Am I allowed one question about lights?

I’ve got a couple of mega lumen off road lights but they are really too much for commuting and the separate battery packs are a faff I could do without.

So what self contained, USB rechargeable light?

Doesn’t need to be mega lumens – 400-600 would be plenty I only have to deal with a short dimly lit section on my commute but want something I can see with as well as being seen if that makes sense.

Exposure Switch looks quite good but are there any other options?

Ta

Leyzene xl 600 £ 40 from halfords a few weeks back, the missus uses it for commuting and night road rides.nice bit of kit so far

Exposure Sirius.
http://www.exposurelights.com/cycle-lights/front-lights/exposure-sirius-mk5

Brighter than the Switch by a fair margin, well worth the extra £20.

Yep, exposure, well worth the extra, I doubt you will be disappointed

anyone have any thoughts on the brightbikelights Wiz1?

For your bars or your helmet?

I really rate my Cateye Volt 300, (now the 400), it’s Exposure levels of good but at a much cheaper price. The pulsing mode is excellent

But for my helmet the Lezyne Macro Duo I’m running is a great light as it has a front and rear light. And it’s quite spotty so perfect for a head light – doesn’t dazzle but I can aim at drivers so they’re also more aware of me when needed

Exposure is always a good choice though!

[/quote]For your bars or your helmet?

For the bars (although if it doubles as a spare helmet light for offroad I won’t complain)

Planet X have a couple in the sale that I’ve been looking at – the Jobsworth Mirzam and Asterion – both 4-500 lumens and £14.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/accessories/lights/jobsworth-lights

Anyone used either?

I’ve just got a Sirius as a daytime/back up light on my Diverge. Really tidy mount using a GoPro version of the K-Edge Garmin mount.

It’s plenty bright enough as a “get home when a ride has over run” light, so should fit what you need. Very well made, too.

Issues? Well, it’s not micro USB charging, which is a minor problem, and getting to flashing mode isn’t as simple as it might be. Otherwise, very good.
It replaced a Moon XP500 which was/is excellent. Couldn’t make the mounting work with Garmin and cable routing, though. Still in use on the Brompton, and in the bag for local MTB rides in case I need a “get home when a ride has over run” light!

Smart 700 Lumen for me.

Its on torchys database. I think I paid 25 quid for mine.

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

Very pleased with my Moon LX760. Comes with helmet mount and remote.
Edit: and you can replace the battery if you ever need to

I got a jobsworth USB rechargeable one. It was really cheap and is just about bright enough to see potholes on unlit roads without blinding oncomers.
Also a really easy clip on and off.

Fenix BC21R looks pretty good. It is USB rechargeable, and uses a 18650 battery, which can be replaced if necessary. And apparently a shaped beam, so shouldn’t dazzle other traffic too much.

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

That link is excellent, thanks for that

Markie – Member

anyone have any thoughts on the brightbikelights Wiz1?

I had a Wiz1 and didn’t like the beam pattern very much. A very bright central spot and a feint halo round the outside. Trevor at BrightBikeLights very kindly allowed me to send it back and swap it for a Wiz20 and pay the difference. The Wiz20 is a much better light and has optics that you can easily replace if you want a wider beam pattern for off road (which I did). The different optics are not standard but are readily available from LEDDNA on eBay.

philwarren11 – Member

Smart 700 Lumen for me.

Its on torchys database. I think I paid 25 quid for mine.

I’ve got one of these as well and an excellent commuting light. Well usuable on high on unlit roads and medium is still good for lit areas. Not widely available now though but HighOnBikes have them for £38.95 which is a bit more than I paid a year or so ago from them.

Rich, Iainc is selling his joystick.

Some leyenze f&r bundle off eBay for 45 ish. USB chargeable without a cable good enough for my commute on unlit sustrans route. (Brightness setting 2 out of 4)

Fly 12. Joystick and Go Pro union. Not for the helmet. Pleased with mine and had a Joystick/Strada before that. I still use the Strada mk2, but it is outgunned and under batteried now.

Smart 700 Lumen. Bought mine from ebay; it’s on it’s third winter now. Decent for the money IMO.

One of the Eurolamps, with a shaped beam?
(80 lux, shaped, is fine for unlit commuting)

It’s easy to be over lit for commuting – I’ve got a Joystick and a larger unibody Exposure Light.

When one of those was back for repair I bought a Lezyne Power Drive XL (probably an older model of this which is reduced to under £50 now It was more than powerful enough on the lower setting. User replaceable battery. Downsides – button sealing doesn’t seem great (though it hasn’t been a problem) and it doesn’t seem possible to stop the light swivelling on the bracket slightly.

It’s a shame there aren’t more lights about with a proper road beam pattern like the Supernova . I’ve got one of their dynamo lights and it’s excellent.

I bought a Lezyne microdrive 600 xl a few weeks back and it is perfect,even for unlit cycle paths.

Light & Motion Urban 800 (they do 350, 500, 650 & 850 lumen models too), neat, powerful and reliable, but not the cheapest.

Another Lezyne Macro Duo user here. I use as a head torch to supplement some lights on the bars. If I was choosing again I’d maybe want something that offers more visibility from the side as thats where I feel most vulnerable from cars pulling out.

Sounds like there’s loads to choose from, so just to add to the confusion I’ve found a Bontrager ION 700 to be pretty much spot on over the past 12 months or so.

Haha, was just about to say the iON 700, great little bit of kit!

Shaped light in the UK :

http://www.chilli-tech.com/bike-lights/british-standard-bike-light

Run one of these for two or three winters and it does the job nicely. and now so much cheaper! tsk!

http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/bike-lights/front-bike-lights/mj-890-160-lumens-commuter-bike-light-155.html

I’m heading into my third winter with a Lezyne Macro/Micro setup. The Macro is the old 400Lm model and is plenty bright enough on unlit canal sections and the rear micro is plenty bright.

Issues three years in? I still hate the silicone band style mounts although they’ve lasted better than I thought they would. The battery on the micro is probably on the way now (I had it longer than the Macro as I initially used it with a L&M tungsten bulb front…) – it seems to just about make it though a week of commutes where it used to have a couple of days worth left by Friday. Someone mentioned button sealing on the PowerDrive above – it’s the same switch and seal and it’s been fine on mine in extremely heavy weather on a regular basis. I assume the point being raised is that you can peel back the edge of the rubber? Doesn’t seem to make a difference so long as it’s properly seated before you get it wet…

I’m an Exposure fan for mountain lights. When the time comes I may well go that way .

I’m really happy with my Cateye Volt 1200. USB rechargeable. Solid build. Good set of modes including pulse. It’s designed in a way that you can scroll through all of them without losing a constant source of light (it’s double tap to select flashing).

I’d buy another in an instant if it was lost or damaged. Way more powerful than you’d need for commuting. But they do a good range of cheaper ones.

About to go into my 17th winter of commuting on a old railtrack, an hour each way. Dont forget your back lights! They will save your life more than the front! Thats another discussion.

Hope R2i LED is proving great, I can get 4 rides out of it and know where Iam charge wise.

The big issue is the quality of the mount, it has a sprung element to it, so can take vibration, knocks etc etc. The ali one is as strong as it gets; the plastic one is no good. Also its a twist and the light is demounted.

Finally, service is excellent and resale value holds well. Also it wont burn your house down.

try 7dayshop.com for bike lights got 2 of their cheaper ones out performs my more expensive lamps

I’ve been running a Lezyne microdrive 400 as a commuting light and been really pleased with it, however I’ve recently added a super drive 1200xxl to the set up as, like you, the battery packs were too much of faff for commuting, but wanted some brighter lights for a woodland section. Been really pleased with it, easily bright enough for riding quite quickly off road and only need the lowest setting on.

Another vote for a Cateye Volt 300. Lasts a ridiculous amount of time on pulse mode, and is fine for unlit paths. Also micro-USB chargeable so you can charge it easily almost anywhere.

I use an Ixon Core as backup in case I have a problem with my dynamo headlamp:

Very compact, USB charging, German regs shaped beam for road use.

I’ve got one of these as well and an excellent commuting light. Well usuable on high on unlit roads and medium is still good for lit areas. Not widely available now though but HighOnBikes have them for £38.95 which is a bit more than I paid a year or so ago from them.

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Smart/700-Lumen-USB-Front-light/4BDN

This will be my third winter with the Cateye Volt 1200. Unlit, backlanes commute and I only need the high setting for a short, rather treacherous downhill. Otherwise, the lowest setting is fine, and indeed recommended as I find too much light in the lanes can overpower oncoming car headlights, so you only see them the moment they come around the bend instead of from 2 minutes away with a lower setting. It’ll do a week between charges easily, with the high beam used sparingly.

I really rate my Cateye Volt 300, (now the 400), it’s Exposure levels of good but at a much cheaper price. The pulsing mode is excellent

This was going to be my suggestion. The Hyper mode (steady mode with pulses) on the Cateye’s is excellent for urban commuting.

Another smart 700 here, 18 month’s of road/ commuting use on all roads from city centre to unlit country lanes. Got mine for £30 from Je James and it’s been faultless to me and more than capable of what I need from it.

philwarren11 – Member

I’ve got one of these as well and an excellent commuting light. Well usuable on high on unlit roads and medium is still good for lit areas. Not widely available now though but HighOnBikes have them for £38.95 which is a bit more than I paid a year or so ago from them.

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Smart/700-Lumen-USB-Front-light/4BDN

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As I said not so widely available now. CRC and Sigma both used to carry it but no longer it seems. Places like HighOnBikes and BrightBikeLights who do have it seem to be selling at a premium now, for good reason I would say.