Mount one or two 1 watt LED headlights.
I have Planet Bike Super Spot 1 watt with 4 AA batteries, and it stays bright after 15 or so hours.
It was very inexpensive, so I can always leave it mounted.

There are many variants of 1 watt headlights.
This one from Cateye even has two 1 watt LEDs. But it's rather expensive.
https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...Front%20Lights

I have a planet bike Super Spot. You can have it, it's the most worthless headlight I own. It's barely enough to limp home on. I bought it, used it ONE DAY and pulled it off and tossed it in the junk box. It spreads the light all over the place where it does no good. I suppose it'd be OK if you were riding where there were street lights.

The 5 LED Brilliant II from Nashbar, which I got for about $18, is about the same amount of light but in a much better pattern. I still wouldn't use that as my everyday, riding-in-total-darkness light, but it does the job in a pinch.

Eventually I built a DIY halogen and loved it. THAT'S the ultimate inexpensive commuter headlight. I now run with an HID ($120 from TrailTech plus my battery), and if that ever breaks, I'm either getting another HID or going back to halogen, either is good.

$140 for a 1-watt LED is way too much. You can pick up a TrailTech HID for $200, and that'll fry any 1W LED. You can get a 3-watt LED flashlight and handlebar/helmet mounts for it for < $100.

In the back, I use a SuperFlash dawn/dusk/bad weather, and add a Cateye TL-LD1000 on solid-on mode in full darkness. I think it's really necessary to have multiple taillights, sometimes one goes out.

The author of the topic was more interested in being seen than having an automobile quality headlight for total darkness. For that purpose Super Spot is more than adequate. Super Spot has reflectors on the sides; so, it's more visible.

LED headlights have a huge advantage: they will work for hours. You should still consider the "number of batteries"/watt ratio.

Here is a 1 watt LED headlight with 3 AA batteries for $13 if you don't like the $140 one.
https://www.batteryjunction.com/n2fx-blx-0133aa.html

To the OP. No matter what high power lighting you get for front/back aways remember 's--t happens' so have a backup plan. That backup plan should be a backup light that you carry on you should one unit fail you've still got your butt covered.

A PB Superflash is very compact in size and runs off 2xAAA with a flush on/off pressure switch (takes getting used to it to turn it on/off but once you know how it's easy) so you can stick a set of the newer low-discharge (so called 'hybrid NIMH) NIMH batteries or get a cheap pair of dollar store AAA's and stick in there and keep that in your pocket/bag/etc.

Most people tend to put two blinkies on the bike for that reason so shuld one fail the other will still cover your butt. For a front light if you want off the shelf quick access then get the Maglite 2xAA 3W LED flashlight. I own this light and it is very bright. I carry that as my backup light should anything on my DIY go sideways I still can ride slowly back home with light.

Seeign as most batteries you buy come in sets of 4 mostly then the spare 2xAAA that are left over you can use inside the 2xAA Maglite with a DIY battery adaptor or buy a AAA to AA adaptor or just grab some tape you have and roll up a file folder or some cardboard or wrap tape on the AAA to make it fit the AA tube and you're good to go. Keep the light as a spare and you're good should anything happen.

Oh yes, you can use the lockblocks by TwoFish (I down own or have experiance with them) or a Nite-Ize Maglite bike holder which looks very compact that you can slip into the pocket for those emergency times.

Keep an eye out for those Dinotte sales. Especially the $99 ones as that are imfamous.

I use a dinotte 600L upfront and a 140AA taillight. Works great. Last week, I forgot to bring my 600L(I use 3 different bikes to commute) and borrowed a co-workers 200L. It worked just fine. A 200L upfront and a dinotte taillight is probably amongst the more expensive of your options but I believe it's the best option due to dinottes excellent service:

My taillight recently had an issue where it wouldn't turn off. I dropped into Dinotte's office today and asked Rob to look at it, he seemed busy so he just handed me a new one and said "all fixed!". All fixed indeed.

Reflective sidewall tires are also an excellent value for a commuter. Most of my co-workers comment about how well the sidewalls lightup when I cross their headlights at night.

^^^^ good post. A backup plan should also included alternate routes that might be better lit or maybe even mass transit. I actually formulated my plan this morning when I was thinking about how to get home later this week when I know I'll be riding home well after dark.

Just picked up a set of Fenix E20 for $38/each and they seem to work pretty well. Beam shots are on my blog, if you are looking for a quick visual.

I have a night rider trail rat with isn't as bright as a car headlight but since it is mounted on my helmet I can shine it in drivers eyes if the need arises.

You're right-- the PB super spot is Very good under street lights. You can aim it up a bit so the drivers see it. It's cheap and has good battery life. The newer ones are brighter than the older ones, although they look about the same.

And you're right that it sucks for total darkness. You can see the bats flying at you, but not the pavement.

The other 25% are using dynamo hubs.

I bought a Topeak Whitelite HP 3W for less than $70. Most of the time I'll run it on 1 watt. I haven't tried it on any trails yet. Buying a Fenix headlight wasn't an option for me. In the near future, I'll buy another HP 3W and a HP rechargeable battery pack that I can mount on the headset. Heck, I may even buy some HP 1Ws and mount them on the forks.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. Haven't made a decision yet, but there certainly are a lot of ideas here, and I'll be trying to figure something out this week. I'll let you know what I decide, and try to post pictures of the results....

Thanks again!

High powered LED's would be my suggestion. It is bright enough to be seen, somewhat. You get what you paid for. I purchased a light from walmart, for one of my cruisers that I hardly ride and it sucked!

No battery life and the light was similar to that of a flashlight.

Dinotte can't be beat. They are super-bright and mount well.

I run a 600L headlight and a 400 taillight (I just got the taillight -- before that I was running their 140 taillight).

They have a special now where you get 25% off via a gift certificate deal. With that, you wouldn't be much over your $300 limit if you got the 600/140 combo.... though I'd go ahead and pony up and get the 600/400 combo (not that the 140 isn't bright enough.. I just like the most light I can get).

I use a generator light setup. Busch and Mueller cheapie stuff... and it's still some of the brightest lights I've seen. A bottle generator setup runs around $60ish on up, and a hub generator is more like $200ish because it involves a new front wheel. Since I don't do a lot of night riding, the bottle generator is fine. If I were commuting to work, I'd really want the hub generator. I'd also want a headlamp/tail light setup for my helmet if I were riding at night a lot. Even a broad beam halogen light doesn't illuminate street signs very well. A head lamp solves that problem, and acts as backup besides.

I agree on this point. What I'd really love is a tailight with 4 LEDs at 1/2 or 1/4 watt. I really think that'd be better than a single 1 or 2watt, and have a wider beam. Maybe I'll mod an old 2AA tailight.

Do they even make that huge 4"x6" tailight anymore? I like how much it looks like a motorcycle light. Can't seem to find one, Harris used to have them, but no longer.

Planet Bike has good items, as listed above, and some of their proceeds "go to bicycle inclusion political avenues", better than pocket profit....

i like their helmet mounted up to 5 beam multi-flash or steady light set, have many flashers on front and rear panniers, and flasher on rear rack-pack as well. My handlebar pack also has under-mount (topeak) for lights (2 pair beam/flashers).

lite up!

"Best" is a dynohub with a Lumotec IQ Plus paired with a taillight.

Nice bright light, long lasting, and doesn't run down batteries.

I don't have one, but another BF'er does, and I'm jealous. I like everything about my Dinottes except for getting caught at 5 AM forgetting to change the batteries (only necessary once a week or so, but each time I'm plugging in the charger I think, "I should get a dynohub...")

For what it's worth, I got 3 TL-1000 rear lights and, while they seem very bright, the mounting hardware is really frail; in tightening them to get them tight around the seatposts each one of them snapped with just gentle turning of a screwdriver. Not gentle enough, obviously, but frailty in a bike light mount seems a little unfortunate.

Power trumps size. Put the old "RealLight" 4x6 taillight down the road 1/2 mile in broad daylight. You won't see nothin'. Now do that with a DiNotte 140 on 5-pulse flash mode, one inch in diameter. BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!-draws a breath-BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM! And it covers a wide angle of approach too, it's a shotgun not a rifle.

If you want something with that level of power, but larger in size, check out the Nova BULL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3cy6KSr8wk Wire it up to something that provides at least 9.6 volts and you're ready to rumble. You can team as many as 20 of them using the SYNC wire so they fire in unison, or wig-wag. I feel that one is generally enough, however The beam pattern of the BULL is a very broad horizontal bar.

That is bad advice. Reflective items only show up when all the required conditions are met. Ever seen a motorist who's not aware that they didn't turn on their headlights? Reflective stuff is not visible to them because their lights are off. Ever seen a motorist about to pull out into your path from a side street? Reflective stuff is not visible to them, either (their lights aren't aimed at you). Commuters need active lighting too.

There aren't any good (100+lumens) rear flashlights besides Dinottes yet, so the Superflash is the best cheap solution out there besides DIY. However, if you're looking for front lights, it's a buyer's market out there. 500-lumen P7s are available for $35-50 at Dealextreme. I have one of those, and it'll give more light than anything you can buy for less than about $500 that doesn't involve DIY (where you can start tweaking with halogen lamps and battery packs).