Originally Posted by
RoadKill
Where you are riding is really important when it comes to lights to recommend.
If you are in a well lit area then your primary concern is to have a light bright enough to be seen, which might only be around 150 lumens.
If your ride home doesn't have much for street lighting then you need much brighter so you can see the roads ahead, and I'd be looking for more like 700 lumens.
And if your ride includes any sort of rough dirt roads or even single track then you really want some high power lighting.
I disagree. Riding in "well lighted area" require
more light than where it is less well lighted. You don't necessarily need the light to see where you are going but you need more light to out shine the thousands of other light sources. 150 lumens of light is going to be lost in the other lights. "Be seen" lights often aren't.
Go with a much brighter light and, if you buy them off Fleabay or Amazon, you can afford far more than 700 lumens. $20 or $30 will buy a very good, bright (but not as bright as they claim) light. Three $20 lights (2 on bars, one on helmet) will make you visible
and light up the road...even in those well lighted areas. With three 800 lumen lights (roughly) coming at them, drivers are extremely cautious about pulling out in front of you. They don't know if you are a train off the tracks or some kind of monster truck but the point is that they don't pull out.
And, at $60 to $90, it won't break the bank.