thinking about replacing my old Lumicycle this winter,

first i don't have any interest in bodging torches.

what i want is lights with a proper mounts, helmet light and bike light.

Without spending stupid amounts of money what are the options?

A set of ay-ups, a hope twin and a joystick, etc? anyothers?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=31357

These are good but nop helmet mount.

The new Ay-up kit looks good. Don't think the lights are different, but the battery now has high/low (though I don't think this is needed given the battery life!) and now come in a much better case. Much more versatile than other sets too (head/bar mounted combo)

dealextreme light £50 with battery , brighter than a hope

http://www.four4th.co.uk/contact_us_FOUR4TH.shtml

new kids on the block

Just took a look at AyUps site and its down for maintenance. Aren't they only available from Oz now?

I'm torn between Deal Extreme and something bike specific with a UK warranty etc.

Wouldn't worry about them being available from oz, the general thing is that if you can kill a light then they want it back to see what the hell you did.
Ayups are great lights

For power and value for money Trout's your man. If you want a light that's really cheap, but ticks all your boxes, then the £50 DX light is impossible to beat, using a DX P7 torch on a Twofish lockblock for your helmet. There's no 'bodging' torches involved, just a cheaper way of achieving what Exposure do with the JoyStick, for example. A Joystick with helmet mount will cost what? £130ish? A DX P7 torch, with replacable batteries will cost around £30+ £15 for batteries and charger, with another £10 for mounts. Say £50. Sure, it's not quite as whizzy looking as a Joystick, but watcha gonna do when you're out riding and your battery fails? I carry two or three charged spares for my torch, which works just as well, if not better than the Joystick. Why spend more to achieve the same ends?

"I'm torn between Deal Extreme and something bike specific with a UK warranty etc."

Dealextreme have actually proved pretty good with warranty claims. Not fast as you need to post back to HK, but then not actually any slower than some UK warranties. I'm very happy with my torches, but if you want a "proper" light then these are a fine choice.

CountZero: "Sure, it's not quite as whizzy looking as a Joystick, "

It is on the other hand massively, massively better 🙂 I loaned one of mine to a mate tonight and rode on with just one P7 torch, turns out that one P7 gives better results than a Joystick + a pair of Minewts.

Grahamt wrote, "Ayups are great lights "

They're really nice… But sadly underpowered, and they've just not kept up. Their aftersales service is fantastic but tbh, selling an outdated product for top dollar isn't good customer service. They need to up their output, simple as that.

just ordered a p7 torch, 4 batteries and charger £36 just got to get a helmet holder sorted. and there was me going to order a £150 ay up set. cheers guys 😆