Light Recommendations (formerly Front Light For Dark Country) Road Commute

mossym

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm open to correction but I think that Magicshine is for off road mountain biking. It would be way to bright for oncoming traffic and would require it to be angled downwards which would defeat the purpose.

I have the older model of the Lenzyne Superdrive (450 lumens I think) and it more than adequate on the unlit roads of NCD. Some boardsies have said its too bright. It has 3 settings and a flash mode. Even the lowest setting is fairly adequate.

i have the lezyne and a magicsine, and the advice is spot on. the magicshine seems to me to be a bit much for commuting, course it has a low power setting which would work. the lezyne has loads of light for commuting(not that i do)

detones

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

I'm open to correction but I think that Magicshine is for off road mountain biking. It would be way to bright for oncoming traffic and would require it to be angled downwards which would defeat the purpose.

I have the older model of the Lenzyne Superdrive (450 lumens I think) and it more than adequate on the unlit roads of NCD. Some boardsies have said its too bright. It has 3 settings and a flash mode. Even the lowest setting is fairly adequate.

Would you trust this light say coming down Snowtown at 60kph + in the pitch dark? Or are there no bike lights suitable for this.

Wishbone Ash

paudie2005 wrote: »

How do you fin the lezyne? I have the same model and it does a lot of flickering

It has performed flawlessly so far (approx 1 year). I also have the baby Lezyne (Microlight?) and it's great too. I use it as an emergency backup (never has to put it into emergency use) and for long summer rides when it's dusk before I get home.

detones wrote: »

Would you trust this light say coming down Snowtown at 60kph + in the pitch dark? Or are there no bike lights suitable for this.

No - but then again I wouldn't have the balls to hammer down Snowtown in the dark. Regardless of road surface or debris, I'd be thinking about badgers/foxes/cats and other nocturnal animals suddenly darting across the road.

EDIT: Just to add that the Magicshine and some of the other very powerful light have seperate batteries which are either strapped to the top tube or placed in a bottle holder. They are awkward to carry if locking the bike somewhere.

detones

After many many hours of research I think i have decided on my Front light. The Moon X Power 780 Lumen. Its the newer model of the old X Power 700 which has very good reviews and I have sourced it for around €100 delivered. I have decided i don't want a light with a separate battery pack and this one is around the best one i have found balancing up Battery Life, Build Quality, Recharge ime and Performance. The Lezyne Super Drive XL also looks good but the Battery life is not as long.

The consensus is once you go over 700 or so Lumens its overkill for commuting and more for off road stuff. The bigger lights all seem to require bulky battery packs which take a long time to recharge

Rear light I will most likely go with the Moon Shield or Smart Lunar. Both seem excellent.

slideshow bob

detones wrote: »

I have sourced it for around €100 delivered.

Can you give a link to supplier please?

detones

Once I order mine I will

detones

slideshow bob wrote: »

Can you give a link to supplier please?

There in merlin cycles for 100 with free delivery. Just ordered mine wanted to make sure they were in stock. The lunar 2 rear light is on offer to I got 2 of them.

cdaly_

detones wrote: »

After many many hours of research I think i have decided on my Front light. The Moon X Power 780 Lumen. Its the newer model of the old X Power 700 which has very good reviews and I have sourced it for around €100 delivered. I have decided i don't want a light with a separate battery pack and this one is around the best one i have found balancing up Battery Life, Build Quality, Recharge ime and Performance. The Lezyne Super Drive XL also looks good but the Battery life is not as long.

The difficulty I would have with this light is the proprietary battery format. Unless it has a 18650 cell, you cannot carry a spare battery and are out of luck once the battery runs out and have to await a recharge to go again.

The consensus is once you go over 700 or so Lumens its overkill for commuting and more for off road stuff. The bigger lights all seem to require bulky battery packs which take a long time to recharge

I reckon anything over 300 lumens is too much even for dark country roads and is already overkill for commuting. 700 lumens is just a waste of power (and hence battery runtime).

detones

Your probably right 780 lumens could possibly be too much but it just got to a stage were i had a pain in my b0ll0x researching this and needed to order something. I don't have any first hand experience of what 780 lums would be like but from looking at reviews on cycling websites there were a fair few comparison photos of various light outputs. 700 looked about the right balance to me. However as i have learned its not just all about the output or lumens its the perceived light and lux which is important. The light I chose reviewed well on this. 780 lumens is also the max output. The estimated run time is 1hr and a half at full blast but a very respectable 2hrs 50 @ 550 lumens. I appreciate these run times are probably optimistic, I will probably use it at the 550 setting on unlit roads or less most of the time. It also has a 400 and 200 setting for better lit environments. This will do me fine to cover my journey into work and home and any training spins. It's also nice to know you have that bit of extra light when you need it.

ford2600

detones wrote: »

Your probably right 780 lumens could possibly be too much but it just got to a stage were i had a pain in my b0ll0x researching this and needed to order something. I don't have any first hand experience of what 780 lums would be like but from looking at reviews on cycling websites there were a fair few comparison photos of various light outputs. 700 looked about the right balance to me. However as i have learned its not just all about the output or lumens its the perceived light and lux which is important. The light I chose reviewed well on this. 780 lumens is also the max output. The estimated run time is 1hr and a half at full blast but a very respectable 2hrs 50 @ 550 lumens. I appreciate these run times are probably optimistic, I will probably use it at the 550 setting on unlit roads or less most of the time. It also has a 400 and 200 setting for better lit environments. This will do me fine to cover my journey into work and home and any training spins. It's also nice to know you have that bit of extra light when you need it.

You didn't consider the dynamo lamp? The philips
saferide 60. edelux etc get great reviews.

detones

ford2600 wrote: »

You didn't consider the dynamo lamp? The philips
saferide 60. edelux etc get great reviews.

physcologically anything I perceive as reducing my cycling performance even by .001 of a Watt will be disregarded ;-)

ford2600

detones wrote: »

physcologically anything I perceive as reducing my cycling performance even by .001 of a Watt will be disregarded ;-)

Guess 3W or so is a non runner so!

Best of luck with whatever light you get.
I've used a 1000 lumen lamp on half power doing very early morning spins between west Waterford and Cork and find it loads without blinding cars.
6 hr run time on half power to, but battery is seperate.
V2 lamp with mtbattteries.co.uk.
Use it for mtb mainly but going dynamo for road bike

Civilian_Target

So I just thought I'd post here because a couple of weeks back I decided to move my other bike to dynamo, mostly because I've become extremely bad at replacing the batteries.
I tried to do it on a budget so I ordered a new wheel with a Sanyo dynohub and a pair of Herrnans dynamo lights - the HDiver for the front and the HTrack for the back. The light set was $80 (about 65EUR) including delivery, plus $95 for the wheel and dynamo. I couldn't find much on the internet but I decided for the price, that I would try them out - the specs look good.

My basis for comparison is a 10+ year old Shimano Nexus dynohub, powering a B&M IQ Fly at the front and a B&M Toplight Line at the back - that lightset was 110 EUR when I bought it.

So far my experience has been, spend more money and buy the B&Ms over the Herrmans. While I felt optimistic about the Herrmans lights, and they were much easier to install than the B&M lights, the capacitors in them must be really poor.

When moving at low speed, the front light flickers terribly. At high speed, they are brighter than the B&Ms but the beam is much less focused, perhaps an advantage at the back but it gets in your eyes at the front.
The stand lights, both front and back, are very poor. When on the road, its barely noticeable that they are on at all - which means that you are barely noticeable! Its annoying to spend so much money on a pair of lights that are almost off as soon as you stop.

I'll try and post some pictures when I get a moment to compare both lights but I just thought it would be useful to put something out there for others

cdaly_

detones wrote: »

780 lumens is also the max output. The estimated run time is 1hr and a half at full blast but a very respectable 2hrs 50 @ 550 lumens. I appreciate these run times are probably optimistic, I will probably use it at the 550 setting on unlit roads or less most of the time. It also has a 400 and 200 setting for better lit environments. This will do me fine to cover my journey into work and home and any training spins. It's also nice to know you have that bit of extra light when you need it.

My current light runs at 60 low and 285 high and I find I can cycle a dark road on the 60 just fine. The 285 is needed for descending or if opposing traffic is dazzling me. I'd suggest you try it out at 200 for the unlit roads and reserve the higher settings for traffic/hills.

Civilian_Target

Here's the h diver face on after 20s of standby. The other round circle you see in the background is the iq fly after two minutes

Civilian_Target

Here's the iq fly up close after 20s on standby, for comparison

rollingscone

I picked up a Nanoshot. It's not great life wise but as I'm on a budget and my needs are more for a lifeline to get me home if I stay out too long it'll do.

Next month I'll invest in a better rear light.

detones

So received my lights and gave them a bit of a road test commuting home yesterday. The Smart Lunar 2 rear lights are great. For €34 for the 2 lights I think they are brilliant value too. I have one light on the seat post on the other on the right hand rear stay. Close up the brightness is blinding. I'd say on the road you would see the lights from at least a km away.

The front light the Moon X Power 780 is awesome. Its well put together and much smaller than i thought it would be. For its size the brightness is unreal. On my spin home last night it was light up signs ahead 400 or 500m away. I was conscious of dazzling drivers so had it angled so the main light beam shone around 20m ahead. This gave a nice balance of seeing ahead and being bright enough to see potholes immediately in front of you. I would be happy enough maintaining day time speeds at night with this set up but when descending in the pitch dark i was a little nervous when it went over 50kph. I used the light in Twilight and lit streets with the flashing function and on unlit roads the 550lumen setting seemed plenty. I have a feeling though with the rightness of the lights flashing I could get a cross word from the boys in blue as it could appear to be an emergency vehicle approaching. The only complaint i'd have about the light is that you only get one charger cable and it would be ideal to have one at home and in work too.

Will try and post some pics of the light again.

Wishbone Ash

detones wrote: »

I have one light on the seat post on the other on the right hand rear stay

I also use 2 Smart Lunars but I put one on the seatpost and the other on the rear of the helmet.

detones wrote:

The only complaint i'd have about the light is that you only get one charger cable and it would be ideal to have one at home and in work too.

Is it a generic type cable? You might have some lying around from other devices which will fit. Otherwise some electronic shops/filling stations sell muti-head adapter chargers

Seweryn

detones wrote: »

The front light the Moon X Power 780 is awesome. Its well put together and much smaller than i thought it would be.

How do you find the mounting bracket - is it secure, well made or rather average, easy to adjust, wearing in time, etc?

detones

Seweryn wrote: »

How do you find the mounting bracket - is it secure, well made or rather average, easy to adjust, wearing in time, etc?

Mounting bracket seems good but only time will tell I suppose. It does seem very secure and it adaptable to a wide range off bars. Mine are quite wide and it fitted. There are a few shims given too for adjustability. Its is very easy to adjust. The only think is releasing the light from the mount takes a little more effort than i would like and the action could be smoother. Its probably something that will "wear in".

detones

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Is it a generic type cable? You might have some lying around from other devices which will fit. Otherwise some electronic shops/filling stations sell muti-head adapter chargers

I will check this out, it looks to be a specific adapter for the light but something else may fit. Thanks.

Seweryn

detones wrote: »

I will check this out, it looks to be a specific adapter for the light but something else may fit. Thanks.

You can use the same cable as for a Garmin unit, if you use one.

detones

Few pics of my lights

Side view



View of Lights, lighting up Garden




Side view on Bars





Looking down

Pinch Flat

Is that a Jacuzzi at the end of your garden?

detones

So spun into work today, no rain but very wet roads and one of the bloody Rear Lights is letting in Water, disaster!! Will be returning and getting something else. Its a shame because light is great. Back to the drawing board on the rear lights so.

Seweryn

detones wrote: »

So spun into work today, no rain but very wet roads and one of the bloody Rear Lights is letting in Water, disaster!! Will be returning and getting something else. Its a shame because light is great. Back to the drawing board on the rear lights so.

I have two of these lights and I have been using them for the last two years (in all kind of weather conditions we've had during the last two years) and I am very happy with them. An excellent, strong light with a rubber strap but also with a clip, so you can easily attach it to a bag or a rear pocket. All in all, recommended.

detones

Seweryn wrote: »

I have two of these lights and I have been using them for the last two years (in all kind of weather conditions we've had during the last two years) and I am very happy with them. An excellent, strong light with a rubber strap but also with a clip, so you can easily attach it to a bag or a rear pocket. All in all, recommended.

Yeah was looking at that before, it's a well recommended light but I want the lights for the rear to take standard AAA batteries. It's enough for me to recharge the front one at least I can forget about the rear ones and just carry spare batteries if I get stuck.

Seweryn

detones wrote: »

Yeah was looking at that before, it's a well recommended light but I want the lights for the rear to take standard AAA batteries. It's enough for me to recharge the front one at least I can forget about the rear ones and just carry spare batteries if I get stuck.

The rear one recharges quickly, in around 1.5h or thereabouts. I carry a spare one (a clone let's call it) just in case. I can't see a better rear light for the money even taking into account that this is an over two year old design. It is also small enough, not bigger than an AAA battery.

the.red.baron

Seweryn wrote: »

I have two of these lights and I have been using them for the last two years (in all kind of weather conditions we've had during the last two years) and I am very happy with them. An excellent, strong light with a rubber strap but also with a clip, so you can easily attach it to a bag or a rear pocket. All in all, recommended.

Have those lights and bag and putting the back light on the bags light strap at the back ended up cracking the clip as there's no recess there in the clip like most lights, so it just gets wedged in there. I didn't force it and rarely took it off.

I ended up just gluing it into the bracket it came with to secure it. The front bracket it excellent, really well made, the back aint. Should really have a metal clasp/clip.

The lights are water resistant only, so not sealed all that well. The back one is better, although it hits less water. The button on the front one can let in water in heavy rain, might just be an issue with mine (but there's nothing obviously wrong with it), happened 6 or 7 times, which mean no light for going home, causing the light to come on by itself and then stick on. i fixed this by sealing it with super glue.

The front light needs a step down on the flash as 200 lumens flashing is too blinding and it would also double the battery life on the flash. The non flashing modes are great, 4 different levels down to 100 lumens. Flexibility on the levels is what you need. The back could also use a step down for when you don't need the 30 lumen flash.