I know it’s summer, but my lights are old and tired these days (Lumicycles which have been great) and I could do with a new set ready for the winter.

Having had a quick look, looks like there’s loads of lights out there, so I don’t know what to get.

I’m not fussed by run time as I generally go for shorter evening blasts and I don’t do any enduro / 24hr stuff anymore.

Would be nice if they weren’t too heavy. Helmet mounted ideally.

Don’t really want to spend much more than £250.

Anybody got any recommendations?

Cheers.

Trout for supper bright and will run from Lummi battery iirc.
Bstid – some deal extreme offering for about £50

I really like my lumi LED3 lights. The xpg are even better. I’d be inclined to wait until the next gen of lumi if you can.

myself and some friends bought the magic shine led lights. £100 and they are awsome. you can dim them, have the main light on or the two smaller or all three together. for the money i think they are excellent. check out the magicshine website

Exposure max on the bars (960 lumen) plus a bastid on the hat (approx 600 lumen) almost daylight! Got both for £200 all in. Nows the time to buy – summer!

My exposure Maxx has been running splendidly for about 5 years now. Very good light and as a bonus is all neat and contained in it’s little tube.

Try Deal Extreme (Hong Kong based dealer). They have some great LED torch style lights that run for about 2 hours or more on full blast. Forty+ quid, including a couple of sets of rechargeable batteries, charger and helmet & bar mounts. A few of us bought a couple of sets each (one for helmet and one for bars) and used them to discover the joys of nightriding up in the Peaks.

There are better out there, but these are almost a commodity at the price.

A vote for Ay-Up from here. Been running them for a couple of years and love them. Light, bright, and good value.

we have a few sets of as new Lupines demo lights, contact Craig for deals and a few other new unused sets, all have full warranty.

Contact CCraig Shuff

Swinnerton Cycles Ltd.

http://www.swinnertoncycles.co.uk

67-73 Victoria Road

Fenton

Stoke-on-Trent

Staffordshire

ST4 2HG

t:08448 112299

e:craig@swinnertoncycles.co.uk

INTERNET SALES: 08448 112299 MON-FRI 9AM – 5PM
SWINNERTON CYCLES LTD
67 -73 VICTORIA ROAD
FENTON
STOKE ON TRENT, STAFFORDSHIRE ST4 2HG
UNITED KINGDOM
Fax: VAT : 885 2437 92
http://WWW.SWINNERTONCYCLES.CO.UK

Exposure Diablo. Great helmet mounted light.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eC-kdye_qRQ&feature=related[/video]

There is only one.. 😉

So… as you can see lots of options, let me break it down for you, as I see it.

Option 1: You can get cheap as chips “deal extreme” type bike “P7 LED” lights for £50 from Hong Kong (short delivery times now, long as the nights draw in). These are also available from UK suppliers for a premium.
These are great units, cheaply made so aren’t as reliable as the ‘big guys’, but have plenty of light & I highly recommend them. Theory being if it break, buy another you can buy 5 to most large manufacturers one £250 unit.
Mine has done me sterling service, though have had to replace the protection circuit on the battery (cheers Smudge) on it’s 2nd year and put a new connection on the head unit after the wires frayed (couple of quid and bit of easy soldering).
There are also plenty other Hong Kong manufacturers supply similar kits, with newer & better XP-G or XM-L LED’s fitted. The XM-L’s will be this years top sellers IMO. I’ve bought one off Smudge (tad more expensive than from DX), as I can’t help myself with cheap but brilliant lights, and it’s immense, a great unit.

If you want a cheap way into night riding or just cheap night riding, then one of the above is a great options IMHO.

Option 2: You buy from the ‘known’ manufacturers, the likes of Lumicycle, Hope, Lupine. Usually great lights, very reliable, but unless you buy the all singing and dancing top model, they tend to be no brighter than the DX units for 5 times the cost. They also “tend” to lag behind badly when it comes to the newer LED technologies. Buy if you want ‘real’ piece of mind & backup.
[Personnally I had a Lupine unit a few years back and found them to be rude and unco-operative, especially considering their premium prices, but others love em]
Option 2 (B): Exposure lights, all in one units that are very convienent but very expensive with it, but loved by there users.

Option 3: The custom makers, the likes of Troutie and Luminous and others. Making it themselves using the latest and greatest LED technology. You pay a premium, but will get quality unit (hand made), which the guys will happily support (.. if you break it) or upgrade later, if you want. I have a Troutie Mini, fantastic unit, but I paid a premium for it VS the DX units (DX weren’t as bright at the time though).

One of those options should/will appeal to you personnally (cheapness/support/real quality), choose it and run with it. 😀

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product/hopevision2ledlight.aspx?&id=9657

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/hope-vision-4-led-front-light/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=products

Personally I use a Trailtech with various size Lithium battery packs if you go to batteryspace a US company they offer a huge choice of sizes. With a HID narrow beam bulb 650 lumens. I would never use the wide beam as there is no point being able to see a tree which is 30 degrees and hundred yards to your left and dazzle car drivers. I will replace the bulb when it is gone with a new LED light set which supplies 800 lumen and uses less power. Lithium batteries are very easy to damage while NiMh are very very robust so use them if you are happy with the extra weight (about a third on a power to weight ratio). Now I have just bought a Hope Vision 1 LED as a repalcement back up. Good! well worth it, might do you, very easy to move from bike to bike. Uses 4 Recharable AA and if you use hybrids you don’t have to worry about having them discharge themselves. BEWARE OF THE HOPE CON there 960 lumen light is obviouly not 960 lumens as it has 4 bulbs you cannot increase brightness by adding more bulbs. All you are doing is increasing the amount of light not the brightness. 1 x 100 watt incandescent light bulb is just as bright as a thousand 100 watt incandascent bulbs.
It really matters how much light there is availble anyway. I live and pass through villages that have the odd light here and there at best and nowt between, so I go big on Lumens and watts. The Hope with a few spare batteries (always Hybrid NiMh) maybe more than addequate for your needs. JB

1 x 100 watt incandescent light bulb is just as bright as a thousand 100 watt incandascent bulbs.

Eh?

in photometry, luminous intensity is a measure of the wavelength-weighted power emitted by a light source in a particular direction per unit solid angle, based on the luminosity function, a standardized model of the sensitivity of the human eye. The SI unit of luminous intensity is the candela (cd), an SI base unit.

Photometry deals with the measurement of visible light as perceived by human eyes. The human eye can only see light in the visible spectrum and has different sensitivities to light of different wavelengths within the spectrum. When adapted for bright conditions (photopic vision), the eye is most sensitive to greenish-yellow light at 555 nm. Light with the same radiant intensity at other wavelengths has a lower luminous intensity. The curve which measures the response of the human eye to light is a defined standard, known as the luminosity function. This curve, denoted V(?) or \overline{y}(\lambda), is based on an average of widely differing experimental data from scientists using different measurement techniques. For instance, the measured responses of the eye to violet light varied by a factor of ten.

Luminous intensity should not be confused with another photometric unit, luminous flux, which is the total perceived power emitted in all directions. Luminous intensity is the perceived power per unit solid angle. Luminous intensity is also not the same as the radiant intensity, the corresponding objective physical quantity used in the measurement science of radiometry.

Still none the wiser???

lipseal – Member

1 x 100 watt incandescent light bulb is just as bright as a thousand 100 watt incandascent bulbs.

Eh?
HOPE 1 LED (240 LUMEN) V HOPE 4 LED (960 LUMEN)
If you put all 4 light bulbs on you will not see any further forward than if you were using just one. 4 bulbs will give you more light to light up the road to your left and right and maybe close up i.e. give you a good spread of light not a brighter light.

Wasn’t troutie thinking of retirement? Correct me if I’m wrong

Yep Troutie was talking about giving up but will still be plodding on
I have plenty of stock of Liberators and the mini`s
and will be doing the spider eye light after my holidays hopefully in time for the dark nights arriving .

Yes I have been in the doldrums re lights over the summer and thinking deeply about the future .
with the massive increase of cheap Chinese lights swamping the meercat
it becomes increasingly difficult to compete .

Ah, good news, chinese may be cheap but there’s no substitute for a enthusiast builder who actually rides himself compared to a far east email address for expertise and a personal touch*

*not that sort of touch you pervert!

<obsessions>
oooh spider eyes – multiple xm-l the only surefire way to sweep the trails of faster riders.
<obsessions/>

troutie – check ya mail

Spider eyes?? Tell me more, will be in the market for new lights next month or so

@transapp – where was that Exposure deal?

Have u thought about upgrading your Lumicycle?
Lumicycle can refresh your battery if it’s a bit knackered, and you can get some led drivers & boards online. Depends how handy you are with a soldering iron but it’s not difficult.
I did one for me & one for a mate last year, with a high/low switch option.

On high, it’s brighter than the 20w halogen but uses half the power. Both lamps on high gave 7hrs 20 run time with the Lumi endurance battery.

A search on here should bring up plenty of info.

Then of course there are Trouties fantastic DIY build lights which for approx £150 will get you an amazing 900 or 1800 lumen light. Don’t let the DIY thing put you off they are a top quality light at a fraction of the price….if Trout is still doing them.

Email Troutie and get him to upgrade the internals of your existing Lumi’s
Fraction the cost of a new off the shelf light.

i see cyclestore have some lupine wilma 5’s on sale
an there about as good as night lights get 🙂

Yep Troutie was talking about giving up but will still be plodding on

Don’t Troutie, you lights are ace!