http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=237570 Posted on Hybrid Forum Also.
Here is the CATEYE HL-EL220 , worked much better than expected for the price, $19.99 dollars at Performance. Mounting it takes just a couple minutes, very secure fit, gives out a nice wide beam for riding. More than enough light for these dark rural roads, and I like that it runs on 4 AA battery's. Probably the brightest inexpensive light I have purchased. Richard

http://www.amazon.com/Cateye-HL-EL22.../dp/B000R5NR9E

Returned !

I have the Cateye HL-EL010 and the Cygolite Expilion 350 Lumen light (rechargeable). Both set me back about $100.

Originally posted 11/2/11And I second the motion.

I'm still looking for my ideal lighting system, but in the meantime I took an unexpected night time ride. My son saw me getting ready to ride an decided that he wanted to ride too. So, after doing a slow couple of miles with him, I was free to take my ride. The problem was that I only had about 15 minutes of daylight left. I have a good flashlight, a LED Lenser L6, so I mounted it on my handlebars with a strap that I picked up off of Ebay. It only took about 15 seconds to mount it and I was set. It isn't an ideal setup, but it worked well enough for that ride.

The L6 provides 100 lumens, runs on 2 AA cells, and has an adjustable beam. So it it plenty bright enough, has good run time and you can adjust it for the amount of throw / flood that you want.

I don't know why the straps are called silicone bandages, but they work well for temporarily mounting things on your bike.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=242703

I didn't go through this whole thread, so maybe it's been suggested already, but you can use those rubber "Livestrong" style wristbands in the same manner to attach a AA or 18650 flashlight to your handlebar.

Cygolite 170 is $55 at Amazon. Close enough.
http://www.amazon.com/Cygolite-170-USB-Rechargeable-Headlight/dp/B005DVA592

For me I strongly prefer a cell phone style, plug-the-whole-thing-in-to-recharge-it setup than something with separate batteries to buy, recharge, and lose track of. The only negative thing I've ever seen said about this line of lights is that the USB hole sometimes opens to water but I've never found a report of one actually being damaged by the rain. I think this very straightforward solution should do very strong in the 2012 $50 headlight sweepstakes (except for that extra $5 bucks, I guess)

Another option: Niterider Minewt Mini.150-USB. I picked one up for my wife's bike; it's pretty good. If you live near a Sun & Ski Sports, you can pick it up in the store. List Price: $89.99, Sale Price: $59.97 (I think it is on clearance)

http://a248.e.akamai.net/origin-cdn....1616552-2T.jpg

Two questions. really like the price and setup for the above listing. Does anyone knows whether they sell this from a US seller instead. I have search tons of ebay and amazon listing. It looks like most of them are coming straight from China.

Will the bike mount that come with it fits on Tern link D8 folding bike? I am new to cycling and I am not sure whether the handle bar has different size or not. I will be buying my Tern Link d8 within the next month or so.

Thanks in advance

I saw it only from Chinese sellers... You can easily replace this mount with the original magicshine mount ( buy it from magicshine online store ) It will give you two mounting size options with 2 different size rubber o-rings. I'm pretty sure it will work with your bike.

I bought a 200 lumen Cygolite Pace earlier this year. Pretty happy with it, but being a proprietary design, spare batteries and mount brackets are a little pricey. I bought one extra bracket to use it on 2 bikes.

More recently I picked up a 208 Lumen coast px25 for $40 at Home Depot. Nice beam pattern. A very clearly defined bright circle in the middle and a larger circle about half as bright surrounding it. Uses AAA batteries, which according to Coast should last about 6 hours. So spares are cheap and easily carried. (I do realize many folks here don't like lights that use AA or AAA's) Mounted with a rubber and velcro handlebar mount costing $2.60 at Dealextreme. About the only minor downside is it doesn't have a flashing mode, but Coast makes a similar model with flashing and adjustable beam pattern for about $10 more. The internal contacts seem well designed and I don't expect this to fail like some cheap flashlights I've had in the past.

I put both of these lights together the other night and 400+ lumens lit up a dark trail quite nicely.

Not knocking your choice on the Coast, but I doubt you'll get 6 hours of runtime of the same brightness. Best do a runtime test in the comfort of your house first.

For those still looking for a budget light, search Amazon for the NowAdvisor CREE Q5 240 lumen light. I bought it last week and took some night rides with it. I can't say whether it hits 240lm, but it's brighter than another 140lm one I've used. 3 settings, utilizes 3 AAA batteries, and even includes a bike mount, all for $12! I added some Eneloop batteries, but it may have better success with alkalines.

Oh, I agree. manufacturer's estimates tend to be on the generous side under optimal conditions. I'll likely toss a spare set of AAA's in my Camelbak. I might try that runtime test out of curiosity.

I also picked up a 220 lumen nebo Redline the other day. About $5 less than the Coast, and it has multiple brightness levels and a flashing mode. I like the beam pattern of the Coast better, however.

On a related subject, the best handlebar flashlight mount I have tried so far has been this rubber block and velco affair for $2.39 from DealExtreme. Very versatile in where I can place it and it holds fairly steady without vibrating the light a lot.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=262363

Just got a couple of these from keygos in less than a week from Hong Kong: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CREE-XM-L-U2...11%26rk%3D2%26

They are very nice and flexible in use.
There's a review here:

http://budgetlightforum.com/node/10620

I do like flashlights as bike headlights as well - plenty of manufacturers and models to choose from, and bike mounts are cheap.

Seems to me the cheap single powerLED models are starting to trickle down to HW stores and other retailers, I've seen multiple different ones for 10-20 bucks around here, many with aluminium bodies as well. At the moment, my bike light is a locally bought chinese one, that cost about $15 with a useable LED tail light. The light is surprisingly good, I'd estimate that it puts out perhaps 100 lumens, so it functions as a daytime running light as well.

An interesting topic. I've been considering getting a light for some time and will take a look at some of the suggestions here.

I found a nice buy at Harbor Freight Tools, where they have a bike headlight for $7.99 (follow the link). I've used it quite a few times. It has 3 bright white LEDs and runs off of 3 AAA batteries. I'm not sure about the "lumens" rating, but it sure lights up the path in front of you quite well. Mounting and removing the light is simple, since it uses a thumbscrew to tighten its mount on the handlebars. It also removes easily from the mount to be used as a quite capable flashlight. In the "continuous" mode, its reported that the batteries last 70 hours, and double that in the blinking mode. I can't attest to the battery life (I'm only on my first set of batteries), but I do know that so far (after several hours of use) it hasn't shown any signs of dimming. We plan to return to purchase another one for my wife, since the Harbor Freight light is brighter than the one from the LBS that cost us $10 more.

They also have a tail light, also running off of 3 AAA batteries, that has a steady state or 3 different flash patterns ... for $5.99.

here is what I bought before summer.. USA based seller on amazon. 48.00 + shipping. Comes with helmet and bike mounts. Great deal for the price

http://www.amazon.com/Cree-Xm-l-1200...ef=pd_sim_sg_8

i have this same flashlight on my 2 bikes. i like that it give out a nice pattern and light is bright. best bang for your buck and uses regular batteries. highly recommended. comes with everything you need. i see that it is now selling for $9.

Do you guys know of a holder thing for a flashlight that fits 31.8 bars?

Two fish lock block.

This link is not working. Please fix it so that I may see what you are recommending. Although the lights on this website may be out of your budget, the website comparison is useful as you may see which lights are brightest. http://eddys.com/articles/how-bright...t-light-ig493/

What kind of battery life are you getting with these? Thinking about getting one but need at least an hour run time.

A CREE Q5 puts out about 240 lumens at 1 amp, so with AAA NiMH cells which are typically around 700 mAh you'd get about 45 minutes of full brightness, or somewhat longer if the brightness goes down over time.

You might be able to get some more runtime from the high quality alkaline batteries, but they'll turn out to be quite expensive (maybe $3/hour?) versus NiMH.

Here is the one I bought (its on its way from china)

http://dx.com/p/p7-water-resistant-s...pack-set-82734
http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_82734_1.jpg

$45 and good reviews. for intermittent usage you could just leave the battery on the bike and recharge it every few months depending on how often you used it. (should get 3-6 hours of run time depending if on high or low)

I will be sure to post a review/thoughts thread when I get it and use it.

It looks like the same (or very similar) light is available from Amazon for 38$.

http://www.amazon.com/Lumen-Bicycle-...8533797&sr=1-5

This also ships from China..

This is getting to be stupid cheap.

I saw that one too on dx for $43 but I was partial to the red color and this one for whatever reasons had better reviews.

$38 is crazy cheap !!

That's the one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZgVahLzYpE
You can't go wrong with this design.

I have several q5 led lights that takes 3 AAA batteries. The brightness is going down so slowly that its hard to notice. I was never able to run out of juice completely. With LED lights everything depends on built in electronics. My q5 light works great for 3-5 hours depending on the temperature. I'm riding year long, and anywhere between 15F to 100F .