Recommend me some cycle lights..

Admiral Huddy · 10 Oct 2007 at 14:12

Nights are drawing in and found myself cycling in the dusk with no lights. I'm lethal on a bike as it is.

Last night, searching through the garage, I remembered that the front lamp got stolen and the rear got sat on (no pun intended)..

So I'm looking for some decent lights, nice price, easy to take off and re-chargeable... as my wife keeps nagging me for taking her batteries

Thanks

IceAx · 10 Oct 2007 at 14:18

Theres some on offer at chain reaction - £2.99 delivered!

Gotta be worth a go - i ordered a set this morning

Andy

SeriousPigeon · 10 Oct 2007 at 15:10

Cheap bike lights don't light up the road well enough. They are also not bright enough for other cars to notice you, which is even worse.
Have a look at the Cateye lights which should be sold at most cycle shops.

LordSplodge · 10 Oct 2007 at 15:29

I take it you already have some kind of High Vis jacket or strap? If not get one of them as motorists are crap and can't see anything!

Get a set or rechargable AA's and AAA's and then get some good lights. I recommend CatEyes as they are small, easy to mount and remove and are very bright!

Start at around £24 for a set of front and rears:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360025775&N=Cateye%20EL135%20And%20LD130%20Light%20Set

I have these babies on mine!

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360031619&N=Cateye%20EL520%20And%20TL610%20Light%20Set

PhilthyPhil · 10 Oct 2007 at 15:31

It depends on whether you need them just to be seen or if you need to be able to see too (ie using on unlit roads). If the latter it can get quite expensive, but as mentioned above if all you need is to be seen then Cateye do have a good range of reasonable value light sets

6thElement · 10 Oct 2007 at 15:32

I just spent about 250 quid yesterday on some front lights, I guess that's more than you were budgeting?

PlatinumFX · 10 Oct 2007 at 15:33

I find Cateye to be over-priced generally. Also consider Smart lights. Im not sure about the front but for the rear; I have a Smart Superflash which is absurdly bright, about £15 and takes two AA batteries. You'll need to investigate if it will accept recharagable batteries but I can't see that being a problem.

Always good to have some redundency, so get aleast two lights incase one fails mid-ride. Also frankly, the more the better anyway for visibilities sake in general. Personally I would be riding with 3 if my bike had not been squished by a car and I housebound with an injured knee!! :mad:

LordSplodge · 10 Oct 2007 at 15:42

PlatinumFX said:
I find Cateye to be over-priced generally

Always good to have some redundency, so get aleast two lights incase

Cateyes are good for the money. All the cheaper ones I have ever used have either had the build qulaity of a French car or eat batteries like a vibrator at an Anne Summers party.

You are right about redundancy. A nice cheap method for this is to get some of those little flashing UFO LED lights and clip them to you clothes, rucksack or somewhere they can be seen.

PhilthyPhil · 10 Oct 2007 at 15:46

6thElement said:
I just spent about 250 quid yesterday on some front lights, I guess that's more than you were budgeting?

Cool, what did you get?

Dogoid · 10 Oct 2007 at 16:01

asda have a bike section and have some pretty good stuff supplied by a company called 'bell' they have lights for 4 quid and they do a pretty good job at lighting the road as they are bright as hell. takes 4 aa batteries and tend to last about 5-6 hours with Duracell so recharger needed .

heres how it lights up a dark cloakroom, at night with light on , you get to see were you are going and its bright enough to be seen over 200 yards away.

PardonTheWait · 10 Oct 2007 at 16:06

I've got a cateye front light which was £35 or £40, has dip and full beam (

) and is fantastic, really good spread of light. It's good enough for riding singletrack in the pitch black through woods, and is really good on the road too. Worth it imo as it's rechargable, and won't munch all your AA's...

6thElement · 10 Oct 2007 at 16:16

PhilthyPhil said:
Cool, what did you get?

http://www.ayup.com.au/kits-endurance.html

Should hopefully be with me early next week.

LordSplodge · 10 Oct 2007 at 17:26

Dogoid said:
Asda tat

The wife got one of them and the matching rear light. Pile of junk eat batteries and would not last a long ride. She got them because:

"I don't want to spend £30 on a bike light!"

What does she want for her birthday next month? That's right the same set of small, bright Cateyes that I have. So she doesn't want to spend £30 but I have to spend £40...

Sigh.

mosfet · 10 Oct 2007 at 17:32

Another vote for Cateyes here. I've got a £50 set which have been nigh on running every night for the last month on the same set of batteries that's been in them for 3 months now. Seriously bright and efficient - don't buy cheap tat, it could mean the difference between someone seeing (and avoiding) you and not.

Dogoid · 10 Oct 2007 at 17:33

LordSplodge said:
The wife got one of them and the matching rear light. Pile of junk eat batteries and would not last a long ride. She got them because:

"I don't want to spend £30 on a bike light!"

What does she want for her birthday next month? That's right the same set of small, bright Cateyes that I have. So she doesn't want to spend £30 but I have to spend £40...

Sigh.

i have been on many long rides and they have lasted, your right though they do eat batteries like no other and they are cheap , but the OP wanted cheap.

my cousin got a cateye front light and with new batteries are garbage, eats batteries also and not as bright, certainly do not light up the ground in front of you.

look you can get better , but they are good casual cheap front lights.

ALLI · 10 Oct 2007 at 17:34

el-410 for the front (cateye) and CatEye TL-LD600 for rear.

will do the job nicely.

PlatinumFX · 10 Oct 2007 at 17:37

LordSplodge said:
"I don't want to spend £30 on a bike light!"
...
So she doesn't want to spend £30 but I have to spend £40...

Sigh.

Theres just so many things wrong in this world.

Seriously I cant rate the Smart Superflash enough. For £15 it is stunningly bright and exceeds £50 Cateye models (edit: the TL-LD600) in most ways. Sideways visability isint as prominent, but can be solved by buying two further lights. Battery life is fine too. Mine has noticeabley dimmed and its had atleast 10 hours use. Go to a bike shop and ask to see both. You'll see then what I mean!

ALLI · 10 Oct 2007 at 17:54

The Cateye TL-LD600 is about a fiver on ebay mate! And about 15 from most LBS. Are you talking about the right model?

PhilthyPhil · 10 Oct 2007 at 18:01

ALLI said:
The Cateye TL-LD600 is about a fiver on ebay mate! And about 15 from most LBS. Are you talking about the right model?

TL-LD600 is a rear light that you could get in kit with front light for around £50. It's a good light but has now been replaced by the TL-LD610 which is about £20 to buy new on its own.

PlatinumFX · 10 Oct 2007 at 18:02

No im not talking about the right model. Hell what am I thinking its the one I have! 5 leds arranged over a narrow but wide piece. Still, I dont rate it highly compared to the Superflash. Compare them and you'll see what I mean.

I put my superflash on the back of my bike at night, walked about 10 metres away and all I can see is red. Can only make out the shape of the bottom of the rear wheel its that bright. The TL-LD600 is good and its shape can make it useful in certain scenarios (e.g. with a large saddle bag that hangs over most of the seat post) but the main LED in the Superflash blows it away.