I used a two Cateye EL500's for a while. And they lit my way fairly well - even for cruising down dark rural roads. However, the trouble starts if you have any steep descents in total darkness. As soon as I was coasting over 20 mph or so, I was outrunning the light... which get's pretty scary. As a result, I was riding my brakes down a few long descents. So I decided that for me, a brighter light was in order.

Now I know that bright, rechargeable lights are expensive - especially ones with fast, smart chargers. And money was an issue for me. So rather than making due with a $100 system (which would mean compromising watts, burn time, charging convenience, or all three) I decided to spend the bulk of my money on a good battery and smart charger from batteryspace.com and build my own light. So for about $115 total ($100 for the battery/charger combo and about $15 to build a light) I've got a 20 watt halogen system that's very bright and burns for a bit over 2 hrs. If I need more burn time I can switch to a 15 watt bulb, which is still 10 times brighter and wider than the Cateye LED's. It also recharges in about 2 hours. That kind of performance would cost much more from Night Rider or Cygolite.

Just something you should consider. It was a fun project... and easier than I thought it would be. There's all sorts of DIY examples here. You should check some of them out before spending your money.

DanO