Originally Posted by
cyccommute
squidrow is the perfect example of the "casual user". He didn't do a 40 mile ride at night but he did a 40 mile ride that ended after dark. It's his first 40 mile ride...those were the days
...so I'd assume that he's pretty new to the sport. I would assume that he's not a utility rider nor a bicycle commuter so he doesn't have a need for a light on a regular basis. Dropping $400 on a light system of any kind probably wouldn't make a lot of sense for his needs. Dropping $20 on a battery powered light that has a good output so that he can get his feet wet. I'd suggest that for any one new to night riding, however. If you like the experience, then by all means explore options further down the road but I'd still suggest going cheap to begin with...especially given how good the performance of the "cheap" Cree type lights (aka Magicshine clones) is.
P.S. While it's not about lighting, here's a recent thread where I suggested something the OP didn't even ask for and they came back and thanked me. His original post:
Originally Posted by
Dstl1
Hey guys. Been in the cycling game for less than a year and like most am learning a lot as I go. Question. I've finally narrowed my new bike search down to 2 bikes... '15 Fuji Transonic 2.3 with mechanical Ultegra (the 2.1 has electronic Ultegra, but is about $1100 more) and a '14 Cannondale Super Six Evo 105. They differ in price by about $100, so that part is no issue. I'm coming from a '14 Trek 1.2 with Sora. Obviously, there will be a quality and weight difference, but in terms of actual shifting...what will I feel immediately with the step up in levels? Thanks.
I replied with:
Originally Posted by
PaulRivers
...Have you ridden the bike? I test rode around 15 bikes this summer and really, really liked the Emonda in the 500 level carbon (any model with SL in the same, starts at $2,600). Most comfortable bike I've ridden, in my opinion. Suprisingly stable and also responsive, handled jolts and potholes amazingly, without being completely dead feeling like the Damone.
Regarding your question on groupsets (continued on for a couple of paragraphs talking about groupsets)...
And went on to talk about my thoughts on the different groupsets. He didn't ask for different bike suggestions, other models, or anything like that. But just now he writes back:
Originally Posted by
Dstl1
Went and checked out an Emonda SL6 today.....
. It was matte black with full Ultegra and Bontrager tubeless ready wheels. 3,150.00. Gorgeous. I had no idea they looked THAT nice. Shop owner damn near begged me to test ride it, so I obliged, lol. Rides like a dream. Well, that definitely knocked the Evo 5 out of the running. Thanks for the tip.
Of course people can be annoying by suggesting things completely unrelated to what the OP asked for, but I find that suggesting things that may or may not be useful to the OP and leaving it up to them to decide whether it's useful or not themselves. There's been a number of times where someone hasn't written back having found the suggestion useful, and probably more than that where they didn't write back. Sometimes my advice was useless for the OP, but it took them less time to skip over it or read it and decide it wasn't useful, than it would have taken for me to ask questions and for them to explain that it wasn't useful.