cehowardGS

Well, I must admit, when I first ventured into riding in the night/dark morning, I was with low lums. After hanging in some of the candle/flashlight forums and see some really bright lights. I quickly got some better lighting. Then after I saw the respect I get from cars, oh man, no way I go back to no lights, and anything under 700 or 800 lums. Also, all in pairs and something strong on the helmet.

It is a safety factor all the way. I don't want to be one of those fallen and somebody says "oh I didn't see him".. With my lights, even if you are on the telephone, looking the other way, you are gonig to see me..

kiltedcelt

I'm still not 100% wedded to the idea a bike-specific light. The one advantage I can see is that some cycle-specific lights may have reflectors that can create an optimal lighting pattern best suited for cycling. I don't know how the flashlights stack up against that. I am for sure going to get a flashlight to run on a helmet mount, but I'm still up in the air over what to run on the bars. I kinda like the idea of running two lights on the bar at the same time to just increase the maximum visibility factor. If I understand correctly, if two lights are both 1800 Lm, but one is powered by 18650 batteries and the other by 26650 batteries, the output will be the same but runtime will be slightly higher from the 26650 lights.

Cehoward - are you saying your getting just a little over one hour run time from your lights? Is that on the highest setting? My commute is seldom longer than one hour and I wouldn't need the brightest setting except for a few areas. I suppose I could also carry extra batteries to swap out, potential disassembly issues aside. Also, where did you purchase your two sets of lights and the batteries?

kiltedcelt

Interestingly, I found these lights:

1800 Lm flashlights with the ability to charge the battery without needing to remove it from the flashlight body. Of course extra 18650 batteries and an external charger would still be extra cost.

https://www.amazon.com/1800Lm-Zoomabl...men+flashlight

10 Wheels

I am using three Adjustable Beam Focus 18659 Lights. One on my helmet.

Bougth them for daytime strobe safety.

Perfect for night riding. Adjust one for distance and the others for close up.
3 Hour Bright run time.



https://www.ohotdeal.com/inbike-3-mod...ght-torch.html

no1mad 

It's my understanding that it's primarily the dynolights or battery lights built to German/EU specs that have the so called optimal beam for road cycling. They tend to have a asymmetrical beam that features a cut off. Not sure what your budget is (or was by this point?), but probably the best combo you could do is a SafeRide on the bars, the flashlight of your choice on the helmet, and a front flasher (quite a few LED flashlights are capable of doing double duty).

The Philips SafeRide may not have the power that some of the other lights have, but it has been noted by those who have one that there is little to no wasted light like that you get from a flashlight.

bugly64

I have always used bike flashlights as primary or alternates lights.

zacster

Pedestrains jump out of the way when they see me coming with my Keygos XML U2 light. The cars just yield to me. Other cyclists just stop. I can see the reflection of my lights a good 3/4 mile away, and this is in brightly lit NYC. A guy in a Cablevision truck wanted to know where I got it. And a really cute girl commented that I could use it as a disco light. It makes riding at night fun, and I never used to ride at night at all.

Yo Spiff

On a related note, I researched the 18650 batteries because I was a bit confused by all the offerings. I ran across this very good explanation of lithium ion batteries on youtube. It is from a seller of flashlights, so there is certainly some self interest, but it still comes across to me as a lot of good information.
https://youtu.be/cMep9VSyLNI

Astrozombie

How are you guys mounting them to your helmets? I ordered these
https://www.amazon.com/Techlite-Lumen...men+flashlight
Since i'll have 3 bikes soon, but i may need more power!

no1mad 

I use two velcro wraps (think reusable zip ties) on my helmet. Others have suggested the Zefal Doodad for mounting a flashlight to the helmet.

zacster

Mine came as a headlamp/bike light combo. I can use the headlamp mount on my helmet though I chose not to. It looked rather dorkie. In fact, I find most of the lighting stuff will look dorkie, especially if you have it on a road bike. That's why I like just the single, sleek looking flashlight on the handlebar mount. It doesn't distract from the look of the bike but is still very effective.

DannoXYZ 

Personally I've found those to be too dim. I went with an XM-L based light for 900 lumens. While the bare-LED may have a maximum output of 1000 lumens, once it goes through the optics, you're really looking at about 800 lumens OTF. At the low-power setting, it'll be putting out about 200 lumens for about 3-hrs run time. At max, 800 lumens for 45-50 minutes. I carry a spare, but rarely have had to change batteries. And it's not that big a deal, I just rotate the light backwards, unscrew the cap, battery falls out. Rotate it forwards, drop in fresh battery and screw the cap back in.

Also 18650 lithium batteries have much higher power-density than AAA akalines. That is what's needed to deliver the full 3amps (10w) needed to power an XM-L LED. Changing a single larger battery on the side of the road is way easier than fumbling with three tiny AAA batteries and inserting them into the carrier.

cyccommute 

I said you could drop the external battery pack above. It's not likely to get lost when you drop it. The same can't be said of the parts from a flashlight.

And, if I'm going to carry around two lights (or 10) on my handlebars, I'm going to have all of them turned on. No sense carrying them around if you don't use them. If I carry two lamps with external battery packs, I'm also going to be using both of them. I may not use spare battery packs but, if necessary, I can rig those spares in parallel to extent my run time, as I've pointed out previously.

no motor?

Spreading the lights out does make you more visible and makes things more effective than creating a brighter "hot spot" in the center.

cehowardGS

I average about hour and a half, all on full power. However, just like you my commute isn't that long and time consuming. Half hour to 45 minutes, max time. Plus, running 3 front lights, any one of them is capable of running the whole show but itself. I carry a spare battery too.

The light

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26650-18650-...item4602102f45

The light with two 26650 protective batteries and charger..my favorite seller too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/26650-1600Lm...item256e70b7d7

The mounts I use with my 26650 lights and for my helmet light..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Racing-BMX-B...item51a2160fbf

The mounts I use for my 18650 lights..

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cycling-Bike...item2a21b74c84

A different type U with swivel. Sometimes I use this one too. All 18650 lights for the U type bracket.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Bicycle-...item27ca47bec8

I am cheapee on the rear lights too. This is a bright little sucker for $3 shipped. I am so cheap I always offer the seller $2.50 for 4 of them. He always agrees..


https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-12-LED-T...item45fe68774f

Another super rear light, for cheap money.. I use all the above, and I don't go broke!!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/150800979140

zacster

I was coming out of the park by the football fields and I turned the corner. There were 5 really, really big, and I mean big, guys that all jumped out of my way. One of them screamed to another "I thought a f***ing freight train was coming at me".

Astrozombie

So far i'm impressed, just got my new lights! If this is "dim" to you guys then dang i can't wait to try 1000 lumens.

Yo Spiff

Got my cygolite helmet mount in yesterday and tried it out on my commute this morning. Having a helmet light (in addition to the one on the bars) that I could point where needed definitely improved things, especially when I could point it at a driver in a right hand merge that may or may not see me in the traffic. I don't believe someone could NOT see this thing pointing straight at them.

So now I'm running 400 on the bars and 200 on the helmet. Interestingly, the Pace 400 is more of a flood beam while the 200 is closer to a spot beam. The combination of flood and spot works well.

Yo Spiff

Have you found what kind of runtime you are getting out of those? The biggest issue I had with aaa flashlights was runtimes and swapping batteries, but with that set of 3, you could keep a spare battery holder loaded and ready to go.

cehowardGS

That's a good light. I have a smaller version of that one, and I use it sometimes. The one you have above, I think I have seen them on Ebay going for about half the price.. The one I have, a little smaller, but still an 18650 I only paid $7.50 for it. The are zoomalbe.

cehowardGS

I know, I know!! The power of strong lights are amazing. The important factor is the RESPECT you get, as in being seen. As you very well know, they see you, they can't HELP from seeing you, and that is the point that make strong lights a winner for me. Which way to go with strong lights, as in flashlights, or board battery pack, is a personal choice. I like the flashlights. Others may go for the battery pack jobs, either way, we are pushing over 1000 lums.

kiltedcelt

In spite of what's been said about swapping batteries and such, I think I am just going to go with flashlights. The lights I linked to above, all come with a charger and two batteries to begin with which will give me the ability to have extras to swap if necessary. I also like the ability to easily pop it off the bike to use around the apartment in case of a blackout. That has happened before and it was a bit of a pain in the rear when I couldn't find my regular flashlight and I had to carry around the Cygolite with its battery pack. Additionally, I won't be running any wires or having to find somewhere to mount or stash the battery pack that goes along with those Magic-shine knock-off lights. I think I'll run two 1800 Lm 26650 lights on the bars and a 1600 Lm 18650 on my helmet.

black_box 

Is there a happy medium for flashlights? I see complaints about UltraFire products or anything-Fire, which seem to be a knockoff of the SureFire name. I searched to find info about Keygos and saw lights that look the same as an UltraFire... suggesting a knockoff of a knockoff, which does not inspire confidence. Fancy single-cell bike lights with 500ish lumens seem to be $150, with the cheap flashlights coming in around $20-30. Is that it for the market?

kiltedcelt

From the reading I've done, the cheap flashlights might or might not have construction issues such as loose wiring or other things like tail caps that don't tighten enough, etc. Apparently, if you're willing to tinker you can fix minor mechanical issues yourself or some sellers seem to be pretty good about sending out replacements for defective lights. The Keygos light seems to be one that will replace defective items with little hassle involved. I think I will probably end up buying some of the Keygos lights myself and just keep my fingers crossed that they'll work okay. Getting a great deal on high lumens may be one thing, but if you start having problems and need to ship stuff back, it can rapidly become not worth the hassle. You might be wishing you'd spent the $100+ for the bike specific lighting. I'm hoping I don't end up in that boat myself.

zacster

My Keygos light had one problem in that the spring on the head gear did not make contact. I pulled it out a bit and it worked. Otherwise it all works fine. The tube is solid, the zoom is tight, the fit is perfect. Even the handlebar mount is very tight with no rattle.