Best Light Under 20 bucks
 

Hi I just bought some mountain bikes for my girlfriend and I just to ride for fun and exercise. Im far from a big biker I just got a next power x from walmart for like 100 bucks and took it to the park the same day the seat was very unconfortable so I just bought new ones today. We will occasionally go riding at dark on streets usually not lighted so I wanted to get some lights so people can see us and we can see the road a little better I am not looking to spend a bunch of money but figured you guys would know a decent light that comes with a mount. Thanks

You can look in here;
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=142723

$20 on a light? $100 on a bike from Walmart? I understand that you have to start somewhere. But, if you valued the opinions of most people on these forums, you would not have started by buying a bicycle from Walmart. I guess it's fine if you are just an occassional rider (1-2 time per month.)

For $20 for a light I don't think you will find much that will help you "see" the road better at night (at least not at a speed that exceeds 10 mph.) You may be able to find a flashlight (hopefully with a flash mode) that will help you be seen better. Check out dealextreme.com for some fairly inexpensive (many under $20) lights:

http://dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.942

get the ones that are rated with the highest number of "lumens." 200 lumens is fairly bright.

this link is for a universal bike mount that cost $1.54

http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8274

shipping is free on your order.

That is about the most inexpensive suggestion that I can give to you. For me... the most important piece of equipment on my bike for riding at night are my lights. If I am not absolutely positive that drivers can see me, then I don't ride. I have a 900 lumen light on my handlebar, 2 900 lumen lights on my fork, and a 200 lumen light on my helmet. I also have 2 planet bike superflash tail lights, and a cateye 1000 tail light with 10 led's on the rear. If you are riding on the road, it's really important that cars can see you from behind (that's assuming that you are riding on the right side of the road.)

I've spent about $450 for the lighting on my bicycle. That's how important it is to me. For the front lights about $325 for 2900 lumens would be considered a "value" to many cyclists (I purchases most of my lights from dealextreme.com.)

Whatever you decide, be safe riding in the dark.

Thanks for the reply and I figured you would say something like that but im only 22 in college and dont have much money and did not want to spend $1,000 on something I wasnt even sure we would enjoy. I figured spending $250 would be a better option for now, down the road im sure we will upgrade but for now its the best I can do.

Enjoy the ride. Upgrade when you can.

Dealextreme is a good place to start. That is what I did.
Ride slow ride safe.

Like I said, you have to start somewhere. A used quality bike would have been a good decision. Anyway, dealextreme seems like the place for you to go for inexpensive lights for the front. I hope you enjoy cycling. Finish that degree, and when you can afford it, upgrade to a nicer bike.

This solar powered rear light is only $15

For extra visibility you may want to invest in some reflective tape. If you do a search you can find a cheap one you may like. I personally use 3M Solas tape.

Check the Electronics & Lights forum here. They have a sticky thread on lights less than $50, and some are in your price range. You best option is probably one of the new LED flashlights that run on AA batteries. However, you will also need to buy batteries and a charger.

The 60x Task Force light from Lowe's isn't much out of your price range (tends to go for $25 - $30). Make sure when you buy it that it's the 60x, not the 30x! It's a big light, 2C cell, but it's a pretty good light. It got me through last winter.

It has a very strong "hot-spot" -- that is, all of the light is in one big spot. There's very little "spill" of the light off to the sides. What this means is that you can see a long way off right in front of you, but you can't see very much to the sides.

I've had flicker problems with this light. It's very annoying. I've been trying to get it resolved, but I haven't found the perfect solution yet. Fixes have all been temporary, though some have "fixed" it for longer than others.

If I can't get it to stop flickering this winter, I'm going to try to replace it. The packaging states they have a "lifetime" warranty, so I guess we'll see how that goes.


I've just picked up a Coleman Max light (2 AA cells, advertised at 115 lumens) for $25 at my local Walmart. They're just about as bright as the Task Force, but they're more diffuse (no hot-spot, more spill). My plan is to get both the Task Force and the Coleman working together to maximize my light.

Get this. I've ordered many lights from Dealextreme, and some are crappy. This one is top quality.

Don't bother with 5-mode or 8-mode, or they'll switch modes when you hit bumps. Get the 2 mode.

http://www1.dealextreme.com/producti...ku_12623_1.jpg

Light: $34.
Batteries: $8.
Charger: $8.

Kicks the pants off any bike light I've tried under $200.

I was in your position 3 years ago, too.
I thought a $900 Bicycle was expensive, too.
But if you are in this thing, you'll soon realize that if it turned into an equipment you use almost EVERYDAY for your movement, $900 is a VERY inexpensive fixed investment with close to zero operational cost. My $900 Bike has basic payed for itself now after 3 years of everyday use.

That is why ALL the people here will say don't buy a WalMart Bike. Because if you just ride it once a month, the per-ride-expense is too big. If you ride it everyday, its quality is too poor.

If you are sure you want to do this cycling thing, quality Bicycles pays themselves off VERY quickly.

My bike's got operational cost... cost of twinkies after each ride! That's a lot of money.

Hey! They taste a whole lot better than premium unleaded, or regular unleaded as a matter of fact.

I have two of those mounted to my fork. Yep, they are bright. They run one hour in high mode. However, the magicshine bicycle light also available at deal extreme

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149

for under $80 uses the same LED emitter and is just as bright as the MTE flashlights (maybe brighter) and run for 3 hours on high mode with the battery pack made with 4 18650 batteries. The battery, light, mount, and charger are included for that price. Shipping is free. Yes... a great deal! but not under $20:(

My wife and I started with 2 Schwinn Frontiers, $500.00 for both after racks, bottles, locks etc.. What ever gets you riding is a great start, Good for you. For the money I found this set to be a good deal. Front light can run blink or solid, back light has a few modes. I run the back light solid and a PB Superflash blinking.
http://www.amazon.com/Blackburn-Quad...ef=pd_sim_sg_2

Did you need to buy a mount with that light? I'm in the market for a new light and that looks like the one I will get.

Thanks!

I used two of the Universal Nylon Mounts in parallel to mount it on my stem (which fortunately angles down at the correct angle), and it's very secure. They're about $2 each, but buy a couple extra -- I accidentally snapped the buckle on one pulling it too tight once. They're not gorilla proof.

http://www.dealextreme.com/productim...ku_12000_2.jpg

Cool deal my stem is pretty level, i'll look into it. Thanks again.

Don't forget a back light too. The Planet Bike Super Flash is tested and trusted value and will set you back about $20. Another good option is a rear bliky is made by Sette (pricepoint.com's in-house brand I think) and it is only $10.

I have both the Super Flash and the Sette model and think the SF is better, but the Sette comes pretty close. The light output is pretty similar, but the SF seems better built.

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/193...fety-Light.htm

http://www.pricepoint.com/detail/165...Tail-Light.htm

Fixed that for you. I'm the outlier here. Have fun with your Walmart bike. Think of it as a throwaway. If it spends enough time out of storage over the course of the year that you get tired of it or something breaks, sell it for $50 on craigslist and get something better.

There is NO sense in spending money on something you aren't sure if you will stick with. Don't let it become another treadmill-used-as-a-clothes-drying-rack.

If you are too new to know whether you will stick with cycling, you are too new to know if any used bike you are getting is more trouble than it is worth.

These work perfect with the MTE flashlights mentioned above:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8274

If you are going to order the MTE flashlights from deal extreme then you might as well throw a few of the universal bike mounts on the order as well. $1.54... you can't go wrong. And, free shipping and no tax.

You won't be able to get much for $20. These are my reccomendations.

http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3042_1.html
http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3013_1.html
http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3035.html

I was in my LBS yesterday and couldn't resist the cute little Frog 1 LED red blinky light for $10. What I liked about it is that you can mount it around anything and it will attach easily w/ the rubber grip mount built right onto it. I also have a PB superflash but I think I'll pick up another Frog red blinky and that way I can put a Frog on each seat stay and use the superflash on the back of my rack. I also picked up for $6.95 a bunch of very reflective stickers that I plan to put on my rims, fenders, chainstays and top tube. So that's the $17 version of lighting up.