Which Lights

[chrisb1357]

Hi all.

Well its started to get dark early now in the evening and i have to start cycyling home in the dark soon down some back lanes which are about 3 miles in total from work to home. Only been cycyling now for 7 months on my giant hyrbrid but have only ever used the bike in the day.

Can anyone recommend a good front and back light but ones that dont cost massive amount of money

Chris

 

[Piemaster]

I use a Blackburn Mars 4 on the back and an Busch & Muller Ixon IQ at the front.
The B+M light I ordered from Germany last year for around £35 less than SJS. Good light IMHO for street lighting as it has an almost car like beam shape.
Admittedly neither could be regarded as cheap but I'd rather be a bit better lit up and a little poorer.
Search the forums for 'which lights' - it's a regular topic around this time of year, especially amongst the commuters.
No doubt others will add advice.

 

[cyberknight]

i use 2 of these up front ..

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

and 2 of these on the back..
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.35036


Pity they take a few weeks to come , but for the price well worth the wait.

I hear good things about hope vision 1

http://www.evanscycles.com/products...oogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=froogle

 

[chrisb1357]

They seem cheap

Are they good for the price and do them come with the mounting kit

Chris

i use 2 of these up front ..

http://www.dealextre...ls.dx/sku.26800

and 2 of these on the back..
http://www.dealextre...ls.dx/sku.35036


Pity they take a few weeks to come , but for the price well worth the wait.

I hear good things about hope vision 1

http://www.evanscycl...ampaign=froogle

 

[jayonabike]

Basically lights come in 2 types, lights to been seen by and lights to see where your going. The first are cheaper and ideal for riding on lit roads at night, but if your riding on unlit roads you will need a brighter light so you can see what's in the road in front of you (pot holes, glass, rabbits!) and these are more expencive. A good light to see whats happening ahead at a reasonable price is the Hope Vision 1 for around £70. There are various lights reviewed in this months Cycling+ mag, might be worth picking up a copy to give you a few options.

jay

 

[nightoff]

Front
I use one of these on the bars on constant. (Excellent light output for the money. Possibly the best bang for buck on the market. Easily good enough to ride by on unlit country roads. 3 hour battery life on full. Don't use on lower settings so not sure of run times)
I have one of these on the bars on flash. (Great commuting light. Good side visibility. Can ride by at moderate speeds. Great battery life)
I have one of these cable tied to my helmet. (The CREE LED gives off a suprising amount of light for the money. I get about 4 hours on a set of batteries)

Rear
I have 2 of these on my seat stays, one on flash and one on constant (These lights are just fantastically bright with excellent run times. The flash mode is really good).
i have 2 of these, one on the back of my helmet and one on the back of my saddle bag, both on flash. (Not as bright as the Smarts but good enough and cheap. Great value for money. Only negative is they have too many flash modes to cycle through).

All these lights apart from the Magicshine take AAA batteries which are here and charged with this. (I can't fault the batteries and the charger is a real gem. It can take anywhere between 1 and 8 batteries. It will discharge them and recharge them to keep them conditioned. Each battery is individually charged and monitored so there is no risk of overcharging. It has even reconditioned some of my old batteries which I thought had died.

Just a note. All my orders from Deal Extreme took a couple of weeks to arrive.

 

[marcw]

+1 for the B&M Ixon gives a really usable block of light in front and doesn't seem to be too harsh on people coming the other way. Bright enough to ride at a resonable pace with no street lights and has last 5 hours easily with decent batteries. Doesn't flash as flashers aren't legal in Germany, not that this has been a problem. I get the impression drivers think I'm a motorbike when coming past them.

 

[cyberknight]

They seem cheap

Are they good for the price and do them come with the mounting kit

Chris

Yes they come with mounting kit and some one at work thought i was a moped in the car park !

ATM i use one on full power all the time and the other one comes on on unlit bits.
This week i used them one way at about 40 mins each trip and the one that was on all the time was a little dimmer, cheap enough to run on rechargeable s

 

[MacB]

If you'll be doing a lot of unlit roads in the dark then it's also worth considering a hub dynamo and lights, not as expensive as you may think. I just got a complete Alfine dynamo wheel for £98 and front and rear lights from Bike24 in Germany for about £90. You could bring the lights cost down to about £70 and still get decent front and rear. It's surprising how the cost of torches, mounts, batteries and chargers can all add up.