Mtb lights, any advice on low cost lights please?
for commuting? Off road night riding? How much power? How long do you want it to run for? Bar/helmet mount? Budget?
Lots of questions that would need answering before you make a choice..
mtb batteries are good for the money tho..
http://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain-bike-lights/
Thanks stevied, should have seen that coming, off road night riding, not sure how much power duration as new to this. Just thought it would be a matter of buying a bike and go riding (stupid me), Budget is the main problem at the mo, spent all cash on bike. looked at joining Sherwood pines group on wed but the site says I need lights even at this time of year. Trying to post in this forum on a smartphone is not good.
The bike light market has gone crazy lately with lots of Chinese (Magicshine) lights coming out. There's loads of threads on here so maybe try doing a search to get some more info..
Glad you asked actually, as I was going to ask the same question.
I've looked at the DX offerings in the past, but there's so many different ones and LED technology changes every five minutes, so I always end up coming away baffled. And that's before we even start considering things like a suitable throw for MTBing and suchlike.
Thanks for your input, seem to spend more time on the comp trying to find info than on the bike, it seems buying an inner tube is not that straight forward.
Yep, it's a minefield alright. Luckily I make my own lights so can avoid the debate. If you can afford it tho, the mtb batteries light is great, lots of great feedback on here and smudge (owner) is a great chap.
They'd be top of my list if I didn't have 8000 lumens of home-made madness 😉
Saying that, don't get caught up in a lumen count. Quantity is not better than quality and alot of the Chinese ones are slightly* overrated
*very
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/front-lights-1 ]recent thread[/url]
[url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/helmet-lights-recommendations-please ]Last week[/url]
Check out the for sale part of this forum ,stuff comes up.
Now is a good time to be buying lights and winter jackets ,have a good look round for sales .
🙂
Cougar as a complete novice to this (I even got the question wrong to register on this forum the first time) there is a minefield of information even down to which band names are decent and which are not.
Can't go far wrong with a bit of Metallica.
's pretty much where I'm coming from. There's lights at the ten quid price point up to a couple of hundred quid. I don't mind paying a bit extra for the right thing, but don't (and can't) through great swathes of cash at it just for the sake of it.
When I bought the bike, I impulse bought a Cateye lamp for around 60 quid IIRC and it's, well, crap.
It Depends. You can get a perfectly usable bike light for £30-ish these days, which is fantastic- whether it's a Torch or a magicshine or whatever. It won't be amazing but it'll be more than enough to go riding.
You can spend £80-ish on something like the Magicshine MJ-872, which is a little old now but is still a great light- well made, excellent beam pattern etc. It'll hold its head up in any company and if you look after the batteries should last years.
Or, you can spend a fortune... And possibly get something really, really good. Or, possibly get something no better than the Magicshine option for several times as much.
But yeah there is a bewildering amount of choice. Which is good, these inexpensive lights didn't exist when I first asked this question.
I've been using my Ay Ups lights for about 3-4 years. Brilliant kit for the money.
For the very budget end of the lighting spectrum (see what I did there?) you could go with [url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cree-T6-Bike-Light-1600-Lumens-Waterproof-Rechargable-UK-Stock-UK-Charger-/200855317025?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item2ec3e8ea21 ]one of these[/url], or better still two - mount one on the bars and one on your helmet to help see round corners / find trails off to the side / see what those spooky glowing eyes belong to.
You'll get 3 hours if you switch to medium on wide tracks, saving full power for technical bits.
The biggest problem is who you're riding with. If they've all got really powerful lights you'll be riding in your own shadow often, so thats when the upgrade path begins 😀
Ha ha now I know why they were on about the lighter bikes, because all the other stuff's gonna weigh you down 😉
if they've all got really powerful lights you'll be riding in your own shadow often,
Not when you are at the back 😉
Both my dad and I ride with the above £16.99 lights (they go up to about £69.99 in the winter). One on the helmet, one on the bars with the standard lens, and another on the bars with a wide lens from - http://www.action-led-lights.com/products/wide-angle-lens
More light than I know what to do with, for less than £100.
I'm currently running a Joystick on my helmet (cheap from Wiggle) and a couple of XML T6 torches on the bars. The torches are a bit spotty - but fine during these not-so-dark summer evenings.
I also have a various XML and P7 bike-light type ones that I tend to use over the winter when it's proper dark (and scary). Extra faffage with the wires/batteries - but a tad brighter and more floody.
Will probably treat myself to summut new for next winter though.
Thanks people at least now I got some options that come with real life recommendations to choose from until I get to know what I like/need/can afford. Oh don't be at the back they always get got!
i use the xml light that 40mpg linked to above, i also have an older one fitted with a P7 led, its not quite as bright.
for the money they really cant be beaten, they work and they are cheap.
you could go with one of these
We are a professional online bussiness company.but with unbeliverble low price.
Well, I'm convinced. (-:
Bit surprised that it's only three hours' runtime with such a (claimed) high-power battery, mind. I guess at this price point we can take any numbers with a pinch of salt.
I went down the 'cheap torches' route - which is an inexpensice way to start, and a very flexible approach when you want to upgrade.
You need 18650 cells - but as I have access to old laptops they are 'free'. I have a £5 charger from Dealextreme, which I run with an old clockwork timer 'just in case'... and various mounts for bars and lid are about £1.50 each...
At the moment my basic set up is a [url= http://www.lightmalls.com/ultrafire-c8-cree-xm-l-u3-1800-lumen-5-modes-led-flashlight-1-x-18650 ]C8 XML-U3[/url] on my bars (£16) and 2 x [url= http://dx.com/p/ultrafire-wf-501b-xm-lt6-5-mode-510-lumen-memory-white-led-flashlight-with-strap-1-18650-55241 ]501b XML-T6[/url] torches (£8.50 each) - one on my lid and one on the bars.
I run the C8 and my lid on MED which gives a decent light for 3 hours, and use the other bar light on FULL when I want a boost. If starting new I'd go for 2 x XML-U3s as the C* XML-U3 kicks out about 800 lumens on full so is plenty bright, and another 501b XML-U3 just as they are brighter... though the MID mode driver current is one of the more important settings and you have no idea what that will be. For extended runtimes all you need is a couple of spare cells in your pack... sorted!
Best of all an 'upgrade' to the latest LED is around £10-20... maybe I'll try an XML2 next!
Maybe ask this guy for advice. ...
skip to about 3 mins into it to see effect. 😯
Well thinking some matches and a couple of glow sticks from the pound shop. 😉
Oh, now this is handy. [url= http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/LED%20Components%20and%20Modules/XLamp/Data%20and%20Binning/XLampXMBL.pdf ]CREE datasheet[/url] explaining their product codes.
Seems there's a new U3 too...
Oh, now this is handy. CREE datasheet explaining their product codes
Was looking at these at lest if no good can ditch. seem cheep enough maybe just to get me by. Well seems I need to know how to use your forum as well.
I have a set of ayups in a drawer used only a few times. Best see if they work and chuck on classifieds
This is a [url= http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree#XM-L ]very useful resource[/url], if only to validate some of the ludicrous lumen claims... you can check the current your light is drawing in the different modes and match to the binned lumens.