As the nights are drawing in, I now find myself wanting to do some night riding, also I need to get some lights on my commuting bike.

I'd prefer to get two sets, as I can't be arsed with swapping one set backwards and forwards between the two bikes.

The first set would live on my commuter bike, and would be a front and rear light for road and cyclepath riding. I assume that I wouldn't need anything else? What makes/models would people suggest?

The second set would be for night time trail riding. What set up do I need? Do I need a set on the handlebars and another on my helmet? I'd also need a rear light for the short road sections that link up my local loop. How do battery lives compare to those advertised please? Again your recommendations advice would be appreciated.

Trout lights look great, but from what I can tell, he's unsure when he'll be able to supply them, and I'm actually starting to need them now.

There are going to be loads of responses to this I guess.

First issue is your budget and how serious you are.

Cheap "just having a go" lights you can get from deal extreme or fenix.

These are fancy torches with high power (200 to 300 lumen's)

For "proper" bike lights the hope single led is a good starter for about £70.00, but needs batteries and a separate charge.

The clever MTB dedicated lights are from folk like Hope, Lupine or Exposure as well as Ay-Up.

A bit more idea of what you want and you will get some more replies.

One on the bars is a good idea and one the "nappa" for that looking round corners and drops etc

I think the most important factor is what your mates are riding with, if they are riding with 1000 lumen setup then you'll need a similar setup or they will just overpower your lights and make you feel like you cant see anything…

For the commuter bike I would go with the Hope one. I have one and for the purpose you have described it would be ideal. Mine is very good for canal paths and road riding.

As for the off roading then maybe go for the DX light from China, that has been much talked about on this forum. £50 for the same output as some 250 quid lights. Beem shots of the light looked very good to me. Not many bad things said about them so its worth a go considering you might not even like night riding.

The Ay-ups would be a good idea if you want lights on the bars and on your helmet, they seem to kick out plenty of light and are quite neat and small! Helmet lights are good if your riding lots of twisty singletrack stuff where you need to see where you are looking rather than just directly infront of the bars!

For a rear I would go for:

a knog Gekko

Budget is secondary to quality for me. I'd rather buy something once that will last a lifetime, rather than buy something cheaper and have to replace it. I'm willing to spend a few hundred pounds for a decent set up.

I'm sure I'll enjoy night riding.

Although I have "had a pop" at the main MTB light players, the stuff is good.

If you are serious then the choice is in built battery or separate.

The exposure stuff is superb and is all "built in"

I would go for the new Toro when it comes out

It will be £275 when it comes out for the light, ql bracket and charger.

With the Knog on the rear it will set you back £290 for the lot, or add a Fenix for your head for £40, £340 the lot !!

First off, you need different lights for the different applications.

Secondly, dont expect them to last a lifetime, bulbs/leds/electronics will fail eventually. Also, batteries have a finite life, you can pay more now for ease of use (ie. integrated, quick to charge etc) or go cheaper and replace more often.

Lights wise..

For commuting id look for commuting style lights as they give you much better side visibility compared to MTB/offroad lights. Rear lights for commuting need to be bright and reliable, so basically you need more than one as the day it fails will be the day you get run-down.

Off road there are a million options, i went with Exposure ones as they have no cables and are so easy to use day2day i actually do more riding as its much less faff! they are bloody expensive tho.

I have a Niterider Minewt x2 Led that I use for a mix of road & off road riding.Its "only" 150 Lumen so its not going to turn night into day like some lights on here but its a good compromise.I've used mine at Mayhem & SITS & people have commented on how bright it is for its size etc.I think they are £150 now or thereabouts.Must admit,I have been tempted by the "bastid" DX light like many others on here.

For commuting, unless you ride on unlit roads, cateye cheap ones do the job.

If you ride on unlit roads, have lots of money & want the ultimate commuting light, that you'll just never have to mess with, then build up a dynamo hub front wheel (with the Shimano DH-3N80 hub, which is the most efficient and lightest one currently available), and fit the light linked below, in the "Senso Plus" model:
http://www.dotbike.com/ProductsP6841.aspx?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=FGL
and a red dynamo back light. It gives you tons of light, that is always there when you need it, no need to charge batteries, no noticeable drag, and even turns on automatically when it gets dark (or when you go through a tunnel or whatever)

Joe

On road I have a cateye EL 530 for the front, very bright, a bit too focused for off road riding, fine for unlit onroad. Rear I've got a Cateye TL LD150, small, bright, takes normal batteries (triple As I think) which last forever.

Off road I bought a Hope 4 LED and been very pleased with it, way better than the Cateye. Used it Mayhem and it was really good. I couple it up with a £10 Tesco LED 2 AA torch with a Fenix lockblok. Could actually mount 2 on my helmet if I wanted. The torches are plenty bright enough (with good batteries) and pretty focused and directional which is what I want from a head mounted torch. They also have the advanage of taking normal batteries so if for some reason everything goes flat you can at least take a couple of spare batteries to limp home on.

Don't forget Lumicycle if you are looking for an off-road light. Their new LED systems look really good. I had a fiddle with one they were displaying at last yrs D2D.

For your needs, I would go as suggested with Cateye road lights for the road stuff. Probably £50-60 will see you a good set of front/rear lights.

For off road, it's down to doing a bit of research and personal choice. I bought the Lumicycle halogens because at the time I don't think LEDs were quite there. But, they are now so if I was looking to replace my lights it would definitely be with an LED set-up. I think that Lupine are out of my price range, so would probably be looking at Exposure, Lumicycle (again), Ay-ups & Hope.

For commuting, it totally depends if you're gonna be riding on unlit roads.
I commute 2x a week on pitch black unlit roads / canal tow paths. Then night riding on the mtb at least once a week.
I've got a lumicycle LED, and it is phenomenal. 4 x power settings, glowring for side visibility and the rear light has 5 of the brightest red leds ive seen.
My commute is 1hr each way, and mtbing probably 2hrs a week, so average of 6hrs a week and the battery lasts for at least 8hrs on full power (which is bright enough to get cars flashing at me). Charge it once a week at the weekend, leave the rear light (plus one cateye battery light) on the commuter and switch the qr front light and battery between the commuter and mtb.

A great system with really really good customer service backup as well.
Lots of friends have used other systems, and i think we've all now moved over to lumicycle, as one by one the all of the others (cateye, exposure, lupine etc etc) have died.

I reckon get 2/3 of the cheapo 180 lumen torches with recyclable AA batteries and strap them on you bars/helmet with fishlockblocks. As an occasional indulger in short, solo winter evening rides, this does for me.

If you get into it, sell this setup on the classifieds and get a proper setup.

I bit the bullet at about this time last year. I don't commute,so this is my set up :Hope 4 on the handlebars and a Mi Newt on the helmet. They've transformed my night riding,lots of confidence and loads of fun.
I like the power settings on the Hope.One,or two are usually adequate,saving the full power for technical and/or unknown stuff.
As yet I've not run out of juice on the Hope.The Mi-Newt usually goes for 3hours.

You could also check out Reubens Tiger lights, hopefully this link will work..

http://www.customidea.com/tigers/index.php

I get 2, 3-4 hour rides out of 1 charge.