Front light for unlit winter towpath commute

[MiltonBaines]

Can anyone recommend a front light that will illuminate an unlit towpath on my winter commute.

No small flashing light needed, I need to have a flood light to see the path ahead, USB rechargeable is a bonus as I can do that in the office. None of the commute is on the road so no worries about blinding motorists.

Bracket must be good as it is bumpy terrain. Rain proof too. Lots on Wiggle site but I have no idea where to start. Price wise I do not want to spend the £100s some are, would £30 get me something decent?

[julianm]

Some recent reviews here : http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/product-news/cyc...
Maybe the cateye? There are less powerful versions which are cheaper like the `400` which has good reviews & riders still seem to think it bright enough for off road.

[youngricharduk]

For £30 you would have to look towards some of the Chinese made lights on Amazon. If I was you however I would take a look at magicshineuk.co.uk they seem to compete with lights 5 times the price and get nothing but good reviews from well known Mountain Bike magazines etc. I would think 1000 lumens would be more then enough for riding along a tow path.

[MiltonBaines]

Thanks for the links so far, I will have a browse. The magic shine certainly looks impressive, shame about the separate battery and price but maybe £59 is what I have to pay.

Edited by MiltonBaines on Tuesday 5th September 17:07

[louiebaby]

Something like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222609714787

[warp9]

louiebaby said:

Something like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222609714787

Blimey you could signal the ISS with that! 10,000 lumens - do you think it'll be bright enough?!

[gazza285]

I like a lamp on my helmet as well, when off road in the dark, one to see where the bike is going, and one to see where I'm going. Hopefully both are roughly the same direction.

[Scabutz]

The cheap Cree LED ones from Amazon and Ebay are quite bright but don't have a very good range. I use one of those and a cateye (can't remember the model). The Cree one is angled down and the cateye focused a bit further ahead.

I have found the Cree ones lose the charge suddenly. The light goes from green to red to dead in a short space of time.

[opieoilman]

I have one of these and it's very good, plus a bargain.

https://www.gearbest.com/bike-lights/pp_632586.htm...

I don't know how long it will last as it's so cheap, but I only need a light occasionally. It is tiny, probably a little smaller than a matchbox and the amount of light it generates is completely unexpected. I've got a couple of USB power banks that I can use with it. It does get very hot, so I wouldn't fit it to a helmet, but fine on the handlebars. I've got a rechargeable cree head torch on order and I'm going to remove the straps and glue a Gopro mount to the back so I can fit it to my helmet.

[idiotgap]

I had a similar requirement preparing for the Dun Run 2016, I ended buying from Torchy the Battery Boy: http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/

Basically the Chinese cree stuff but a nice Scottish chap you can ring up and chat to, as well as be more confident that the batteries you are getting will perform.

His ebay shop is here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/torchy/

Edited by idiotgap on Wednesday 6th September 16:57

[louiebaby]

Scabutz said:

The cheap Cree LED ones from Amazon and Ebay are quite bright but don't have a very good range. I use one of those and a cateye (can't remember the model). The Cree one is angled down and the cateye focused a bit further ahead.

I have found the Cree ones lose the charge suddenly. The light goes from green to red to dead in a short space of time.

I agree, I run with a spare CatEye as a backup and in the winter charge them every week for the commute, whether dead or not.

I've had one die, and two more that are still going, in 4 winters of commuting. They're (slightly) disposable in their nature, but at the price, I think that's the right way to go.

Buying from a British source, (not used Torchy, but that sort of thing) makes a lot of sense, as they can send out a new battery pack if yours falls off or is pinched.

[MiltonBaines]

Some of the Torchyboy ones look impressive for not alot of money.

USB recharging is a must so I can do it in the office. Some Torchyboy use USB, others require removable batterys to be placed in a charger (that I'll always forget to have with me at work, at least i can have a cable at home and in the office)

I assume the Torchyniy ones are cheap chinese ones where he upgrades the batteries?

I was also looking at Cateye and Lezyne too - Leyzne almost have two many options - are 8 light modes really needed!. I need full on spot light and a low beam like cars have so I can quickly tone down the light if I come across another rider or walker. With some of the Leyzve models I'd have to scroll through 7 modes including off to get back to where I start. Microdrive models have a full on/dipped option, but then I've paid for 7 other unused modes.

Cateye are similar, just less choice.

[4159265]

warp9 said:

louiebaby said:

Something like this?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222609714787

Blimey you could signal the ISS with that! 10,000 lumens - do you think it'll be bright enough?!

I have one of those, can illuminate houses on the other side of the valley!

Mains charger though, and I charge it in a metal tray / box cos you know it'll be powered by a fked old laptop battery or something.



KABOOM

[df76]

I have a Lezyne 300xl (came free with a mag subscription). Not expensive, but really does the job. And rechargeable via a USB port.

[petsco]

if you want cheaper decent lights, go here https://www.candb-seen.co.uk/category-cycling.html

they always get excellent reviews.

They're cheaper than the branded ones, but there's more comeback if things don't work (albeit I've had a set for 4 years, and they're still fine)

[tenohfive]

I like my torches (see this thread) and firmly believe that there is a lot of overpriced lighting out there. Having tried a few different lights I settled on this one last winter:
https://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_449755...

No ridiculous lumen claims (1050 is about right), USB rechargeable and the most balanced beam profile I've found - it'll throw far enough to be able to see well ahead (I use it on the road bike trying to dodge countryside potholes at 'get me home' speed) but with plenty of bright spill to see around.

I'd also recommend a decent handlebar mount which swivels independently so you can get the light pointed exactly where you want it. Something like this (it looks like they can be rotated and locked into place.)
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Bike-Handlebar-Torch...