Front lights

Ghost Rider

Can anyone recommend a fairly cheap LED-based front light which has a decent battery life? It's for use in fairly well lit areas (so it doesn't have be like one of those searchlights from "The Great Escape" or anything).

I had a Cateye Opticube with 3 LEDS which did the job pretty well but some clown (a cyclist, I might add) knocked me off my bike and the light got fatally severed from its mounting bracket. And I think that model has been discontinued.

Any suggestions are much appreciated.

daymobrew

Cycle Superstore has 3 Opticube front lights: EI 210 (e37.50), EI 510 (e60) and HI-EI300 (e50).

In a just world the other cyclist would pay for the damage.

rubadub

I bought a new cateye EL-500 on ebay from a powerseller, got it within a week. It is better than any of the ones above, i.e. more candlepower.
http://www.cateye.com/uk/products/viewProduct.php?modelId=17&catId=0&subCatId=2

seller is i_sell_low101
heres another seller
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Cat-Eye-HL-EL500-Power-OptiCube-1-Watt-Light-EL-500_W0QQitemZ7228625491QQcategoryZ22689QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

$40 delivered , thats €33. they retail for about €68 here.

Cabaal

I got cateye hl-el210 http://www.cycleways.com/store/product/27582/Cateye-HL-EL210-5LED-Front/
a few months back, great little light and it lasts ages

Ghost Rider

Thanks for the leads, folks.

rubadub

check ebay for sure, the prices on these online stores are sickening!

Victor

How about going for a dynamo lamp combined with a non-flashing low power LED?

cyclopath2001

Ghost Rider wrote:

Can anyone recommend a fairly cheap LED-based front light which has a decent battery life?

I use the CatEye HL300 with 4 AA NiMH rechargeables & I find it very good & quite durable (2 years+). I'd say I get nearly 2 weeks out of a charge using it for 45 minutes a day.

I usually carry spare batteries as LEDS fail rapidly when the battery charge runs out. Best to recharge before this happens.

http://www.cateye.com/uk/products/viewProduct.php?modelId=19&catId=7&subCatId=2

Personally, I think that in the city, the intensity of the light is less important than the size and wide-angle visibility of the light. The key is not to dazzle motorists but to give them something they can focus on and so help them assess your speed and intent.

Ghost Rider

That's a good point. I think some LED-based bike lights have far too narrow a beam.

cyclopath2001 wrote:

Personally, I think that in the city, the intensity of the light is less important than the size and wide-angle visibility of the light. The key is not to dazzle motorists but to give them something they can focus on and so help them assess your speed and intent.

cyclopath2001

Ghost Rider wrote:

That's a good point. I think some LED-based bike lights have far too narrow a beam.

The wide beam works well for me. Combined with tasteful reflective strips designed into my jacket, I travel at about 25kph and find that I get seen when it counts. This sometimes involves taking a well-considered position relative to the line of sight of cars jutting out of side-roads.

My only problems have been with motorists who choose not to see me.

youcancallmeal

Cabaal wrote:

I got cateye hl-el210 http://www.cycleways.com/store/product/27582/Cateye-HL-EL210-5LED-Front/
a few months back, great little light and it lasts ages

Have this light myself aswell, sometimes I feel it might even be a bit too bright for oncoming motorists :eek:

rubadub

youcancallme>al wrote:

Have this light myself aswell, sometimes I feel it might even be a bit too bright for oncoming motorists :eek:

I have the 500 which I think is the brightest in the range. I have had people walking on cycle tracks getting out of the way a good 5-10m away since they can see the light on the ground!
When I pull into my house it shines in through the curtains/blind and people think it is a car pulling in.
If it is pitch black outside I can light up the walls of houses 5-6rows down. And it is only a SINGLE LED!

I hear NASA are developing growing plants with LEDs on space stations since they use little energy and give off little heat so can be placed very close to plants/vegetables so they maximise the energy for growth, providing food and oxygen while using up the CO2 in the air. Indoor cannabis growers are also getting interested!

Capt'n Midnight

rubadub wrote:

I hear NASA are developing growing plants with LEDs on space stations since they use little energy and give off little heat so can be placed very close to plants/vegetables so they maximise the energy for growth, providing food and oxygen while using up the CO2 in the air. Indoor cannabis growers are also getting interested!

Sounds like NASA all right, high tech solution, where a more reliable low tech one already exists. On the ISS days last 90 Minutes, all you need is glow in the dark paint. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorescence

However, some compounds have triplet lifetimes up to minutes or even hours, allowing these substances to effectively store light energy in the form of very slowly degrading excited electron states. If the phosphorescent quantum yield is high, these substances will release significant amounts of light over long time scales, creating so-called "glow in the dark" materials.

Just wondering if phosporescence would be of any use to cyclists ?
Especially after the drivers have dipped their lights.

ruprect

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

On the ISS days last 90 Minutes,

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

all you need is glow in the dark paint.

Are you saying you think plants would grow under glow in the dark paint? Doubt it would be intense enough.

You can get glow in the dark paint in woodies now, costs a fortune, I would like to see if it was useful on a bike, though reflective strips may be better.

Victor

ruprect wrote:

Its orbit is 90 minutes.