Alright, I'm sure this have been covered a lot but I'm new at this and done a little bit of reading, so go easy on me. Yesterday I picked up a bike for my wife! First one she has had in nearly 20 years, so it should be fun riding around with her. I figure this bike will be used for excursions into the city and around the neighborhood. While I'm sure it will be a great grocery hauler I know we'll take them to bars and what not at night. So lights are a top priority for me right now.. or at least I think. San Diego requires that front and rear lights be used after dark, which is a good thing. I figure for rear lights I'll grab some cheaper flashing red lights for both bikes. I mainly have two questions

1) how much power should a front light have? We'll be riding in neighborhoods with street lights most of the time.
2) since we intend to leave our bikes for hours on end as we enjoy ourselves, do you recommend removable lights? I'm leaning this way because I'm wary of someone taking nice lights and us being SOL.

So am I completely off the mark here? Do you all have any recommendations?

There certainly is a point to removable lights. I had one that was non removable, and someone broke it off. It couldn't be mounted to a bike after that. Maybe they just wanted the batteries inside for their music. (sigh)

I just get basic lights for front and back, maybe with a few different flashing patterns. All the ones I've bought in the last few years have had decent battery life, much better than my first set of leds.

I have gone over to a hub dynamo driven light set, wired taillight.
All I have to do is switch the headlight on, and ride.
can even just leave it on since no battery to drain, stand-light in circuit
is just a capacitor..

battery light for headlight? be seen 0.5w, see by, Dark road, 1 or 2w.
they usually do come with QR handlebar clips.

I use a dynamo light in the front and a blinky in the back. I've gone full-dynamo, but my latest bike has internal routing and I didn't feel like uglying it up with a wire down the entire length of my bike just to power a tail light that will last a season on three AAAs anyway.

Dynamo is absolutely the way to go if you don't mind the slight weight penalty and lower max brightness compared to a LiIon battery. Never worry about charging, just flip the switch and it's on, every time, for as long as you need. Or at all times, if that's your thing. Plus, they are usually attached to the fork crown with the bolt that holds on your fender. They are not easy to steal (it takes me 5 minutes to get that damn bolt off in my own garage) and they are not all that conspicuous down there. Most people probably would have no idea its even worth anything.

That said, it's crazy expensive. And it's a bunch of stuff that ads up. The light is expensive, the hub is expensive, and then you have to pay for a new wheel build which will be as expensive as the hub or light. Once you get it done you'll never go back, but if you want to be totally rational about it, a $20 front blinky will probably be just fine for riding in the city at night under street lamps. And who cares if that gets stolen? If that's not enough and you want to light up the road, something like the MiNewt 350 cordless _will_ be, for about $85.

I have no idea what San Diego is like socially. You live there. You know what people say about how 'thefty' it is. Where I live I can leave a Nite Rider Classic and battery pack or a MagicShine and battery pack on the bike in the Winco (supermarket) parking lot and find them still attached when I return from a 30 minute shopping expedition (120lbs of provisions). That would have been impossible in NYC and I still find myself taking my lights and blinkies off when I leave my bike unattended. I've not ever seen a light that wasn't removable. All the lights I have ever seen for sale have some kind of fixed bracket that attaches to the bike and the light itself clips in and out. This works too well in the case of most blinkies and I have lost a couple or three if I forget to rubber-band them in place after clipping them in. O-ring mounts are very easy to use (take off and re-attach) but allow the light to re-aim after bumps or from vibration. That's not a good thing.

Not being snarky, but do you ever ask a car dealer how much power your headlights should have? You are driving on those same streets with streetlights (most of the time). Still, the DOT says you have to have so much lumens in front of your car and they mean it. If you let your headlights get absolutely skanky or the front housing gets crazed (sic) and the light output is seriously degraded you might not notice and the price for that is maybe that someone's kitty doesn't come home in the morning :-(. If your bike light is underpowered, you could break your collarbone, or worse. Shouldn't you want the maximum amount of light you can afford even if you don't use it all every trip? It's getting easier and easier to get realistic amounts of light in front of your bicycle at rational price levels. There is no good reason not to have a MagicShine or Gemini Titan (which are Chinese knock-off's of Lupine Tesla's) or some of the even cheaper 900 Lumen (~500 actual) lights which are actually knock-off's of MagicShines up front with a Planet Bike or lesser brand multi-pattern strobe in the rear. BTW, if "enjoying yourselves" involves imbibing alcohol, the same (maybe stricter) observations of behavior protocol apply as towards motor vehicle operation. I'll say no more.

H

Thanks guys for the reply's. I think I'll toss on some cheapies and take a stroll down town one night this weekend and test out the light levels. I've ridden in the dark with no lights before, I've driven cars with no head lights, I've ridden motorcycles with a light output that might rival a candle in front of a mirror. I realize how important light is for safe travels, but I just wanted to see if there was an overwhelming majority of people that said buy XYZ light because of ABC (although it sounds like hub powered lights are the amazing and something I should look into)

LeisesTrum,
Your comment was not snarky at all, as I actually bought a car with optional HID lights because they produced a LOT more usable light on the road. As for imbibing, yes we will be, but we are responsible adults. I've survived many years on 2 wheels and 4 enjoying myself responsibly, and will continue to do so. That and I like this forum (I keep coming back every few years) because I get to ask silly questions all the time

Rechargeable lights are the way to go. A rule of thumb, the more ambient light you have to deal with, the more powerful the headlight/tail light you need.

I use a NiteRider MiNewt 600 Cordless on the bars, and a MiNewt X2 on the helmet. For tail lights, I have the PB Superflash and PDW DangerZone for the rear, and a PB Blinky 3H for the helmet.

I have an exotic and expensive lighting system on my bike. My wife rides a lot less than I do, and hardly ever at night - so for her the objectives were much different - on her bike we have a planet bike superflash for the back, and a planet bike blaze headlight for the front. Total cost was well under $100, and she can both see and be seen.

What your wife will need on her bike will depend on how often she plans on being out at night, and what the objectives are re being seen, vs being able to see - which is dependent on where she rides.

I generally avoid riding at nite even on overnite camping trips. But i have a blinky back lite and a be seen 1 watt. front which i set on blinky most often on the front. I keep them in my saddle bag only for when i need them. Around town i would just run blinkies as city lites do a good job although MUP's get a little dark. I dont like riding MUP's at nite anyway. Shady characters come out often there. Take my chances on the street at nites. More room to make quick changes in direction.