Bike Lights....recommendations?

[Utopia]

....fellow cyclists - have you any recommendations for front & rear lights for my sexy new Hardtail MB?, i'm going to be making a purchase today or tomorrow, i've heard Catseye's are quite brittle?, willing to pay around £50 and there mainly for London street use with occasional off road.

Ta very much

 

[Boycey]

the smart bspoke 1/2 watt sets are pretty decent and are 35-40 for the pair including batteries. pretty much all smart lights have been properly shielded against shite weather for the last few years.

if you want to go silly search for gentlegreen's posts re:bicycle lights

 

[gentlegreen]

*feels hairs on back of neck tingling*

 

[gentlegreen]

Those Smart lights are £15.20 a set at Wiggle

 

[gentlegreen]

A front light good enough for off-road is going to be a challenge though ....

 

[Utopia]

A front light good enough for off-road is going to be a challenge though ....

...I say off road but not 'downhill' levels of off road, maybe bridal ways & the like, lights strong enough to not fall off with some average vibrations.

 

[mattie]

I got some cateye halogens for less than 50, sadly only the lead-acid battery one as the Li-Ion/NiCad/whatever were a lot, lot more.

The main benefit is that the battery sits in the bottle cage, so there's next to no weight on the handlebars - my mates who do 24Hr off-road races use them, although with the lighter batteries.

 

[gentlegreen]

...I say off road but not 'downhill' levels of off road, maybe bridal ways & the like, lights strong enough to not fall off with some average vibrations.

To ride in total darkness you'll need multiple watts of LEDs.
A 4 watt LED is now as bright as a 35 watt Halogen.
(I never found my 20 watt halogen lamp any use at all)

I use domestic MR16 spots with non-ideal beam patterns and I reckon a single 4 watt, 25 degree lamp would do for cautious riding.

But commercial lights at that performance level are very expensive.

... mind you, I suspect I have very poor night vision ...

---------

That Smart rear light looks pretty decent.

If you were handy with tools, you could wire up a neater version of my front light for 60 quid or so... burning time of maybe 8 hours on a charge.

 

[Boycey]

... mind you, I suspect I have very poor night vision ...

i suspect drivers in your area have the LED equivalent of arc eye.

 

[gentlegreen]

i suspect drivers in your area have the LED equivalent of arc eye.

Actually that single 1/2 watt LED in the Smart lights would be a bit nasty close-up ..at least most of my 98 LEDs are only 70mW

 

[Boycey]

it's actually not too fierce, it's got a nifty wide angle lense on it. i used a pair of them for a nightride to brighton and had no complaints. they do a 1W version now that i'm keen to try out.

 

[sir.clip]

....fellow cyclists - have you any recommendations for front & rear lights

knog lights are good.

 

[snowy_again]

knogs pack up when you least expect it though, from my experience

 

[mincepie]

Rear - these are great - cheap and very bright. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Smart-3-LED-S...ghts?hash=item518be17e94&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Front = One of these with the bike mount. http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/

Get rechargeable batteries as well.

 

[Boycey]

knogs pack up when you least expect it though, from my experience

i've had plenty of lights that go on the blink in cold wet weather, frustrating beyond belief.

 

[gentlegreen]

i've had plenty of lights that go on the blink in cold wet weather, frustrating beyond belief.

Maybe best to avoid Australian ones then

 

[gentlegreen]

.

 

[cybertect]

 

[haZe36]

Blackburn Mars for the back.

 

[gentlegreen]

- Blackburn’s most powerful rear flasher
- 1 Watt Ultra Bright Red LED
- 2 Amber Side LED’s
- 50 hour runtime steady; 150 hour runtime flash
- No tool battery installation
- Two AAA batteries included

16.666 amp / hour AAAs



I ought to pick them up on that ...

 

[dlx1]

I got Cateye EL135 Front Light Very Bright on country road send a lot of light out side. Would like a 2nd one
3 leds

Wiggle