This crap about spending more money to get a better made light is not always true. I have a friend who bought a $400 HID system (from a company I don't remember) and that light broke 3 times in it's warranty period, then the final straw was when it broke out of warranty and they would no longer replace it. Meanwhile I had bought a dual beam 16 watt Cygolite Rover NiMh Xtra for about $100 prior to his purchase and mine is still working just fine. Granted his was way brighter then mine, but for the road I don't need that kind of power and I do touring-but travel very little after dark so recharging isn't a problem especially if I camp where there is juice or at a motel. Also this light has dual beams so if one burns out the other will continue to work; and it can run for up to 6 hours on a charge. So far after 2 years of use they have not been effected whatsoever by rain, heavy use or jarring.

I supplement the Cygolite with 2 Cateye Micros no longer made (one on each fork blade), which I will be upgrading those to the new Cateye EL530 this fall if they will fit on the blades.

While touring though I have not been impressed by any of the LED's I've seen on the road as main lights; none were anywhere near as bright as mine and a couple of those were those Cateye Triple Shots ($350) and Double Shots ($250). There are some new hotter ones out, but as one poster mentioned their quite expensive and I have yet to see one of those on the road.

Yeah I know, a person touring should be using a dynamo system, but I like the what I use because it's cheaper, and since I watch my light usage closely I have yet to run out of juice in the middle of the night.

By the way there is such a thing as getting too bright of a light, especially riding on the road. I found 6 watts to be plenty on well lit city streets, and 10 watts plenty on dark streets, the only time I use all 16 watts is on curvy roads or wet roads or fast descents. Much more over 20 watts and you can get a real bad light bounce off the road and back into your eyes.