Originally Posted by Geordi Laforge

I am seeking a little guidance with my headlight setup. I was considering the usual planetbike or cateye headlight, but I have been digging through this forum and see you all are really onto something -- but I am a bit lost to all the different options.

I am looking to purchase 2 flashlights, rechargeable batteries, mounts, and a charger -- they will be used on my bicycle and my girlfriend's bike. Ideally, I'd like to keep the cost to less than $100.

I ride in a dense urban environment where there are always streetlights and ambient lighting and it's never dark, but I often ride at night and would like to "be seen" by motorists as well as see the road ahead of me (many crater-like potholes and broken glass). I currently have a cateye el520 which simply is not adequate.

I figure I do not need the brightest light due to the streetlights and I would like to balance power vs. run-time. I typically ride about 2 hours per night and probably wont always remember to bring battery back-ups.

Anyone have a recommendation for such a setup?

So far, I am considering:

http://www.shiningbeam.com/servlet/t...CREE-Q5/Detail
http://www.batteryjunction.com/4parc390reli.html
http://www.batteryjunction.com/twofish-cycloblocks.html

How is the run-time with this? How decent of a light is the RC-N3? Any suggestions as what else I should look at?

thanks!