#1
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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