[Closed] Best bar light for £100

But for what kind of riding?

Road/gravel I’d be going with a Ravemen PR1600 no question. Dual- purpose/emitters, combined beam, remote etc.

MTB/road possibly the same but would add helmet light

Haven’t seen anything else that does road properly (possibly a Strada (?), but not in that price bracket. I have a PR900 and bought an extra mount (£5) so have one on the road bike and one on the MTB.

I really like my Bontrager Ion Pro RT.

But for what kind of riding?

For my wife, who rides steep twisty MTB trails and road loops on her road bike.

She has an exposure helmet light, but needs a replacement bar light - but preferably one that can swap between bikes as she has three.

Maybe it’s too much to ask?!

Can’t fault my halfords 1600 light on my bars
Plenty bright enough on tight forest trails and easy enough to swap about with the Gopro mounts

Halfords 1600 here for 50 quid. Perfect for me.

Exposure have an old version of the Strada on their outlet just over budget. I've not used a Strada, and the spare brackets are £20. It takes 1min for me to swap my bracket from one bike to another. I've got 3 bikes and two brackets.

https://exposurelights.com/outlet-store

That’s very tempting. Wonder if it would be any good for MTB though?

Nitenumen X8 aka Evolva X8.
Usually £50 or so. Allegedly 1800 lumen and 4+h on full. I run one on the bars and one on the lid, with GoPro-style mounts.
Like this
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08G4T7G29/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_-PWPFbQDYAY5Q

I like my Specialized Flux which I picked up for £100. Seems to have gone up to 130 this year but there is a 900 lumen version for about a ton.

Can the Halfords one be mounted on a helmet?

Curious/serious Q - but how can MTB lights be ‘perfect’ on the road? No StVZO or even a cutoff beam, no distance beam-weighting? Floody, unfocused, dazzling, round beams which require virtually pointing at the front wheel when on road otherwise they dazzle (at any power level) road-users

Furthermore, are there any proper (battery-powered) options except Ravemen, Strada* or Fenix?

*Still not seen the Strada’s beam but assuming it has a cutoff?
**edit - @breatheeasy, does the Flux have a cutoff pattern?

The Halfords one is a little heavy for helmet mounting imo.
Ymmv though.

Ok thanks

I've just had one of those Exposure Strada outlet store lights delivered today, though it was to work so I won't get it till Monday.

I bought it solely for road riding. Its only 600 lumens which is perfect for road but not sure how good that would be for trail. I got it as it has daybright setting, it only weighs 135g and has a road specific beam with a dipping remote. Plus shows accurate battery life left - i always forget when I last charged my current light and despite the traffic light gauge have run out of juice accidentally when commuting.

Halfords 1600 for the bars. Top bang for buck.

If they still do the 500, that's good for a helmet mount coupled with the 1600 on the bars.

I use a strada on mtb. Works just fine, and the remote is excellent. Also used in commuter

I have the bikehut 1600, have kept the rubber mount on it, stick it in my kids bikes and my brompton or cargo bike when I need a bit more power

Take a look at the Nitecore br35.

1800L max and designed for both road and trail use. Been using one for a year for mixed trail and road

Thanks, that NiteCore looks like it might do the job. Especially if one can buy additional mounts.

Has anyone had any experience of the Fenix BC30 v2.0. I like the idea of replaceable batteries. Wondering how good the beam pattern really is though.

^
The Fenix BC30 is a little confusing as it seems there are not only two versions (v1 and v2) but also two versions of V1?

ie one denoted ‘BC30R’ But it seems they all share the same or similar optics?

Found an extensive review of the BC30R here:

https://tacticalreviews.co.uk/?p=534

Annoying lack of reviews for the V2. One thing I don’t get it why both emitters have a mild cutoff beam-pattern where surely an ideal multipurpose bike light would have one emitter with a wide, square, cutoff road beam and one emitter with a more floodlit trail beam. Plus the ability to combine?

I think the BC30R and BC30 V2.0 both use the same lenses, the 'R' has build in rechargeable batteries, the "non-R" has ones that can be swapped out.

That review gives a relatively good rating for the beam pattern, but I'm not convinced its anywhere near as good as say the Raveman PR or Exposure Strada ranges. Was looking for some real world UK users feedback regarding road use.