recommend me a good front bike light please!

[E21_Ross]

Looking to spend up to £80 or so. Mostly for use on road though will want something to be able to "light the way" when riding on roads or even forest paths with absolutely no street lighting. whilst i love mountain biking, i'm not brave enough to do it in the dark just yet hehe

i've had a look on evans cycles and this seems pretty good:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/electron/terra...

what you think?

cheers guys

Edited by E21_Ross on Wednesday 13th April 15:07

[rhinochopig]

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808-ha-iii-ssc-p7-...

Or

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808e-ha-iii-cree-x...

I have a few Torches and headtorches from DTE and they've all been excellent. A similar spec light from Hope et al will cost you three times that price, and whilst far better made, are not 3-4 times better.

[Gnarlybluesurf]

have to agree with the above as does everyone else though they can take a couple of weeks to arrive...

If you insist on the lights from evans you could save yourself £30

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/LIEL16LEDFR/el...


Alternatively these are also good front lights but none as powerful as the dealextreme lights:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/hope/vision-1-...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/exposure-joystick-mk5-fron...

N.B.

Always worth looking up your light on youtube as you'll often see people have tested it in the dark so you can compare them....

[Digga]

Do not by a Lupine.

I got one at the end of last year and have not been impressed; failed charging, returned after several weeks (poor service), then the crappy rubber -o-ring that is supposed to hold the light onto the bars failled. All in all, a lot less durable than other cheaper lights...

[Agoogy]

The Dealextreem lights IMO are almost beyond compare for value for money. They don't have the hi-tec beam patterns or brand image of the specific bike lights, but by-jove they are BRIGHT! the right model will have between 3 and 4 settings so you don't end up with on coming drivers flashing their lights at you as they are proper blinding head on.

If delievery times or worries about after sales service are concerns, there should eb the same lamps on sale on eBay from more local outfits...

I've had no issues with build quality with mine...and makes my mate's spend on his light rig look ridiculous.

[Vladimir]

The Hope Vision 1 is excellent and around that price.

240 lumens, nuclear bomb proof, easy to fit. I still use mine occasionally despite now having a decent 1700 lumen death beam (Luminous 601 - about the best light on the market today yet £350 not the comical Lupine price)

[E21_Ross]

thanks guys, will get one off deal extreme i think

much appreciated!

[hughjayteens]

I've got a deal extreme light and it's crazy value for money - as good as my mates' various exposure and Lupines which cost far more (theirs are a couple of years old so the newer exposure stuff probably is better but 3 times the price).

If you want the security of a UK product and warranty they sell them here http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/Front-Bike-Lights/28...

I have a Hk import and it's been fine for the last 18 months of regular use - did take a few weeks to come through though and yoy may get stung with a duty/VAT bill.

Edited by hughjayteens on Thursday 14th April 12:58

[Digga]

Vladimir said:

The Hope Vision 1 is excellent and around that price.

240 lumens, nuclear bomb proof, easy to fit. I still use mine occasionally despite now having a decent 1700 lumen death beam (Luminous 601 - about the best light on the market today yet £350 not the comical Lupine price)

I've also got a Hope 2 and I'd say it has been pretty good - survived a few sizeable stacks.

[Vladimir]

Digga said:

I've also got a Hope 2 and I'd say it has been pretty good - survived a few sizeable stacks.

Mine too - been fully submersed (oops!), bashed, etc and not missed a beat.

These Magicshine lights seem to be pretty unreliable and not that well made although they are VERY bright for the money.

If anyone an a really good Lupine/Exposure kicking light for much less money, the build quality and aftersales service of this "cottage" industry company is second to none - I tested his 601 Pro light against others and it won hands down so bought one. Only downsides are that the battery is a bit bulky (I mount mine under the bars) and errrmmm - that's it. Use it every week on very technical terrain and it's flawless. Remote switch also helps when you need to dip it.

http://www.luminouslights.co.uk/601pro.html

[MadDad]

rhinochopig said:

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808-ha-iii-ssc-p7-...

Or

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808e-ha-iii-cree-x...

I have a few Torches and headtorches from DTE and they've all been excellent. A similar spec light from Hope et al will cost you three times that price, and whilst far better made, are not 3-4 times better.

+1

I have a magicshine from DX and cannot rate it highly enough. On full beam it will run for about 3-4 hours, on half it will go for about 5-6 hours and on strobe mode it lasts for 10+ hours. They are claimed to be 900 lumens on full and I can well believe it!, best of all it cost me less than £50 including shipping!

[Omaruk]

Dealextreme magicshine +1, had expensive Hope and Lupines before, but these are not only far far cheaper but better too

[jodypress]

Best lights I've ever used for riding at night.

http://www.ayup-lights.com/

even with battery pack they're don't weigh much.

[MattYorke]

Way over budget I know, but I just upraded myself to an Exposure Strada. On unlit, overhung roads, it's seems as effective as car headlights. Worth every penny, IMVHO.

[Vladimir]

jodypress said:

Best lights I've ever used for riding at night.

http://www.ayup-lights.com/

even with battery pack they're don't weigh much.

My mate who I ride with has these - mine is three times brighter, takes a fraction of the time to set up and is more reliable for a similar price.

Only the Exposure Six Pack comes close and that costs a lot more. It kicks Lupines lights into the well lit weeds.

Edited by Vladimir on Tuesday 19th April 20:54

[jodypress]

Vladimir said:

My mate who I ride with has these - mine is three times brighter, takes a fraction of the time to set up and is more reliable for a similar price.

Only the Exposure Six Pack comes close and that costs a lot more. It kicks Lupines lights into the well lit weeds.

Edited by Vladimir on Tuesday 19th April 20:54

For £350 I'd hope your Luminous 601's were brighter.

I paid about £120 I think all in for my Ayups. The build quality is superb, they're pretty small and take seconds to set up. I have the mounts on two of my bikes and it takes about 30 secs to attach the battery pack to the stem and the light to the mount. I mainly ride in London and rode these all through the winter come rain or snow and they've been 100% reliable.

[Vladimir]

That is cheap. My mate paid more than double that price for the full MTB versions. Good lights for sure but not without issues especially when Ay Up stopped importing them.

We ride very technical trails at night - you simply cannot have too much light!

[jodypress]

Vladimir said:

That is cheap. My mate paid more than double that price for the full MTB versions. Good lights for sure but not without issues especially when Ay Up stopped importing them.

We ride very technical trails at night - you simply cannot have too much light!

I specifically went for the lightest ones they did, being a bit of a weight weenie. I get about 12 hours use on flashing mode. Perfect for London. Stops cars and pedestrians pulling out in front of me.

What reliability issues has your friend had and when did Ayup stop importing them?

[Vladimir]

He's broken the mounts a few times and had a battery issue.

They stopped importing them last year I think and so maintenance was a headache for many. Fairly sure they are all fine now and set up properly again.

I'm a weight weenie too (about 21.5lbs for my 27 speed MTB) but the really light units just didn't kick out the power. Also hard to ride fully flat out (except uphill) at night so decided on max power. Complete unit with long life "pro" battery (which is pretty large) is 600 grams. Lasts over three hours on 1700 lumens/260 lux (brighter than a car headlight on full beam) , about 8 on half that about a year on minimum (which is still more than most lights on full).

This is two of them compared to a BM on full beam:

[E21_Ross]

that's hilarious!!!