Decent road bike lights
Discussion
TwistingMyMelon said:
Loads of threads on it already mate, read last 5-10 pages of MTB thread as lots of road lights on there, plus unlit lanes require similar lights to MTBing
Yeah I've tried reading through the mtb thread, but couldn't work out how suitable the cree ones were for road use.I guess I could have a bright set switched on for the lanes and stick with my current led for the better lit roads.
I just bought one of the cree lights for my road bike commute/winter miles.
It seems easily strong enough on high and the low setting will be fine for lit roads. I have it paired with a cheap car eye light on strobe as the Cree strobe is likely to cause people to have a fit!
Happy to report back after a week or so on its performance in role.
It seems easily strong enough on high and the low setting will be fine for lit roads. I have it paired with a cheap car eye light on strobe as the Cree strobe is likely to cause people to have a fit!
Happy to report back after a week or so on its performance in role.
At the bottom of this page: http://road.cc/content/news/69237-big-roadcc-light... you'll find a pretty handy 'real-life' comparison tool to show roughly what illumination the selected lights output.
I've got a set of Moon comets for being visible, then a Meteor mounted on the bars to provide forward vision. Pretty good at night but requires charging every five to six days.
I've got a set of Moon comets for being visible, then a Meteor mounted on the bars to provide forward vision. Pretty good at night but requires charging every five to six days.
Jonnny said:
I tried road riding with lights..
I've not got big enough b
ks for it. Going along at 16-25mph and only being able to see a small circle of light 20ft infront of you isn't enough.
It takes time to get the hang of and you have to cut your speed at times and know the roads, I always do my winter training in urban areas, one hour routes taking in as many hills as possible using street lit roads late at night, roads are usually dead and street lighting and 2 cheap strobes good enough. You get a buzz from riding unlit country roads though and it toughens you up for the spring/summer season IMO.I've not got big enough b
ks for it. Going along at 16-25mph and only being able to see a small circle of light 20ft infront of you isn't enough. Now I work out it the sticks I have 10 miles of unlit A, B and un-classified roads to ride back on.
I am running 2 x £16 Crees on the front as a trial to see if they are up to the job, first impressions:
- Impressed, seem tough and no issues
- Using the O rings is better than expected, as I am constantly adjusting due to differing roads
- I am running one with the standard lense and one with one of these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121189424084?ssPageName=...
I think I am going to run both with the lense, as the standard lense appears brighter, but there's too many shadows created and this confuses my eyes
- I wouldn't run one its own, but then again I'd always have 2 lights front and rear
- Lights are very bright on the full steady setting, cars flash, even on the lowest setting I have had dog walkers shout abuse from the pavement.
- Velcro batteries isn't that great so I have mounted them in a water bottle, I can now swap them between bikes in under a minute:
Hope that helps OP, it was the advice on here that has helped me carry on rideing through the Winter
I got a MTB light from this chap- http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/
Its supposedly 1600 lumen, I've used it a couple of times on the rural road around here with the road bike, I have a small cateye "road" light on at the same time so can cover the MTB light if a car comes the other way.
Whats it like? Like riding a flipping Light Sabre!! :-)
No probs up to 25mph honestly, I do back off on the downhills where I'd normally go supersonic though ;-) Took some experimentation to get the angle right, its ended up being dipped surprisingly low but the beam is very wide (was intended to MTB afterall, usually helmet mount offroad)
At the same time I have added a second rear light (one flashing, one constant) and a strip of 3M red reflective tape on the seatpost
Its supposedly 1600 lumen, I've used it a couple of times on the rural road around here with the road bike, I have a small cateye "road" light on at the same time so can cover the MTB light if a car comes the other way.
Whats it like? Like riding a flipping Light Sabre!! :-)
No probs up to 25mph honestly, I do back off on the downhills where I'd normally go supersonic though ;-) Took some experimentation to get the angle right, its ended up being dipped surprisingly low but the beam is very wide (was intended to MTB afterall, usually helmet mount offroad)
At the same time I have added a second rear light (one flashing, one constant) and a strip of 3M red reflective tape on the seatpost
I do a lot of rural fenland night rides, and I actually really enjoy the extra challenge of the dark.
I also run 2 of the £16 Cree China specials, one with the wide angle filter lens. I started off last winter with just one cree light, and a torch style light helmet mounted, but for road use I don't really like helmet mounting stuff.
I have a few set routes I do, which I know well enough to avoid most of the potholes. there's always one or two to catch me out though! I obviously don't slow down that much in the dark, I reached over 40mph the other night! Not bad for the fens!
TwistingMyMelon - I really like the look of that bottle conversion for the batteries - I assume you take them out of the bottle for charging?
I also run 2 of the £16 Cree China specials, one with the wide angle filter lens. I started off last winter with just one cree light, and a torch style light helmet mounted, but for road use I don't really like helmet mounting stuff.
I have a few set routes I do, which I know well enough to avoid most of the potholes. there's always one or two to catch me out though! I obviously don't slow down that much in the dark, I reached over 40mph the other night! Not bad for the fens!
TwistingMyMelon - I really like the look of that bottle conversion for the batteries - I assume you take them out of the bottle for charging?
littleandy0410 said:
I do a lot of rural fenland night rides, and I actually really enjoy the extra challenge of the dark.
I also run 2 of the £16 Cree China specials, one with the wide angle filter lens. I started off last winter with just one cree light, and a torch style light helmet mounted, but for road use I don't really like helmet mounting stuff.
I have a few set routes I do, which I know well enough to avoid most of the potholes. there's always one or two to catch me out though! I obviously don't slow down that much in the dark, I reached over 40mph the other night! Not bad for the fens!
TwistingMyMelon - I really like the look of that bottle conversion for the batteries - I assume you take them out of the bottle for charging?
I take them out of the bottle, after doing it a couple of times its getting a bit of a faff, so I think I will put an extension lead by where I keep the bike and just keep them in there. I get paranoid that the batteries will suddenly die, so I tend to charge them more often than they need. If the batts die on my ride home then I will be pretty fcked. Also the charge indicators on the plugs and lights themselves are a lottery .I also run 2 of the £16 Cree China specials, one with the wide angle filter lens. I started off last winter with just one cree light, and a torch style light helmet mounted, but for road use I don't really like helmet mounting stuff.
I have a few set routes I do, which I know well enough to avoid most of the potholes. there's always one or two to catch me out though! I obviously don't slow down that much in the dark, I reached over 40mph the other night! Not bad for the fens!
TwistingMyMelon - I really like the look of that bottle conversion for the batteries - I assume you take them out of the bottle for charging?
The bottle was just the cheapest they had in Halfords, it was about a quid and fits the two batteries on top of each other perfectly with a bit of space for cable excess
Light technology has moved on an amazing amount in 20 years. When I was 15 riding on country lanes and partly lit roads in somerset i had to make do with these
Just getting back in to cycling and bought some of these (not at that price!)
The difference is utterly astonishing - I feel significantly safer as a result.
Just getting back in to cycling and bought some of these (not at that price!)
The difference is utterly astonishing - I feel significantly safer as a result.
TwistingMyMelon said:
I take them out of the bottle, after doing it a couple of times its getting a bit of a faff, so I think I will put an extension lead by where I keep the bike and just keep them in there. I get paranoid that the batteries will suddenly die, so I tend to charge them more often than they need. If the batts die on my ride home then I will be pretty fcked. Also the charge indicators on the plugs and lights themselves are a lottery .
I bought somr LED Amazon specials, something like £1.60 for the front and rear, which I have as back up. Will put a link up if you like?
These are the ones -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B77SGEC/ref=...
They're actually £3.40 but I'm getting a second set, see if I can fix them to my helmet.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B77SGEC/ref=...
They're actually £3.40 but I'm getting a second set, see if I can fix them to my helmet.
Daveyraveygravey said:
These are the ones -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B77SGEC/ref=...
They're actually £3.40 but I'm getting a second set, see if I can fix them to my helmet.
Cheers think I will get a set for my dogs when they are out in the fields!http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00B77SGEC/ref=...
They're actually £3.40 but I'm getting a second set, see if I can fix them to my helmet.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff