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  #1  
Old September 22nd 08, 04:36 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Richard
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Lights

Hi

I need some lights for a mountain bike for the winter and I'm a bit
confused about those on offer that seem to range from about 10 pounds
to over 600 and all of which seem to describe how bright they are in
different ways.

My journey to work is about 4 miles along an unlit disused railway
line (a rough surface but not extreme off road) and about half a mile
at each end on the road which has street lighting.

Can anyone recommend me some lights please that are powerful enough to
use along the unlit part (how many watts / lumens do I need for this?)
and also legal for the road, and given this as cheap as possible.
Ideally they should be easy to remove from the bike when not in use
and use a power source that can be recharged easily.

Some of the lights I have seen use LEDs, some traditional lightbulbs.
Is there any advantage to either?

Thanks

Richard


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  #2  
Old September 22nd 08, 05:01 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
elyob
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Posts: 551
Default Lights

On 22 Sep, 16:36, Richard wrote:
Hi

I need some lights for a mountain bike for the winter and I'm a bit
confused about those on offer that seem to range from about 10 pounds
to over 600 and all of which seem to describe how bright they are in
different ways.

My journey to work is about 4 miles along an unlit disused railway
line (a rough surface but not extreme off road) and about half a mile
at each end on the road which has street lighting.

Can anyone recommend me some lights please that are powerful enough to
use along the unlit part (how many watts / lumens do I need for this?)
and also legal for the road, and given this as cheap as possible.
Ideally they should be easy to remove from the bike when not in use
and use a power source that can be recharged easily.

Some of the lights I have seen use LEDs, some traditional lightbulbs.
Is there any advantage to either?

Thanks

Richard


LED's seem to be the way forward. You can get some pretty good
Cateye's that'll light up in the pitch black, get some rechargeable
batteries and charge them at work

This one is pretty good .. .Cateye HL-EL530

I've got Lumicycle Halogen, and great lights, but quite heavy and not
really getting the usage I would want for them anymore. So am
considering eBaying them.

And to slightly hijack the thread, if anyone can recommend a small
blinky for putting on my Brompton? It may get some light usage on
towpaths (or Richmond Park at night), so need good enough to light up
a dark path. However, my main requirement is for them to sit flush on
the handlebars for easy closing of the bike. Was looking at "knog
gekko" lights, but never seen them in the flesh ... anyone?


  #3  
Old September 22nd 08, 06:06 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
naked_draughtsman[_3_]
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Posts: 179
Default Lights

On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:36:29 -0700, Richard wrote:
Can anyone recommend me some lights please that are powerful enough to
use along the unlit part (how many watts / lumens do I need for this?)
and also legal for the road, and given this as cheap as possible.
Ideally they should be easy to remove from the bike when not in use
and use a power source that can be recharged easily.


I've been out with just my front LED (Tesco finest, middle LED not working
so only 4 rather than 5) and could see enough but the old railway line I
was riding on was pretty well surfaced unlike some others. Lights cost
me £13 and use AAA batteries - rechargeables work fine.

I've got an old 10W halogen cateye (£60 new about 3 years ago) and that
would be more than adequate for you! Requires special battery and charger.

A headtorch may be another option.

peter
  #4  
Old September 22nd 08, 08:11 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Simon Edge
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Posts: 1
Default Lights

On Mon, 22 Sep 2008 08:36:29 -0700, Richard strung these words together:

Can anyone recommend me some lights please that are powerful enough to
use along the unlit part (how many watts / lumens do I need for this?)
and also legal for the road, and given this as cheap as possible.
Ideally they should be easy to remove from the bike when not in use and
use a power source that can be recharged easily.

Some of the lights I have seen use LEDs, some traditional lightbulbs. Is
there any advantage to either?


LEDs are much more efficient than incans but the high output ones (Cree
XREs, SSC P7s, comparitatively old-school Luxeons) need quite a bit of
heatsinking to keep from frying if they're being run at anything like
nominal output for any length of time.

A word on output.

For a seeing-where-you're-going light on (for example) a stretch of
pavement that's not completely pitch black, but not deliberately lit, I'd
say you need at least 120 lumens to cast a pool of light about three
meters in front of you (assuming a handlebar mount)

For less than £45 you will be able to find a torch (and mounting bracket -
twofish lockblocks are good) with about 130 - 200 lumens of output and
over one hour of runtime and (probably) enough heatsinking to cope /and/
that runs on AA cells (though you're better off going for a R123 setup for
200lm plus), that'll fit in your trouser pocket.

Or, there are LED dropins with PR-bases that'll probably fit straight in
your existing light (just pick one for the right number of cells), from
SMJLEDs (I have one of these and it'll put out the same pattern and amount
of light as a standard Xenon 2 cell bulb for 20 hours or more, though it
has a pronounced blue tint) to CREE/Seoul dropins (again, heatsinking can
be a problem), all of which, you'll be able to pick up for ~£20.


[/essay]

  #5  
Old September 22nd 08, 11:00 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Martin[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 551
Default Lights

Richard wrote:
Hi

I need some lights for a mountain bike for the winter and I'm a bit
confused about those on offer that seem to range from about 10 pounds
to over 600 and all of which seem to describe how bright they are in
different ways.

My journey to work is about 4 miles along an unlit disused railway
line (a rough surface but not extreme off road) and about half a mile
at each end on the road which has street lighting.

Can anyone recommend me some lights please that are powerful enough to
use along the unlit part (how many watts / lumens do I need for this?)
and also legal for the road, and given this as cheap as possible.
Ideally they should be easy to remove from the bike when not in use
and use a power source that can be recharged easily.

Some of the lights I have seen use LEDs, some traditional lightbulbs.
Is there any advantage to either?


How long does this five mile commute take, and will it be dark on both
to and from work?

IMHO traditional light bulbs are pretty much obsolete/deprecated as far
as cycle lights are concerned, LEDs are more efficient (batteries last
longer for the same light output).

It is very difficult to get a decent light nowadays that is road legal,
very few cyclists riding at night with lights have fully road legal
lights. The best thing to do is have a decent set of lights, and hope
plod does not know any better.

Arguably the best solution for commuting lights is a dynamo system,
pref. a hub dynamo. I have one of these on my Trek.

On my ridge back I have a Cateye Single shot plus (HL EL610RC) which is
excellent for railway paths and the like. (about 65-90 ukp). Other
people recommend the EL530, which can be got for about 35ukp, however I
have heard complaints about the 530.
  #6  
Old September 22nd 08, 11:33 PM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Adam Lea[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 783
Default Lights


"Richard" wrote in message
...
Hi

I need some lights for a mountain bike for the winter and I'm a bit
confused about those on offer that seem to range from about 10 pounds
to over 600 and all of which seem to describe how bright they are in
different ways.

My journey to work is about 4 miles along an unlit disused railway
line (a rough surface but not extreme off road) and about half a mile
at each end on the road which has street lighting.

Can anyone recommend me some lights please that are powerful enough to
use along the unlit part (how many watts / lumens do I need for this?)
and also legal for the road, and given this as cheap as possible.
Ideally they should be easy to remove from the bike when not in use
and use a power source that can be recharged easily.

Some of the lights I have seen use LEDs, some traditional lightbulbs.
Is there any advantage to either?

Thanks

Richard



I have used these last winter for a 12 mile commute along dark country
lanes:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=15442

and found them pretty good, although the lights are a little fiddly to
attach and remove (I just attach and leave them there all winter). The
Cateye EL530 is also a good option as someone else mentioned.


  #7  
Old September 23rd 08, 12:01 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Daniel Barlow
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 883
Default Lights

Martin writes:

On my ridge back I have a Cateye Single shot plus (HL EL610RC) which
is excellent for railway paths and the like. (about 65-90 ukp). Other
people recommend the EL530, which can be got for about 35ukp, however
I have heard complaints about the 530.


I had an EL530 until it stopped working for no obvious reason. I
replaced it with a Fenix torch, which is one of the Cree-based lights
that was referred to upthread, and about the same price. The Fenix
torch far outclasses it for light output and (I think) for spread -
the EL530 seemed to have a very small bright spot and a wash around it
that wasn't actually much cop.

http://www.coruskate.net/Order_of_the_Fenix is what I said about it
two weeks ago.

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/rev...1dce-l2dce.htm is a
proper review done by actual (or at least, apparent) experts


-dan
  #8  
Old September 23rd 08, 06:48 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Bully[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 3
Default Lights

Richard wrote:
Hi

I need some lights for a mountain bike for the winter and I'm a bit
confused about those on offer that seem to range from about 10 pounds
to over 600 and all of which seem to describe how bright they are in
different ways.

My journey to work is about 4 miles along an unlit disused railway
line (a rough surface but not extreme off road) and about half a mile
at each end on the road which has street lighting.

Can anyone recommend me some lights please that are powerful enough to
use along the unlit part (how many watts / lumens do I need for this?)
and also legal for the road, and given this as cheap as possible.
Ideally they should be easy to remove from the bike when not in use
and use a power source that can be recharged easily.

Some of the lights I have seen use LEDs, some traditional lightbulbs.
Is there any advantage to either?

Thanks

Richard


Where would these feature on a scale of crap to great:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=14825 ?

--
Simmo
Cheap protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees
the opportunity in every difficulty." Sir Winston Churchill


  #9  
Old September 23rd 08, 06:56 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
Tom Crispin
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,229
Default Lights

On Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:48:24 +0100, "Bully"
wrote:

Richard wrote:
Hi

I need some lights for a mountain bike for the winter and I'm a bit
confused about those on offer that seem to range from about 10 pounds
to over 600 and all of which seem to describe how bright they are in
different ways.

My journey to work is about 4 miles along an unlit disused railway
line (a rough surface but not extreme off road) and about half a mile
at each end on the road which has street lighting.

Can anyone recommend me some lights please that are powerful enough to
use along the unlit part (how many watts / lumens do I need for this?)
and also legal for the road, and given this as cheap as possible.
Ideally they should be easy to remove from the bike when not in use
and use a power source that can be recharged easily.

Some of the lights I have seen use LEDs, some traditional lightbulbs.
Is there any advantage to either?


Where would these feature on a scale of crap to great:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=14825 ?


The reviews rate them as great.
  #10  
Old September 23rd 08, 07:07 AM posted to uk.rec.cycling
killermike[_5_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 15
Default Lights

Richard wrote:

My journey to work is about 4 miles along an unlit disused railway
line (a rough surface but not extreme off road) and about half a mile
at each end on the road which has street lighting.


As you're going over a rough surface, consider the strength of the
fastener and weight of the light. It's just possible that the heavy
cheap light could work free after day after day of jostling. For this
reason, an LED setup with smaller batteries would probably be better.

--
http://www.unmusic.co.uk Michael Reed -- technology, gender, and geek
culture freelance writer
 




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