Wanted, light and cheap front light for hanging off a bar-end light support.

[mzjo]

I have just got one of these https://notionworld-pro.com/fr/accessoires/514-minoura-bar-end-lamp-holder-lma-h-4944924332679.html as a solution to fitting a front light to the Gitane which doesn't have anywhere else much to put a light. I had toyed with the idea of an additional bar support but the barbag comes up pretty high, there isn't a lot of room on the bars to stick one and have an idea that the lamp mount would be more liable to damage so I am trying the bar-end.

Having fitted it I think that the support won't want to have too much weight hanging off it so I am now looking for a reasonably cheap, reasonably bright and very light front light. I have a torch that I have rescued - bodged- to use an external battery pack with 4 AAs but the connector on the battery pack is fragile and switching off involves removing a battery! So I am looking for something a bit more permanent. It won't get used very often but needs to be bright enough for normal road riding (not speed stuff, not off road, not descending alpine passes in the dark, not commuting in traffic). I don't want to spend much on something that will only be used very occasionally. I don't know if an e-bike lamp with an external battery pack is a possible option. I am not sure if USB charged lamps are lighter than ones with AAs (I think so, but have no experience).

At present I am looking at these  https://www.deporvillage.fr/lumiere-avant-cateye-ampp-400  https://www.deporvillage.fr/lumiere-avant-lezyne-hecto-drive-stvzo-40-noir  and  https://www.alltricks.fr/F-11917-eclairage/P-1204690-eclairage_avant_lezyne_mini_drive_400xl_noir  The two Lezynes are a bit more than I would like to pay but if that's the price.... I like the Lezyne rear light that I have, in spite of a relatively short run time.

All candidates must have a bar mount, not a bolt-through or crown mount. Ideally it should be separable from the mount (so that the mount stays in place but the lamp lives in the barbag.

All suggestions gratefully received (even e-bay!). Thanks in advance

[Lightning Phil]

Bit more expensive  but bright enough for dark lanes

https://www.deporvillage.fr/lampe-avant-sigma-aura-80-usb-noir

The mount which is a silicon ladder band is not removable I’m afraid. But it can be replaced if it breaks.  Four lighting levels which shows on top of light, together with remaining battery charge.

[mzjo]

Bit more expensive  but bright enough for dark lanes

https://www.deporvillage.fr/lampe-avant-sigma-aura-80-usb-noir

The mount which is a silicon ladder band is not removable I’m afraid. But it can be replaced if it breaks.  Four lighting levels which shows on top of light, together with remaining battery charge.

Yes that one is a bit over budget, even if it could get used on other bikes from time to time I don't do enough night riding to justify it. However its smaller brother https://www.deporvillage.fr/eclairage-avant-sigma-aura-60-usb is very appealing. They do have the advantage of being a bit lighter than the others that i was looking at (a major consideration with a mount that could rotate under the load!). And I even have a Deporvillage account (although I will look around, Alltricks are very competitive at the moment)

[BFC]

A general caution with using that location - check for knee clearance when synching the cranks.

[lissotriton]

Busch & Muller Ixon Core is quite lightweight. Though maybe a bit more expensive than you want.

Or something like this cheapy from Planet X. It is surprisingly bright for a little thing. Probably available under a variety of other brands off eBay etc. https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LIPXFLASHWHT/planet-x-beat-3w-front-bike-light

[mzjo]

Busch & Muller Ixon Core is quite lightweight. Though maybe a bit more expensive than you want.

Or something like this cheapy from Planet X. It is surprisingly bright for a little thing. Probably available under a variety of other brands off eBay etc. https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LIPXFLASHWHT/planet-x-beat-3w-front-bike-light

That Planetx light is the spitting image of my Lezyne rear light only with white Leds in place of red. The Lezyne cost me 5x that price a few years ago. That said I don't think it will be much more than a "be seen" light and I do want a bit more.

I had already excluded B&M stuff on account of price, perhaps a little bit unjustified. About 30€ is going to be max, anything more would be overkill for something that will spend 95% or more of its life stowed in a barbag. So far the winner would appear to come from the Sigma or Lezyne offers. (I had hoped to be around 20€ but ideas have had to evolve a bit. For 25€ I can have an unbranded chinese USB front light out of the local supermarket but it would be a bit of an unknown quantity.)

A general caution with using that location - check for knee clearance when synching the cranks.

I will check this fairly carefully. I don't do much out of the saddle but I would prefer the mount staying to the inside of the bars on vulnerability grounds. Thanks for the warning! 

[BFC]

A general caution with using that location - check for knee clearance when synching the cranks.

I will check this fairly carefully. I don't do much out of the saddle but I would prefer the mount staying to the inside of the bars on vulnerability grounds. Thanks for the warning! 

I find on my fixed with a mirror mounted there the clearance issues are whilst static, whilst lifting the pedal to the "launch " position. Mount the light on the same side of the bike as the foot you put to the ground to avoid this. Same would apply with geared bikes and clipless pedals whilst standing though.
On my set up the mirror is a zefal version on narrow nitto randonnuer bars, so to work as a mirror it has to be inboard of the bars on that side of the bike, easy enough to re adjust on the move though.

[JennyB]

Lidl have a USB rechargable with a rotatable mount this week

[Frank9755]

That is an interesting mount.  I'm a sucker for original / interesting stuff so I'll get one of those!

My first thought is watch for your knees hitting it when you stand up.

If I was mounting there I would go for lightweight as possible so definitely no AAs.

If you only need a 'be-seen' light, then a small rechargeable would be fine. There are loads of options nowadays for not much money or many grammes.

If you need a see-with light I would go for something with a separate battery pack to reduce weight as much as possible - although wire from that location to a battery is a potential hazard to be aware of (too loose and getting in front wheel, too tight and snagging leading to loss of steering, etc).  Thinking about it, a bar bag would be the safest place for a battery as it would also move with the steering so could be pulled quite tight). 

An eBay Cree XML battery pack light like this would work well:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32614646189.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.51f04c4dMR73BD
I use a 5v USB version of this with a power bank, and a fresnel lens for an on-road beam pattern.  It's my best light.

E-bike lights do work with battery packs.  The voltage varies: B+M need more than 5V but the RFR ones work fine with a power bank (I have two of them which I don't really use as not quite as good as the eBay ones for my needs).

[fruitcake]

If you don't find a bar bracket, you might want to consider fitting a front rack which could give somewhere to put a light.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mini+small+porteur+rack&t=lm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images
You should be able to mount any light to a front rack.

[nashd]

I bought an Exposure Trace MK2 earlier in year when I wanted to have a light on a fairly flimsy mount.  Unfortunately, I haven't used it in the dark, so can't say how it would fare for normal road riding.  The Exposure website says it's 125 measured lumens, so I suspect it might be just about okay, depending on beam type etc.  It's probably brighter than the lights we used a few years back...  Other than that, it's really neat, lightweight, easily removable from the mount, and the mount itself is fairly compact.

https://exposurelights.com/products/bike/urban-lights/trace-mk2

[mzjo]

That is an interesting mount.  I'm a sucker for original / interesting stuff so I'll get one of those!

My first thought is watch for your knees hitting it when you stand up.

If I was mounting there I would go for lightweight as possible so definitely no AAs.

If you only need a 'be-seen' light, then a small rechargeable would be fine. There are loads of options nowadays for not much money or many grammes.

If you need a see-with light I would go for something with a separate battery pack to reduce weight as much as possible - although wire from that location to a battery is a potential hazard to be aware of (too loose and getting in front wheel, too tight and snagging leading to loss of steering, etc).  Thinking about it, a bar bag would be the safest place for a battery as it would also move with the steering so could be pulled quite tight). 

An eBay Cree XML battery pack light like this would work well:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32614646189.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.51f04c4dMR73BD
I use a 5v USB version of this with a power bank, and a fresnel lens for an on-road beam pattern.  It's my best light.

E-bike lights do work with battery packs.  The voltage varies: B+M need more than 5V but the RFR ones work fine with a power bank (I have two of them which I don't really use as not quite as good as the eBay ones for my needs).

I think that Cree light would appear to be the thing I am after. The barbag has handy net sidepockets that would be ideal for the battery pack.

If you were interested in the mount I should say that it has an expander cone that is supposed to do 19-23mm but that the larger end is a bit optimistic. It will tighten up but must be at the limit of efficiency. I am planning to line the inside of the bars with self-adhesive cloth tape to give it something a bit better to bite on.

If you don't find a bar bracket, you might want to consider fitting a front rack which could give somewhere to put a light.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=mini+small+porteur+rack&t=lm&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images
You should be able to mount any light to a front rack.

No a front rack is not an appropriate thing to mount on this frame. If I really wanted to go down that road I would simply take the barbag off and use a bigger saddlebag (ie my Camper Longflap) and a more normal front light on the bars. Imgur appears to be arsing around at present otherwise I would post a photo of the bike so you could see a bit better. I have played around with ways of mounting a front light a bit from time to time, including a 50's light bracket that clamped to the plunger section of the stem and, when inverted, went under the barbag. It worked within limits but not really well enough!