Originally Posted by
CNY James
i dont use my bike to commute or plan on doing a lot of after dark riding so I am going to have a hard time justifying 80+ on a light. Like I said in my OP, I am hoping to find something sub-$50but if there is something close or slightly over but performs that much better, I could likely be persuaded. Just not looking to double my target price range. Just looking for something for that occassion that I do have the urge to ride at dusk/dark.
Thanks for the tip above about getting a good tail light too, I wasnt going to ignore tail lights altogether but hadnt really spent much time looking at them. Maybe I will check out that Planetbike combo & see how that goes...
The reason why so many people suggest spending a little more money on a front light is because for 50% more money, you get 400% more light. You can also see the road ahead of you like 1000% better. Seriously. $50 is the price point between "people can see me, and I can ride on roads where I could ride without a light if there was no traffic" and "I just hop on my bike and ride and don't worry about it, maybe I got a tiny slower at worst" above $50.
They've also tried to play the "I'm going to save some money" game. They buy a $40 light. It's not good enough. They buy another $50 light to "save money". It's also not good enough. At this point, had they simply bought a brighter light in the first place they would have spend the same money. Even if they upgrade later - a $40 light is 50% the cost of a $80 light.
You really do need a rear blinky, as someone mentioned. I like the Planet Bike Rack Blinky (doesn't actually require a rack).
http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-30...4470443&sr=8-2
The Planet Bike Superflash has gotten a lot of good reviews to.