Of everything I've read so far I'm most interested in the Fenix....I have to spend some time on their site....I would do a helmet mount....and then maybe pick up a second one for the handlebar if I feel I need it...

Thanks to everyone who responded.....I didn't expect this thread to take off the way it has...

LEDs are very directional. From dead ahead they are extremely bright...sometimes too much so. From even a very shallow angle, their brightness drops off quickly. In cross traffic situations, cars approaching from the side may not see your light at all. That's generally not a good thing

There's a couple of ways to fix this. One is to mount the LED lights on your helmet. Since you tend to turn your head to look at the cars...and other stuff...approaching, your light will flash at them and get their attention. This is far better for getting the attention of drivers than putting a flashy to the front. The helmet light also illuminates stuff you are looking at like corners while you turn. Lots of bad stuff gets hidden in that dark corner.

The other way to fix this is to not use a light source that is so directional. Halogen and HID are omnidirectional...meaning they shine in every direction...and are usually mounted in a reflecting device to focus the light on the target. That's what the MR in halogen bulbs stands for...multireflective.

The same advice applies as to mounting however. Put one on your head. A helmet mounted light is far more useful than a bar mounted one.

I'd check your light from the side to be sure. I found out last year that my LED (a Nitehawk emmitter with a parabolic mirror reflector) is almost black from the side. After having a couple of people pull out in front of me when I was sure they could see me, I parked my bike on the side of the road and walk across the street to the same angle as a cross traffic car would be and the lamp was extremely dim. When I use those lights now, I ride very cautiously as I approach intersections with cars at them.

From my experience, this is the winner hands down. That is if it's the Xtra model 16 watt. I have the Planet Bike Alias 15W too and while it has a smart charger, it's a pain in the rear in just about every other regard.

That's why I liked the looks of that Light&Motion Solo from 1st reply. It was only light I noticed that had "side windows" so that light was coming out both sides as well to make sure you were seen from sides as well. I'm surprised more light haven't done that.

I have a Fenix. Bright!!! I love the 4 modes it has.
My only problem is that I have a real long one-way commute. I tried to go with the cheaper route but it doesn't work for me. The fenix starts going dim at about 1.5-2 hours. My commutes are a little over 2 hrs in pitch dark. I need a 4-5 hour option that is bright as heck. But, I'm poooooooooooor at the moment.

Maybe this thread will shed some "light" on my situation (pun intended)

Timely post, what with the days getting shorter and all.

I had seen a post on another thread about rear safety lights (and if I remember correctly, Sheldon Brown was the author), that said that the rechargeable NiMH cells are a poor choice for bike lights because they run at max output right up until they just die off suddenly. Thus, you can end up with no light at all because you don't get the gradual dimming that you get with NiCad or Li-Ion that lets you know you are running out of power. I suppose a person could always just carry backup batteries, but what is the experience with this?

Also, I've heard that Li-Ion is less affected by cold temperature than other types of cells that can be greatly diminished in output when it gets cold? What do you know on this point?

And is anyone aware of a more recent comparison test than the one that cyccomute provides the link for. That test is very helpful, but most of those lights are no longer in production, so it would be helpful to have a comparison of lights that are presently available in the marketplace.

And finally, what is the difference between lumens and candlepower -- I see different lights rated with one or the other. How do they relate?

Most halogen lights and HID have very good spread of the beam...even without the side windows. Over on the Electronics forum, there's been some issues with the lamp longevity of the Solo. It'd be worth a look at MBTR before buying one.

Yeah...I had already checked. All 3 versions of the Solo got 4.0 or higher. Granted....sample size was smaller than I'd like, but it seems they aren't rating "bad".

Never mind. It was the Solo Logic...the one that adjusts the lamp wattage...that had the problem. My mistake

The Solo should be very good since it meets all of the requirements for a good light...a switch, a lamp and a battery Once you get more complicated than that, you are asking for trouble

Actually, when I said all 3 models had ratings of 4 or higher, I meant the Solo, Solo Logic and Solo Logic Li-ion.

The Solo Logic was the one I was considering. I read one report about a bulb problem, but otherwise had very high ratings.

Although...looking at the ratings, I'm seeing a lot more contenders to consider too.

If I were looking at lights less than $100 I'd seriously consider the Cygolite Hi-Flux 100. It uses 4 C batteries and has a run time on high of 25 hours.



A poster on another forum replaced his Cateye EL-500 with this light for riding brevets and says the Cygolite is much brighter and plenty of light for night riding.

Cygolite says its LED light is equal to 10 watts of halogen.





You can find it online for about $70. https://www.cygolite.com/2-Products/3-Hiflux100.htm

Just a heads up from a 15+ year commuter vet. Save yourself a big headache down the road and get a light who's batteries are replaceable (AAA, AA, C and D) and rechargeable. Replacement battery packs from the big companies generally start at $100 and up and don't last as long because they've been sitting there since you purchased your new light.
My L&M Solo Logic (2nd batt) has been replaced by Nightrider UltraFazer Max with 2 AA rechargeable NiMH batteries, on set in one set charging. My 2 cents

The Cygolite NiMH Xtra has a low battery indicator. At that point you can cut back one of the lights to conserve if you'd like, either to the 6W or the 10W. I've always felt pretty comfortable with it. Again, I'll make a case for this light. Unless you have a DIY thing, this is the most light for the money that I've ever heard of. I think $80 at beyond bikes.

For those who use Fenix: do you like the twist bezel or would you prefer a button on the back? Am thinking about a compact flashlight with a remote switch for helmet mount.

Although I've got an older NiCad version of the Cygolite, mine also has a low-battery indicator. It really works and is a nice feature. It has a small white indicator on top of the light that turns red when the batter charge is starting to get low. Mine can still run a good 45 minutes on the low beam once the red indicator goes on. On high beam, it will run out much faster but I'm not sure how long in minutes. My Cygolite has never actually died on my while riding although the beam has gotten noticeably dimmer.

Battery packs are very easy to replace and don't have to be OEM. Even lights with weird connectors can easily be adapted to new batteries. Packs made from several batteries permanently connect have advantages over individual batteries too. When charged, you can be relatively certain that each battery has the same charge. The connections are more positive and less likely to come loose. The capacity of each cell in the pack are usually matched so that you don't have one cell putting out more voltage than another cell. And, finally, you don't have to charge each battery individually. If you were running a 14.4V system that's 12 cells (Nickel chemistry) to charge. You could charge them all together in a box or holder but at that point it's a battery pack anyway

I'll agree that OEM packs tend to be expensive ($80 is more like the starting price) but there are lots of places that sell very good packs with very good capacity for a lot less.

I love my Planet Bike Alias. The basic 10W version is available for less than $100, you can get the 15W version for a little more. I actually started with the 10W version and then upgraded it. Most of the other light systems i've tried, cost more and didn't last as long. Most only lasted a year for me, either the rechargeable batteries stopped charging, or the wiring corroded. The Alias has lasted me 3+ years. My only gripe is that I have one bike with handlebars that are thinner than the clamp will work on. So I wrapped 1 layer of duct tape around my clamp locale, and voila it clamps.

I've put the thing through H E double hockey sticks. rain, snow, hot, cold (less run time in the winter though, as with all batteries, but I still get the 1 hour for getting home). I even tried strapping the battery pack to my downtube, and the thing got sucked into my wheel. The tire rubbed through the thick plastic housing, right down to the battery, but it still works, bare metal battery side exposed and all. Amazingly even though I decelerated from about 35-40 (goin downhill) to zero in about 2 seconds, I did not crash.

I have a 5 watt cheap bike light along with a petzl light on a headband that sits on my forehead. I find this combination helps on a bakepath at night going around sharp turns.

I have a trail rat with a 15W bulb (IIRC standard is 10w) and a fenix l2d that I use AA duracells in. I havent used the rat by itself since I received the L2d. Lately I have used just the L2d.

The local shop offered me a Cygolite 30w with the Gell Cel you strap to your bike. It looks a little old but still in good shap. The price was awesome but a website stated that it gets 1 hour on high and 2.5 hours on low and takes 10-12 hours to recharge. Is that right? My commutes will be in total dark there and back and I need 5 hours of battery time. My workday gives me 10 hours to charge but I don't want to leave without a full charge. Kinda sux. I thought I was getting a great deal.

I figured bumping an old thread would be better than starting a new one.

I have a pretty short commute (3miles), but about half of my ride is unlit and very hilly. The other half of my commute is fairly well lit with bike lanes. I looked around for a bit and saw a bunch of options, would any of the below work well for me? Of the bunch I'd probably prefer the Fenix system, but I don't know enough about how each would work to really decide.

The Cygolite night-rover and cygolite XM nitro are $80 at performance, while the niterider trail rat and the cygolite hi-flux are 110. I'd get 10% off on any of them. One other thing - would one of these be a better option than the Fenix mentioned earlier in the thread? The ones who mentioned using it said that it was great for semi-lit areas, so I'm concerned about using it in my situation.

For a short commute like this, I'd be tempted to get something like this or this (actually 2 of each) or even the Fenix (although your link doesn't work for me). For such a short ride, you don't want to go with rechargeable battery or systems with a lot of battery requirements. Get something simple that takes alkaline batteries. If you use rechargeables, the batteries are going to self discharge faster than you use them. Self discharge isn't good for the battery and you just end up killing expensive batteries for nothing.

Whatever you get, get more than one.

I recently picked up a returned L&M Solo Logic Li-Ion out of the return bin at Nashbar. There can be some really good finds in that section and both of the L&M lights that I've bought on returns have been in near perfect condition with no evidence of any damage to the battery or light. Plus with the return discount and an active percent off coupon you can get a really good deal on some higher priced lights.

Isn't this something that could be solved with lens improvements? I see that DiNotte already offers its lights in both spot and flood versions. Then there is Busch & Mueller who are moving into the LED market big time. Reviews of the Fly IQ LED dynamo light are very positive re: its light quality.