Hi, I went today to buy Hope R4 lights for the bike but on going to a couple of different shops and looking/listening at/about different lights im back home without any and now im not sure what to buy. I was planning a Hope R4 as a flood light on the bars and then a spot light on the lid. Any advice/experiences what to buy?

Some good information about loads of light options here –

2013 Bike Lights Shootout – 50 LED Lights Measured

L&m Seca usually comes up top in mag tests

Magicshine take your pick, why spend more?

Magicshine’s MJ872 does the exact same job as the R4, and does it just as well, for £80-ish. You’ll not get the same standard of warranty though, but on the other hand Hope lights aren’t always the most reliable. I know people have their perceptions of “cheap hong kong lights” but the better ones are genuinely good. TBH there’s probably better now, my 872 is 2 years old, but there’s no reason to replace it yet.

It used to be everyone recommended a flood on the bars and a spot on the head… That was because the floodlights weren’t good enough. But what with the lumen war, today’s floodlights are as effective at distance as spotlights from a couple of years ago. And a flood gives better peripheral vision.

Most of the time these days I just use my MJ872 on the helmet, with a cheap backup light on the bars just in case- that’s more than enough light to ride downhill with.

I’ve just purchased a Magicshine as a back up light after my more expensive light got ‘forgotten’ about while being repaired. I have to say that for 60 euros it is pretty impressive. It doesn’t quite have the throw of my more expensive light but it’s more than adequate for any kind of singletrack shenanigans and, for the price, I could buy a new one each season for the next few years and still end up being cheaper than buying the expensive light.

Magicshine 872 for me can’t fault it