Cheap, decent front light for road/offroad
Discussion
Chain Reaction Cycles have the Electron Nano 9 front light for a little over 20 quid. It's got excellent reviews - seems to be well built and very bright (9 LEDs).
Any others worth considering for less than 30 notes? Must be bright enough for forest trails at night.
Any others worth considering for less than 30 notes? Must be bright enough for forest trails at night.
Edited by torres del paine on Thursday 19th November 21:31
the fundamental difference between riding at night on a road is the need to be seen and when off road, the need to see.... cheap lights suitable for road use can be had for approx £30 as cateye do good front and rear sets of suitable lights with flashing/steady functions which are fine for commuting etc
for serious off road use, and to not put yourself in danger and also to make the trip worthwhile, you will need to spend about £200 on a mix of two lights, something very bright for the helmet and something good for the bars. you really need a helmet moutned light and a light fixed to your bars, one to show where you are looking and another to show where you are going, obvious really!.
if you rely on hemet mounted only, you are relying on your ability to read and remember trails. as you may have not looked in that direction for a few seconds, you can not see what is immediately infront of you (say 3ft), you need to and you will drop speed if you have to constantly check what is approaching...
the exposure joystick is pretty popular at the moment and you can use that on the helmet with something cheaper on the bars. the idea behind using something cheaper on the bars is that light is really to aid you peripheral vision, to stop those safety checks as mentioned and thus to backup the helmet light. yes its expensive but there is no point going into a forest with cheap lights as you only succeed in breaking a lot of bones....
a rear mounted cheapy flashing light is also very useful off road for the guy following you as it lets him/her know where the trail is going and how far ahead you are.
incidentally, a few people are now using a blue and red led in their rear lights on the road as it helps to distinguish a cyclist from a stream of other red lights, particularly on wet/damp roads. almost certainly illegal but users of such devices say that they notice cars are slowing down and giving them more room.
for serious off road use, and to not put yourself in danger and also to make the trip worthwhile, you will need to spend about £200 on a mix of two lights, something very bright for the helmet and something good for the bars. you really need a helmet moutned light and a light fixed to your bars, one to show where you are looking and another to show where you are going, obvious really!.
if you rely on hemet mounted only, you are relying on your ability to read and remember trails. as you may have not looked in that direction for a few seconds, you can not see what is immediately infront of you (say 3ft), you need to and you will drop speed if you have to constantly check what is approaching...
the exposure joystick is pretty popular at the moment and you can use that on the helmet with something cheaper on the bars. the idea behind using something cheaper on the bars is that light is really to aid you peripheral vision, to stop those safety checks as mentioned and thus to backup the helmet light. yes its expensive but there is no point going into a forest with cheap lights as you only succeed in breaking a lot of bones....
a rear mounted cheapy flashing light is also very useful off road for the guy following you as it lets him/her know where the trail is going and how far ahead you are.
incidentally, a few people are now using a blue and red led in their rear lights on the road as it helps to distinguish a cyclist from a stream of other red lights, particularly on wet/damp roads. almost certainly illegal but users of such devices say that they notice cars are slowing down and giving them more room.
I agree with Pablo that you need to be seen on the road and you need to see whilst off road.
I've just ordered these from DX http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149 as they are THE bargain light at the moment. You can get an extension lead from here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am... so you can mount the light on your helmet and put the battery pack in your Camelbak. Spare - and better - battery packs can be got from Smudge on Singletrackworld.
Long delivery time though.
For road riding I would get a couple of front lights. One flashing and one constant. Tesco torches do seem very popular as usable front lights. Don't forget the rear lights. Personally, these are the best I've had / used http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod... I use three. Two on the bike, one on the Camelbak.
Don't forget reflectors too. May look ghey but they do work.
I've just ordered these from DX http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149 as they are THE bargain light at the moment. You can get an extension lead from here http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am... so you can mount the light on your helmet and put the battery pack in your Camelbak. Spare - and better - battery packs can be got from Smudge on Singletrackworld.
Long delivery time though.
For road riding I would get a couple of front lights. One flashing and one constant. Tesco torches do seem very popular as usable front lights. Don't forget the rear lights. Personally, these are the best I've had / used http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod... I use three. Two on the bike, one on the Camelbak.
Don't forget reflectors too. May look ghey but they do work.
I went on an organised night ride last week with a local MTB Club, they lent me one of those DX lights mentioned above and it was just the job! When I got there they also said, "you could do with a helmet light", yeah I thought, you just want me to look a plank like you! Two minutes into said ride and I realised exactly what they were talking about, it's ok having lights on your bars but as soon as you go round a corner the lights are useless because there looking off into the trees and not the corner your half way round. I had some very scary moments because of this and next time I'll definitely have a helmet light.
The only gripe I had with the DX was the fastening for the battery pack, the velcro came lose a couple of times but now I know when I do buy myself a set I'll just stick a cable tie round it as well.
The only gripe I had with the DX was the fastening for the battery pack, the velcro came lose a couple of times but now I know when I do buy myself a set I'll just stick a cable tie round it as well.
BIANCO said:
All I can suggest is getting a p7 torch like one of these http://www.dealextreme.com/search.dx/search.p7
I’ve got a TrustFire P7-F15 and that’s bright enough for off road riding.
Remember though you will need the 18650 batteries, charger, UK to US plug and a handle bar mount you will find all of them on the DX site, Should come to just over £30 all in. The problem is it will take about 3 weeks to arrive.
I have just done exactly this! 3 weeks to arrive, excelent VFM and very, very bright! (Do not look directly into it unless you want a 70's disco in front of your eyes for 10 mins or so I’ve got a TrustFire P7-F15 and that’s bright enough for off road riding.
Remember though you will need the 18650 batteries, charger, UK to US plug and a handle bar mount you will find all of them on the DX site, Should come to just over £30 all in. The problem is it will take about 3 weeks to arrive.
)Not tried the Nano-9, but have had Nano-1's in the past. IIRC the 1's are more powerful than the 9's but even so are no good at all for off-road night riding. Excellent on the road though.
I've just bought the bargain light mentioned above and am please to report that it's easily as bright as my old Hope Vision HID whilst being about 15-20% of the price. Brilliant! Fingers crossed that it's as well made (what with my knack of hitting trees despite being perfectly able to see them coming...)
Extra bonus is the low power and flashing modes which will be good for road use. Only bugbear is no real solution for helmet mounting.
I've just bought the bargain light mentioned above and am please to report that it's easily as bright as my old Hope Vision HID whilst being about 15-20% of the price. Brilliant! Fingers crossed that it's as well made (what with my knack of hitting trees despite being perfectly able to see them coming...)
Extra bonus is the low power and flashing modes which will be good for road use. Only bugbear is no real solution for helmet mounting.
Thanks for the replies chaps. I shall check out the aforementioned - looks like just the job.
Agree on the head torch. I shall be investing in a more powerful Petzl (thinking of the Myo XP) or a Black Diamond or some such headlamp soon anyway for night hiking and wild camping, so will use it for night rides too.
Agree on the head torch. I shall be investing in a more powerful Petzl (thinking of the Myo XP) or a Black Diamond or some such headlamp soon anyway for night hiking and wild camping, so will use it for night rides too.
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