Lights - Am I just tight?
Discussion
So, the mornings and evenings are dark and I am considering cycling five miles or so to the station down unlit canals. It so happens that in this months MBR there is a test of lights - great! I completely understand why off road one might need two front lights, but given that there will be some on road to my journey, I also need a rear light as well for part of the journey.
So in my mind, I think that I want half decent lights, but nothing extravagant. I am thinking that maybe I need a budget of £100 at most. Then I read the tests in the magazine and one of the lights (not the winner!) was over £700!! Who spends that on a bicycle light? It wasn't even the only one at that sort of price. Am I being naive about the cost of these things?
I would use an old bike for the station as it needs to not tempt the criminals, if I went all out on lights, they would very soon be worth more than the bike itself. Any other ideas?
So in my mind, I think that I want half decent lights, but nothing extravagant. I am thinking that maybe I need a budget of £100 at most. Then I read the tests in the magazine and one of the lights (not the winner!) was over £700!! Who spends that on a bicycle light? It wasn't even the only one at that sort of price. Am I being naive about the cost of these things?
I would use an old bike for the station as it needs to not tempt the criminals, if I went all out on lights, they would very soon be worth more than the bike itself. Any other ideas?
For the last few years there's not been much choice in trail worthy lights other than Chinese cheap stuff, or Hope & Exposure expensive stuff.
But there's new decent kit arriving in the middle nowadays. Lezyne Deca Drive 1500XXL is a decent self contained light, £85 at Halfords after BC discount.
But there's new decent kit arriving in the middle nowadays. Lezyne Deca Drive 1500XXL is a decent self contained light, £85 at Halfords after BC discount.
looksfast said:
So, the mornings and evenings are dark and I am considering cycling five miles or so to the station down unlit canals. It so happens that in this months MBR there is a test of lights - great! I completely understand why off road one might need two front lights, but given that there will be some on road to my journey, I also need a rear light as well for part of the journey.
So in my mind, I think that I want half decent lights, but nothing extravagant. I am thinking that maybe I need a budget of £100 at most. Then I read the tests in the magazine and one of the lights (not the winner!) was over £700!! Who spends that on a bicycle light? It wasn't even the only one at that sort of price. Am I being naive about the cost of these things?
I would use an old bike for the station as it needs to not tempt the criminals, if I went all out on lights, they would very soon be worth more than the bike itself. Any other ideas?
You can spend as much or as little as you like, as with most things in life. Depends what you value the most.So in my mind, I think that I want half decent lights, but nothing extravagant. I am thinking that maybe I need a budget of £100 at most. Then I read the tests in the magazine and one of the lights (not the winner!) was over £700!! Who spends that on a bicycle light? It wasn't even the only one at that sort of price. Am I being naive about the cost of these things?
I would use an old bike for the station as it needs to not tempt the criminals, if I went all out on lights, they would very soon be worth more than the bike itself. Any other ideas?
£700 come again?
most bicycle lights are carp - flashy strobey nonsense and tiny prick spots might be cool but a decent large lens FIXED light is much easier to see at a glance, and get the most reliable bearing of speed, distance and heading, and a quick glance might be all you get. It's actually more difficult to observe something thats flashing! (The whole concept of flashing lights is to draw attention particularly in daylight, they are not a substitute for marker lights at night!)
most bicycle lights are carp - flashy strobey nonsense and tiny prick spots might be cool but a decent large lens FIXED light is much easier to see at a glance, and get the most reliable bearing of speed, distance and heading, and a quick glance might be all you get. It's actually more difficult to observe something thats flashing! (The whole concept of flashing lights is to draw attention particularly in daylight, they are not a substitute for marker lights at night!)
looksfast said:
I am thinking that maybe I need a budget of £100 at most. Then I read the tests in the magazine and one of the lights (not the winner!) was over £700!! Who spends that on a bicycle light? It wasn't even the only one at that sort of price. Am I being naive about the cost of these things?
Lupine lights are great and 10 years ago there was nothing else like them. Cheaper options are now available (including from lupine) and more than bright enough for road use.I'm tight, I've got a couple of eBay CREE LED lights. You should be able to find something that will blind the canal path wildlife at 30 paces for under £30.
Example:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201469815478
Example:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201469815478
I'm using these for 15 mile rides along river and into more wooded areas:
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/tumble--fall-h...
They were £70 the other day at Swinnerton Cycles online but now appear out of stock.
IMO they are excellent and very bright for riding along river (and have 4 settings so you can use lower setting for road use).
http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/tumble--fall-h...
They were £70 the other day at Swinnerton Cycles online but now appear out of stock.
IMO they are excellent and very bright for riding along river (and have 4 settings so you can use lower setting for road use).
tuffer said:
Ebay, Cree LED, buy half a dozen for £30 and throw away if they fall apart. I use mine for night riding out on Salisbury Plain and they can blind a Squaddie at 300 paces.
Agree This or one of the million similar models:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Spuer-High-Power-5-X-CRE...
I run two off one battery and a spare batt in bag, I keep the battery in a water bottle on bike
Was going to buy a decent light this year, but sod it im sticking with them as I have done 3 x winter commuting through un lit paths and lanes with no issues and Ive built up too many spare parts!
There are more convenient options out there but they cost lots more, im not saying the above is the best setup ever but is well proven for me year on year
There's lights and then there's lights.
The ones you see for hundreds and hundreds are for off-road riding at night, they're hugely powerful, enough to ride technical terrain in the pitch dark.
You don't need them for Canal Paths, and you won't be popular on-road either unless you're careful - something like a Hope R8 puts out 3000 lumens, that's brighter than a lot of car 'main beam' lights, to pass an MOT with a 2000 lumen headlamp they need to be self-levelling and have a washer they're so bright so it would be very easy to dazzle another road user if they're just mounted to your bars.
The ones you see for hundreds and hundreds are for off-road riding at night, they're hugely powerful, enough to ride technical terrain in the pitch dark.
You don't need them for Canal Paths, and you won't be popular on-road either unless you're careful - something like a Hope R8 puts out 3000 lumens, that's brighter than a lot of car 'main beam' lights, to pass an MOT with a 2000 lumen headlamp they need to be self-levelling and have a washer they're so bright so it would be very easy to dazzle another road user if they're just mounted to your bars.
P-Jay said:
There's lights and then there's lights.
The ones you see for hundreds and hundreds are for off-road riding at night, they're hugely powerful, enough to ride technical terrain in the pitch dark.
You don't need them for Canal Paths, and you won't be popular on-road either unless you're careful - something like a Hope R8 puts out 3000 lumens, that's brighter than a lot of car 'main beam' lights, to pass an MOT with a 2000 lumen headlamp they need to be self-levelling and have a washer they're so bright so it would be very easy to dazzle another road user if they're just mounted to your bars.
Agreed, but there seems to be a real difference between British and Chinese lumens...The ones you see for hundreds and hundreds are for off-road riding at night, they're hugely powerful, enough to ride technical terrain in the pitch dark.
You don't need them for Canal Paths, and you won't be popular on-road either unless you're careful - something like a Hope R8 puts out 3000 lumens, that's brighter than a lot of car 'main beam' lights, to pass an MOT with a 2000 lumen headlamp they need to be self-levelling and have a washer they're so bright so it would be very easy to dazzle another road user if they're just mounted to your bars.
For road, i have this ~400lm light on the bike (£45):
http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/mj-838-junior-magics...
For night mountain biking, that light goes on top of my lid as a secondary, and this 2,000lm badboy goes on the handlebars (~£129):
http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/bike-lights/mj-880-2...
The animals in the forest start waking up thinking its morning as i approach...
http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/mj-838-junior-magics...
For night mountain biking, that light goes on top of my lid as a secondary, and this 2,000lm badboy goes on the handlebars (~£129):
http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/bike-lights/mj-880-2...
The animals in the forest start waking up thinking its morning as i approach...
Ive been using Chinese CREE lights for years. My only complaint is the rubber band mounts however that was another design element they copied so I live with them as-is.
But for the money, and because they have a decent mount, you can't beat these:
http://m.lightinthebox.com/en/dark-knight-k2c-4-mo...
They were 11 quid at one point but even at this price they're outstanding.
But for the money, and because they have a decent mount, you can't beat these:
http://m.lightinthebox.com/en/dark-knight-k2c-4-mo...
They were 11 quid at one point but even at this price they're outstanding.
Watchman said:
But for the money, and because they have a decent mount, you can't beat these:
http://m.lightinthebox.com/en/dark-knight-k2c-4-mo...
They were 11 quid at one point but even at this price they're outstanding.
I agree they are good lights and mount, but I found running the cable to the battery pack, mounting the pack and then messing around undoing the battery to charge to be a real faff, so went back to the cheap Chinese cree bar mounted ones.http://m.lightinthebox.com/en/dark-knight-k2c-4-mo...
They were 11 quid at one point but even at this price they're outstanding.
You lot spending hundreds on light are mad in your heed!
Ebay, Cree bar light plus less daft flashlight style one to mount on your head.
Planetx phaart / bleep x 2 to the rear (seatpost plus right chainstay.
Planetx "it looks like a knog frog but it's 1.50" x 1 mount on back of helmet, x1 on bottom of front fork.
Lit up like a christmas tree, with redundancy for about 30 quid. Those Lezyne lights are lovely, but not 100 quid lovely!
Ebay, Cree bar light plus less daft flashlight style one to mount on your head.
Planetx phaart / bleep x 2 to the rear (seatpost plus right chainstay.
Planetx "it looks like a knog frog but it's 1.50" x 1 mount on back of helmet, x1 on bottom of front fork.
Lit up like a christmas tree, with redundancy for about 30 quid. Those Lezyne lights are lovely, but not 100 quid lovely!
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