Sammyboy

So I had a long day today. I was up at 4:30, leaving the house at 5:15, to catch the 5:55 train. I took my Raleigh 20, with a cheap but good eBay 19 LED light on the front, blinky on the back, Ortlieb office bag 2 atop the rack carrying most of my stuff, and a cheapy briefcase pannier on the side, with my shirt, my deodorant etc. I get to the station, and take the lights off. Without thinking I throw them into the pannier. I'm in the habit of leaving the pannier on the bike on the train, because really, who's going to steal my shirt? I take the Office Bag 2, which has all the valuables (such as they are) in it. When we pull into Waterloo, my bike is out of the rack, laying on the floor, and the pannier has fallen off and come open. Guess what? No light. My guess, someone barged past, knocked it down, pannier came open, light fell out, and some opportunist ganked it. Kinda my fault, shouldn't have left it in there, I guess. So anyway, 8 miles in London, but daylight, so no problem. Full day training local government employees, another 8 miles back to Waterloo, also daylight. When I get off at Southampton, it's dark, and I have to be Bike Ninja for the 3 miles or so home, but I cope and get home just after 7.

I wanted to go see my friend's band play across town, so I throw a pizza in the oven, change my clothes, and at about 8 pm, I get on my tourer, with my recently purchased Cateye EL500, and head off. It's about 6 miles over there, and close to my destination, hurtling down a hill at (I estimate) 25-30 mph, guess what? My Cateye decides it's bored, jumps it's mounting, and smashes on the road. Bugger. I have a nice time at the gig, and once more have to be Bike Ninja on the way home. It's not the end of the world, I have crappy backup lights, and can get good new ones before I have to commute in London again, but seriously, what's up with that? This is one of the reasons I'm reticent to drop proper money on a lighting system. I'm tempted by the little AA powered Dinotte, but at £100, if that thing decides my company is boring it, and parts company with it's mountings at 25 mph, that's it, there's no way I can afford to replace it. Have I been Voodoo cursed?

Mr,snailpace

Now thats a run of bad luck...break a mirror lately?

tsl

At 25 mph after dark, are you sure you're boring your lights, or frightening them?

DiNotte's O-rings are the best mounting system of the lights I've owned. You'll not have to worry about them.

I've never lost a headlight, but I have had CatEye taillights leap to their deaths. Both CatEye and NiteRider headlight mounts I've used have always slipped and tilted down.

Meanwhile, since I switched to DiNottes, not only do they stay on the bike, they stay where I point them. I have a pair of 200-Ls that I switch between three bikes, two with standard bars, one with oversize. Never a problem. The taillight mounts to the racks similarly, but with a double-wrap of the O-ring.

Now if I could only keep the water bottles in their cages...

jyossarian

My L&M ARC HID has a screw down clamp so it's hard for the mount to come off. The light itself clicks in and out and when it's clicked in, takes a lot of effort to come out. Anyways, good luck w/ the lighting system and stay away from black cats and ladders.

kill.cactus

I buy cheap LED flashlights off Ebay five a a time.

They put out quite a good bit of light (look for these styles: https://cgi.ebay.com/Mini-5-Watt-5W-L...QQcmdZViewItem) and they're only about 7-8 dollars each, plus group shipping.

Good deal and the lights are pretty shock and water resistant.

Mount to helmet or to handlebars (with a thick rubber band)

kill.cactus

For comparison, those mini "5 watt" LED lights I linked to put out slightly than the Maglite 3 Watt Luxeon LED lights.

Sammyboy

This was the eBay light I had, and I have to say, it was rather good. I'm thinking I might get a couple of these.

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/19-LED-BICYCLE...QQcmdZViewItem

maximushq2

A good idea if you are using a light with a cord to the battery is get some of those velcro straps and strap the cord in one or two different places on the handlebar that way if the mount lets go the light doesn't go far it just dangles a bit by it's cord. I love those darn velcro straps they are great for many situations. If the light isn't corded then you will have to figure something else, but I'm sure you could come up with some kind of back up.

Sammyboy

So, I ordered a replacement Cateye (still on sale!), and another 19LED front light from eBay. I guess now I'll have brackets on 2 bikes for each of those, which is a bonus. I also ordered a headlight to strap on my helmet. I'm determined to be visible, dammit!

Sammyboy

Quite tempted to try one of these. Surely if 19 LED's is bright, 52 must be MEGAbright!

https://cgi.ebay.co.uk/53-LED-Bicycle...QQcmdZViewItem

edzo

53 leds are an excuse
for having crappy leds to begin with and make some light out of them

the more leds you have, the crappier they are

Tude 

Finally getting back to a better headlight system this week (had a nice one - but the rechargable battery died and VOILA - the manufacturer didn't make them anymore - blah blah blah).

I've made do with a couple of lights - ranging from $12 to $40 at times - and have gone thru a few of them. One or two actually lit the way quite nicely - others did what they were made to do - like warn motorists that I'm coming - NOT light my way though (very well). However the monies I've spent on these items could have been compiled and spent on a better system that would have lit my way sooo much better.

Sammyboy

You might be right, but I'm still tempted to try. There were dire predictions about the 19 LED one when I bought it, but I was extremely happy with it. If this one were twice as bright, I'd be happy. What you need to keep in mind is that I'm comparing this with last years EL500, bought on clearance - I'm just not a £300 lighting rig guy. When I got the 19 LED light, I showed it to a friend at work, who's a civilian, ie she had no idea lights like some here use existed. Her response when I switched it on was to shield her eyes and blink. It was definitely brighter than my EL500.

GCRyder

The word I was looking for seems to be missing. More? Less? (Please don't say "faster.")

Sammyboy

I do see your point about how the money stacks up. What I've spent on lights so far is probably 2/3rds of what a Dinotte would cost, and the fact that it takes AA batteries makes it unlikely that I'd have a problem on that score. It's just a big chunk of cash in one go, and if I lost it, or broke it....ouch. Still, it'll remain under consideration.

ax0n

I keep some tiny lights in my seatbag with my spare tube. They aren't great but better than being a bike ninja.