what I gather so far (from you guys and other research) is that actually lights at the minute are only 'good' for one type of cycling as different types of cycling have different lighting requirements.. for example mountain biking needs a circular wide spread beam/lens to light up areas and road cycling/ commuting needs a flatter/ squarer beam/lens to focus more on the road. Lights for cyclists who need both of these options on their ride doesn't not exist and they often need to buy two lights, one for each OR make do... and define tally do not exist where they automatically take surroundings into consideration to automatically adjust for on-coming vehicles/pedestrians to reduce 'dazzle' to either you (off signs) or the oncoming traffic.
Looking forward to hearing more guys! Thanks,
Adam
(maybe DeSisti, although will improve on existing products)
I've used top of the range off road lights, cheap Chinese li-ion battery lights and a Schmidt dynamo powered Cyo.
The Exposure Six Pack was (no longer works
) "good" for anything. Absolutely rubbish beam pattern for road, but it was so powerfull that it never needed a good lense. It did need to be pointed down and used in the lowest setting to not dazzle other road users but when nothing else was around, then full beam was more than enough to ride down steep, narrow lanes as fast as you would in daylight. Even medium brightness was enough.
If that light had a decent lense (which I reckon could be made as an optional attachment for road use) then I think that this light could be used at half the brightness of it's lowest setting to give an even better (than the 24 hour) run time.
The cheap Chinese lights I have. I also bought some lenses for those. Not as bright as the Six Pack. Not as good, but excellent value for money, though they are now as good as expired after about a year of use unless I can revive them. My Six Pack lasted about a year or so and died after a lot of riding in the rain. (must get round to sending it off for repair)
So those Chinese lights with an attachment lense made them a very good option for multi use cycling on a budget. The lense gave a very good cut off line, as good as my Cyo, though the Cyo is a much better lense, but then it is a lot more expensive and conforms to German standards.
My Cyo has outlasted every other light I've ever bought. It's great for on road riding. I've never used it for mountain biking.
What would be very good IMO, is if the on/off switch was independent from the dimmer switch. They usualy go through a series, On (full), medium, low, flash, off and are often not very easy to get hold of while cycling.
If the dimmer switch was a 3 /4 way rocker switch, so that it was similar to a downtube gear shifter, it would make life easier.
As outlined above, I think B&M have largely solved the anti-dazzle question with well-designed optics and reflectors. One big factor though in any light is the actual mounting. The headlights in cars are supposed to be adjusted not to dazzle but even modern and quite new cars seem to have badly adjusted lights.
I reckon to solve this you need a universal mounting fitted at the factory in a way that it cannot be moved and then for the lights to have the universal mounting so that when attached they are perfectly positioned. Add to this a system with a built in dynamo and lights that 'click' and 'lock' into place connecting as they click into place, and you have good lighting, properly positioned and always with power*.
Having a universal mounting system does not prevent competition if the mount is adopted universally in the same way for instance usb is a standard on computers and phones, and the 3 pin plug is a standard on domestic appliances. The system has to be quick and easy to use but also allow for the lights to be 'locked' in place to avoid casual theft. This locking process must be very easy and quick for the rightful owner to use for absolute convenience.
Oh, the final hurdle is for this lighting to become legally mandated and thus supplied with all new bicycles and bicycle frames.
I think that would be very difficult to achieve.
Where do you put that mounting? If it's on the handlebars (actually, it'd probably have to be the stem), then that means no bar bags and possibly no tri bars. I'm really not keen on the idea of mounting lights to forks unless the forks have a braze on. Too much risk of the bracket coming loose and going into the spokes. Or there is the front brake bridge, but they are prone to failure and can be easily bent around.