huskertko

I just started riding within the last week or so, however I am very limited on my time of when I can ride. I work evenings so I am only able to ride on M-W-F in the AM, as long as I am home by 6:45 so my wife can go to work. I can ride on the weekends pretty much whenever, but I am finding that the 45 minutes or hour, three days a week just isn't cutting it. My rides have been 10 miles or less during the weekday rides, which to me isn't really enough. The only other time I can ride is at night when I get home from work, so back to the original topic, what are some decent lights for under $50, or is that like asking about good road bikes for under $300?

cc700

you can't get anything that will allow you to see the road well for under 50, but you can get good lights to be seen with. superflash and blaze combo is 45 at REI or 32 on amazon. best deal i've seen and you are covered front and rear.

https://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-30.../dp/B0015R9PZI

you're not going to get to see any road surface without streetlights or halogen/hid with battery packs, and even on clearout sale those are usually 75+

huskertko

Ok, So what am I needing to look at to be able to see the road? If I start riding at night it will be on fairly well lit streets that are all in pretty good condition.

Sorry, I didn't see that last part of your post, so I am looking in the $100+ range, I am assuming?

cc700

everyone's eyesight is different.

with a cateye el300 i can't see anything on dark roads going faster than about 15mph.

on moderately lit city streets i can see most hazards without any light whatsoever.

if you really seriously want to see things, you need an hid light or a halogen light that puts out lots of watts.

thirdin77

A lot of people on the Commuting and Electronics & Lights boards like their Fenix flashlights which they mount to their handlebars or even helmets. Not as cheap as $50 but seemingly under $100.

huskertko

I didn't even think of posting this question there, I will head over to that forum and check it out. Thanks

kster

Check out the Dinotte 200L headlight. It's just bright enough and it's often on sale for $100 when they are reducing their inventory.

hammond9705

As mentioned above check the elect & light forum, but if I was going to get a new light I wouldn't consider anything but LED. The 2 cheapest are probably the Fenix flashlights or the Dinotte. I have a Dinotte 200L and am very happy with it.

mx_599

+1 on dinotte. check out their red tail light too. i think it is one of the safest out there

mx

mrbubbles

True in terms of bicycle specific lighting.

Then there's this. https://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12060

Bike lights are essentially flashlights rigged for bicycles with extra functions thrown in, nothing more.

mrbubbles

Brightest doesn't equal safest. By your logic, I ought to ride with a searchlight on my ass, so bright that the cars want to run me over so they can shut me off.

mx_599

have you tried attaching a couple of these to your bars or helmet? did it work well? run times?

mx

mrbubbles

Plenty of details here.

https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=427380

mx_599

thanks!

mx

uberclkgtr

+1

I use their 200L headlight to ride in pitch black regularly. Love it. I can cruise along at 20mph and see plenty far ahead without problems.

huskertko

Has anyone used or tried the Mag Lite flashlights, are the mini ones bright enough to do the job?

hammond9705

At that price range get the Fenix, much better.

rb07

There's always Light and Motion as well. I have the Arc model. I used it this winter for road riding and in the spring for mountain biking and it worked perfectly. It is an expensive headlight, but worth it IMO. Some L&M models pop up on chainlove.com from time to time. It's usually the NiMH version, not the Li-ion model, but still a good light.

mrbubbles

It will not get the job done.

Outdated. L&M are moving on to LED now.

Fird

dealextreme.com has some decent deals, get a regulated CREE/SSC LED light running on your battery of choice and mount it with a clip (or the ever-handy duct tape if you're the jurry-rigging type) and you've got the sun strapped to your bike. I'm running a Dereelight CL1HV3 (different brand in a higher price category) and have to turn it down for oncoming traffic.

HID really would be much brighter, and it's price much higher. Unless you're mostly blind you probably don't need that much horsepower. Halogen is extremely inefficient unless it's heavily over driven, and then the slightest bumps in the road can destroy the bulb. Incandescent flashlights/bike lights really have no place anywhere anymore (M@glite).

Carbon Unit

I have been using Dinotte for about a year and am very impressed with their lighting systems. For the money, I don't think you can find a better light than the 200L. You can get it to run on AA or Lithium.

I bought the 600L and tailight on sale for a little over $400.00. To me, it is worth spending the money if it will save my life. Cars get out of my way because my headlight will blind them. The 600L throws out more light that a car's headlights on low beam. I can bomb down a hill at 30 miles per hour with out any problem.

The tail light is the best on the market. I have had people ask me where I bought the tail light. The amount of light it throws out is very impressive. I run both lights off of one lithium battery which will get me about 3 to 3.5 hours of riding time.

By the way, it is important to look at the battery replacement cost. Dinotte's batteries are $50 for the two cell and $70 for the four cell. I think L&M's batterys are three or four times the cost.