My ideal commuting light would be….

Bright enough for unlit towpaths, but not as bright as my Maxx D on full belt.

A lower setting than the low on the Maxx D so I don’t blind drivers on the road.

Will last 3 hours (one days commuting) on one charge

Cheap, rechargeable, and from a British supplier in case of problems.

Which moon on a stick for me then?

the sun

http://road.cc/content/news/69237-big-roadcc-lights-test-2012

This might be useful

MM

Can’t comment on burn time, but think it’s in the region of what you need, the lezyne macro drive. Great little light that I use (and much cheaper and more reliable than the maxx d I have), though for a claimed 300 lumens it seems very close in power to my maxx d!

Apart from the british supplier part, a cheapo torch will do what you want. My dealextreme XML torch is way brighter than needed for towpaths, focused enough that it won’t glare drivers unless I want it to even on full, has a sensible lower power setting and will run for 3 hours as long as it’s spend mostly on low power (which is what you’d want for most road use and still bright enough for unlit path)

It’s been rock solid reliable, but also, at the price you can afford a spare.

Second the macrodrive, very impressed with mine

Mine is the Electron Terra 3 light featured in last weeks Fresh Goods: http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/fresh-goods-friday-114/

Had one on order for about 4 months now!

For me, key features for commuting are:
– 700 lumins min
– single unit ie integrated battery
– USB charge (so I can charge it at work)
– simple bracket to clip / unlclip from handlebars
– reasonable run time
– reasonable value ie under £150

What about a dynamo hub and light. eg something like an SP Dynamo hub, with a B&M IQ Cyo. Depends on what the towpath is like, but it should be about bright enough for riding at a reasonable speed. Plus has a decent beam shape, so doesn’t dazzle drivers. And no worries about battery life.
Or the new B&M IQ2 Luxos will be a fair bit brighter, though not available yet.

There are a few UK suppliers for B&M lights (eg Dotbike), though its usually cheaper to buy from Germany.

You have just described the Exposure Strada. Buy one of the earlier models from their factory shop. I think they still have stocks and are superb.

yes i thought of the Strada too, i have one and it’s very good.

Mine is the Electron Terra 3 light featured in last weeks Fresh Goods:

I’m with footflaps, howvere got mine form merlin for a cracking £112.

superb, have used it for MTB and road bike/commuting.

Seems a top bit of kit.

Bright enough for unlit towpaths, but not as bright as my Maxx D on full belt.

A lower setting than the low on the Maxx D so I don’t blind drivers on the road.

Dynamo powered Schmidt Edeluxe (inc. hub and wheelbuild still cheaper than my maxxD was)

Bright as a MaxxD on the ground, no light wasted trying to blind drivers. They can still see you tho, just like you can see a car/motorbike headlight, its common sense for road/commute use.

For the front, This

From here

Deal extreme

Apart from the british supplier part, a cheapo torch will do what you want. My dealextreme XML torch is way brighter than needed for towpaths, focused enough that it won’t glare drivers unless I want it to even on full, has a sensible lower power setting and will run for 3 hours as long as it’s spend mostly on low power (which is what you’d want for most road use and still bright enough for unlit path)

It’s been rock solid reliable, but also, at the price you can afford a spare.

Ive been running two of these on my commute now for the last two years. Utterly reliable and I think the lot. 4 batteries, a charger and two torches came to about £40 iirc.

From that comparison review the strada does look good – the beam pattern looks very tailored to be appropriate on the road and it has a dip function.

only the strada ticks all those boxes.
I got mine last year from wheelies (I think) via amazon, I’m sure it was priced wrong as it was only about £155 ish.
I took their hand off 🙂
awesome light, keep an eye on eBay and the factory shop.

shame so many communting lights have little or no side visibility.

side markers would be a good idea:

like this but smaller!

shame so many communting lights have little or no side visibility.

side markers would be a good idea:

And a legal requirement on the road I believe…

Strada user here, best rural commuting light available IMO.

You can’t beat a dynamo for commuting. I use one and commute off road but it also works well on the road and despite not being road legal in Germany doesn’t seem to blind anyone.

If go the dynamo route and want a UK made light then I am very impressed with the Exposure Revo that I started using this week*

http://www.exposurelights.com/product/000098/revo-dynamo-mk1-(new)/

*86 miles so far in all weather conditions. Haven’t taken it off road yet though.

I’m with footflaps, howvere got mine form merlin for a cracking £112.

When did you get yours?

I placed an order with Freeborn bikes months ago. They took my money the day I ordered (very poor) and I’ve still got nothing and they claim to have not got any delivered yet, even though everyone else seems to be selling them now. Less than impressed…

got it last Saturday

ctznsmith – Member
If go the dynamo route and want a UK made light then I am very impressed with the Exposure Revo that I started using this week*

http://www.exposurelights.com/product/000098/revo-dynamo-mk1-(new)/

*86 miles so far in all weather conditions. Haven’t taken it off road yet though.

I used my Exposure Revo for all 800.5miles of the EWE, where it rained for the first 8 days, almost constantly, and the bike was outside 24hrs a day, it saw me through the BB200 last week (more rain, except when it stopped raining to hail :?), commuting every day for the last three months, thrashing in the woods on Tuesday nigths with my mates and on a cycle tour holiday to the South of France, just going to the shops, and pretty much every other time I’ve reached for a road and MTB too! It’s never missed a beat, it’s way brighter than my battery lights when turned onto a medium to high mode that gives a sensible burn time (only beaten by the stuid bright, 30min – 1hr setting of some lights or silly heavy battery arangements!), I am a total convert and am delighted to never have to aory about battery life and constant charging that commuting brings, so enjoy and ride with confidence 😀

Oh, it is quite bright, so I just point it down a bit on the road, I think a little clip on cowl would do a grand job, but this goes for pretty much every other MTB light out there!

Lumenator.

@ rob, saw these at the London bike show, build quality looks great, so I assume you have hubs on both your mtb and road bikes, and do you just swap out wheels in the lighter months? Can get a bit pricey, I can see the benefits though, I’ve forgotten to fully charge my lights a fair few times, not funny when you’re on the top of the south downs. Also, do you carry a back up torch for any mechanicals lasting more than 10 mins 😉

Commuting wise my exposure flash/flare combo have been great.

Still using my old Lumicycle Halide – bought in 2004 and still going strong.
Side-visibility added by using the Commuter Glow Ring for it.
No power settings, just Off and Really Chuffin Bright.
I point it lower when on the road or passing oncoming bikers on the path.
(Most of my route is unlit rural cycle path). Burn time is long enough that I don’t have to think about it.

I always carry a backup Cateye light, just in case, but never needed it yet.

do you just swap out wheels in the lighter months?

@rewski – I thought I might want to, but actually I have one of the SP switchable hubs on my “just riding around/commuting bikes, and I just left the dynamo on my MTB and road bike, and they’ve been rock solid, I can live with the nought point something watt power loss with the light disconnected which, to be honest, I leave on the bike 24/7, there’s still a night time, even in summer 😉

I think a little clip on cowl would do a grand job

Not a bad idea at all. Had a pedestrian on my 200m towpath stretch last night say ‘you need to point that light down a bit’.

I also think that a mk2 should have an off/low (2 led’s)/high (4 led’s) switch perhaps as all 4 is overkill in town.

You really don’t notice the hub, easiest way to describe it is it’s like riding with a slightly heavier tyre so after the first 10 minutes you get used to it and you’d only notice it again if you switched back.

Hope vision four with district rear, splitter cable and decent battery, bloomin brilliant.

must not look at revos anymore— must not look at revos —- must not look at revos ….. WANT