Hi Folks,
After a couple of midweek rides in the dark, it has become clear that my front light is quite simply not up to the job. Fine on the road and on wider paths (like the Westie), but being on any narrow trail with twists and bumps is quite simply terrifying!
After looking at different lights on different websites, it has all become a wee bit confusing. Most will be using Lux or Lumens as a guide to their strength, so these seem like the most appropriate base to compare, but what levels should I be looking out for? I’ve seen some quoting 100 as great for offroad, but others saying 300 as a minimum; it all seems to depend on the actual type of light or even brand. Can someone shed some light (pardon the pun!) on what I should be looking for? And any ideas about specific lights, I’m aiming around the £50-£70 mark (but would stretch a bit if it’s worth it!), that would be a good buy? Your help will be much appreciated!
Cheers,
Graeme
Graeme – have a look on singletrackworld.com forum – do a search on ‘lights’. there are reams of posts and lots of good info. There are some good deals on ones from ‘mtb batteries’, which are around £90 i think. Also ‘DealExtreme’, which come from China – they are around £50 and very good when they are working, although there are some reliabiility issues and chrager overheating problems.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/it%e2%80%99s-getting-dark-%e2%80%93-time-for-a-cheep-lights-thread
At that budget you’ll be looking at the infamous Chinalights. I’d be tempted to get one from a UK distributor (e.g. here), while you’ll pay more you won’t have to wait weeks for it to ship from China and you’ll get a 12 month guarantee. As Iain says, they’re fine when they’re working, but the battery packs are legendary for failing. I bought this earlier this year and get almost 3 months out of the battery pack before it stopped charging. I’m now building my own, which is costing about £30, plus £20 for a charger less inclined to burn the house down.
While they seem expensive, a good light is a sound investment. I paid £180 for my light (900 lumen LED, usually run it at 600) in January 2008, so it’s cost about £45 a year if it sees this winter out. I’m pretty happy with that.
Interesting. The one that had already caught my eye was actually the magicshine mj872. But the Cree is very tempting, especially at a quarter of the price. Do I trust it to work, and more importantly not burn the house down? Decisions, decisions…
Despite what others say about Chinese lights, I’ve got 2 of these…
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170514393420?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649
Really can’t fault them!
I’ve got these:
http://www.lumicycle.com/product/210/clearanceledgroup/led-system.html
with the cheapest options, at £150 you can’t fault them.
Brigh enough, plenty of run time, totally reliable (as were my previous lumicycle lights over many years of riding in nasty weather, only ever had to replace bulbs/batteries).
I did consider the deal extreme but the consensus at the time seemed to be that they were fine if you were good with silicone sealant and clingfilm and didn’t mind possibly setting your house on fire whilst charging them.
And as Ryzard says, if you split the cost across the number of years they’ll last you £150 isn’t much.