeable and I have a Blackburn Mars 3.0 on the rear which I use AAA rechargeables in and has an excellent run time.

 

[Sterlo]

Just been doing some research, looks like you need one which is StVZO approved, this German spec doesn't allow a glare which would shine into the eyes of drivers or pedestrians. Any light which passes shows the symbol/label, I just Googled and have come across quite a few on Amazon that look similar to the ones suggested previously. Might give one a try if I can find one I like at a reasonable price as I don't do loads of rides in the dark and I do live out in the country.

I've taken a punt on this one, seems to have full approval as above, 60 lumens so a bit less than the IQ one mentioned by others but £20 less.

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07SBSVL7X/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Blue Hills]

I'd be interested in your views on it when it arrives @Sterlo
I'd also lookout for Lidl's lights when they turn up.

 

[faster]

Nothing wrong with the mount of the ixon iq.
It is 80 lux i think.
Which is fine.
I'm not trying to fry the trees on my night rides.

edit - that's a hell of a generalisation at the end of your post. Anything chinese is good?
Do you use these lights onroad in deep night?
If so what's the beam pattern like?

It is a hell of a generalisation, but it was said flippantly - I didn't really think that anyone would read it and think that all Chinese lights are good. I hear that some aren't. Apologies if you read it in the way. I would guess that the main risk with Chinese lights is that quality may be inconsistent - I have 3 (although only one has done a lot of work) and the quality of all three appears to be very good. They look expensive and have nicely made aluminium bodies.

Mine are used for commuting on a mixture of lit and unlit roads, often averaging 20+mph and a bit of commuting along a canal. I really recommend a 'frying the trees' light along a canal at night. Stuff/people/dogs can appear very suddenly from nowhere.

As for beam pattern, it's difficult to say really. All I can say is that they are really good to see with, but I am aware that there is a risk of dazzling oncoming traffic, so I aim the light accordingly. I never have any issues with angry motorists etc, but I do find myself adjusting to be able to see further on quiet unlit stretches. On my favourite one (no name, but I think magic shine 808 copy), the added wide lens definitely helps, but the Solarstorm x2 seems fine for road use, but not quite as good.

I hear the ixon iq is very good - the thing that puts me off any of the German style lights is that due to the beam pattern, I don't think they can be mounted under the bars, which is my preference. Top mounted lights tend to shine directly into the gear cables (I'm still on old brifters on my commuter) and the back scatter from this has a large negative effect on actually being able to see in my experience. Mounting under the bar reduces this significantly, but it still bothers me.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I found lights that used AA's would come apart occasionally. A light with AA's has the advantage though that when the batteries fail you can replace just them, when usb rechargeable batteries fail the whole unit needs replaced :-/

The B&M ones have a built in charger so no need to open hatch to get AA out to charge.

 

[Blue Hills]

The B&M ones have a built in charger so no need to open hatch to get AA out to charge.

yes, though i never really trust it.
And don't really understand it.
I prefer to use a smart slow charger as I know what it's doing.
I do hope that light continues, with a slight redesign to improve the latch mechanism.

 

[Matthew20]

when usb rechargeable batteries fail the whole unit needs replaced :-/

Unless its a removable battery like old phones had.

and I have a decade old phone which still runs fine on its battery.
I think lights would fail before the battery. That does depend on the manufacture though.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Unless its a removable battery like old phones had.

and I have a decade old phone which still runs fine on its battery.
I think lights would fail before the battery. That does depend on the manufacture though.

and how many of those are around? Can’t say I’ve seen rechargeable lights with removable batteries.

 

[HLaB]

Unless its a removable battery like old phones had.

and I have a decade old phone which still runs fine on its battery.
I think lights would fail before the battery. That does depend on the manufacture though.

All the USB lights I've had have their battery fail, eventually they just fail to hold charge but I do prefer the more compact and lighter sealed unit so I continue to buy them.

 

[HLaB]

and how many of those are around? Can’t say I’ve seen rechargeable lights with removable batteries.

There's definitely not many but the Cateye Volt is one
https://www.cateye.com/intl/products/headlights/HL-EL471RC/

 

[Blue Hills]

I think lights would fail before the battery. That does depend on the manufacture though.

I very much doubt that.
Modern leds have a very long life, may well outlive you. Rechargeable batteries not. And even suffer from being sat around.