Bicycle lights

[V5-Steve]

I need to get a new front light for my road bike. I have seen some cree led lights that promise huge light output for little money. However should I pay a bit more for a branded light with less lighr output. Budget is about £50

[glenmc]

I have a set of expensive lights (ay-up) and a cheap cree light (ebay).

The cree is much brighter than the ay-up, but the battery does not last as long (about an hour on full power, compared to 3 hours).  Build quality also looks better with the ay-up; having said that, Ihave had no problems with the cree.

 

For road use, you may actually find the cree too bright, unless you point it down quite a bit (or run it at half brightness)

 

Personally, I would go for the no-name cree - you should be able to get one for half your budget, which gives you spare cash to buy another in a couple of years!

[trundlenut]

Several people at work swear by lezyne.

I got some dirt cheap aldi ones.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[Gaz]

My son uses a Fenix LD20 and it does him nicely:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fenix-LD20-High-Performance-LED-Torch/dp/B004CXNY3G

 

Mounted with a Twofish lockblock:

 

http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/led-lenser-cycle-range/twofish-lockblock-bike-mount.html

 

Comes within your budget.

 

Gaz

[mbames]

I have bought some cheapo cree ones from deal xtreme in the past.  The only downside seems to be poor battery life (lasts a year and then don't really hold charge), but these days I just pick up a new battery from ebay.  I then ride with 2 batteries in the tri bag and all is good.

[vindaloo]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ultra-Bright-U2-XML-2-CREE-LED-Bicycle-Bike-Light-headlamp-Set-5000-Lumen-UK-/200959831751?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&var=&hash=item2eca23aec7

 

Something like that or that. Would love to be able to recommend a specific purchase/shop but the one I actually bought (twice, one for myself and brother) has now gone. That version has a 6 cell battery pack, as opposed to the usual 4 cell pack. If you go for one, make sure the UK "sourced" ones supply a UK plug charger.

 

Little Bro has a Magicshine single Cree. That's still going strong on its original battery. Though his is an update from the original - battery pack is enclosed in a hardshell with LCD indication of charge/state etc.

 

Prices of bike lights have dropped stupidly over the past 2-3 years. Can now buy BLINDING lights for £20 and cripplingly blinding ones for a few pennies more. Unless trying to illuminate attacking aircraft or you like nocturnal mountain biking, don't bother. A single Cree T6 or twin will more than suffice. Think also about rear lights and reflectors. The more the merrier. Anything to help drivers perceive shape and distance more easily.

[V5-Steve]

Thanks for all the advice, I am lucky that we have loads of cycle tracks where I live and also some nice quiet country lanes. I think I will go for the ebay cree ones.

[fabiamk2SE]

My son uses a Fenix LD20 and it does him nicely:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fenix-LD20-High-Performance-LED-Torch/dp/B004CXNY3G

Mounted with a Twofish lockblock:

http://www.torchdirect.co.uk/led-lenser-cycle-range/twofish-lockblock-bike-mount.html

Comes within your budget.

Gaz

Cant fault the Fenix stuff.

I dont do much cycling so dont use them for this purpose, but i have a pd31 which i use for work. Its brilliant, iv had it a few years now and just cant fault it.

So much so, that i bought dad a pd32 for his birthday, and he loves his now too. Bright, reliable and good battery life using the 18650 batteries.

I also had a tk35 too. That thing was bright but didnt get much use because it was too big to get in my pocket hahs.

[JohnMcL7]

When someone recommended the cheap Cree lights, I didn't believe for a moment that they could be any good for the price, but after experimenting a bit with a few lights I've been very impressed with the cheap Cree lights.  I'd recommend to buy the lights on their own and choose your own 18650 batteries and charger, the 18650 batteries many of them use are a standard type even though they're not widely available in the UK.  The cheap batteries (usually branded Ultrafire or Trustfire) that come with the lights are usually vastly overrated for their power output and offer poor performance plus some of them (although I imagine a very small amount) can fail pretty spectacularly.  You can source your own 18650 batteries and charger to get decent performance and reliability, most of my batteries are Torchy (the guy has a store on ebay and a lot of information on 18650 battery performance) with an Xtar WP-2 twin charger and a Nightfire four battery charger.

 

For lights I have Ultrafire WF-502B bodies with a mix of Cree XML-U2 and XML2-T6 LED's, I like the torch form factor as it makes it easy to move the lights between different bikes and different positions (such as on helmet or on the bars).  For around a tenner each I expected reliability to be poor so I bought four of them with two on the handlebars (giving one redundant one immediately available if the other failed), one on the helmet and one spare in my pocket.  I use them for night time mountain biking where it's really important to have working lights, so far I haven't had a single light fail on me but if I do it's no big deal as they're cheap and I've had plenty of use out of them.  They've actually turned out to be handy for other people, I did have a light fail on me in the middle of a dark forest (a triple XML-T6 one I tried, too bulky) which I had to switch down to a Q5 to after which was not really suitable...now when someone else in the group has an unexpected failure I can just screw one of my lights on.

 

The Cree lights vary depending on output, the Q5 LED's are lower powered ones which can run off AAA batteries - these are fine for cycling on the road where it's lit but underpowered for cycling in complete darkness.  The XML LED's are more powerful and need the 18650 battery so in turn it's a little more investment, the XML-U2 is more powerful than the XML-T6 so it's worth getting the U2 as they're readily availabile.  The XML2 is the replacement for the XML, at the moment the ones for sale are all T6's (any of the U2's I've seen are actually T6's) but they should offer similar brightness as the XML-U2 but with lower power consumption.  In practice I'll admit I haven't noticed much difference but I haven't been doing any scientific testing.

 

John

[V5-Steve]

I will have to get on ebay and take another look.

[JohnRS]

I use a Magicshine MJ-880 for a constant beam(up to 2200 lumens) and a Lezyne Superdrive XL for flash. I usually have the Lezyne helmet mounted in the winter with the Magicshine on the bars.

In the summer if riding early morning/late evening i use the Lezyne only, on the bars. The magicshine is on the bike from about Oct to April.

 

Out of interest do want to see, or be seen? The answer to the question will help the search a lot.

 

Also are you replacing a front, i assume you have rear light(s). The reason I ask is, if i didn’t have any lights I'd rather buy a decent set, rather than just the front.

I have a Magicshine MJ-818 for the rear to pair with the MS front, it’s the equivalent to a 9w bulb so very bright. I use a Knog strobe thing all year round and a Hump flashy bag cover for commuting.

[V5-Steve]

Its to see for when I am out. Some of the cycle tracks are quite dark. I will use one of my existing led lights for a front flash. Ordered a light from 7dayshop.com, comes out at £23 and is 5000 lumens.

[JohnRS]

That's good value. Have you got a link?

I cycle across 4 miles of country road on the commute home and a bright steady beam is invaluable.

[V5-Steve]

http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-bike-light-hyper-bright-t6-cree-led-bicycle-light-with-headlight-kit-rechargeable-genuine-cree-t6-xm-l-led-DS-009?utm_campaign=tms-browse-t3&utm_medium=web&utm_source=tms&tmcv=16&tmcs=41o6240&tmty=e

[vindaloo]

http://www.7dayshop.com/products/7dayshop-bike-light-hyper-bright-t6-cree-led-bicycle-light-with-headlight-kit-rechargeable-genuine-cree-t6-xm-l-led-DS-009?utm_campaign=tms-browse-t3&utm_medium=web&utm_source=tms&tmcv=16&tmcs=41o6240&tmty=e

 

Yon advert claims 1300 max. Which is about right according to published specs of the emitter etc.

 

Almost all of these ads vastly overrate the output - lumens. IMO anything 500+ lumens is good enough for riding pitch black backroads. Maybe a couple of 500+ or 1000+ (one on bars, one on head) for nocturnal MTBing?

Edited 8 September, 2014 by vindaloo

[V5-Steve]

My bad, it was the ebay ones that stated 5000 lumens.

[JohnMcL7]

I know a few people that used that light for off road mountain biking and it worked well, I don't pay any attention to the numbers as many of them are hugely overrated but anything XML or better is good enough for lighting up the darkness.

 

John

[matt_theforce]

I use a few lights when I commute

 

NiteRider Minewt 100lumen while riding through town (same as this just less powerful http://www.niterider.com/2015-pro-performance-led-bike-lights/minewt-mini-350-usb-plus/)

NiteRider Lumina 650 on my helmet for my off road route home (http://www.niterider.com/2015-sport-led-bike-lights/lumina-550/)

Moon XP500 for my non lit road route (http://www.moon-sport.com/product-detail.php?id=7)

Decathlon vioo 700 to be seen (http://www.decathlon.co.uk/vioo-700-usb-front-bike-light-black-id_8247734.html)

 

rear lights I use

Moon shield (http://www.moon-sport.com/product-detail.php?id=11)

x2 Decathlon Carp Spirits (http://www.decathlon.co.uk/vioo-usb-rear-bike-light-black-id_8224154.html)

 

I like to be seen & my commute takes me around 1hr 20min out of Sheffield and into the Peak District so I like to make sure I have at least 1 light that will work

[V5-Steve]

Got my cree light and I am so impressed. Its so bright but has 3 settings so I can dim it. I would tell anyone to get one as for the £22 they are great.