Front Light suggestions

padjo5

Well folks,
Looking for some guidance on what is the best front light to buy. Budget 150e max. For use in training, on front of road bike, on unlit roads. looking for a decent light, with or without battery pack.
Ideally USB chargeable.
There are lots on offer, would like to hear your opinions on what is a good buy and what ain't!

Dermot Illogical

I've been using the Cateye nanoshot (usb rechargeable) since December and it's the business imho. My commute is partially on unlit roads and that light is ideal. Very nice spread of light, decent time from a charge and it's very bright. As long as I angle it correctly there's more than enough light to judge surface well in advance. I find I can travel at daytime speeds over unlit roads with it. I'm also forever getting flashed at by car drivers thinking I'm one of them with a broken right headlight.
I think I paid around 110 euro for it.

Gets a mention about 2/3 of the way down this page.
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/cateye-2011-lights-first-look-30765/

Beasty

Well where do you start?

...here I guess - 35 pages of discussion about lights;)

G rock

longest day of the year tomorrow (or today 'cos of the leap year? i dunno)....nothing like getting prepared for the days getting darker:)

but my 2c: the phillips led bike light: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/philips-led-bike-light-set/aid:409750

it's excellent.

Dubba

Eamonnator

padjo5,
I got this one last winter, works a treat.
Charge lasts for longer than claimed.
I tested mine lately( I'm doing the midsummers night cycle), the charge lasted for 3 hours on lower setting and a further 2 1/2 hours on high beam. For road use, you would not need the high beam.
If you want to try it out, give me a shout.

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-sxo-3-mode-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-25149

Tigger

G rock wrote: »

longest day of the year tomorrow (or today 'cos of the leap year? i dunno)....nothing like getting prepared for the days getting darker:)

but my 2c: the phillips led bike light: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/philips-led-bike-light-set/aid:409750

it's excellent.

I second this

Seweryn

padjo5 wrote: »

Well folks,
Looking for some guidance on what is the best front light to buy. Budget 150e max.

This is probably enough or his more expensive broather - The 500 Lumens version

I use the cheaper one at present, but used to have the XP500. I can recommend both lights. Very good units.

Lumen

RT66 wrote: »

I'm also forever getting flashed at by car drivers thinking I'm one of them with a broken right headlight

Or because they're blinded.

Dermot Illogical

Lumen wrote: »

Or because they're blinded.

You missed the "angle it correctly" part of my post?
If I want to blind them I'll wear a headlamp. Much more accurate. :pac:

Lumen

RT66 wrote: »

You missed the "angle it correctly" part of my post?

With all due respect, smileys and all that..no I didn't. You said...

RT66 wrote: »

As long as I angle it correctly there's more than enough light to judge surface well in advance

Think of this in a car. How do you angle the headlights to judge the surface well in advance? By using full beam.

There is no way to see far a decent distance ahead without blinding oncoming traffic. If there was, someone would have done introduced a sort of "half-dipped" beam for cars, which they haven't AFAIK.

FWIW I have this issue even with my B&M "shaped beam" lights too. Ye cannae defeat the laws of physics.

Dermot Illogical

Lumen wrote: »

With all due respect, smileys and all that..no I didn't. You said...



Think of this in a car. How do you angle the headlights to judge the surface well in advance? By using full beam.

There is no way to see far a decent distance ahead without blinding oncoming traffic. If there was, someone would have done introduced a sort of "half-dipped" beam for cars, which they haven't AFAIK.

FWIW I have this issue even with my B&M "shaped beam" lights too. Ye cannae defeat the laws of physics.

However, the normal beam in a car is aimed higher to see further because higher speed makes this necessary, and leakage is potentially blinding to oncoming traffic.
I aim about 5-8 meters ahead max. It's more than sufficient at my speed. That's my idea of angling it correctly. I aim the beam down onto the surface I'm interested in. I also place the light on my right angled slightly in towards the kerb/ditch, similar to a car set-up. It's bright, but I doubt it's blinding anyone tbh.

Lumen

RT66 wrote: »

However, the normal beam in a car is aimed higher to see further because higher speed makes this necessary, and leakage is potentially blinding to oncoming traffic.
I aim about 5-8 meters ahead max. It's more than sufficient at my speed. That's my idea of angling it correctly. I aim the beam down onto the surface I'm interested in. I also place the light on my right angled slightly in towards the kerb/ditch, similar to a car set-up. It's bright, but I doubt it's blinding anyone tbh.

Ah, OK. 30kph is over 8 metres per second, at which speed you have less than a second to react. I'm too old for that. :pac:

No idea why anyone would flash you with a light angled down like that. Motorbikes don't get flashed like that, do they?

Dermot Illogical

Lumen wrote: »

Ah, OK. 30kph is over 8 metres per second, at which speed you have less than a second to react. I'm too old for that. :pac:

You and me both.
The spillover which would normally serve to blind oncoming traffic gives me a little more warning. I'd also possibly consider slowing down slightly on unknown roads. Possibly..

Dermot Illogical

Lumen wrote: »

No idea why anyone would flash you with a light angled down like that. Motorbikes don't get flashed like that, do they?

I rode motorbikes for years. It's where I became familiar with the phenomenon. You can't take a night-time journey without getting flashed. People just assume you're a broken car.

montac

G rock wrote: »

longest day of the year tomorrow (or today 'cos of the leap year? i dunno)....nothing like getting prepared for the days getting darker:)

but my 2c: the phillips led bike light: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/philips-led-bike-light-set/aid:409750

it's excellent.

I got this for the winter - nice and bright, and I'd recommend it. Recharge it via USB cable while in work.

Lumen

RT66 wrote: »

I rode motorbikes for years. It's where I became familiar with the phenomenon. You can't take a night-time journey without getting flashed. People just assume you're a broken car.

I used to ride a scooter. I assumed that people were flashing me because I was riding like a knob.

kuro_man

+1 on the philips led, it doesn't flash thought if you want that.
try bike-discount.de, might be slightly cheaper delivery than Rose

superlav

I got one of these last year and cannot fault it. It did take abuot 6 weeks to get here, but was worth the wait.

Good review on the light here

The light itself is very well made, I would say on a par with more expensive offerings like this, which a friend has.

The light has three settings:
Main light on, side lights on, and all three lights on.

What is not mentioned in any of the blurb is that you can dim the light (a lot) in any of the modes by holding down the button. This is a great feature as full power is probably too strong for most situations, but nice to have.

I find the battery easily lasts a week of commuting about 40 mins each way, when using it on reduced power.

Also, the colour of the led in the switch changes between blue\green\yellow and red to indicate battery level.

I'd say the best 60 euro I spent on bike gear in quite a while.

padjo5

Welcome back Superlav!
Cheers for the replies lads, lots of light-info to go and research now.
Happy Summer Solstice!

el Bastardo

Lumen wrote: »

RT66 wrote: »

However, the normal beam in a car is aimed higher to see further because higher speed makes this necessary, and leakage is potentially blinding to oncoming traffic.
I aim about 5-8 meters ahead max. It's more than sufficient at my speed. That's my idea of angling it correctly. I aim the beam down onto the surface I'm interested in. I also place the light on my right angled slightly in towards the kerb/ditch, similar to a car set-up. It's bright, but I doubt it's blinding anyone tbh.

Ah, OK. 30kph is over 8 metres per second, at which speed you have less than a second to react. I'm too old for that. :pac:

No idea why anyone would flash you with a light angled down like that. Motorbikes don't get flashed like that, do they?

That's like asking why people honk and hoot at a cyclist when they're clearly doing nothing wrong. Personally, I choose to be believe that the just fancy me