Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - A Budget (sub $100) light system discussion

So I liked the other lighting thread until it got to the part about prices.

While spending $500+ on a schdmit dynohub, two headlights and a tail light might seem ok to others, and likely work better than any other system, my wallet just isn't that big and I'd like to think there are other rando people out there in the same situation.

So let's make it more challenging and limit the total cost (headlight, tail light, power source, mounting brackets ect.) to under $100 with a runtime minimum of 6 hours.

Right now I have a Cateye EL520 I picked up for around 30 bucks a little while ago. I haven't had a chance to do much night riding outside of Philadelphia, but it seems really bright and supposedly has 10 hours of headlight quality light per set of 4AA's.

I'm planning on buying a Union sidewall generator and headlight off a friend for 20 bucks, that and the cateye seem like they'd do well. A standard red rear light costs around 15 or 20, keeping my system under $100.

Anyone else have budget systems they'd like to share?

Two Cateye EL-500s and a Planet Bike Rear Light (the super bright kind). The EL's were $60 total and the LED in back was $20. Worked great on my 400K and 600K, as well as lots of pre-dawn rides. $80 total.

Just don't expect rechargeable AA's to have the same battery life as the non-rechargeables. I use the rechargeables for when there's going to be 4 hrs. or so of dark riding, and use the regulars for an all-nighter.

Dan

I agree with Dan.

In the past couple of years I have done several brevets that involved night riding, and I have seen a wide range of lighting systems used by people I ride with, both generators and battery powered lights. I have not seen every possible light system out there, but the two headlight configurations that I have been impressed with are:

1) D-Lumotec powered by hub generator (way over your budget)
2) Two fork mounted Cateye EL-500 running on freshly charged rechargeable AA's

I just bought one EL-500 to add to my existing one, and paid $36 after a 10% coupon discount on Nashbar.
For about $12, you can get a package with eight 2500 mAh rechargeable batteries which should be good for a full night of riding, if fully charged to start with.
For a budget taillight, I recommend the ViewPoint Flashpoint (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=19647&subcategory_ID=4322) from Performance, currently selling for $15. Very bright light. If you use a small clear, waterproof band-aid to cover the on/off button it is even waterproof. I use two Planet Bike Blinky Superflash taillights (that currently sell for about $20 each) on my seatstays, and the Performance ViewPoint in the back of my helmet. But one of the Performance lights is quite good by itself.

To recap:
$72 for two EL-500
$12 for eight AA rechargeable batteries (2500 mAh)
$15 for the Performance taillight

A year ago, I bought a Cygo Light Night Rover halogen headlight (6W + 10W) for about $80. I like it very much, but I discovered the hard way that it is not waterproof, and the bottle-cage-sized rechargeable battery did not last me through a night of riding on a fleche that I did last year. I plan to use it for short (and dry) rides or in addition to the Cateye lights. It may be a good alternative to Cateye LED lights, but I would not recommend it as your only headlight for long distance/brevet riding that may require a full night of riding or longer.

I'm using twin Cateye EL-530's and twin Planet Bike Superflash taillights. Sale shopping, I've got abot $140 in two fully redundant systems (since you already have an EL-520 you could easily get in for under $100). I've ridden with friends who's headlights were brighter, but they had heavy battery packs and couldn't run near 6 hours.

I also have a vintage Schwinn Collegiate with an old 12 volt sidewall generator. I'm amazed at how well that works too!

I agree with Dan.

In the past couple of years I have done several brevets that involved night riding, and I have seen a wide range of lighting systems used by people I ride with, both generators and battery powered lights. I have not seen every possible light system out there, but the two headlight configurations that I have been impressed with are:

1) D-Lumotec powered by hub generator (way over your budget)
2) Two fork mounted Cateye EL-500 running on freshly charged rechargeable AA's


How do you feel about the fork and seatstay mounted lights? Are you concerned about them slipping off and falling into your spokes?

How do you feel about the fork and seatstay mounted lights? Are you concerned about them slipping off and falling into your spokes?

I use two Minoura Besso Fork Mount holders (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?sku=13291) screwed into the lowrider mounts on my fork, and they have been very reliable for the past year. Highly recommended. If you don't have the same kind of mounts (and you have a steel fork), you may need to use some tape wisely to prevent any movement. I have seen people mount their lights on the fork crown and at hub level, but I am happy with where mine are.

I am not crazy about the seatstay mounts that come with the Planet Bike tail lights, but so far they have been stable. The seatpost mount is much better, but it does not work for me because I use a saddle bag on long brevets.

A year ago, I bought a Cygo Light Night Rover halogen headlight (6W + 10W) for about $80. I like it very much, but I discovered the hard way that it is not waterproof, and the bottle-cage-sized rechargeable battery did not last me through a night of riding on a fleche that I did last year. I plan to use it for short (and dry) rides or in addition to the Cateye lights. It may be a good alternative to Cateye LED lights, but I would not recommend it as your only headlight for long distance/brevet riding that may require a full night of riding or longer.

I've been using the Cygo Light Night Rover on my commutes for about 9 months... ridden it through rainstorms, snow storms, hail, sleet, you name it. The light itself has never failed me. I made a separate battery pack for it (Lead Acid battery... got it for $5 inside of a rechargeable spotlight), with about 6 hrs runtime on low (In addition to the 3 hrs on the primary) and it works fine.

Being the boyscout type I am, I carry other lights, so when my alternate battery failed on my last brevet, I strapped an LED flashlight onto my handlebars with zip-ties, added my white LED blinky on the front, and kept riding. :)

I recently installed a Lumotec Oval Senso Plus (halogen) on my Dahon dynamo. I am disappointed with how dim and yellow the light is. I have clearly been spoiled by high-power LEDs. I am a fan of the PB Superflash Blinky lights but am still looking for that perfect front light.

I use two Minoura Besso Fork Mount holders (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?sku=13291) screwed into the lowrider mounts on my fork...

Ooooh! I like the looks of that. It would probably be unwise to wrap it around carbon forks though.

I would like to throw another option in there:
Instead of buying another cateye, look at the L2D CE from Fenix Lights:
http://fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_55&products_id=195

It is more power hungry on high (but tremendously brighter), but should give you better downhill abilities and it is adjustable and easily mounted on your helmet with 2 zipties. Long runtimes on lower settings and more light on fast down hills. turn it off for climbs and just use the cateye.
It uses double A's too so it can share batts should one light fail.

Either go with 2600 mAh rechargable batteries from Batteryspace.com with charger:
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=3461

or disposable Litium Ions batteries from the same site (or energizers from the local drugstore)


2 tail lights:
http:www.nashbar.comprofile.cfmcategory=101&subcategory=1068&brand=&sku=12111&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20Rear%20Lights

or just get one Super flash for the same price and hope it doesnt fail.


$25 for 12 batteries + charger
$57 for the Light (free shipping)
$0 for zipties
$20 for tail light(s) (nashbar often has free shipping coupon codes)

$102

I recently bought this one for the front: http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?sku=18910&CFID=5980055&CFTOKEN=49817666

If you shop around more or wait for a sale you might find one under $100.

For the rear: http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=17652

That is the master of all blinkies, IMO. I have 3 of them because I like them so much.

Anyway, about the Nite Hawk, I wish I could give you a better review, but I haven't fully tested it yet. I can't tell you if the batteries last as long as they say they do, as I've only tested them up to 4 hours so far. I also haven't really had a chance to see exactly how bright the light is because my major riding with it was done on a 400k brevet and I was riding with a fairly large group at night. Since it hasn't been getting dark until about 9:00 around here I haven't gone on many extended night rides alone yet.

As for batteries, it runs on 4 standard rechargeable AAs, which I love for the convenience.

The light mounts via a quick-release on your handlebars (which fits oversize bars, BTW) or on your helmet. I haven't tried the helmet mount (I'm a handlebar mount kind of guy), but the light doesn't weigh much at all, so I think it would be comfortable. The battery pack comes with a neoprene case that you can velcro on your top tube, strap to your arm, shove in an empty water bottle, etc. Imagine 4 AA batteries all in a row. The battery pack is a little bit larger than that.

I'm doing a 24 hour ride next weekend, so I hope to have more info when that is over.

I am a fan of the Princeton Tec Eos headlamp. Picked one up on Amazon for $30 a few months ago. The price has gone up to $40, but still a good value.

On our tandem, we have a super-bright Blackburn Mars 3.0 taillight (with amber lighting built into the sides!), an EL-500, and Cateye Compact Opticubes mounted on top of each of our helmets. We might get another EL-500, but even one works really well and the helmet mounted lights are great for seeing signs, reading cue sheets, and shining at people in cars. I had thought we would need a generator system but I'm glad to see that there's a way around messing with our nice front tandem wheel. Compared to the new crop of LED lights, generator lights look pretty dim. Batteries can be an issue but they run pretty long and companies like Powerfilm make flexible solar battery chargers that *could* be tied over a rear rack if necessary.

I am a fan of the Princeton Tec Eos headlamp. Picked one up on Amazon for $30 a few months ago. The price has gone up to $40, but still a good value.


I agree! And the great thing about the EOS is, it can easily be upgraded with new generation LEDs. I did modify mine with the Seoul SSC P4 LED (see candlepowerforums.com for "PT eos mod" ); brighter and more spill light than the stock version. After adding a case for rechargeable AA batteries (instead the AAAs it uses by default; and my present setup) it is supposed to last for 20 hours on mixed high/medium output usage.
I got the light for $30 on Amazon and it is waterproof ; new LED and a new reflector are costing about $7 each. One of these worn on the helmet and one on the handlebar is a great solution.

The candlepower forum has many discussions on PT EOS mods like this one:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=149500

So I liked the other lighting thread until it got to the part about prices.

While spending $500+ on a schdmit dynohub, two headlights and a tail light might seem ok to others, and likely work better than any other system, my wallet just isn't that big and I'd like to think there are other rando people out there in the same situation.

So let's make it more challenging and limit the total cost (headlight, tail light, power source, mounting brackets ect.) to under $100 with a runtime minimum of 6 hours.

Right now I have a Cateye EL520 I picked up for around 30 bucks a little while ago. I haven't had a chance to do much night riding outside of Philadelphia, but it seems really bright and supposedly has 10 hours of headlight quality light per set of 4AA's.

I'm planning on buying a Union sidewall generator and headlight off a friend for 20 bucks, that and the cateye seem like they'd do well. A standard red rear light costs around 15 or 20, keeping my system under $100.

Anyone else have budget systems they'd like to share?


First of all, unless they have improved dramatically, forget the Union sidewall generator. The generator will have a limited duration, and since the headlight has no over-voltage protection, you'll burn your bulb as soon as you go downhill. Well, almost. And now, solutions...

What do you want and especially where and when do you want to use it? I suspect you are looking for something suitable for randonneuring, brevets and the like, so something that works all night on dark roads, though maybe not at high speeds.


Considering what you have, there are a few options:
- Get another EL-520/EL-530. Almost same headlight, except the 530 is totally waterproof. Around here, I would blow your budget just with it, as I was quoted 125 $ for a "special order". Needless to say, I did not buy it. However, I have read a few reports that say that riding with dual EL-500 or EL-520 is OK, providing you keep your speed under control (i.e. avoid fast downhills), but it's a bit limited if you ride on wet asphalt or travel through lots of stray lights.
Major downfall : limited durability, so you'll change batteries often.

– You could buy a Dymotec bottle (http://peterwhitecycles.com/dymotec.asp) with an unswitched Lumotec headlight. The standard Dymotec is 55 $ and the Lumotec is 17 $, so that makes roughly 80-90 $ with taxes and shipping. Get a 3 W bulb!
The Lumotec has overvoltage protection, which means that if you ride fast, you won't burn the bulb.
With this option, you get a good generator which will provide decent lighting on the road, though it's a bit limited if you ride fast or are in adverse conditions. But that's where your EL-520 could come in to supplement the lighting. One drawback, you'll hear the generator hum when it's used.

– If you raise your budget to 150-175 $, [B]buy a Shimano DN-3N70 dynohub (http://peterwhitecycles.com/Shimano3N70.asp) with a switched Lumotec headlight. If you build your own wheel (not complex if you follow Sheldon Brown's instructions (http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html)), you would pay 95 $ for the hub, about 15 $ for the spokes and 40 $ for the headlight, so that comes to about 160-170 $ for the kit, delivered at home. Also get the 3 W bulb.
Same characteristics as above, except the hub is totally silent and works nice even in mud, rain or snow.

In all three scenarios, a Planet Bike Superflash would do the job for about 15 $

Suggestion: someone at roadbikereview.com built a decent headlight out of a halogen pool bulb
and crafted the handlebar mount themselves. Very clever - search for homebrew/homebuilt lights
at that site and check it out. I am still considering making one even though I don't have the skills
necessary, the price was less than $100 total.

I'm still using two Cateye EL-300s. Two of them together are almost bright enough. I did see
very recently a 6 watt LED flashlight and that sucker was bright - I'd like to see a bike headlight
with two of those.