Bicycle Lights.

Pants · 30 Sep 2007 at 23:06

Hi Chaps.

Need some lights for my specialized hardrock for some night riding in the countryside. The dark night are rolling in and there's no street lights on my route!

I currently have a set of these:

Now I was surprised at the brightness for 4x LED's but I think i need something a bit more for countryside riding when it's pitch black. I have been looking at these:

Specs are:

Electron 5W 10W Double Lighting System
Powerful wide-beamed 5 watt and spot-beamed 10 watt focused handlebar mounted headlights
Ni-Mh bottle cage mounted battery recharges in approx 10 hours
Built in smart charge circuitry, auto cut-off when fully charged
Low battery indicator provides warning to make sure you're not caught out in the dark
Remote handlebar switch for easy mid-ride control
Run time up to 5.5 hours in 5 watt only mode 2.6 hours in 10 watt only mode and 1.6 hours with both 5 and 10 watt lamps in use (based on a fully charged battery)
UK mains charger included

I know there are a lot of bikers on here so would this do the trick or is there better available for around £50. Might be willing to spend more if it's really worth it.

Cheers!!

Pants.

badbob · 30 Sep 2007 at 23:10

I have those electrons. They're ok for £35 price tag. Fine for on-road riding, They are FAR FAR brighter than LED pap. I don't have the LED like yours but have a couple of EL 300/500 Cateyes. The Halogen light up the road and flood lights light up wider section.

Redman · 30 Sep 2007 at 23:42

Aye, I've got the Electron set too. Fine for normal road/country lane riding

MikeHunt79 · 30 Sep 2007 at 23:45

5w and 10w will be ok.... 10w and 20 w would be better

Pants · 1 Oct 2007 at 00:00

Could I put 10W and 20W halogen bulbs in if I wanted to? I don't need a very long burn time. And also the cheapest I have found is £50. If you can really get these for £35 tell me where and I will buy now!

badbob · 1 Oct 2007 at 00:05

The wires might get a bit hot (could melt) run times will be lousy too. The prices of the Electrons has gone up £20!

Pants · 1 Oct 2007 at 22:00

I've just found this in the garage. So annoying that I can't find the reflector for the headlight. I could have slapped a nice powerfull 20W bulb in it.

It's a sigma sport mirage i think, that my brother bought years ago..

Alasdair · 1 Oct 2007 at 22:23

badbob said:
They are FAR FAR brighter than LED pap

LEDs are a lot better than halogen in many ways, particularly burn time, colour temperature, brightness per watt and durability. I have a pair of Hope LEDs with the stem mount, and would thoroughly recommend them for serious nightriding. My 5+5W set exceeds the brightness for 40W halogen, so as you may understand the power consumption is miniscule.

If that's way beyond your price range, you can get a set of Cat Eye Triple Shots for £110 online - Merlin Cycles had them at that price recently. Triple LEDs, very nice lights, and a bargain at that price (formerly retailed for well over double that)

I had a set of Electrons years ago, didn't like them though. Durability was awful, too much plastic to break, and the switch fell apart. Perhaps they've changed - mine were a different model to those shown, but personally I'd spend a fair bit more than £50 if going properly offroad as your experience will be far better.

If you can afford them, look at Li-ion batteries as they're lighter, don't have a memory, and can be charged from any level of remaining power. Obviously this comes at an expense though.

As with everything, try before you buy. Try a decent set of lights on a night ride, and compare them to a weaker set. You may prefer the cheaper ones, or find you can hammer it faster on the better ones.

MikeHunt79 · 2 Oct 2007 at 03:19

Agreed, LED's are more efficient than halogens (so they burn for longer and are brighter), but a 10W LED setup beating a 40W halogen is a little optimistic. I would say it would be as good 20w or maybe 30w halogen.

For less then £100, halogen is pretty much the only option unless you build it yourself! For higher end stuff tho, LED is king. :cool:

For a cheap ghetto setup, use some 50mm waste tube, stuff a 12v 20w or 35w MR16 bulb in there, then build a suitable battery pack, and use a fuse and switch and wire it up. This is what I used before strapping lots of torches onto my handlbars.

badbob · 2 Oct 2007 at 10:56

Alasdair said:
LEDs are a lot better than halogen in many ways, particularly burn time, colour temperature, brightness per watt and durability. I have a pair of Hope LEDs with the stem mount, and would thoroughly recommend them for serious nightriding. My 5+5W set exceeds the brightness for 40W halogen, so as you may understand the power consumption is miniscule.

Agree about run times, but not brightness. I had two Cateye EL-500 "brightest" out of the cateye line, and compare to a 10W halogen not even close.

Alasdair · 3 Oct 2007 at 00:19

badbob said:
Agree about run times, but not brightness. I had two Cateye EL-500 "brightest" out of the cateye line, and compare to a 10W halogen not even close.

I think it all depends on the actual diode that's used - there was a post on OCUK a while back stating that LED had achieved ''x lumens per watt'' and this was seemingly a big thing - I didn't read it much. I've just found the lights I'd like to get if money were no object - the 4 LED, 1000 lumen set from Hope, details here.

Also, LEDs are brighter from a colour temperature point of view, but they don't have the same ''throw'' as halogen, the light just seems to diffuse better. Each to their own I suppose, but I'm firmly in the LED camp for what I use them for.

My lights do 300 lumens, giving 30 lumens per watt, but I'll concede that halogens perform better than LEDs at a price point, simply because you get more power for your money, but less burn time. If I ever take my other bike offroad in the evening, I use a combo of a very old Cateye halogen pointing forwards, and a wee LED pointing down about 5m in front of me for some semi visible trail action.

al

Pants · 3 Oct 2007 at 00:34

Hmm considering I have the battery and switch i'm mildly tempted by MR11 HID Bar Mount £104.00 from http://www.trailtechproducts.co.uk/.

Click on HID lighting and then the MR11 Bar Mount.

Black MR11 HID light with pivot handlebar clamp.
Handlebar clamp fits 7/8" through 1-1/8" handlebars and pivots 30°.
No warranty when used with other than 12 volt systems.
Spot or Flood beam.
Accepts 12-24 volts.
Draws 13 watts per light.
6.5 ounces. 80x47x100mm.
5600K. 570 foot candles. 6100 Lux.
6° beam angle.

Or the MR16 HID Bar Mounted Light look good too fro £130.00. 30W of HID would be good!! :eek:

SCMR16 HID light with pivot handlebar clamp.
Handlebar clamp fits 7/8" through 1-1/8" handlebars and pivots 30°.
No warranty when used with other than 12 volt systems.
Spot or Flood beam.
Accepts 12-30 volts.
Draws 30 watts per light.
13 ounces. 95x63x115mm.
5600K. 2400 foot candles. 26000 Lux.
12° beam angle.