Originally Posted by
Papa Tom
TSL commented that any light is better than no light. I have a 10 watt Nite Rider right now that does the job OK when it will take a charge, but the battery is so old that I can only get about 20 minutes out of it. Yeah, it's a light, but it's also a stress-producer, as I never know when it's going to drop dead on me. For this reason, I don't think it's a lot better than "no" light. Besides, my solution has simply been to ride after the sun comes up and before it goes down.
See? In one paragraph we've learned that:
A) An old 10 watt halogen produces an "okay" amount of light for you,
2) You need more run time than 20 minutes, and,
III) you dislike proprietary batteries because they're difficult-to-impossible to replace years later.
That eliminates every light with a proprietary battery pack from the list of possibles. (Keep in mind that anything with an internal rechargeable battery is also a proprietary battery pack.) That's a huge narrowing of the choices right there.
It means you should be looking only at lights with AA rechargables, or dynamo lighting systems.
A dyno system is within your budget, but will shoot your entire budget. It will produce an impressive amount of light (as compared to your 10-watt halogen, I used to own an NR TrailRat, so I know) for an unlimited run-time, and will probably outlast your bike.
If that's too much to spend, then your choice becomes, which AA rechargeable?
Now you have a manageable number of choices.
Except, IME, a AA rechargeable light is a good supplement to a dyno light. In city traffic and city lighting, at a stoplights I find the the dimmer "standlight" on the dyno light causes me to fade into the background and drivers then forget that I'm even there. It's a big surprise to them when I start pedaling again and the headlight comes on full power. A cheap "be seen" light on the bars solves the problem.
With AA rechargeables, my biggest beef was the quality of the chargers. It's within your budget, so think about a
Maha charger. A Maha and an AA light together will get you change back from a C-note.