What front light is right for road riding at night?

Looks like I will be hitting winter with just a road bike this year, and would still like to get out of an evening/early morning if possible. Looking to spend less than £50, and before I head straight for DX, I wanted to check the hive mind first, as I assume I don’t need as much power as one would need in the wood(s). Also, I didn’t know as it is for road use something commuter specific, which gives better side visibility, would be better?

Or Should I just go for one of the £30 DX jobbies, angle it down and leave it on low/mid setting?

For info I will be using one of those Tesco 1w torches on me noggin.

As for a rear light, I have an Electron Backup 6 LED model, but presume I might need a bit more oomph, so was going to get one of these. Thoughts?

Cheers.

I have bought a dx light for this winter, but I havent used it yet. Last year I used a p7 torch with a flashy knog led at the front, and a 3 led rear light also with a flashy knog led. Also used reflective ankle straps. I didnt get crashed into once!

I use a dealextreme P7 on the road and got flashed a few times presumably because they thought it was too bright? On high mode it’s more than bright enough for roads imo.

You will need more light than you think to ride at speed, unless you have good roads. If your on roads with street lighting then you can get away with less but i find on unlit roads with tree cover that a low power only light just makes things visable and you end up straining to see pothole, drain covers etc..
FOr rear ligths i use 2, one staed and one flashing i also use a tesco 1w touch on my head.

Lights to see by and to be seen by are different. You need a wide beam with light that shines sideways to be seen by

I should have mentioned, roads will be unlit windy country roads. Not in the greatest repair, but nothing to fall in and most the risk will be from suicidal badgers/rabbits/pheasants/squirrels….and if the recent roadkill I observed recently is anything to go by, then snakes as well.

I don’t know about others but i seem to find more holes in the road when riding in the dark (commuting so same roads) and they jar more if you can’t seem them.

Jamie those are the kind of roads I was using my P7 on.. but they are roads I know very well and generally know where all the big pot holes etc are.

Evans where doing a good deal on the exposure commuter lights with recharge pack, so far so good, I combine them with other’s I accumulated over the years, old cats eyes front and rear. Saying that on really horrid dark wet nights I will use my Lupine Tesla 5 upfront, a little over the top.

Erring towards the DX I linked to at the mo. No low mode which is a bit shit….I always wonder who uses fast strobe?

look at torchys site for some example beam patterns for some of the cheap lights he sells:

http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/bike-light-sootout.html

the focusable ones look quite decent:

http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/cree-zoom-widespot.html

and consider a vertically oriented fibreflare on the seatpost as this gives as good side visibility as rear.

No low mode isnt a problem, its not bright enough. Medium is spot on. High if you’re going fast!

EDIT: Or at least this was the case with my P7 torch.

I always wonder who uses fast strobe?

Me!

Generally for low level daylight, dawn/dusk overcast conditions that kind of thing. I treat it as similar to motorvehicles sidelights.

Cheers for the link Turner Guy, after browsing the DX site for a bit my head is starting to hurt as not sure which ones have what beams/leds etc. Assuming I should go for a T6 as it’s the newer version?

For the rear, or in addition, these look pretty handy as an addition to a regular rear light:

Still say you should go for one of these:

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&sugexp=gsis,i18n%3Dtrue&cp=8&gs_id=n&xhr=t&q=fibreflare&safe=off&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1272&bih=730&wrapid=tljp1316158948521014&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=13476867347801838576&sa=X&ei=5_1yTraUEczB8QOe1ZT3DQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEwQ8gIwAw#

or the large one, vertially oriented on your seatpost – then cars can see you just as well from the sides, with just one light

I wouldn’t want anything less than my DX P7 on unlit back roads. It’s surprising how much lighting black tarmac needs. In urban areas I can just stick it on the low setting, but get out of the street lights and I want it on max all the time.

I should have mentioned, roads will be unlit windy country roads. Not in the greatest repair, but nothing to fall in and most the risk will be from suicidal badgers/rabbits/pheasants/squirrels….and if the recent roadkill I observed recently is anything to go by, then snakes as well

I find the DX P7 doesn’t have enough reach even for full whack. Usually only a problem on the downs (I have a couple of 80-100M climbs and drops on my commute) so I just slow down on them. Wouldn’t want any less light than that out in the boonies.

Going to try and adapt a Lumi can for a really focussed LED to give a bit more reach.

The £30ish XML-T6 DX is ideal for road riding at night IME/O. I’ve been flashed by car drivers when using my P7 (the beam is much more spread out), a mate has the T6 and because it’s more focussed it doesn’t seem to dazzle drivers – I’ve riden a fair way in front of him and when I looked back wasn’t dazzled either.

My T6 light arrived yesterday, it doesn’t seem as good quality as the P7 and doesn’t have the battery indicator. I’m going to try and waterproof the battery a bit more, but for £28.18 (plus the price of a US to UK plug) it’s a bargain

EDIT: forgot to summarise, the T6 is noticeably brighter than the P7.
Jamie – I’ve also ordered some of those DX bar plug LEDs too (currently in transit), they were a few quid, UK sourced ones were much more, so probably worth a punt.

There is a about several T6s on DX now. Which one should I go for then?

…and what the bloody hell is an assault crown?

Mine’s the assault crown one. I think it just refers to the aluminium bit that screws on to hold the lens on.

So it doesn’t double up as a weapon? Drat!

What is the battery pack like Ross? Waterproof?

My P7 one it totally sealed in plastic. The T6 one seems to have cardboard ends with plastic round the middle (if that makes sense).

Ah, cardboard. The most waterproof material known to man.

Last year I rode over winter with Ay-Ups (old ones) and a P7 that I turned on for descents/really dodgy road sections. Worked OK but was a lot of faff. This year I’m planning to either get the latest Ay-Up with up-rated lumens or the new Mk3 Exposure Strada (I suspect this won’t be quite bright enough for me though). You need to throw light a long way without too much flood IMO – 1000 lumens in the face of an oncoming driver is probably more dangerous than not having any light on :p

The Ay-Up’s work well as they’re dual beam and you can get different reflectors in them (you want the intermediate for road), point one about 10m out so you clearly light up the immediate vicinity and the other about 40m out to track the road.

I tend to use two lights for road commuting (mostly across Dartmoor with suicidal sheep etc), one pointed down a bit and one bright one. Last few years I’ve had an led lamp on a dynamo hub and a 15W halogen powered by battery with a switch on the bars so I can turn it off for oncoming traffic (leaving the dynamo light on to see the immediate road surface and to be seen by). This winter I’ll be using a recently-purchased Diablo instead of the halogen, but keeping the dipped dyno light. I got moaned at a few times when I was just using one bright light, which is probably fair enough really. And it’s nice to have a pair of lights in case one gives up (I run two rear lights for the same reason). You might get away with something like a Frog for the secondary light – when there’s oncoming traffic their lights are normally lighting the road fairly well anyway (specially with the number of arseholes who seem to drive with their front fog lights permanently on because they think it’s cool).

While I am still thinking about this, would a T6 from DX be ok with oncoming cars if I had it pointed down at the wheel while passing them? Or will I be constantly be blinding drivers?

I’ve used a P7 DX on the road last winter and got flashed a few times by oncoming cars. Generally it’s been on a faster section where I couldn’t take my hand of the bars to point the light down. I guess that’s when a dippable light like the Strada is an advantage. I always point the light down instead on turning the power down as the battery lasts long enough anyway and it’s much quicker. Personally I can’t see how dazzling the driver with bikes lights could be worse than the Xeon lights on 4×4 that often dazzle me a night. Strobe front lights are dangerous though, I think that mode is meant for confusing the enemy when the light is mounted to an assault rifle!
For the rear I use a flashing fibre flare for all round visibility, a flashing led mounted to the bike and a small backupz style one on my helmet.
You cannot have to much light at night.

Are those Fibre Flare lights worth the money? Seems like one could get 2x real decent rear light for the price.

While I am still thinking about this, would a T6 from DX be ok with oncoming cars if I had it pointed down at the wheel while passing them? Or will I be constantly be blinding drivers?

I think your much less likely than with the P7. Because the T6 is so focused as long as the main hot spot is focussed on the road I don’t think you’ll dazzle anyone – I rode ahead of mate who has the T6 to specifically check this as I plan to use the T6 for commuting (on low) and night road rides and helmet mount it for mtb.

Are those Fibre Flare lights worth the money? Seems like one could get 2x real decent rear light for the price.

Not site how they compare but I can thoroughly recommend the Smart 1w light from On-One, £10 – bargain (twice as much from Wiggle when I got mine)

Are those Fibre Flare lights worth the money? Seems like one could get 2x real decent rear light for the price.

Yes. I mount one vertically on my rucksack so it gives really good visibility to drivers of higher vehicles especially and it can be seen from the sides too. Used in conjunction with two (yes, two) Exposure Flare[/url] rear lights on the seatpost.

@Ross

This one?

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/LISMRTR1/smart-lunar-r1-rear-light

Yes. It was £10 a month or so ago. Still good vfm though imo. The 0.5w isn’t bad either but is eclipsed by the more powerful one.

Anything exposure, they’re all superb.

I’ve used a Hope Vision One for commuting at night in the city.

For long rides in the sticks or city a decent set will help you ride faster and save your life when a tired driver makes a mistake.

I got away with a Hope Vision One on a canal path but the batteries lasted 1hr ish.

Decent set of twins would be great.

Anything exposure, they’re all superb.

I would love an Exposure. For the use it will get, once a week possibly, I cannot justify the cost. Even though the Strada[/url] does look very nice and has a dip beam function, but 7-8x the cost of a T6…….well.