desired characteristics
- good value (none of that $100+ nonsense)
- reliable
- bright enough to see in the dark going up to 40 mph
- good light dispersion
- good battery life (3+ hours on beam mode)

I have a cygolite 300, which I've been using for 2 years, and it's a pretty nice light. great for commuting, good battery life. however, as the days get dark, it's getting hard to find time to train when the sun is up. and when I'm riding at night on a quiet road without any street lights, that occasionally gets flooded by cars' headlights, I don't think my 300 lumen really cuts it. I can get a cygolite 750 or something, but those have really short battery lives. So I think I'm looking for one of those cheaper, high lumen light with external batteries, which last like 10 hours, and that's just fine. there are just a few concerns

- which one should I get?
- lumen is good, how's the light distribution?
- is it versatile and convenient to put on and take off both the light and battery pack? (definitely not going to be a permanent fixture on the race/training bike)


I am less familiar with tail lights. The one I have is guee cob-x that I bought from a bike shop I used to work at. the description claims ~200m visibility. battery life seems good. am I all set there, or should I look for something more?

Probably the best bet at the moment is the BT40.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R1JC894/

You'll definitely want a backup light at 40mph, your cygolite 300 would work OK.

For tail lights the Cygolite hotshots are good value.

Nothing you buy is going to run 3 hours in high mode, medium probably. 10 hours low maybe or with extra batteries. For 40 mph you also may need something with a narrow beam.

Get Two of these and Two T-6 lights of your choice.

https://www.fasttech.com/products/0/...0-battery-pack

https://www.fasttech.com/products/16...-bicycle-light

https://www.fasttech.com/products/16...cycle-headlamp

You will need a charger for the batterys

+1

A light safe at 40 mph with no other source of light? Are you dreaming? Convert 40 mph to feet per second and you get 58 + 1/3 feet each second (1mph = 1.467 fps). I don't believe there is a bike light in existence that will cover both near and far with enough coverage to be considered "safe". I ride with a focusable XML-T6 flashlight that gives plenty of light even in the few areas I ride that don't have streetlights but certainly wouldn't go really fast even then.

I don't feel safe at 40mph in bright sunlight. You can't see far enough in front to avoid hitting something, even if just a little crack or bump. The only time I exceeded 40mph was on a known smooth road with no crossings. Even on my non-stop descent on Mt. Haleakala I didn't exceed 40mph.

^^^^

Kudos also to O.P. for considering this Very important issue.

It's not just about the Lumens
At 20+ mph you need a 'Thrower' , tightly focused and aimed far enough 'Down Range' to give enough distance to react to the hazard.
40 mph? Minimum 3hr run time? " none of that $100+ nonsense ". IMHE? YYeeaahhRRiight. Pick any 2.

As a year round commuter, my personal standard is, will the headlight/s enable me to see a thumb size to approx broom handle diameter 12 inch long - Dark Brown stick - laying on black wet pavement far enough ahead to avoid running over it and subsequent jamming into the spokes.



/

The lights linked posts #2 and #4 look interesting. OP, mount one of those on your handlebar, and mount the Cygolite 300 on your helmet.

When I rode a lot at night, I used a MagicShine 900 on the bar and my Cygolite 250 lumen light on my helmet. It all worked well together.

For riding in the dark of night, I used multiple tail lights. In combination, the Cygolite Hotshot and PlanetBike Superflash worked well. If I were to run with only one tail light, it would be the Hotshot.

On the subject of those three or so variations of Cree headlights sold under dozens of different brands...

Are there any that will run directly from an external USB battery pack, via a standard USB cable? IOW, skip or bypass the vendor's supplied battery pack and just use my own?

There's a few now that run off USB packs, heres one:
Acacia T6 L2 Cycling Light-12.99 Online Shopping| GearBest.com

You get more power out of the dedicated battery packs, and you can charge off them with one of these:
https://www.action-led-lights.com/co...86-usb-adapter

I've been running this one directly from my battery bank without issue. So I can run whatever setting on it want for as long as my battery bank lasts.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LXTOPNU

I get about 3 hours on one of the standard cheap Chinese lights, and they are plenty of light for me at 30 MPH. Can't say I go 40 very often. My favorite is to get one of the single beam lights with a smooth reflector (this will be pretty spotty rather than flood) and then put on a beam widener from Action LED Lights.

Sample of the light I'm talking about: 1200LM Lumens CREE XM-L T6 LED Bicycle Light Torch Bike Headlamp Headlight | eBay
Lens: Wide angle lens for Cree XML T6 Bike Headlight, bicycle light, includes O-Ring | eBay

I've not had a problem with the lights (I think I own 3 or 4 now) but the batteries are usually not great. I get 3 hours on high when they're new but they degrade quickly. Therefore I like to get a case like this:

4 x 18650 Battery Pack Waterproof Storage Case Cover For Bicycle Bike Lamp USA | eBay

Then buy four good (Panasonic or similar) unprotected cells from Amazon (about $25). Buy the light with the cheap battery and charger, and keep the battery charged and ready in your bag as a spare.

All in you're looking at $50 or so.

On the back, I like the Blitzu Cyborg 168T, but another option is the MagicShine, which runs off the same pack as the headlight:

MagicShine MJ-818 3W LED Tail Light head with Y-cable & O-rings | eBay

Or you can use that battery that came with the light to run this. I kind of prefer to have them both on the same battery so I KNOW when the taillight goes out, because the headlight does too.

I also consider it essential to run TWO taillights, because if a taillight fails, you may not know it. Also have some reflective stuff in the back.

There are way, way more variations than 3. There are numerous types and designs and brands, although many of them may or may not originate from same factory, but as stated, if you are at all interested in trying one, it would most likely be wiser to try one with a dedicated battery pack. The kits or light heads and batteries range from dollar store quality to mid range and then top level $100+++. Some people swear by buying the cheap light heads(or multiples) then buy decent battery packs and chargers. I could give you some links if intetested. I've never bought from ebay, but had good luck with amazon, but I cannot speak to battery runtimes as I never ride more than an hour rarely.

Being Cheap... Welcome the Dark Your Night Vision will get better ..


You can open that wallet , get a Hub dynamo and a wired Headlight and not worry about battery run times..


Red LED for taillights dont draw much power, those a couple AA cells will last a While.





...

Busch & Müller IXON IQ Premium satisfies all of the OP's requirements.

That's a brilliant light. I have the older Ixon IQ and also a Luxos U. It's $106 before discounts at Harris Cyclery.

Around forty dollars if you order direct from Germany. Here's one example.

Eneloop rechargeables will be another ten dollars or so.

Wow. Is there any import duty or other costs associated with self-importing this item? I love supporting my local shop, but that's a huge cost differential.

Several of the German retailers have flat rate shipping to the US that's around $20, so I usually order a bunch of German stuff at the same time. De minimis value increased to $800 this year so any order under that should be duty-free. I have had good experience with Rose Bikes handling warranty claims, so I generally shop there unless there's a significantly better price at one of the other German retailers.

I don't think a light exists with all of your criteria. I think you need to drop one or two. If you drop the $100 criterion, you will probably be happy, because you will have invested in something built to perform well and last long. You want something very good, so you should be ready to pay very good money. I bet you're not cheap with everything in your life, so don't be cheap here. If you're going 40 mph at night, you need to be very serious.

I bought that light and returned it the following day. The light from it was adequate, though I don't think so for 30+ MPH. My big gripe was that it uses NiMH batteries which are hopeless in cold temps. Mine died at 20 minutes into an hour long ride at -15*F. Luckily I still had my cheap Chinese clone with LiIon cells mounted, it had no trouble taking me the rest of the way in to work AND home again.

I guess everyone's eyesight and abilities are different. I have ridden thousands of miles in the dark with that light on low and find it to be perfectly adequate. I've also decended at 40+ mph on high with no problem. I agree with the cold weather limitations.

I have a Fenix BT20 and although it's discontinued now, it's a great quality light. It's battery pack takes 2 x 18650 batteries which are removable, so you can carry extra set of batteries with you. I just visited Fenixe's website and they are currently offering 20% off on everything.

Prior to Fenix light, i bought a cheap chinese light from ebay and it only lasted 20 minutes per charge and had poor beam pattern. Maybe the ones mentioned here by other members are of better quality.

I always thought that bt20 looked nice. Yes there are better and worse chinese clones. If you do some research you can actually get decent stuff imho. The magicshine 808 clones (usually listed cree t6) are a spot light beam with a small spot, and alot of "spill" light around the small spot. They are good usually for helmet lights, or some people may like their beams. For more of a general purpose light, some of the dual led lights, "solarstorm x2" are better but quality varies greatly with those too. The bt40s on amazon linked earlier has a nice fat beam but does not reach as far. They are said to be of good quality.