Probably a little premature – but can certainly notice the evenings are getting shorter…

Will be needing to get a new set of front lights for the daily commute, as I’ve moved out of the city and more into the country. The daily ride now covers a few miles of unlit roads.

So thought I’d look around now.

Don’t want anything too expensive, budget is probably £150 max. Ideally rechargeable. But wouldn’t discount lights that ran on AA’s etc.

pick up some lumicycle halogens off the forum, new battery from Trout if the one with the lights is not great.

Or magicshine lights

Dealextreme Magicshine P7 ot XM-L unit, but make sure it has more than 3 modes (high/low/flashing), as the low modes are usually unusable (too low), the high far to high if in traffic, and flashing on high beam is just down right dangerous.
So one with 5 settings, a couple being “medium” settings, is the way ahead for road use IMO.

I ahve a set of the tiny exposure light that run off cr123 (I think). plent bright enough for unlit roads but wouldnt want to go too fast on them.

Combine the front with a deal extreme job and youll have a cracking setup.

Hope vision 1 is good for country roads, about £80 and runs well off rechargeable AAs.
Last winter I was easily getting 10 hours of commuting per recharge (on medium with occasional blasts of high as required)
May need to supplement it with a typical £5-10 commuter light for a bit of ‘sideways’ visibility.

Lumicycle LED3si
over your budget (you did only say probably £150 though) but seems like a great light for commuting. Has a “glow ring” for sideways visibility, plus they do a rear light that runs off the same battery which is neat.

You could probably get that lumicycle light for under £150 if you buy the clearance lamp from Lumicycle £70 then a battery £51 and charger £26 from Smudge at mtbbatteries ok so it does come to £147 but it is below the £150 mark

You could get some dynamo lights.
Maybe about £80 for a wheel with a Shimano dynamo hub, and £60 for a B&M IQ Cyo (plus about £10 for a rear light if you want).
Plenty bright enough for riding on unlit roads, decent side visibility, and no worries about batteries.

Found this, but 1600 lumens seems HUGE for the commute 🙂

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Magicshine-Front-Cycle-Light-Upgrade-1600-Lumen-/140593172433?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item20bc018fd1#ht_6527wt_1141

One (or even two!) of these

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808-ha-iii-ssc-p7-c-sxo-3-mode-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-44459

Doh – just read it’s light only. Should read properly. Still, this seems good value for £85:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Magicshine-MJ-870-Front-Cycle-Light-Huge-1200-Lumens-/140589727502?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item20bbccff0e#ht_7026wt_1141

£67 for this may be marginally more that buying from dealextream or ebay but from previous experiance of the service Smudge provides i’m sure you would get better back up from him than either of the other two and this comes with a UK charger.

You could get some dynamo lights.
Maybe about £80 for a wheel with a Shimano dynamo hub, and £60 for a B&M IQ Cyo (plus about £10 for a rear light if you want).
Plenty bright enough for riding on unlit roads, decent side visibility, and no worries about batteries.

This is what I have. A Shimano Dynamo hub and a B&M light. I have the IQ fly, the old 50% less bright model of the IQ Cyo, and that is jolly bright, enough for unlit roads. If you turn the bike upside down and turn the wheel with the lights on, you can feel a very tiny bit of drag, but you absolutely don’t notice it while riding – mine has a light sensor which makes the light turn on when it gets dark, and there is no way you can tell that it has turned on.

I used to use lumicycles, both halogen, and a custom triple LED light, and this is a million times more convenient – no remembering to charge, never runs out, is always there on the bike for things like in summer when you stay out late and end up needing lights. Seriously, there is absolutely nothing that is as good for commuting. It is as convenient as car headlights, just always there, and low maintenance too – I put mine on the bike in September 2008, and set the switch to light sensor mode so it turns on when it is dark. I don’t think I’ve touched them since.

Dynamos have a bad reputation due to those old ones that used to go onto the tyre and add massive drag to your riding, which were combined with rubbish bulb lights that weren’t bright enough to ride with. Nowadays, with low drag dynamo hubs combined with very bright and low energy LED lights, they are just perfect. I’d even consider one of the fancier triple LED ones for my mountain bike if I had a large bit of money spare (some 24 hour solo racers have used them).

+1 for the smudge light, good communication, service, and for the price it’s excellent.
Not sure about robustness/reliability but it’s not gonna break the bank if I need another!!

Thanks for the mention guys 8)

Not sure if it will sway you Prezet but my light has 4 settings: high, medium, low and flash (handy on the roads) I am also getting rear lights next week.
Please feel free to email if you need anymore info or follow me on facebook

I have a mixed daily commute going from unlit country roads to city centre fun all on road, and working irregular shifts I use lights all year round. Reading the above would lead me to think I must be under lit, but I am perfectly happy with the Exposure Flash as my front light;

http://www.rutlandcycling.com/25310/EXPOSURE-Flash-LED-Front-Light-2011.html?referrer=froogle1%3futm_source%3dgoogle&utm_medium=froogle&utm_campaign=pid25310

I picked up a couple of batteries and a charger from a uk seller on ebay for a further tenner. Despite numerous soakings it’s all still working well a year in, and I find the constant mode is fine for unlit country roads and the flashing mode gets me noticed in city centre traffic. Rather oddly I find flicking the back of the light will change it between modes, not the exposure recommended way I’m sure, but saves trying to fiddle with anything whilst on the move and it’s never changed mode through pothole strikes or similar. It’s dead small, which is a bonus as I can just pop it in my pocket if popping into shops etc. For me I find it the perfect commuting light, and to be fair I find it hard to get excited about bike lights.