front light

Raam

This has probably been asked before, but couldn't find it anywhere...

I'm looking for a front light to keep in my bag as a backup for when my regular rechargeable one runs out of juice.

Anyone got any recommendations? Only looking for something relatively cheap which won't be used too often, but at the same time I would like it to have an OK battery life and be quite bright. Basically, enough to get me home.

thx

P

Ghost Rider

I use this to be seen (as opposed to seeing). It has a flashing mode, which I consider essential (if illegal, strictly speaking) and battery life is really good. It takes 4 AA batteries:

http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/283

If I was cycling on properly dark roads, I'd go for something else. This one is really just useful for alerting other road users to your presence.

King Raam wrote:

This has probably been asked before, but couldn't find it anywhere...

I'm looking for a front light to keep in my bag as a backup for when my regular rechargeable one runs out of juice.

Anyone got any recommendations? Only looking for something relatively cheap which won't be used too often, but at the same time I would like it to have an OK battery life and be quite bright. Basically, enough to get me home.

thx

P

blorg

Is this for country or city use, e.g. do you need to see with this thing or just be seen? If the latter just about any decent modern white LED will do the trick.

Raam

blorg wrote:

Is this for country or city use, e.g. do you need to see with this thing or just be seen? If the latter just about any decent modern white LED will do the trick.

City use (although some of the back roads around Portmarnock get very dark at night). It's just a back up to my other powerful light. At the same time, I'm looking for something which is better than "just being seen"

Raam

so I started off just looking for a cheapy backup light, but now I'm thinking of this bad-boy...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=5772

No more messy cables or battery packs to worry about. It charges in a similar way to your mobile, i.e. the battery is contained within the light and you just plug the whole lot in. Seems to have a good burn time too.

Blorg....any thoughts on that one?

P

blorg

I believe that is one of the best LEDs available, hardly cheap though. I was looking at reviews over the winter when I would sometimes be outside the city when darkness fell, general conclusion I came to then was that LED was simply not going to be enough and that a seperate battery system like HID was required for visibility on completely unlit roads.

For a backup I would think it's way overkill for city use, while it might not be quite enough for non-lighted roads. Might get you through from Baldoyle to Portmarnock in a pinch though.

Some reviews here, there is another site which did "against a wall" comparisons measuring beam width, I'll post it if I can find it.

http://www.mtbr.com/spotlight/lightshootout/

rubadub

blorg wrote:

Some reviews here, there is another site which did "against a wall" comparisons measuring beam width, I'll post it if I can find it.

probably this
http://eddys.com/page.cfm?PageID=493

blorg wrote:

I believe that is one of the best LEDs available, hardly cheap though.

3W but now 7W luxeons are out. I am in the market for one now, I was thinking of modifying a standard one.

Mods and reviews on here
www.candlepowerforums.com (down at present)

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/

Raam

The Vega looks to be the best of the LEDs. Still no match for the Halogen ones though. I already have a L&M Solo, but I find it cumbersome removing the battery pack all the time. Same with the light as I need to wrap the cable around the stem a few times to keep it out of the way.

blorg

rubadub wrote:

probably this
http://eddys.com/page.cfm?PageID=493

That's it, yes, thanks.

rubadub wrote:

3W but now 7W luxeons are out. I am in the market for one now, I was thinking of modifying a standard one.

Mods and reviews on here
www.candlepowerforums.com (down at present)

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/

How would a 7W compare to halogen/HID do you think- suitable for complete darkness? Hopefully cheaper by the time the winter pulls around again?

ruprect

I ordered one of these.


http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l1dce-l2dce.htm

The L2D. Supposed to be a more efficient LED than the other earlier luxeons.

Ebay is full of dodgy lights, giving power ratings that do not add up, i.e. claim 40hrs on 2 AA's yet are claiming 5-7W too. I was also wary of fakes on ebay. Turned out it was cheaper top buy direct from the fenix-store,
http://fenix-store.com/product_info.php?products_id=195
probably have a better comeback on warranty too (I dont think the store is owned by the manufacturer). The price was about the same as ebay but then I found a 8% discount code cpf8 so it was just under €40.
Says it is up to 135 lumens! but I think you can only have it on temporarily since it heats up, the normal highest mode is 80lumens

My mate has a halogen light for the MTB, I will see how it compares.

Bluefoam

I have a full beam and a flasher...

Civilian_Target

Dynamo powered front lights! Because batteries are a pain in the ass.

rubadub

Bluefoam wrote:

I have a full beam and a flasher...

Flashing with a full beam will land you in jail sonny

ruprect

ruprect wrote:

I ordered one of these.


http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/fenix_l1dce-l2dce.htm

http://fenix-store.com/product_info.php?products_id=195

I ordered that around 5pm on friday and got it today, very quick delivery from the US.
Light is very bright, you cannot look at the beam. There are 2 settings and then more settings within them. The 135lumen mode is blinding, and the "strobe" mode seems to be 135lumen but flashing, the constant 135lumen mode is quoted at 2.4hrs, so hopefully the flashing 135 is about double that which is good for 2 AA's.

Will compare it my other when it is dark.

It has an "SOS" mode, seems to be signalling SOS in SOS code, thought it was a loose connection first.