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Thinking of getting some night lights, but need to be cheap. Can anyone reconmend any?
Thanks
How cheap is cheap? What kind or riding, how long for?
Singletrack riding for 2/3 hrs cheap as possible but obviously need to be upto the job.
search the forum for dealextreme (£50) or magicshine (45-80) or spokeshirts (60-90)
If you've not done before and money is an issue I'd try and borrow some or go on an organised ride and hire, it's not for everyone, you'll probably need to spend £200+ for anything decent, I'm happy to be proved wrong though.
I can recommend Lupine - nice spread of light and good battery life.
I'm not a resident light expert, but I got a Minewt 250 Cordless from the nice folks at TBC the other week after demoing one. It's not the brightest light in the world, but I fancied something all-in-one rather than a separate battery pack. If you can live with a separate battery pack, you could get more lumens for the same price (a shade over £100).
I currently run it on my helmet as my only light (apart from a rubbish cateye on my bars which is really just to be seen) and it was adequate, although my plan is to add another similar light to my bars next winter.
+1 for the dealextreme/magicshine light, for a really bright light at a cheap price. It says 900 lumins which it might not be, but easily bright enough for anything I've done night riding yet, and lasts 3 hours on full. Yes, you can get brighter and you can get better made and you can get built in batteries, but not anywhere near that price, so for a first light on a budget it's a no brainer.
I bought a spokeshirts light as a secondary helmet light and am well impressed with it.
They currently don't have any of the one that I bought (owlet) in stock, but have a smaller one called The Tiddler that looks pretty good. From the spec it should be brighter than an Exposure Josystick type light and is only £60.
Spokeshirts blokie popped up the other day and mentioned a new light in the pipeline that he is working on. Supposed to be 1100 lumens (very bright) and available soon.
Here's the thread: http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/front-light-advice
although £129 might be more than you were wanting to pay? Perhaps give the tiddler a bash.
If you click on spokebloke's name in the thread, it'll take you to his site and you'll find the tiddler in the lights section - £55! Bargain.
The DX is dirt cheap - but you need to gaffa tape the batteries up to prevent water ingress, and I've had to return a battery that went pop, and a charger that went pop.
Very bright, very cheap, but not amazingly robust and warrenty issues have to go all the way back to hong kong. If you're willing to live with that, nothing will touch them until you spend 4 times that amount.
dealextreme (£50) or magicshine (45-80)
These are one and the same.
I've had a couple for over a year now and no problems.
There are various options to check out (new sealed waterproof battery vs old one; UK plug vs US plug; new head unit vs old one)
For cheapest combo, I'd go for new battery with old head unit and US plug.(You will need a US plug to UK socket adaptor too. c£1)
[url= http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44459 ]Clicky[/url]
Note that these will likely take 3 weeks to be delivered as they're posted from Honk Kong.
There's the new dealextreme one with the machine aluminium casing and the battery in a waterproof plastic case.
Currently running one a head light, it's much better than the £130 it replaced and was half the price.
I had these on a demo/trial recently and was amazed at the output in comparison to my Exposure Maxx-D and Diablo combo really do sock out the light at a great price.
They have different lenses to the DX versions so offer a different spread of light. On bar switch was a great feature.
http://www.uberbikecomponents.com/product_details.aspx?pid=275
and before anyone starts I have nowt to do with Uber apart from I buy stuff from there and they give me stuff to demo now and again before taking it to market to get in-use feedback.
Shanta, we're over the wyre tonight, if you want to tag along then more than welcome. I have a spare set of DX lights you can borrow. Most of the Clent duffers run Ay-ups and a few have Exposure lights too but these aren't along the lines of cheap.. But for cheapness then the DX's are very very good..
I use this http://www.roughrideguide.co.uk/Magic-Shine-Front-Bike-Light.html - actually I use a 2nd one on the helmet too.
really nice and bright. it has the newer, well sealed battery pack with the handy LCD display too.
Oh, and it was the DX 'new improved' waterproof battery that I had to return after it went pop.
Sorry Mic
Only just seen your post. Ended up going to a spin class! Cheers though.
I imagine these are the Spokelights that are on the way -
The Fireball and Foride look impressive for under £150 for a 3 or 4 XPG light
I imagine these are the Spokelights that are on the way -The Fireball and Foride look impressive for under £150 for a 3 or 4 XPG light
Looks promising. [url= http://reviews.mtbr.com/blog/light-and-go-foride-bike-light-reviews/ ]Review of all the new lights here.[/url]
Get a DX and stick the battery inside a sleeve of old inner tube, zip ties either end and you're away. There's a how to on bikeradar for an improved bar mount too which works fantastically- just search the forums.
You'd be a mug to buy anything else, especially as you're just starting out.