Anyone have any recommendations for cheap(ish) lights that come with a UK charger and wont set my house on fire.
What do you class as cheap?
these may or may not be what you want
I got them as I wanted a decent rear and a visible front
Mine are 4 years old (£16 from Amazon [url= https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FXLDEAO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ]those[/url] )
Still work fine, not blowed up.
Most of the similar ones on there now are combined battery/light packs like http://amzn.eu/a9z5NkE . I'd get those.
Aldi Moon knock-off USB rechargeables that look the same as https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/ZXCANOPUSB/jobsworth-canopus-front--rear-light-bundle for ~£5 iirc, great to quickly put on the road bike for late afternoon rides just recently if I don't expect to be home until ~2000,
https://www.gearbest.com/bicycling-gear/pp_180805.html
Reassuringly expensive at £61, the lamp only is £23, the rest is paying for a propper panasonic cell'd battery, and the lumens are real lumens.
I've got the bigger brother, the BT70 which is a bit of a beast.
I've had a 2 sets from c and b seen and they've been fine , a mate uses them to and he's had no problems .
I’ve had a 2 sets from c and b seen and they’ve been fine
Good to know, I've just ordered a set from them
stealth ad.... I'm selling two solarstorm lights, Y splitter to run them both in parallel, a torchy 6600mAh battery and a proper UK spec charger so no explosions or dying lights after an hour. looking £35 LMK if interested
Also, are the lights for road or off-road?
I run lights that take 18650 batteries. I got my batteries and charger from torchy on ebay so I know they are safe.
Taking a 18650 battery also means you can take spares with you.
My batteries were more expensive than the torch.
sorry....meant off road lights.
No idea if these would be suitable for off-road but they are very, very bright.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06Y5FVP2C/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I’ve got this and it’s a great bar light. Self contained, good battery life and very bright.
Another C&B Seen user. Very well made, I also got the adaptor to use the battery to charge my phone when camping.
Mtb batteries make a good light for around £100. One of th guys inride with has one and its really bright, yet small and compact (seperately battery).
If you want to go really budget, for the money I’ve found the Brite-r duo is good - if you can get the mount to work. It didn’t fit my 35mm bar, so I bodged it to fit using a universal mount but it was a bit Diy. Only £20 though and with a small torchy head torch on my helmet it was more than bright enough. My mate bought a Duo and isnrunning it on a bar extension on the front which seems to work well.
Torchy the battery boy lights are well regarded from eBay - I’ve got a bk 6ix. In isolation it’s fine for the money, but compared to other lights it’s too bluey purpley for my liking. He does a big selection of lights though.
I bought a Ryder Alumia in the sale at Halfords at the end of the winter - going to use it tomorrow night as the light fades off road under the trees. In the garage it seems outrageously bright to me. £50 seemed good and it’s an all in one unit with no separate battery pack which should be easier.
I bought a front and rear cat eye set for about £60 on offer.
Self contained usb chargeable ... Comparable to my cheap solar storm one in terms of brightness without the hassle of seperate battery packs and questionable cables /batteries.and less hassle..
ITUO: Not the cheapest, but much cheaper than most known brands. They ship with good batteries, and are available in the UK from Bright Bike Lights with some warranty backup.
I reviewed the Wiz20 for Singletrack a couple of years ago, and I'm still using it as a bar light. Hasn't ever given me a whiff of trouble; much better and more reliable than all the Solarstorm/Jexree/etc. stuff I was messing about with before.
I still buy & use the cheap ebay lights, I do charge them whilst i'm in the house but never had any trouble. First one I had was an import for China that lasted 3 years but rest have all been from UK sellers. Last one I bought came with a proper UK charger. The first one I got you had to run a UK adaptor to charge it, never had issues though.
2x Evolva X8's here. One on the helmet, one on bars. Great, especially with the mount chamged to the gopro prong/tripod thread.
I went for the pannovo battery cases and quality 18650 cases. C&B seen also sell a 2 battery helmet case.
I usually charge with an old Magicshine charger (C&B sell these) but occasionally balance the cells in my Xtar charger - the 4 cells all charge to full still within about 10 minutes of each other.
As for headlamps, I have a mix.
2 old Hope Vision 1's - good for commuting.
1 Original Magicshine 900 with a 'wide beam' lense
The main lights I use is either a Yinding 2xU2 (tiny 1200 lumen light) or a Solarstorm XT40 (4 LED light that does eat batteries, but it's bright.
As well as either of those two, I also use a C&B Seen city slicker (1600 lumen self contained light and it does work off road fine - the clamp is a Hope one).
I also backed a 'Kickstarter' light from an Australian company called Ding. Took about a year to get it delivered, but it was intended for commuting - two forward beams, one spot and one wide (900 lumen total), with a 100 lumen down light which lit up under the bike. Used it a few times off road, but the bloody thing let in muddy water. Had to strip it down and re-seal the outside - very disappointing considering the downlight was very useful.
The main thing is buy the head and then sort out a UK sourced battery pack, or do it with your own cells and a case.
I had those nightfighter lights, didn't like the natural yellowish colour of the beam, especially when out riding with mates with bluer lights, gets swallowed up.
Gave them to a young local rider.
Mtbbatteries stuff is very good.
Great thread ... I was just about to buy some magic shine lights til I saw this ...
Thanks
Just purchased some from C & B seen after reading this thread.
Earmarking for later perusal.
I’m trying out my Ryder aluminia tonight for the first time. Probably a good test as it’ll be dusky / wet rather than proper dark - probably the hardest time for a light to make the difference you need it to.
I had those nightfighter lights, didn’t like the natural yellowish colour of the beam, especially when out riding with mates with bluer lights, gets swallowed up.
I ride with a load of people who have fourth4 lights, which are green!
Agree though, it's better than a white light on its own, but somehow get's overpowered by similar brightness white/blue lights. Seems to work well with my MTB batteries lumenator on my helmet though.
My main lights are still Lumicycle and they've been flawless for five or six years now, ditto Exposure, but I have a back-up / guest set from mtbbatteries.co.uk - a Lumenator - and that's done the job just fine for around £100.
Personally I don't really want to be wondering if my cheapo battery / charger is going to go up in smoke. Smudge at mtbbatteries has built a couple of custom battery packs for me in the past and has always been super helpful and good to deal with.
@ natch
The Wiz 20 looks good.
I've been dithering recently over whether to buy a Wiz - XP3. a bit spendier (£150 ish) but looks really good.