Lights for night riding

[Dnlm]

So having had delays on my gravel/commute/winter bike like everybody else I'm now expecting to try some darker evening rides into the country lanes and tracks near London.

Any tips on decent front lights? Budget is up to a hundred quid but happy to spend less!

Everything I own is at the 'be seen' level for fully street lit commutes. Heard some good things about exposure but they look expensive for the amount of lumens.

[dalenorth]

I’ve just bought an exposure six pack which is epic but a small fortune!

I used some cree ones from Amazon for a year or so prior and they were good for about 1.5 hours of decent light.

I only bought the exposure as I’m doing a lot of trail riding at the minute.

[CatMatt7]

I have an Exposure Axis and Exposure Joystick, either work really well for night riding and I have had them years. If I had to buy again, I’d get a joystick.

[Wildfire]

I’ve recently purchased a Four4th Holy Moses and OMG. Really great and got a local discount.

Best balance between Exposure and the budget lights.

For the best value for money check out MTBbatteries Luminator.

[gazza285]

Still using my £15 CREE eBay specials bought in 2013. I have replaced the battery packs with ones made up of cells liberated from old lap top batteries, other than that, still going strong.

[jimmy156]

Moon meteor storm pro gets my vote.

2000 lumens for two hours (overkill)

Or 1700 / 1150 with longer run times. Output is also infinitely variable for optimisable light vs battery drain.

£70 from wiggle.

[P-Jay]

I was going to suggest a Halfords 1600, but that Storm light above has more power AND more importantly a better (looking anyway) mount for not much more money. I'd be very tempted to try one.

Still, if you want 1600lms for £50 or less, the Halfords is great, I use it for off-road riding in dark moody woods, so it should be more than enough for Road Riding.

[wobert]

P-Jay said:

I was going to suggest a Halfords 1600, but that Storm light above has more power AND more importantly a better (looking anyway) mount for not much more money. I'd be very tempted to try one.

Still, if you want 1600lms for £50 or less, the Halfords is great, I use it for off-road riding in dark moody woods, so it should be more than enough for Road Riding.

I have the 1000 lm version for road riding, it’s more than adequate, bought from eBay as NOS (branded Bikehut) for £30 delivered.

[JungTheForeman]

I bought some lights last week... Halfords Advanced 1600 for the bars and Exposure Diablo for the helmet (mtb/off road).

Happy with both but probably happiest with the Halfords light for ~£50 (1600 is too bright for the road with oncoming traffic)

[Dnlm]

Thanks all.

That Halfords option looks great value - and just seen bikeradar rate well. Have you used the out front mount at all? Would be perfect for me if it actually attaches , and works with wahoo.

Was also considering this Lezyne Macro 1300 which is £60 with a £5 tredz discount. Its slightly prettier and has well reviewed mounting setup.

Think i'll try and get to halfords and see.

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Lezyne-Macro-Drive-1300XL...

[wobert]

Dnlm said:

Thanks all.

That Halfords option looks great value - and just seen bikeradar rate well. Have you used the out front mount at all? Would be perfect for me if it actually attaches , and works with wahoo.

Was also considering this Lezyne Macro 1300 which is £60 with a £5 tredz discount. Its slightly prettier and has well reviewed mounting setup.

Think i'll try and get to halfords and see.

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Lezyne-Macro-Drive-1300XL...

Halfords do one with a Garmin bar mount, the light mounts via a standard go-pro mount, the Halfords mount is crap.

I’ve changed mine to a stem mounted arrangement but beware, a lot of the cheaper stem mounts use nylon spacers to stand the mount away from the stem.

The nylon spacers crush when you do the bolts up, so make sure you get a mount with metal spacers, otherwise you’ll not be able to do you stem bolts upto the required torque......

Guess how I know