MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
We could do with some non-blinding lights for evening road rides. Even getting home c. 830 last night it was getting a little dim. I've got off road lights but after being on the receiving end of some shouty drivers for dazzle linking up off road routes I'd rather have the right tool for the job.
We want enough to light an unlit back road at 15-20mph happy to ease up downhill after dark. Added bonus if it could double up on a mountain bike for gentle xc use but not critical.
Busch and Muller Ixon IQ seems to be one option. What else?
Suggestions for rear with camera also welcome.
Lezyne do a range of STVO lights
Something quite pointy like a Joystick can work well in an emergency.
There are quite a few on Ali Express that have a cut off and work very well. I have a couple, but use one for roads and shared paths, then a more powerful Fenix for the pitch black sections. Newboller on Ali Express have a number of them. £15
We've Moon Meteor's in the house and a Moon Riegel(?) on eldest's daily used university and Deliveroo bike.
They're noticeably better built and longer battery than our Halfords light, and way better than the cheap Chinese light we've got.
They're all around 1000lm max, but I commute with mine on unlit roads in the dark on half power and it's fine, 1000lm starts to dazzle..
Currently all on sale online.
I think with road lights the trick is to have them focused more downwards and slightly left, not directly to the floor but just a touch down to give you good visibility and avoid dazzling drivers.
I do this and have never had any issues in countless years of night riding and commuting.
I could be absolutely wrong, but I have Lezyne 1000 XL lights, run them in an eco mode through town, but higher on country roads. Works fine for me.
https://www.sigmasports.com/item/Lezyne/Lite-Drive-1000XL-Front-Light/N279
I really like my Ravemen pr1600 for road riding.
They do a more powerful version now too.
I think with road lights the trick is to have them focused more downwards and slightly left, not directly to the floor but just a touch down to give you good visibility and avoid dazzling drivers.
+1. just how headlights are.
I like my Ravemen CR1000, with the lens (has a proper cut-off) flipped so I can mount it under my Bolt.
I took some (slightly rubbish, but they'll give you an idea) videos:
https://youtube.com/shorts/UhBy6wS9RJc
(and a selection of "be seen" lights: https://youtu.be/8RzHuazQtYI )
The key thing, here, is to find some that meet STVZO standard. These have a lens that directs the light correctly, rather than just having a cut-off to restrict the top half of the beam. They really are worth it, as you won't blind/annoy oncomig drivers/riders AND all of your light goes where it's needed
I have a B&M Ixpm IQ, which takes 4 AA batteries, has a reasonable runtime, and the great beam pattern of STVZO
^ wot he said. A lot of people seem to look at where their beam of light goes, but make no effort to wander down the road & look from the other direction. A lot of these cut offs do bugger all when it comes to restricting glare.
The thing with the stvzo lights and various ones with cutoffs is people promptly angle the things upwards because they want a light similar to full beam on a car. Then despite being stvzo they're blinding because they're aimed at your windscreen.
No amount of certification prevents people being idiots.
You do not need a certificate to not be an idiot.
As woodster, get lights which don't make you feel as though you're a Martian tripod with a heatray shouting "uuuuulllllaaaaah" and then angle them down and left a bit.
@dangeourbrain - it's not about beam angle, it's about beam shape.
By angling down, a lot of the light is wasted, which leads to needing more power, to compensate, which then somewhat cancels out the (negligible) effect of angling down.
IIRC, dipped car headlights actually have a different beam pattern, rather than just pointing down.
But you are right about idiots (apart from the bit about them not being certifiable) 😉
+1 for Moon Meteor. I use it as an all-round road light - good for street-lit roads, but enough power from unlit as well. Constant/pulsing mode is very visible too. Small, light, USB rechargeable, plenty of run time on lower power or a couple of hours at least on full.
The Exposure Strada is good, the current model auto-senses oncoming headlights and dims (although I'm not sure how effective this is, my version just has a remote wired switch to do it manually, you still get this to use as an option on the current model). The beam pattern is also designed for road use so throws less light up high
I'm a huge Four4th fan and use the Scorch on the helmet for added off road light and on the bars for road.
Its light, powerful and the added bonus of additional batteries available for "on ride" swap out.
2000lm for £135.00 is not bad in my view.
https://www.four4th.co.uk/collections/lights/products/scorch-qr
My Fenix BC30 v2 has a remote which is very useful for knocking the brightness down, or even off - about 3 miles of my commute is on a shared path, heavily used by other cyclists, so a quick jab on the remote turns the main beam off when approaching others.
The el-chepo newboller has a really good cut off, not STVZO approved, but the cut off is very defined and can be easily angled at waist height for on-coming pedestrians. Throws enough light on the ground to see where you are going, which is essential when some idiot is cycling towards you with a mega lumens light on full beam or fit inducing strobe. That's when I can flash the Fenix at full whack at them !
Had a couple of B&M lights, the Ixon Core is plenty bright enough for your needs I would say- it really puts the light where you want it and also has good side visibility. Only thing with it is that it doesn't like fast chargers, I managed to fry one using my phone charger - it does say warn of this in the manual.
The Fyre is basically the same light but a bit less bright.
I'm glad my monitors at work have USB outputs, there are wires dangling to charge all my lights in one go ! The 'hub' doesn't have enough sockets ! Always have two lights each 'end' just in case. The Fenix uses replaceable 18650's, so I have a couple in a case in my panniers, although can only charge this one at home using a smart charger.
I got the Offbondage D3-1000 for road use based on the recommendations on here; it's been great; mounts on a gopro mount under my garmin
Cheap as chips too; about £20 IIRC
Fenix Bike Lights BT10 and BT20 (fenixtorch.co.uk)
Most of these feature height cut offs.
I've been using Fenix lights for about a dozen years and the quality is top class.
The Ravemen aren’t bad, but I prefer the beam pattern and build of the exposure Strada. Yes it’s a lot more, but it will last
Exposure Joystick mounted under the Garmin K-Edge mount and pointed down. Plenty of light - I have 1200 lumens but use it on low 400 setting for duration. Have an older one in the back pocket and swap when on a longer ride. Both used in daylight flashing too.
If the Varia front light had an easier mount for the K-Edge, I'd use that, as it's a nice device, but it isn't as quickly removable as the Joystick round GoPro clamping which I have on multiple bikes.
Thanks all.
A few to work through. I've got a little Lezyne 500xl already but don't think that's the stvzo version.
Only thing with it is that it doesn’t like fast chargers, I managed to fry one using my phone charger – it does say warn of this in the manual.
Dumb question maybe but what sort of charger do you use if not a phone charger/generic usb?
Sorry only just seen your reply - the Ixon advises only charging with a max current of 1A, I therefore just charge from my computer's USB when I'm in the office. I've used 'regular' chargers before which are generally 2A output without a problem, but when I plugged into my phone charger which is a 33W fast charger that outputs ~3A it fried my light. Hope that helps.
BTW you can get the Ixon bundled with the rear light on Ebay for £40inc P&P. The rear isn't the best rear light IMO, but good as a second/backup.
The Lezyne Macro plus 700lm I have is perfect for road (and very gentle off-road).
Has a built in rear light too (can be turned off for bar use), so if you helmet mount it you can be seen from the rear too.
Another vote for the Joystick, a versatile light.
Handy on bars at this time of year as dark evenings arriving as dusk comes and in daylight on flash mode all summer.
Then as winter arrives as a headtorch light to view your "cockpit" on lowest setting ,when the dynamo hub goes on.or the bigger battery light. (Strada)