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Looking at the Magicshine Allty 500. £35 from Planet X. Seems about what I (wife) want(s), but reviews thin on the ground.
Seems most reviews for Lezyne, knog, and the rung below are fairly patchy. I would rather spend a little more to not have to buy another when the battery dies or something, but don't fancy spending exposure money, there's a chance it'll get left on a bike at the station...
It will only do nursery/station runs, half an hour a day tops, needs to be small to drop in bag, quick and easy on-off mount.
Dark paths and roads mean 500L minimum for seeing the way, I reckon.
Anything else we should be looking at?
Cheers.
A german spec light from the likes of B&M
Not 500L but because they have a properly shaped beam they are much more effective than the headline figures would lead you to expect and because of the properly shaped beam you do not dazzle car drivers while still being able to see the road
I have some german spec cheapo lights from lidl that I got a few years ago. Light where you want it and need it not wasted.
Light and Motion Urban 500 worth a look I think, it's about the same price. Mine's maybe 4 or 5 years old now and still going strong.
It doesn't light up a country lane quite as well as I'd like it to but oncoming cars seem to notice the light, and it's more than bright enough for my commute through town and an unlit park. It also doubles as a helmet light off road for me.
I use a Lezyne Microdrive. It's got some great daylight settings (pulse, flash) or on full beam lights the way nicely.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/lezyne-micro-drive-600xl-front-light/rp-prod191391
CRC also have a good deal on the 1100lm with a rear light
https://media.chainreactioncycles.com/is/image/ChainReactionCycles/template_sample?$detail$&$id=prod163270_Black_NE_01&$offerhide=1&$promoflag=blackfriday&$promohide=0&locale=en
But I do have a See.Sense Beam on order which should turn up in January. Expecting it to be as good as the rear light (ie. perfect 🙂 )
A german spec light from the likes of B&M
Not 500L but because they have a properly shaped beam they are much more effective than the headline figures would lead you to expect and because of the properly shaped beam you do not dazzle car drivers while still being able to see the road
+1
A 70-80 lux dynamo LED is about 300 lumen, but that's about the equivalent of 1500 lumens being spread over the hedge/sky/drivers eyes.
Have a look at dynamo setups, You can DIY for less, but even buying a shop built wheel it's possible to spec a system for <£300 on Rose bikes including a rear light. And you never have to bother with battery charging (either the faff or the inevitable forgetting lights entirely when forced to work late), unlikely to be nicked off the bike (bolted on, and no battery so useless on its own). Expensive, but ohh so worth it on a commuter.
Ravemen get decent reviews for STVZO style beams with batteries, and they have a main/dipped beam switch. My only reservation is dynamo's are picky where you aim them, you really want that cut off barely a smidgen below horizontal to maximize the distance it illuminates, not sure how well that would work when removably clamped to the bars rather than permanently bolted to the fork crown.
a system for <£300
*tea keyboard interface* !
Those 50 quid Bikehut ones are back in stock. There was a large thread full of positive reviews on here a while ago. I'm thinking of grabbing one myself.
Can't be bothered to search for links on my phone. Soz.
C and B Seen city slicker sounds perfect, but not sure what's going on there - the company has changed hand a couple of times so maybe the expired SSL cetificate is just an oversight?
https://www.candb-seen.co.uk/product-front-light.html
https://www.candb-seen.co.uk/product-front-light.html
/blockquote>Somewhat appropriately, I just see a pitch black page 😉
I use a raveman pr900 I got for christmas a few years back, it has a proper dipped beam/high beam set up which is nice for commuting.
*tea keyboard interface* !
Actually, I take that back, <£200. Evans even have a dynamo wheel for £125, description says novatec, picture shows a SP hub though? Maybe JamesO can confirm?
Or if you need 26" wheels, get an Ofo off ebay and strip it, comes with a shimano dynamo front hub and lamp! Not the brightest by a long way, but a whole bike, with lights that never need to be charged for £80! I've been commuting on mine since the summer. Been commuting daily on mine since the Summer and the only failure has been the solar powered rear light (probably because I store it in an underground car park).
Once you've had dynamo lights on a commuter for a while you won't go back to charging batteries every night and getting caught out in the dark.
I use a Niterider micro 850, £40 from Merlin at the mo. It's been solid for the unlit lanes of Derbyshire and nice and compact.
10 miles unlit a road- moon lx350
A great light with a useful remote switch to dip light if needed.
Most Moon lights are now more powerful, and I think they almost under quote the power numbers.
Talking of Moon I’ve been looking at the Moon Meteor Storm lite, seem to be half price atm at Merlin, Tredz etc
https://road.cc/content/review/234168-moon-meteor-storm-lite
For front light I’m currently using a bright spot with a separate power bank for back lanes/commutes and it’s just too glarey for other road users even in low mode so consequently I have the beam angled too low/near for my own safety. The Moon Meteor Storms (seems to be quite a few diff models including dual version with a warm light led) seem to get consistent 4 and 5 star reviews. Mode button sounds fiddly though. I like simple.
Somewhat appropriately, I just see a pitch black page
I get a Firefox security alert for that page!
you won’t go back to charging batteries every night
My Lezyne needs charging every couple of days - I just shove the light into a USB - it has an orange warning where there's about an hour left, so it's never left me stranded. My rear light needs chanrging every 2 weeks or so. I can't change the hubs on my road bike's Mavics. So dynamo is just not a viable solution.
If you use rim brakes Decathlon have dynamo wheels for 30 quid...
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/Buy/dynamo?SORT_ORDER=46%7c0
I can’t change the hubs on my road bike’s Mavics. So dynamo is just not a viable solution.
Improve your style and drag in one easy bottle 😉
I've got one of these Busch and Mullers and it is brilliant, gives you a really well lit area of road ahead, about the width of a lane and going say 25m ahead of you. Also has some side on visibility, you can see the shadow of the drops on the ground to your side. Charge lasts plenty of time, although my only criticism is that the battery charge indication is needlessly over complicated. Way better than the Lezyne Macro 400XL it replaced.
https://r2-bike.com/BUSCH-MUeLLER-LED-Battery-Front-Light-IXON-Core-StVZO
Think you can get them cheaper elsewhere. I got the bundle with a rear light which is also stvzo, very bright from a pretty acute range of angles directly behind the bike but not great from the side (intentionally I guess but still don't like it and have never really had trouble with people's rear lights blinding me), so I pair it with an Alpkit Tau on the chainstay which I already had.
Improve your style and drag in one easy bottle
and double the weight of my Tripster. Bargin! 😆
As a wonder; has anyone found aftermarket lenses to change the circular beam to an stvzo compliant style? I’m aware C and B seen did a simple refraction style one a few years ago for the Chinese Cree lamps but not seen anything.
I’m also aware that it may not be possible due to reflector design. It’s a muse.
and double the weight of my Tripster.
Joking aside, you can get a 52g rim-dynamo for the price of a dynohub wheel. Most hub-generators are ten times that weight
Thanks all for the suggestions!
Dynamo-no for this one. Battery B&L don't get great reviews. Ravemen look interesting but:
We plumped for the 500L Bikehut job. A bit more of an on/off faff than the Allty, but I can walk it back to the shop if there's any issues and it doubles as a power bank, so she can leave that at home
Cheers now.
Malvernrider, the moon mode switch is good- when in constant mode, it toggles through 4 brightness levels without going through flash or off.
Mine has a remote switch I put on the drops to dip the power.
I am happy on a fast descent with only 350lm on familiar roads.
jkomo really appreciated thnks. Actually a remote switch could be a godsend, this will be for a foot-bike where one-handed steering is dodgy as. Other night for example was descending a 1/4 mile street around 37-40mph and overestimated the street-lighting, so had slow to a stop to change mode on my spot. Partypooping nonsense, I can tell you. Seriously looking at saving for the Meteor Storm Dual with the warm led.
Finally decided on a Ravemen PR900 for the cutoff beam and remote switch. Surprising how few battery-powered road-specific lights there are, especially ruffty tuffty ones with a dual beam for off-asphalt excursions.
Other lights I looked at were were Fenix BC25 and Ravemen CR700. Opted for the PR as seemed more dual-purpose with longer run-times (albeit at the cost of considerable extra weight)
If it was just a road bike I’d probably have gone with the CR700.
We plumped for the 500L Bikehut
How’s it working out OP?
It does the trick, cycling through the modes is a tiny bit of a pain. Don't really see why you need more than high, medium, low.
We're on the second one now, the mount screw pulled through the threads in the light body. There's only 2 threads engaged in the the thickness of the case. Bit of a weakness there, I think.
I use a specialized flux- it’s very compact, easy and quick to clip into the great sturdy mount that puts it out the way under the stem. Lots of modes and good battery life.
Not the cheapest, but great light.
https://www.specialized.com/nl/en/flux-1200-headlight/p/159102
My Exposure wasn't that much. It a tracer r
£32 on wiggle
3x2 modes. Including a day light flash
My fave feature is that when you turn it off it as a tri colour led that gives an indication of remaining charge