UKBouldering.com
the shizzle => shootin' the shit => two wheel spiel => Topic started by: mrconners on October 04, 2012, 09:28:00 pm
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I'm currently trawling through the internet and trying to decide on the best front light to get so I can get out on the roadie on theses long winter nights that are on the all to near horizon.
I'm basically losing the will to live with all the information about lumens, beam spread blah blah etc. I need a powerful beam as I live near Buxton so will be hacking about on some very dark roads and preferably not have some bulky external battery pack. Also a run time of over 3 hours is needed. Most of these stupidly bright mtb lights which weigh more than me and are brighter than the sun seem to only last about an hour and a half.
Oh and not too expensive i.e. sub £100.
I was hoping the ukb familia might have some experience they could share.
Cheers
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I have used an Exposure Joystick for the last year or so and its absolutely brilliant ('scuse the pun...) It comes in over your 100 notes budget, but its very bright, very clever, very light, and has done me proud on my mountain bike and my road bike all last winter. Burn times are nice and long too.
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I would get one of the smart or cat eye sets for £15-30. Then either get a second set or a decent head torch. With two handlebar lights you can have one focused ahead and one pointed down, similarly the head torch works well as it shines where you need it too. Two lights also means you always have a backup. The plastic ones don't weigh too much
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I have used an Exposure Joystick for the last year or so and its absolutely brilliant ('scuse the pun...) It comes in over your 100 notes budget, but its very bright, very clever, very light, and has done me proud on my mountain bike and my road bike all last winter. Burn times are nice and long too.
I've used exposure lights for commutes as well. Mine is more powerful than the joystick - hence more cash. It's also got a smart port so runs a rear light as well with a wire running along top tube to seat post. It's very bright and you notice car drivers don't pull out on you. Burn time 6 hours plus with the rear running as well.
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weigh more than me
Call it resistance training.
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Part of my commute is on unlit country roads (actually on an unlit country cyclepath that occasionally features wild boar).
My current setup is an all-in one Cateye light, and an alpkit headtorch. Together they are JUST good enough.
I really like the combination of bar light + head light, but I suspect that for general road/commuting use a single good quality bar-mounted light would do.
Part of the problem in getting good info is that most of the recent crop of Magicshine-style lights are really better suited for night mountain biking, where having a wider beam spread and the equivalent of a small sun on your bars is an advantage. It's difficult to find out which lights have a more focused beam that would be suitable for road use (so as not to blind oncoming road users, who subsequently crash into trees/you), although I seem to remember seeing other recommendations for the Exposure Joystick as a good road light or as a head-mounted light when coupled with a more floody bar light for offroad.
There's a wealth of info about all this stuff over at Bikeradar : http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12807034&start=1080#p17906760 (http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12807034&start=1080#p17906760)
As recommended there, for road use you could try two Cree 501 torches (like these : http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf-501b-cree-xm-l-t6-1000-lumen-1-mode-led-flashlight-1-18650 (http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-wf-501b-cree-xm-l-t6-1000-lumen-1-mode-led-flashlight-1-18650)) which are pretty cheap.
Or go for something a bit bigger like this : http://www.lightmalls.com/3600-lumen-3t6-led-high-power-bicycle-light-for-3-cree-xm-l-t6-4-mode-led-bike-light-kit (http://www.lightmalls.com/3600-lumen-3t6-led-high-power-bicycle-light-for-3-cree-xm-l-t6-4-mode-led-bike-light-kit)
If you want to buy from a UK seller (to have better support - quality on the direct-from-china lights seems to be a bit variable) then there are a few companies like http://www.magicshine.co.uk (http://www.magicshine.co.uk), http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk (http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk), mostly selling older lights but at least they come with a UK charger and a bit of testing!
The older Magicshine MJ-808 lights also look good at the moment - bright enough for the road, not the latest thing so a bit cheaper.
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Cheers for the advice.
I think I will have a punt on one of the cheapies from lighmalls as they are the same product that a few of the ebayer sellers are flogging. it comes in at about £30 with a spare battery kit.
Fingers crossed.
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Bit late, but I've been really happy with my B&M Ixon IQ (http://www.londoncyclist.co.uk/bm-ixon-iq-review/). It has two brightness settings, one for unlit and one for lit roads, and focuses the beam in a rectangle so less is wasted. It uses standard AA rechargeable batteries, which are recharged whilst still inside the light. Its only ever come off the mounting once, which was when I came off the bike fairly hard - it bounced and skidded along the road and worked fine, albeit with quite a few scratches.
And as has been mentioned I think its best in combination with a headtorch - I use a Tikka XP 2 (http://www.ellis-brigham.com/head-torches/petzl/655060/tikka-xp-2) with the excellent battery pack (http://www.ellis-brigham.com/head-torches/petzl/655080/core-battery), although its the only head torch I've owned so have nothing to compare it to!
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(although I brought it about 2 years ago, so things could well have moved on!)
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Just an update. My lights finally came from www.lightmalls.com (http://www.lightmalls.com)
Took ages to arrive (20 days plus) but got the money they are excellent.
If you want a cheap light for road use go for it. Not sure about mtb , prob mount not robust enough
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my aldi light is a bit of a let down,i was expecting a lot more for 3 quid haha