Which bike light to buy

[CIS121]

Hi,

I last bought a bike light about 5 years ago - halogen, 4 AA batteries and lots of power, just 1 hour of battery life. I had a look in Evans today at their lights and the LED ones are all they had as demonstrators and they're all not upto the £10 halogen light I had before.

Can any of you folks recommend a good light upto about £40?

[Black5]

seen a couple of lights threads recently. Everyone seems to say that good lights will cost a lot.

Are these any good?

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/ProductDetails/mc...

[Xenocide]

Black5 said:

seen a couple of lights threads recently. Everyone seems to say that good lights will cost a lot.

Are these any good?

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/ProductDetails/mc...

Not really.

Mine broke after one ride leaving me in the dark in the middle of a wooded bit.

They're pretty crap when they do work too.

[CIS121]

Why does bike light technology seem to be in the dark ages? These things come with a lead acid battery to lug around! You can get Lithium Polymer batteries with 11.1v 2.2Ah = about 25 watts for an hour and they only cost £12 and weigh 150g.

I'm starting to wonder if I should go into the bike light business!

[pdV6]

CIS121 said:

Why does bike light technology seem to be in the dark ages?

Plenty of good (and light) lights around - but be prepared to pay quite a bit more than £40 for them!

[Kermit power]

I suppose a lot of it depends on whether you're planning on using the lights for offroad riding or not?

£215 for a Hope Vision HID is something I'm OK with for going offroad looking for badgers, deer and the like in the Surrey Hills, but I certainly can't imagine the need to spend anything like that on lights for my road bike.

For me the big difference comes from answering one question.. Do you need the lights to see by, or just to be seen?

[CIS121]

Kermit power said:

I suppose a lot of it depends on whether you're planning on using the lights for offroad riding or not?

£215 for a Hope Vision HID is something I'm OK with for going offroad looking for badgers, deer and the like in the Surrey Hills, but I certainly can't imagine the need to spend anything like that on lights for my road bike.

For me the big difference comes from answering one question.. Do you need the lights to see by, or just to be seen?

Hi Kermit,

I see your point and I'm not looking for anything to do any off roading on, but I need a light that lights up those country roads on the way back from the pub. My old Halogen did this and I think I'm going to get antoher Halogen light again.

[Xenocide]

CIS121 said:

Kermit power said:

I suppose a lot of it depends on whether you're planning on using the lights for offroad riding or not?

£215 for a Hope Vision HID is something I'm OK with for going offroad looking for badgers, deer and the like in the Surrey Hills, but I certainly can't imagine the need to spend anything like that on lights for my road bike.

For me the big difference comes from answering one question.. Do you need the lights to see by, or just to be seen?

Hi Kermit,

I see your point and I'm not looking for anything to do any off roading on, but I need a light that lights up those country roads on the way back from the pub. My old Halogen did this and I think I'm going to get antoher Halogen light again.

Ahh right well in that case the above linked lights will be fine for you!

[GHW]

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

I've got these - not quite up to taking on gnarly singletrack in the middle of the night, but good enough to get you home from the middle of the woods when night descends quicker than you expected it to!

I'd say they're probably sufficient for roady stuff, and they've got a nice compact, rechargeable lithium battery pack unlike the ones above.

[fixedwheelnut]

The Smart Twin lights are great value for the money
Smart Lights

I have two sets on a couple of my bikes, you get up to nine hours light on the 2.4 watt light, approx two hours on the 10watt and about an hour with both on.

I have had mine for about four years, the reflector has started cracking on the oldest set but for forty quid I'm not complaining, they are the best value for the compromise of brightness and run time.

Here is a link to the Audax UK lighting page that gives you a load of imformation on bike lighting with comparison pics between some lights

AUK bike light info