I have just done some googling without a deal of success – can anybody point me to some good recent ‘top 10’ kind of reviews?

I am thinking of the Hope+4 LED http://www.hopetech.com/product/r4plus-led/
– Unless there is a load better option for similar money £200 ish???

Blimey – nobody???
I thought at this time of year it would be a hot topic!

Mtbr do an annual group test I think.

Get a gloworm, great lights, just not from crgmoto.

I tend to head over to the mtbr lights and night riding forum when I want some info on lights.

Link Here.

You can get some good info on cheap lights that can compete with the big boys.

I ordered some xeccon lights a couple of years ago that were great. I’ve now got the urge to buy some new lights and have recently ordered a Nitefighter BT40s as a bar light, just waiting for it to arrive.
Also recently bought a Thorfire C8s torch from Amazon as a helmet light, together with a good quality (Xtar) battery and charger. I mounted it to my helmet using cheap gopro mounts and it is phenominal for riding singletrack at night.

I’m sure the Hope’s will be great, they’re just a bit pricey for me.

The trouble is, the lights move on pretty fast, and few people really try more than a couple. Mags tend to focus on mainstream brands too.

For me, I look at something at the upper end of the chinese lights- your high end magicshines and the like, up at the level where you get a quality charger and battery and good reliability. Cheap lights are great to get you going but I spent about £75 each on my MJ872s and 3 years on they’re still doing the job. Every year I buy something new and cooler and then after a week sell it when it turns out to be worse. There’s a sweet spot for value, but maybe it’s not the same for everyone…

the hope`s are really interesting…
but ..
I had a lupine nightmare halo, lion for more than 11 years in use..
sold it three years ago and started to “play” with the chinese lights..
but after a burned kitchen floor (magicshine charger) and two times with
lights suddenly failing on the trail, I went back to an older exposure maxx d for the bar, and a used (thirdhand) lupine wilma for helmet mount…perfect for my needs !
every year I´m interested in the new lights like the BT40`s
but in the market for a new light would choose the hope`s I guess..

Try four4th lights made in England, work well, very bright. Not too expensive – for what you get.

http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/bike-light-database.html

This will be updated over the next few weeks.

I remember this place and its offerings having been discussed here on a few occasions in the past. Any word on them?

[We might as well make this the thread the ‘light reviews’ the OP is looking for!]

Brilliant – thank you everybody.
Torchy – thank you very interesting.

Just to add, this is to replace my helmet mounted Lupine Tesla and supplement my handlebar Moon light.

The tesla is about 5 years old and wont charge anymore (though I’m pretty sure the bulb is OK)

Not sure if the R4+ is in the shops yet – Hope state a September release but …

My wife bought the current R4 last weekend, the shop couldn’t find any details of when the R4+ would be released on the dealer only pages. We went out for a first night ride last night, it certainly seems very bright – even when 20 metres ahead I was using quite a bit of her light as well as my own (I’ve one of the original Hope Vision 2 lights). There’s quite a bit more spread with the R4 than the Vision 2 which seems more like a spot light by comparison.

Went the Hope route as we both have Vision 2 lights so have spare batteries. Some people prefer an integrated battery but those units have the problem that if you are out longer than anticipated then you could easily end up with no light. At least with an external battery you can swap to a spare battery, the Hope batteries are just a plain plug that you can connect/disconnect with your eyes closed.

The light unit weighs 80g so not that heavy for using on your helmet (the helmet mount weighs about 20g). The mounting is different from the older units so you can’t swap between them.

Get a gloworm, great lights, just not from crgmoto.

As someone thinking of buying a glowwork, what is wrong with crgmoto?

Cribbed from a few threads seen here before: The owner has had personal problems, and the result seems to be that the business is still taking money for MTB lights but not sending any out, giving refunds, or answering email.

Gloworm are distributed by Ison in the UK now.

Crg moto used to distribute Gloworm lights and are no longer able to get hold of Gloworm stock and people have had issues when trying to purchase from crg and not receiving the lights. Any LBD with and account with Ison Distribution is able to purchase a Gloworm light or spares.