Originally Posted by
OnyxTiger
I almost got that light too. I think what you want to consider is lumens count. Somewhere on here I heard that 850 is a good number if you want to be lit up like Las Vegas.
Anyways, I went with the Serfas True 305 (~$45) that is 305 lumens from my LBS. It works great for me. Super bright light, can be seen, but more importantly, I can see a great deal ahead of me. It has 3 brightness settings (brightest setting goes for about 2 hours) and an on/off flash setting for when you're in and around city traffic and need to be noticed. I took it out for a 10 mile night ride couple nights ago, went through pitch dark golf course trails and multi-use paths on a greenbelt with no lights around, and had really good fun.
Also see if the light you're looking for has a quick release feature if you're anticipating parking it in public. Best of luck!
In general, the higher the lumens the shorter the battery life.
For me a good urban compromise is the 150-300 lumen range.
But if I were riding fast on dark country roads I would go for the 350-700 lumen range.
In the urban setting, the light is more about others seeing you since there is so much ambient light for you to see by.