Author Topic: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?  (Read 27358 times)

frankly frankie

  • I kid you not
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Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #25 on: 23 October, 2012, 10:55:45 am »
Road.cc 2012 light test here -> http://road.cc/content/news/69237-big-roadcc-lights-test-2012
The Moon Meteor looks quite tasty for the price but I don't know about run-time.

Also did very well in Cycling Weakly's group test last week.
when you're dead you're done, so let the good times roll

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #26 on: 23 October, 2012, 05:39:00 pm »
Thanks for all the replies

My mate crept up behind me on a black road and lit up the whole road from behind. Asked him what he was using and it is a Cree Surefire Torch . Got one on order ,will probably use the Cateye on flash(because it runs for weeks on the batteries like that) and switch the torch on when I get to the black bits.



Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #27 on: 25 October, 2012, 02:05:15 pm »
There was an enquiry on Randon from India about this, the Ixon IQ was the answer.

http://groups.google.com/group/randon/browse_thread/thread/84136d468206ae48

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #28 on: 25 October, 2012, 02:45:43 pm »
I've just ordered a tank007 xm-l t6 zoom able for £18. Takes one of those 18560 things or 3 aaa. Claims 450 lumens and 3 hours on full.

http://www.everbuying.com/product217167.html

Will let you know

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #29 on: 25 October, 2012, 09:00:02 pm »
I've got one of these.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/-AlS7a-4yj8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/-AlS7a-4yj8&rel=1</a>

On main beam, it slows traffic at about a mile - will make cars stop at anything less than 100metres.

And if you pitch the light up off the road a bit, there's enough brightness to clearly read the "E rating" on a cars headlight at about 200 metres in the dark - when the car's lights are on main beam.

The beam will penetrate two-foot thick dry-stone walls, and when the moon's only half iluminated, this bugger will turn it into a full moon.

The best £50 I've ever spent.  :thumbsup:
where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Riggers

  • Mine's a pipe, er… pint!
Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #30 on: 26 October, 2012, 09:05:28 am »
What a good advert for the Lazy Lob you illustrate here Blackers. And a super description too. You should offer this up to their advertising johnnies, and say: "For a small stipend you can use my validation of the product."

Roughly how long does the beam last like this?
Certainly never seen cycling south of Sussex

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #31 on: 26 October, 2012, 10:12:41 am »
Roughly how long does the beam last like this?

This bad boy has the usual four settings, the lowest was bright enough to be used by three of us for the last 30km of a 300 in darkness quite comfortably.

I've used it on th lowest setting through the night, the light was on for about 9.5 of 11 hours (but would have done more - I ran out of dark).

I've used it on high setting for about one and a half hours, but got bored with having the same road illumination as a car head lamp, it was too dazzling. Compare the unit's light beam with that of passing cars on the video.

If riding in a group, the lowest setting is more than adequate.

This light would suit off-roaders that wanted to get their cycling thrills in the dark. They could have a full-beam-blast on the mud for an hour and then cycle home on low-power beam.

As with similar units that use a rechargeable battery, charging via by micro usb, so you can use it for commuting - then plug it into your pc during the day.
where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #32 on: 26 October, 2012, 10:16:54 am »
You can also buy spare batteries for it for £2

Manotea

  • Where there is doubt...
Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #33 on: 26 October, 2012, 10:34:36 am »
Sub 50squid from where?

recumbentim

  • Only 6 SR,s No hyper yet
Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #34 on: 26 October, 2012, 11:30:30 am »
Might be more than £50 but I would recommend the Jetbeam Cycler with the Panasonic batteries.425 lumens from Flashaholics .
 Did an over night 400 with this one and you only need full on steep descents. Also been exellent for commuting with different modes.

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #35 on: 26 October, 2012, 01:39:04 pm »
Sub 50squid from where?

As usual, Fleabay.

The guy was asking £70, I offered £50 - pleading that it would cost £20 ish to buy mounts & charge cable.

As it came sans brackets and charging cable, no big deal as my LBS (who happen to stock & rave about the unit) got me the brackets for a very small fee and the charge cable is completely bog-standard USB-miniUSB, I have too many of these at home anyway. So job done.

Okay, so the rrp of these units is 1p short of £100. But CTC members would get a 10 to 20% discount from their CTC supporting shop.

So, you're now stuck with the quandry of spending £50 on the best you can get for the money - then buying something else in 12 months time, or splashing to £80 which will blow-away just about anything and everything in the sub £200 catagory. Hope have a very similar unit - it uses the same l.e.d., has the same light modes, charge method (and I expect battery).

The Lezyne is macined ally, with a very substantial black finish. the front-end of the unit has grooves machined into it, this increases the surface area - which aids cooling.
where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #36 on: 26 October, 2012, 02:02:04 pm »
You can also buy spare batteries for it for £2

Marvelous - I might get some of those as well  ;)

I have no commercial (or otherwise) interest in the Lezyne - but if anyone wants to road test the unit on one of my winter/early spring events from Tewkesbury. I'm wiling to lend it.

The handle bar mount comes in the two standard sizes, obviously (apart from battery usage) I expect the unit to be returned at the end of the event in the same condition as it was supplied (which is 'as new').

The events/dates are:-

10 Nov 12 Sat,  200, Tewkesbury, Mr. Pickwick's Crych Cymru.                         
08 Dec 12 Sat, 200, Tewkesbury, 1.75AAA, Kings, Castles, Priests and Churches. 
05 Jan 13 Sat, 200, Tewkesbury, 1.5AAA, Mr. Pickwick's January Sale.   
02 Feb 13 Sat,  200, Tewkesbury, Sam Weller's day trip to Wochma.
02 Mar 13 Sat,  200, Tewkesbury, 1.75AAA, Mr. Pickwick's March Madness.

There are events running throughout the year - details supplied on request.
where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #37 on: 26 October, 2012, 02:05:20 pm »
I'll be on some of those hopefully  :thumbsup:

Plodder

  • More of a lurker than a poster!
Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #38 on: 26 October, 2012, 02:32:25 pm »
Sub 50squid from where?

As usual, Fleabay.

The guy was asking £70, I offered £50 - pleading that it would cost £20 ish to buy mounts & charge cable.

As it came sans brackets and charging cable, no big deal as my LBS (who happen to stock & rave about the unit) got me the brackets for a very small fee and the charge cable is completely bog-standard USB - and I have too many of these at home anyway. So job done.

Okay, so the rrp of these units is 1p short of £100. But CTC members would get a 10 to 20% discount from their CTC supporting shop.

So, you're now stuck with the quandry of spending £50 on the best you can get for the money - then buying something else in 12 months time, or splashing to £80 which will blow-away just about anything and everything in the sub £200 catagory. Hope have a very similar unit - it uses the same l.e.d., has the same light modes, charge method (and I expect battery).

The Lezyme is macined ally, with a very substantial black finish. the front-end of the unit has grooves machined into it, this increases the surface area - which aids cooling.

Currently on Chain Reaction Cycles for £65.
Quote
The Portsmouth Wednesday Night Pub Ride Group - "a drinking club with a cycling problem".

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #39 on: 26 October, 2012, 07:12:34 pm »
Currently on Chain Reaction Cycles for £65.

Thanks Plodder, I will probably get another one at that price and put them on the front of the 308GTB, it's got to be a better punt than the stock items.

For the undecided - have a look at http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=70575

You can then splash-out on a half decent rear light - like the Exposure Flare.

where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Bairn Again

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #40 on: 26 October, 2012, 08:53:05 pm »
Just to add from what AndyC has said. 

I used 2 Ixon IQs on PBP 2011 and they were very good

My only niggle with them is that the run time on the brighter setting (which is actually too bright) has a tendency to be very short (whether using rechargeable or not) and there is no way you could rely on it being available on the higher setting all night on a 400.  Longest Ive had on this setting is definitely under 1 hour, though the light does automatically trade down to the lower setting to avoid a nightmare scenario.   

Ive also had to araldite one of the lights to stop an annoying rattle from the point where the body of the light meets the bracket. 

Id give them 8.5/10. 

I paid £100 for 2 of them in 2010.  theyre probably cheaper now

Kim

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    • Fediverse
Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #41 on: 26 October, 2012, 09:06:59 pm »
Ive also had to araldite one of the lights to stop an annoying rattle from the point where the body of the light meets the bracket.

A single piece of insulating tape on the bracket solved this for me.  It was only a problem on one of my brackets, oddly enough.  I suspect dubious manufacturing tolerances.

They're good lights if you don't drop them.

eck

  • Gonna ride my bike until I get home...
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Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #42 on: 26 October, 2012, 09:11:44 pm »

They're good lights if you don't drop them.
...or mount them upside down if it's wet, eh yleeg?  :-X
It's a bit weird, but actually quite wonderful.

Kim

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    • Fediverse
Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #43 on: 26 October, 2012, 09:13:22 pm »
Why on earth would you mount an IQ light upside-down?  The beam would be all wrong...   :hand:

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #44 on: 26 October, 2012, 09:55:53 pm »
That said I intend to follow Teethgrinder and use an Exposure 6 pack for LEL 2013. I have the back up battery and hope to give it a boost here and there by carrying the charger.


Mine no longer works. :'(

It was riding those 1000ks in June, where it rained for 40 nights and 40 days. And that's no lie!

I saw a bod from Exposure at the Dusk till Dawn mountain bike event earlier this month to see if he could fix it.
He took my battered light (It's come off a few times. They don't like being mounted under the handlebars) and plugged it into something but couldn't do anything with it.
He was very surprised when I told him that I'd taken the lense off and tipped out about a teaspoon full of water. He said that they shouldn't get any water in them at all.

Those 1000k rides were very wet though and nearly took out my Garmin eTrex Vista as well.
I do have a tendency to destroy the very best of lights. They don't seem to build them for people like me who like to spend several days and nights at a time in the rain.

I really ought to send my Exposure back....

Kim

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    • Fediverse
Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #45 on: 26 October, 2012, 09:59:48 pm »
I think the most important word was "rain". These lights have are prone to failure in very wet conditions.

It's only happened to my Ixon the once, after 3.5 hours of continuous heavy rain (and it was the right way up at the time), but fair enough.  My far greater issue with its reliability is the appalling battery contact design.

Personally, I don't consider any single light, let alone one that's battery powered, to be reliable.

Bairn Again

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #46 on: 26 October, 2012, 10:12:39 pm »
Why on earth would you mount an IQ light upside-down? 

as there was a bike computer and clip on tri bars already fitted. 

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #47 on: 26 October, 2012, 10:42:47 pm »
The days of the Ixon iq must be numbered surely. The size and weight of the thing related to light output isn't good by modern standards.

The future lies in small units with a single XML-T6 LED and one or two 18650 cells. Bags of light and longer run times.

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #48 on: 27 October, 2012, 07:34:54 am »
The days of the Ixon iq must be numbered surely. The size and weight of the thing related to light output isn't good by modern standards.

Not if it still works.
I saw a bike about a month ago. It was fitted with a rear Ever Ready!


Hillbilly

Re: Any decent front lights for sub £50 ?
« Reply #49 on: 27 October, 2012, 07:50:14 am »
I saw a bike about a month ago. It was fitted with a rear Ever Ready!

Presumably in daylight...