Need a front light
 

Hi,

My electric bike came with a Spanninga Kendo front light which doesn't help very much. In addition, it uses the main battery, which is a huge bonus when I ride with the battery, but I do many rides for fun without the main battery, and then I have no front light at all.

I spent hours researching models today, but I can't really decide.

Here are some details:

My current, Kendo light is rated at 13 lux by the manufacturer. That info is useless to me because I read that you can't really convert lux to lumens.
I am willing to spend up to 50 US dollars.
It needs to be one piece - without a separate battery. In addition, I'd prefer a light that uses AA or AAA batteries, but it's OK if it's got a rechargeable battery.
If 15 lux does mean anything to you, then I'd like my new light to be twice as powerful or more.
I'd like the light to be relatively small, unlike those huge "best bike light on amazon".

I have one contender, and would like to know what you think of it:
Smart BL 185 700L Front Light | Chain Reaction Cycles

There's also a 500 lumens model that's $10 cheaper.

The light you chose looks to be a good one. It has a Panasonic 18650 3300mah battery, which is good, 700 lumens (but don't expect it to really be 700). Finned for cooling. I'd say go for it. By an extra battery or two if you need longer runtime, and you can buy them on eBay, just make sure you get Panasonic as those are the best. The Chinese *Fire batteries aren't as good.

13 lux is not much. My dynamo light is rated at 80 lux and is bright, 13 lux would barely be visible.

Lux by itself is meaningless. You need to know the distance it was measured at.

Thanks. I'll get that Smart light.
Since I'll be ordering from CRC, I might as well buy a rear light from them (I have to pay $10 shipping). I couldn't find Radbot 1000 on their site. Do you know a good rear light that they sell?

Aw, come on.

You know you want to try it.

OK, I bought the Smart LB 185 700L front light and a Smart 1W rear light. My current rear light died a few days ago, and the front light... Well, today I almost collided with an e-rider who didn't have his front light on. It's so weak I often wonder if it's even on.

How many lumens should I expect? Is 500 a reasonable expectation?