Commuting - What headlight works for you?

What brand name headlight do you use?
How long have you had it?
Any problems?


Me - One Lupine, 3 years, no problems
3 Nightriders over the last 12 years. 3 problems, two my fault, one fixed for free and fast.
3 Cateyes Broke one bracket Two of them 10 years old. Broke the new one!
One Planet bike no problems
One each old style Nashbar Brilliant / Performance Flare- Same light. They can shut off on a big
bump.
One Serfas No problems
Home made, dive lights, flashlights, etc. no problems but not enough hours on them to really
count as a good test.

I've purchased a few bicycle specific lights and made a few DIY's. After spotting a new Mag-Lite 2-AA 3-watt flashlight in Wal-Mart I just had to try it out as a bicycle light. All I can say is WOW! It's small, doesn't weigh much, provides 3.5 hours of bright light, and the adjustable beam pattern make's it a good choice as a general purpose light for your bicycle. As for the required mount, I simply used 1/2" EMT conduit hangers from the electrical supply area in any building supply or hardware store. The 1/2" size fits the flashlight and standard handlebars as well but road bike drop bars require the 3/4" size. A short 1/4-20 bolt and nut allows bolting both clamps tightly to each other. I replaced the supplied 1/4" screws with 1/4" finger screws so no tools are required to tighten or loosen the clamps. This makes it easy to use the light on many bikes or when making repairs to the bike at night. Also use rubber strips between the conduit clamps and the light and handlebars. Cutting up an old tube will provide suitable rubber for that. Below is a picture of my light and 2 conduit hangers ready to mount to a handlebar.

I had a Cygolite HID, but when it died, Cygolite wanted $100-$200 just to fix the lamp. For about $250, I bought a Trailtech 13w HID lamp and a Li-ion bottlecage battery that lasts 7+ hours. It took some time to put together, but da**it, I made it.

It's fantastically bright (it's as bright or brighter than some car headlights), which is especially important in low-light (but not dark) conditions, like rain or dawn/dusk.

I have an LED on my helmet which is great as a back up, to read my computer, and to do repairs.

I bought the Serfas light set at the LBS 2 miles from my work. I bought this set. Because I needed them that night. The first night I started working OT it took for ever to get home. Too many trees that block the street lights. Also there are some areas with no lighting.

http://www.serfas.com/lights/CP-1000.shtml

I was *****ing because they want $35 for the set, but I liked how they all use the same size batteries. I only have to buy one charger. I told the kid I'm only buying this set, because I need them for tonight(like he gave a f**k). I'm a bit of a noob, but I was thinking they would be pure crap. Maybe they are, but 700 candle power and 24hrs run time work great for me. Seriously, I'm not trying to justify my (necessary impulse buy?) I want another rear blinkie, because people aren't used to bicyclists in thes burbs. I'm probably going to get an extra set, because I'm not paying much mor for the headlight.

I looks as thought the headlight is not water proof though. The light's seald up, but it advertises the rear light is waterproof, & you can see the seal. What a poor combination. Also it says it comes with 6 AAA, but it only comes with 5; which is all that is needed.

I currently have:

NiteRider Flamethrower HID, about 1.5 years old and working ok. The beam pattern is kinda crummy, see this pic (http://freepages.thesecretlabs.com/~mechbgon/commute/hangman2.jpg) and note the "donut of darkness" around the center spot.
NiteRider Classic Plus, just got it, has charger/battery interchangability with the Flamethrower. It works ok except there's an OFF setting in its mode cycle, which isn't optimal for off-roading.

Previously, I had a NiteRider NiteHawk (later renamed due to a trademark issue), which was the '90s version of the Classic with a fuel gauge and microprocessor, similar to their current Digital Patrol. That light went about 7 or 8 years with one battery replacement and a new charger, and still could've been fixed if I'd wanted to spend the money. It was a very slow-charging light, which was an aggravation. I mean c'mon, 12 hours ought to be enough to charge up! :(

Leading up to that, back in the '90s I had a NiteRider Classic dual-beam and a couple of NiteRider's single-beams. They were good reliable lights too.

Night Sun

18 years

Replacing bulbs and batteries every 5 or 6 years.

The metal holders for the MR16 bulbs allow me to run higher power bulbs then NightSun sells. I do not mind using an eight pound SLA battery, it was cheap and allows me to run 50 and 100 watt systems on my rides to work.

Unmodified Night Sun Team Issue (http://www.night-sun.com/htmldocs/team_issue.html). In 4.5 years, have only had to replace the 10 watt bulb once after a crash.

While it would be nice to run a 100 watt system, I don't think I want to use an 8 lbs battery!!

for inexpensive lights that ARE bright enough to ride dark trails with,

the new-this-season Cateye- EL-220 is bright enough for riding in the darkest of nights. 100 percent brighter than last generations' El-200.

Night Sun

18 years

Replacing bulbs and batteries every 5 or 6 years.

The metal holders for the MR16 bulbs allow me to run higher power bulbs then NightSun sells. I do not mind using an eight pound SLA battery, it was cheap and allows me to run 50 and 100 watt systems on my rides to work.
it would save you big batteries if you learn to overvolt your bulbs. they can put out more like but they take elss power then the larger wattage bulb. plus the color is better more white then yellow.

I rode a year with a 20W DIY halogen, and it was fine. I still have it sitting around and would still mount it and ride with it in a pinch.
I now have a 13W trailtech HID. Love it. Well worth the $120 the upgrade cost; not just in extra "seeing" but in the combination of "can't be missed" and respect (or at least "Jebus, what the hell is that?") that cars give me when it's on.

I've also ridden with some smallish LEDs in full dark; a Cateye EL400, which is really pretty weak and I'd only do it in an emergency (the one time was when my HID died due to me stupidly overvolting it). Also I rode a couple of miles with my new Nashbar Brilliant 2. I consider it an acceptable backup; I'd ride with it if I had to without too much worry. It seems about as bright as a 5 to 10w halogen, at least in the center.

I've have a Cateye EL400 that I have been using for the past 10 months or so. I don't night ride too often, and when it I do, it is in town mostly on residential streets. The light is pretty weak as mentioned above. I have given up trying to actually see anything with it. I have it aimed at the level of most car windows so it gets the most attention. Seems to do the job because cagers see me at stopsigns, ect. It also does a good job of illuminating reflective objects like signs, tail reflectors/license plates on parked cars, and other bikes.

I'm going to pick up a L&M Solo, or a similar halogen around $100 come Christmas time. Then I will have a respectable amount of power output. I have never seen any cyclists around here with a halogen or HID setup. There are plenty of bikes out at night, hence living in a college town, but they all have dinky LED headlights, if anything at all.

On the tourer : Schmidt dynohub and E-6 headlight
On the commuter : Shimano DH-3N70 dynohub and Lumotec Oval Plus headlight

I also have a tiny LED headlight and 2 taillights.

Lumotec with Shimano HBNX50A33 front dynohub. I've had it for five years. Like a lot of bike stuff, the bracket that holds it on is too light and flimsy. I replaced it with a sturdier bracket. The light itself is great.

Paul

I'm using the CygoLite Night Rover NiMH. Plenty of light for me, but I've read some negative comments about it. We'll see. Pretty cheap for a 12 watt light though. I paid like $65 at Performance.

I'm happy with both my Sigma Sport MIRAGE EVO + MIRAGE EVO X PRO (10w and 5w with a Ni-MH battery aprox $100) and the Catyeye Triple Shot that my wife uses. This is my second year with the Sigma and my wife's first with the Cateye.

The Cateye is a head turner. People just stop and stare when you ride by, which is great for urban rididng.

I have a pair of Jet Lites Starfires that I've been using for about 8 years now. I use both the 12W and 20W lamps when I'm MTBing and usually just the 20W for road riding in the deep of night They're pretty bright. I upgraded the system to digital controls a few years ago which gave me about 30% more runtime.

http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/cycling/bikes/K2/1999-OzM/images/Dual_Beam_Handle_Bar_Mount.jpg
http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/albums/1999-k2-ozm/K2_OzM_handlebar_1.jpeg
http://www.neebu.net/~khuon/albums/bento_box/PICT0004.jpg

You can get even more run time if you upgrade them to HID's. :p

Niterider Flamethrower HID, love mine. about 1 year old

I've got the full complement of lights from Bicycle Lights (http://www.bicyclelights.com), plus a couple spare batteries.

I've been very happy with thier performance.

NR Digital Evolution: Sucks rocks. Worked 1 month, then started dimming prematurely...sent it back, worked for 4 rides, same problem, sent it back, worked for 3 weeks same problem, I gave up on it.

Cygolite HID: Starting winter #3. This light should not be working. I've had it fall out of the bracket at speed, dropped it, and crashed with this light and it still works with no cracks in the housing. Run time is starting to decrease slightly though, but I'm guessing that is a battery thing.

I just purchased a DiNotte 3w for helmet mount and we'll see how that goes. I got the non-endurance version and will carry extra AA's if I need more run time. Its purpose is to see road-signs out in the country, and allow me to see my cue-sheet. I will probably use it for commuting too.

I have the Nite Hawk NoMad 5 watt headlight. But I did replaced the light with a 6vdc 10 watt light. I also hooked it up to a 6vdc 6.5 amp hour battery that I got from Home Depot.

I have had this light for 3 years with no problems. It is 12 volts and provides good lighting before sunrise. It was $100 with ship/hand.

http://aebike.com/page.cfm?action=details&PageID=30&SKU=LT7513

Busch & Muller Lumotec Oval Plus off a Schmidt SON28 dynamo hub. Very impressed, was thinking I would have to supplement with a Schmidt E6 secondary but the Lumotec throws enough light for my riding. I may well add the E6 at some stage, but I'm in no hurry.

I also have an old 6W Cygolite Night Rover. I've had the famous switch problems, but I'm quite impressed with Cygolite's repair service. I have 2 headlight units, one mounted to a helmet and another for a bike mount. Reasonable lights for the money, even with the inconvenience of switch repairs.

Lupine Passubio with a 25w bulb. Works great; throws off extreme amount of light. No mounts (uses bands) so you can switch it from bike to bike in seconds. Great connectors and great charger. Battery lasts 1 1/2 hrs at full; double that time at 12w. Very light setup.

Used to use Niterider DE; totally sucked. Turned me off to NR forever.

NiteRider Flamethrower HID, been using it going on 3 commuting seasons. It is holding up well enough, but I do have some kind of fubar in the on/off switch. It always lights up red, and I have to press and jiggle it in one spot to get it to fire up. It has been like this for about a year. I keep waiting for it to die but it is still going strong. And mech, I don't have that donut coming form my light. Are you sure you don't have it installed in such a way that the bulb and and reflector aren't properly seated?

I also added an L&M Vega as a backup, and flasher. It serves that purpose really well for a self contained unit. I wouldn't happily commute with just it though.

NiteRider Flamethrower HID, been using it going on 3 commuting seasons. It is holding up well enough, but I do have some kind of fubar in the on/off switch. It always lights up red, and I have to press and jiggle it in one spot to get it to fire up. It has been like this for about a year. I keep waiting for it to die but it is still going strong. And mech, I don't have that donut coming form my light. Are you sure you don't have it installed in such a way that the bulb and and reflector aren't properly seated?

I also added an L&M Vega as a backup, and flasher. It serves that purpose really well for a self contained unit. I wouldn't happily commute with just it though.

Call Nightrider on the phone, get a return authorization number and mail them your light. That sounds like a problem I had, if it's Nightriders fault, they will fix it for free and pay the postage back. They don't ask where the light was purchased. If you dropped and broke it, you can talk to them on the phone and not fix it if you feel like it, after they have looked at it.

Planet Bike 10watt Halogen. Seems suitable for night commuting. I think that I can just plug in their 15w bulb, but I'll have to scope that out. I think the run time will just be a bit shorter.

I really really love the smart charger. Just plug it in every couple of days and forget it overnight.

Timing the battery charges sucked when I had my NightRider 10w.

I have a Light & Motion LiIon HID ARC on the bars and a Denotte Ultra 3 on my helmet. Excellent combination IMO.

http://www.dinottelighting.com/DiNotte_Lighting_Ultra_3.htm

I have the Hope Vision HID. It mounts directly to the stem by replacing the faceplate. The battery is small and mounts below the stem out of the way. It has plenty of light and has been perfect for a year of commuting so far. I also like how sturdy it is, if you hit a pot hole it will not budge due to the allen bolt that is used to adjust the aim. Overall it's just a very clean install that does not get in the way and has been very reliable. I bought it from Jenson for $300. Looks like they still have them at that price. Heres the review and a pic:http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Lights/product_125325.shtml