Black Jaque

I had a cheapo $15 Cateye 3 LED bike light that has worked well enough for me during my summer commutes.

However, now that I am biking at night in the snow I can appreciate the value of some of these higher dollar bike lights. I'm considering the Niterider 650, or a Cateye EL625, or a Busch & Muller Ixon IQ. The problem is I cannot find anything on the Ixon IQ that compares it to how many lumens it has. It only expresses the output in LUX which is not really convertable.

I am impressed with the Peter White page that has pictures of the Ixon IQ beam. But of course on his website there is no such pictures for the Cateye or Niterider. I like the idea of using regular AA batteries - but something tells me that 4 AAs won't produce 600 lumens, but maybe I'm wrong?

Anyway, I need to be able to see the details of this sea of white stuff in front of my bike to prevent crashing. If I'm going to spend around $120 or so does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on these three lights?

10 Wheels

I have the IQ. It is good for speeds up to 14 mph. 5 hours run time on Hi, 20 hour run time on low.

10 Wheels

I bought them for daytime riding with the strobe mode. They are brighter than the IQ.

Recommend two of these. I have similar models. One can be adjusted for distance the other for close up.
Run time 3 hours on one battery.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-...674344012.html

ChrisM2097

I have the Niterider MiNewt 500 wireless (internal USB rechargeable battery). I usually run it on either medium brightness (300? lumens), or strobe, depending on conditions. 500 lumens is not necessary for commuting for me, as there are plenty of street lights along my route.

I'm considering getting another so that I can run one on strobe, and the other steady. On my commute home yesterday, I was in an area where there was a lot of cross-road traffic and driveways, where the strobe makes me more visible, but there were also lots of tree branches and leaf piles and such laying in the roadway. A steady light would have let me see them sooner.

thechemist

I have a 500 lumens light and I ride dawn and dusk with street lights here and there. For me 500 lumens is not quite bright enough. I can see in front of me fine but I would feel better with a little more light. For evenings I keep it on strobe until it gets dark and in the AM I keep it around 500 lumens. I also carry an extra battery as my rides are roughly 2hrs which is the limit of my light at 500 lumens

Black Jaque

10Wheels,

OK. So you've got both the Ixon IQ and the CREE XM-L-XML-T6 (Does anyone else get disgusted with the nomenclature of tech things?). The CREEs are brighter but according to the link they are 1600 Lumens. So I would expect the CREEs are brighter than even the Niterider 650.

I'm guessing that if the IQ is good for speeds up to 14 mph it might be too dim for my purposes. When roads are clear I might get up to 14 mph, but I need lots of light to distinguish white tire ruts from white snow. Of course when I'm in that kind of crud I'm not going 14 mph - but my eyes need to see LOTs of detail.

a1penguin

Those aliexpress lights are Chinese lumens. You can't get 1600 lumens from a single XM-L. And then there is light from the emitter and light from a flashlight, which are also different. Add on top of that beam shape (think of laser beam vs flashlight vs light bulb). Having lumens spread out over too large an angle will impact the ability to see far away objects. And then if you look at light output as a function of battery voltage, you'll see another drop. Regulated lights that put out constant output as a function of batter voltage are rare and not cheap.

There are many threads about lights in the "Electronics, Lighting & Gadgets" forums and you can find many recommendations there.

Single emitter lights are going to be in the range of 600-800 (or maybe 900) lumens at best. I always recommend two lights; one for the bars and one for the helmet. That gives you a spare light and you can throw a spare battery in seat pack. For on the order of $100 you can purchase two cheap torches, batteries and mounting gear for front lights. I have a 35-40 minute ride home after dark, ride 15-20 mph on paved city streets with very few cars and a 700 + 400 lumen setup is sufficient. If you commute in heavy traffic, you might want to consider adding a small flashing light to differentiate yourself from other cars. See the EL&G forum for many discussions on lights and riding after dark.

You should specify more about your riding conditions and ride length to get the most helpful responses. Mountain biking requires better lights than road riding because of the terrain differences as well as risk.

10 Wheels

I have 7 of the crees. (4 bikes) They are very bright, The zooming of the beam is an awesome feature.



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10 Wheels

Also have a night helmet, with one zip tied.

Black Jaque

My commute is 3.2 miles, all in town. Light to moderate traffic. Very few sidewalks. Typical speeds are around 12 - 14 mph maybe 8 or so when conditions are bad. All paved routes. Some street lights but it is not really well lit - much like riding in residential areas.

My main difficulty is reading the trafficked snow. My current light although weak, was adequate on the clear paved roads where obstacles stood out. However judging white packed snow from white fresh snow is a different matter. I need to pick up very subtle details now. I guess that's why I chose the winter forum because the light is mainly for distinguishing the subtle hazards of variable snow conditions.

Burton

The advantage of snow is that it reflects a lot of light, so you should be able to get by with less lumens. And the reality is that since light intensity varies with the square of the distance, you need 4x the light to double the range. Thats a step from 500 lumens to 2,000 lumens.

I use a shaped beam - it puts more light on the ground.

chaadster

I'd think that, for $120 bucks, the Cygolite Expilion 700 would be a great choice, and that mounting it midway up a fork leg would create shadows that help you read the snow surface better.

pick

another excellent source for all things lighting - CPF - : https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...php?86-Bicycle

chaadster

Great point. He would probably be just fine with as low as a 250 lumen lamp, huh?

Oh, and to the OP, regarding the lux measurement, it may be insightful to look at the MTBR Light Shootout and see how their lux measurements compare to lumens; 14 lux would seem to be roughly 60% of the lux one would get out of a 300 lumen unit like the Lezyne Macro Drive, though who knows if the B&M would actually measure 14 lux in the MTBR tests. Could be more, could be less, but the point is that you can have some measure of comparison by ballparking off those MTBR tests.

droy45

I use the Niterider 350 for commuting in pitch dark back country roads part way and street lighted the rest of the way. 350 lumens is enough but 500 or 650 would be even better. I like the usb rechargable feature as when I get to the office I simply plug it into my pc for a few hours and its ready for the next days commute.

Hank244

I have the B&M Ixon IQ Speed (two lamps). I rarely use the setup. My Light & Motion 550 Urban Commuter and/or SpokeGrenade SG-1000 have proven more useful. The Light & Motion is very small and light (but plenty bright). But it only lasts (on the high setting) for an hour and fifteen minutes. The SpokeGrenade lasts for a little over three hours on the high setting. Regardless of the sg-1000 name, I believe the high setting emits something in the 700 lumen range.

The Ixon IQ speed operates from a larger, heavier NIMH battery pack. Yes, it lasts forever and operates two lamps. But I would rather have more light. I believe that each lamp emits something in the 100-150 lumens range (300 lumen total). Even with two lamps, the light is less.

Disclaimer: I have no accurate way of measuring lumens. I am just guessing the ouput using the Light & Motion 550 as the reference. I believe it is pretty close to emitting the claimed (550) lumens.

agent pombero

Great light for sure, though the USB cover on mine ripped off after only 2-3 months of normal use. I still have to send it in to Cygolite for repair but I've been too busy/lazy.

Bikeforumuser0017

A lot of the higher end bike lights are usb rechargeable, which I like a lot more than having to replace batteries. Have you looked into any Lezyne lights? <==All of them look very high quality.

technoD

Maybe line that helmet with kevlar too?
...Just a suggestion!

technoD

I'm not sure how they're rated, but I just bought a Zefal LED kit where I work, and it's nice because the head light bracket will allow me to try different tac lights. Price was only $18 so I'm happy!

Burton

I'm kinda partial to the Phillips Saferide 80 and unfortunately looks like they'll stop distributing in NA.

roby

I got my Stella 600 Dual for a great price on ebay. It's awesome because one is a beam light and one is a flood light, one button activates/controls both. You can easily direct both to get great close and far visibility, plus it's made in the USA(although i'm Canadian, that's better than Chinese made!).

And to the 10wheeler dude. where the heck do you put your hands with all that crap on your bars? My thumbs usually touch my stem when I ride, your light positioning and front bag would drive me bonkers, as would those horns if you plan to go in the drops! I only run lights on my MTB, and they are far from my shifters/grips

Roby!

Burton

LOL Roby I'm guessing you haven't seen K'Tesh's UFO lighting yet! Have a look - its post #15 halfway down the page: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-You-At-Night?

I've got some pretty good lighting but he nakes me feel underdressed!

Western Flyer 

I use a Lights & Motion Vis-360 for commuting in the winter. Lights & Motions products are not cheap in any sense of the word, but my experience with them they are top of the line in quality. I get comments from motorists regularly saying how visible I am on both lit and unlit roads. I find the 120 lumens enough for me. L&M now has a Vis-360+ with 250 output if you want more light yet. Being on the helmet you can put the light where you want it, catching a drivers eye, reading a road sign or the side street before you turn. Also being helmet mounted it goes where ever your helmet goes so when you get off my bike my fancy light goes with me every time.

fietsbob

I put out the funds to get a hub Dynamo and an LED head and taillight wired to it.

so I don't worry about the battery run time, and its lowered performance when cold.


Now back to the various Battery lights..

Best one I got was a Niterider 'head trip' 10w sealed halogen
the advantage the battery is on a long wire ,
so the battery can be in your pocket under your jacket.
and the headlight on theBars or on a helmet mount.