That time of year - MTB lights?
Discussion
louiebaby said:
I run similar to these and have done for a few years, they are good for the money, I run mine on the helmet with the cable to my backpack, some come with quite short cables though. This will be my 4th winter with them and so far they have been reliable BUT mine give no warning the battery is about to die so its bright one second, off the next.I then run a bar mounted cateye Volt.
Have been thinking about a Exposure Joystick for my lid but at £140 ish I am struggling to justify it...
There have been stories of the chargers catching fire on the cheap lights though so you have to keep an eye on them!
tjdixon911 said:
Sensible stuff
I'm on my third set of eBay Cree lights. The first one stopped working quite quickly, but this winter will be my 3rd on one of them, and 2nd on the other. (Two bikes to choose from.)I get a little bit of warning about an imminent power outage, one give me a couple of minutes, the other about a minute, by flashing the power button. (I can see how this might be an issue if helmet mounted though.) I normally get my backup Cateye on in time, and can get home by peering through the gloom.
If I was using it for a ride out through the trees, or anything longer than my commute, I would just charge before I went, I probably get about a week use out of a charge, so 5 hours on the lower setting.
They're hand for those plonkers who don't dip, or flash because of how bright it is, as there are usually a couple more modes to really annoy them. I mount them on the bent bit of the MTB bars so they naturally face left a bit, and down a bit, so they don't dazzle oncoming motorists, but there are still the odd plonkers who don't think it's OK for a cyclist to be able to see where they're going.
I've got an ebay Cree one on the front along with a Lezyne 600XL.(The Lezyne one is on the bottom in the pics.)
The 600XL is brighter and easier to use. As you can see from the pics, I've rigged up an old water bottle to carry the battery which works really well. But it's cumbersome to take off and charge.
On the rear I've got one from Planet X which is very bright.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LINRSOR/nite-rider-so...
The 600XL is brighter and easier to use. As you can see from the pics, I've rigged up an old water bottle to carry the battery which works really well. But it's cumbersome to take off and charge.
On the rear I've got one from Planet X which is very bright.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LINRSOR/nite-rider-so...
Edited by Kell on Friday 16th September 18:19
A couple of guys I've been riding with have lights from here http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/ and are very happy with them. Slightly more £ than the ebay ones but appear to be more reliable and have the benefit of UK back-up.
Probably a daft question but would the lights above make it able for me to see when riding along , canals, fire tracks, woods etc? I mainly ride a MTB and with the dark coming in I would like to continue my riding routes after work. I wont be encountering much road traffic so the need to be seen will be low but I need to be able to see where im going in unlit enviroments. I will get a rear led just for safety.
Mikeyjae said:
Probably a daft question but would the lights above make it able for me to see when riding along , canals, fire tracks, woods etc? I mainly ride a MTB and with the dark coming in I would like to continue my riding routes after work. I wont be encountering much road traffic so the need to be seen will be low but I need to be able to see where im going in unlit enviroments. I will get a rear led just for safety.
I use mine for off road, round the local forest, bit of single track, fire roads, and river banks, plenty bright enough - you need it on your lid so you can look at the track ahead, your bars aren't always pointing the way the track goes - i sometimes run a second eBay special on the bars but it's not necessary, a few hundred lumens light is plenty just to light up the area in front of your wheel when running the other on your lid.Riding in the dark does take a little getting used to when you've not done it for a while..
Buy once buy quality. I use exposure they also have an outlet: http://www.exposurelights.com/outlet-store
10 quid eBay CREE on the front. I used to have two but since I bought the prismatic lens, one is good enough. I keep the other battery charged to swapover when the current one needs a charge.
Knog Mr Chips on the back (Planet X deal price).
Knog Strobe (red) on the back of my lid.
I always think you should have at least two separate lights on the back. With two differently-timed flashers, they really catch the eye of drivers.
Knog Mr Chips on the back (Planet X deal price).
Knog Strobe (red) on the back of my lid.
I always think you should have at least two separate lights on the back. With two differently-timed flashers, they really catch the eye of drivers.
Ebay Cree on the bars, and a Cree twin LED headlight on the helmet. The helmet jobbie takes separate 18650 lithium batteries, and has a red light on the back as a bonus. When the battery pack gave up on the bike mounted light, which they all seem to do at some point, I built a new battery holder, removed the cells from the old pack, and charged them in a proper charger separately. The cells were fine, but the little SMD board hidden under the shrink wrap had failed. A couple of cheapo Planet X rear light and we are good to go anywhere. Total cost, about £30.
ecsrobin said:
Buy once buy quality. I use exposure they also have an outlet: http://www.exposurelights.com/outlet-store
This. I've done the Ebay thing, a couple of times. Got an exposure light now....it's great and much better built.E65Ross said:
ecsrobin said:
Buy once buy quality. I use exposure they also have an outlet: http://www.exposurelights.com/outlet-store
This. I've done the Ebay thing, a couple of times. Got an exposure light now....it's great and much better built.Exposure all the way! My Joystick is 10ish years old and still going strong.Its a spare now as I have a Max d and a Diablo with a Flare for the rear.
Keep an eye on Ebay for second hand kit. they usually fetch good money but believe me its worth it!
Fluffsri said:
E65Ross said:
ecsrobin said:
Buy once buy quality. I use exposure they also have an outlet: http://www.exposurelights.com/outlet-store
This. I've done the Ebay thing, a couple of times. Got an exposure light now....it's great and much better built.Exposure all the way! My Joystick is 10ish years old and still going strong.Its a spare now as I have a Max d and a Diablo with a Flare for the rear.
Keep an eye on Ebay for second hand kit. they usually fetch good money but believe me its worth it!
I bought one from
http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/
Torchy has a good reputation for supplying decent batteries along with his lights, a UK seller you can phone and chat with. I've not had it long enough to confirm the longevity however. Just seemed to me like a decent halfway house between pure Chinese ebay and big-name brand.
http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/
Torchy has a good reputation for supplying decent batteries along with his lights, a UK seller you can phone and chat with. I've not had it long enough to confirm the longevity however. Just seemed to me like a decent halfway house between pure Chinese ebay and big-name brand.
idiotgap said:
I bought one from
http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/
Torchy has a good reputation for supplying decent batteries along with his lights, a UK seller you can phone and chat with. I've not had it long enough to confirm the longevity however. Just seemed to me like a decent halfway house between pure Chinese ebay and big-name brand.
My only issue with these is needing a separate battery pack, a bit of a nuisance IMO.http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/
Torchy has a good reputation for supplying decent batteries along with his lights, a UK seller you can phone and chat with. I've not had it long enough to confirm the longevity however. Just seemed to me like a decent halfway house between pure Chinese ebay and big-name brand.
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