Recommendations for Lights
 

Now that the nights are drawing in, I would like to change my lights. I am looking for some recommendations for a set of LED lights. My requirements are:

Cost app. £20/30 a set
LED lights
USB chargeable, reasonable duration of charge
various flash settings
Reasonably strong output
Suitable to fit oversize, cyclocross handlebar and probably seat-stay - definitely not under saddle as I always carry a bag.

Think, that's about it. All ideas welcome.

• £30 for a set is not much to start with, a good taillight costs already double that amount
• flash mode is only usable during daylight (when drivers can estimate your speed/distance by visual without the lights), less distracting anyway would be a dual front light setup
• "Reasonably strong output" means what amount of lx/lm to you?

Which models from B&M, Cateye, Sigma and Knog did you already check?
bumm.de/en/products.html
PRODUCTS | CATEYE
SIGMA SPORT
knog.com.au/bike-lights.html

Sorry, I have no idea which models I have checked. There is so much on offer, and at pretty scary prices too, that I decided it would be better to post my requirements here in the hope that I would get some recommendations.

I seldom cycle in the dark, however, living in Scotland the weather can be very overcast and dark during the winter months. And because we get a fair amount of rain, lights are needed in those conditions also. So, lights are not used often or in the dark and this is why I would prefer to limit what I spend on the items.

'Reasonably strong output' simply means adequate to cope with the conditions that I have described. I do not need them to light up a dark road, but do need them in order to be seen. Whatever that is in terms of lumens, etc will be open to debate and opinion, I would imagine?

Now it's getting more clear defined, since it's about to be seen.
Then your budget is enough for one of these three solutions:
amazon.co.uk/FisherMo-Headlight-Rechargeable-Waterproof-Flashlight-White/dp/B01N7JW9FI

ebay.co.uk/itm/Moon-Gemini-Front-Bike-Cycle-LED-Light-USB-80-Lumens/112119940143
ebay.co.uk/itm/Moon-Gemini-Rear-Bike-Cycle-LED-Light-USB-30-Lumens/122293850424

ebay.co.uk/itm/Cateye-Reflex-Front-Cycle-Light-5-LED-5-Modes-AAA-Batteries-Built-in-Reflector/132219470332
ebay.co.uk/itm/6-Modes-USB-Rechargeable-COB-LED-Bicycle-Bike-Cycling-Front-Rear-Tail-Light-Lamp/142524406821

banggood.com/XANES-SFL04-750LM-T6-LED-German-Standard-Smart-Induction-Bicycle-Light-IPX4-USB-Rechargeable-Large-F-p-1217023.html
banggood.com/46-Modes-USB-Rechargeable-Bike-Bicycle-Cycling-Tail-Rear-Safety-Warning-Light-High-Low-Beam-Flash-p-1173432.html

Many thanks for those. The ones from Amazon actually look great as they seem to meet all requirements and seem the brightest front light too. Although I do like the Cateye front light and Gemini rear light. Even though the front is not USB rechargeable. That may not be such a problem.

Great help. Thanks.

Ive been totally impressed with our Serfas elume 250. If they are sold in your neck of the woods, worth a look-see. I think it fulfills all of your listed reqs.

Many thanks, FolderBeholder. I'll check that one out.

I have a simple flashing light when riding in Tokyo at night so I won't get stopped by the police. It is bright enough to not need anything bigger to see.

However, I do ride along the Arakawa river on some evenings, and for that, I bought the 3 pack of Duracell lights (300 lumens) in the picture, and zip tie one to my helmet. It points directly to where I am looking, and it is bright enough to see any obstacles in my way with plenty of time to stop or swerve. I tried connecting it with velcro to my helmet but that didn't work. Zip ties are cheap, can be taken off with a pair of scissors, and kept in a pocket or backpack easily. The lights are waterproof and pretty tough all around and I am totally happy with them. I even tried connecting two of them to my helmet, but that was too much.
For my work bike, I have a bar mount for it once my Cateye reaches the end of its service life.

If you end up riding a lot, you will probably find that lights in this price range are not adequate. If you can find your way to increase your budget, you will be happier in the end. I have bought countless cheap lights, searching for the best value, and I got the worst values, since I spent so much on stuff that did not satisfy me. The worst light that I have that I consider acceptable is a Cygolite Streak, which seems to be about £36 on Amazon UK. I use it occasionally. It has a very good mount and a "steady flash" mode which keeps the light on medium intensity and gives bursts at high intensity.

Look up "Cree LED bicycle light" on Amazon (US or UK) and go from there. They are all going to be made in China LEDs with exaggerated claims as to brightness but they are still pretty good lights. You'll see claims of 1500 to 2000 lumens but their real output is about 700 to 900 lumens which is still car low beam levels of lights.

I've been using them for about 10 years now and haven't had many issues with a variety of brands. The upside is that they are so cheap that replacing defective ones isn't that much of a burden. I haven't had any that were defective but I have replaced a number of them with upgrades as the LED technology has gotten better.

One caveat: Most of them are going have external batteries. Specifically Li-ion 18650 batteries in a 2s2p (2 in series with 2 series in parallel) configuration That's not as bad as it sounds. Battery packs are as dirt cheap as the lights so getting extra battery packs or replacement or even larger capacity Li-ion 26650 packs is easy and cost effective.

On the other hand, internal battery or integrated battery designs use proprietary batteries which makes replacement of the battery much more difficult and expensive. For example, I have a Cygolite Expillion 850 which isn't quite as bright as my Cree LED lights. It was about $130 (I got it with my dividend from REI so it didn't "cost" me anything) but it's only about $80 now. If I need a replacement battery, I can only get it from Cygolite and it costs me $40. That's a fair chunk of change for a battery when I can get a 2s2p pack for $10 to $20.

£20/£30 is probably a budget for one light: front or rear. Spend more on the front, i would say. The rear doesn’t need to light the road up, it just needs to warn drivers behind you.

However, the front may need to light up the road ahead, although the extent of this depends on the types of roads you’ll be riding on. If they have street lighting then you probably don’t want the brightest light possible, but more of a ‘be seen’ type of light. If you ride on unlit cycle paths and roads then you’ll need to light up the road ahead for a reasonable distance. Also, don’t forget the light spread to light up the sides of the road.

Battery type is also important, as is the number of hours of light you’ll get out of a full charge. A lot of lights have a lot of lighting modes, but some of them you’re never really likely to use.

Wiggle and a couple of other UK sites have a light comparison tool that will allow you to see the range and width of the light pattern on a side-by-side comparison.

I’m also shopping for a set of lights so it’ll be interesting to see what you decide to buy.

I bought one of these a few years ago .. https://www.bumm.de/en/products/akku.../192qmla.html?

Not putting enough money on the counter, really for all the features you desire.... cheap flashlight mentioned above, is realistic , then.

I use a hub dynamo based wired LED head and tail lights, in the winter , I only use a battery light in the summer *,

when it is not dark till much later at night.. *Or I just don't go far, and get to put the lights in my pocket, to keep the battery warm.

Added Complication a brand bought in the USA may have a different name in UK,
because the Importer is different, though the Company both get to make and brand them is the same.

Case in point I got a Planet Bike Tail light, but looking at sellers Like SJS Cycles, etc. in UK same stuff has a different brand name.
;)



....



...

Agreed.

I can't agree here, however. Road and urban riding require more light, not less. Your lights are competing with hundreds of different light sources per block. You may not need as much light to see the road but you need far more light to be seen. The worst thing to happen to you is to become invisible in a sea of light.

I blaze as much light as I can when on the road. I want the drivers to be confused at to what I am and, more importantly, to as how much of a threat I am to them. If they think that I'm a train off the tracks or a giant truck or a cyclops bus, it makes them think for a moment before they pull out in front of me. I don't want cause them any harm, just confuse them as to what I really am. A little "be seen" light in an ocean of other lights is just too hard to miss and the next thing you know your third dimension is voided.

You don't want your third dimension voided.

On the other hand, on an unlighted cycle path...which I don't usually ride at night because it's rude to do so...you generally need a little less light. You only need to see where you are going but you don't really need the light to serve as a warning. For the tiny amount if cycle path riding I do on a commute, I will power down one or two lights. I generally leave my helmet light on but turn it away from pedestrians as soon as I see them.

I'd agree with this and woudl like to also add that while there are many sources of light in the city, its those very sources of light that make it difficult to see imperfections or small potholes in the road. i used to run a cygolite metro 360 and i couldn't see small potholes and stuff because i couldn't see a shadow or whatever it is that causes you to notice until it was almost too late. my experience has also been that when it rains, this condition of not being able to see imperfections, objects in the road was worse.

i've since upgraded to a cygolite metro 1100 and its much better but still isn't perfect, i hit a small pothole at about 18 mph cruising on the flats on a main road and my hand was thrown off of the handlebar. damn near sharted when that happened.

i went home and placed an order for a light and motion taz 1200. i'm hoping that it helps. needless to say, lighting, if and when riding at night or in adverse conditions isn't something you want to skimp out on.

[MENTION=379859]srestrepo[/MENTION], that L&M light has some kind of beam shaping, which intrigues me. Please report on the light after you use it.

I get by with a lot less light than many people like. I normally use a dynamo powered B&M headlight. I don't know, but I'll guess output is 200 lumens or less. I don't have any big downhills, and I don't mind slowing down to adjust to the light. I would like more light, but I've come to prefer a German shaped beam. It would be nice if you could get that beam shape in a high powered light, but I don't know if that's available.

[QUOTE=noglider;19982468I normally use a dynamo powered B&M headlight. I don't know, but I'll guess output is 200 lumens or less.
I would like more light, but I've come to prefer a German shaped beam. It would be nice if you could get that beam shape in a high powered light, but I don't know if that's available.[/QUOTE]
How do you define "high powered"?
Your dynamo hub is limiting the output for the light, so maximum would be the B&M IQ-X with 100lx.
bumm.de/en/products/dynamo-scheinwerfer/parent/164/produkt/164rtsndi-01-schwarz-164rtsndi-silber.html

Or you add an external battery powered cut-off beam light, B&M will offer two 150lx version in 2018.
bumm.de/en/products/akku-scheinwerfer.html

For much more power there's the Lupine SL A with 900lm.
lupine.de/products/bike-lights/road-bike-lights

it seems like we're both looking for the same thing more or less.

i'll post a review as soon as i can. i anticipate delivery on the 14th, so i'll post some beam shots and initial impressions.

i'd love to have a high powered shaped beam but i didn't feel like spending close to 450.00 for the lupine SL a7 setup irrespective of how nice of a beam the beamshots show. that's just way too much money for me right now.

After many hours of online research, I've ordered a Ravemen CR900 front light. Using the light comparison tools on a couple of websites I really liked the wide dispersion pattern and the strength of the light was comparable to my far more expensive and heavier Lezyne Deca Drive 1500 XXL. I also like the fact that the lens does a similar job to a car headlight by lowering the glare point so as to avoid blinding oncoming vehicles.

It also comes with a wired remote, can be used with cycling gloves and has an acceptable burn time. Happy to post a mini review if anyone is interested when I get the light in a day or two.

you kidding? of course!

[MENTION=470105]taz777[/MENTION], please post a review. i almost bought that light but went with a Taz 1200 instead.

i wasn't too sure i wanted to go down in lumens but it took a lot for me not to pull the trigger on that light. i for sure would have purchased the PR1200 but it was sold out.

OK I looked at a couple of pages about the Ravemen CR900. It looks excellent, and the price of $77 isn't bad at all. But the beam doesn't look SVTZO compliant. I know I'm being picky, but I love my B&M lights. I have a bad reflex of looking into a beam's hot spot. This beam's hot spot isn't as bad as round beams, but it's not as good as a B&M beam. The B&M beam is a trapezoid, and I can aim it so there is no wasted light anywhere. That's why 200 lumens (my estimate) suffices for me. It's not enough for some people, but it's more useful than some higher power lights because of the shape of the beam.

You're right, the beam of the CR900 isn't good for riding in urban areas at night.
Not every StVZO-compliant LED light has an good cut-off beam and some lights with cut-off shaped beam aren't StVZO-compliant.

Here are some good additional informations about beam shapes:
StVZO bike lights - what it is really about ? - Light-Test.info

I've never heard of StVZO. Is this some kind of cycling regulation? We don't really have any (enforced) laws for cycling in the UK. I was out walking last night, it was dark, and 90% of cyclists were riding on the pavements (sidewalk in the US) and had no cycling lights! Hence, here any light is better than nothing.

It's a German law encompassing a lot more than bike lights. I had google translate this page, and the first paragraph says
The law specifies, among other things, the shape and intensity of bike light beams. Until 2013, all bikes sold in Germany had to come with headlight and taillight bolted onto the bike, and the lights had to be powered by a dynamo, not a battery. They lifted part of this, and they allow battery power. They might have lifted the bolting part, too. But the law has had some good effects:

1. Good lights with that superb beam shape are plentiful and reasonably priced.

2. The lights are available outside of Germany, in places where they are not required. I understand the Dutch prefer these lights in general.

Some stupid part of the light specification (in my own view) are the maximum power and the forbidding of blinking. Blinking lights are forbidden in Germany. Most of us agree that blinking is useful in at least some situations. StVZO compliant lights make excellent use of the maximum power and make them effectively as powerful as lights that put more out, since the majority of the light goes to the front edge of the beam and since the beam does not light up the areas left and right of your path. As [MENTION=262745]angerdan[/MENTION], not all compliant lights are like this, but the compliant lights I have, made by B&M and Philips are. The shapes are uncanny. They accomplished with innovative optics in the lamp.

sure would help us in the U.S. by not making us retro-fit a DIY solution like the lens & hood I've settled on