Originally Posted by
Truckin75
Paid the bucks for a NiteRider a few years ago. Probs shortly thereafter, they replaced it under warranty (that's a good thing).
Now it will no longer recharge, and is therefore no longer usable. Also, the mounting bracket has deteriorated to the point that I need to use duct tape in order to prevent it from falling off when hitting bumps. NiteRider says they'll fix it (and I am confident they will), plus throw in a new mounting bracket, for 20 bucks. But based on the track record, I'm a bit leery of hanging with them/it as opposed to just moving on...
Options:
1. Pay the $20 and press on.
2. Stay "high quality" but switch brands (all suggestions on high quality brands and models welcome!)
3. Spend less than $20 on a brand new low quality light that uses AAA batteries, and be willing to replace the batteries (and/or the light) as needed
What do you folks think?
Germans make the best bicycle lights. presumably due to the combination of laws requiring bicycle lights, laws requiring intelligent optics design on them, and precision German engineering.
Order a Busch & Müller Ixon Iq Premium from bike-discount.de in Germany. $47 + $10 for a charger + $24 flat rate shipping + $4 plug adapter from amazon + $17 for 4 2550 maH NiMH AA Panasonic Eneloop batteries from Amazon = $102. The glare shield is included so you don't need to order a separate one.
lamp
charger
adapter
2550maH / 500 cycle batteries or
2000maH / 2100 cycle batteries
It's fairly bright, casts a uniform light field so you can see better, has a cut-off so you won't dazzle drivers, gets 5+ hours on high, has no separate battery pack with a cable that goes bad, and takes AA batteries if you need to swap for a long ride or they wear out. You can also power it with an external 7.2V battery pack using pairs of 18650s or whatever.
Shipping from Germany takes 1-2 weeks, although most people will prefer that to spending about $60 (125%) more to get the same light from a US source.