Yet Another Light Thread

[Lady Cavendish]

So my current light annoys me a lot as it has a separate battery pack. I want to buy a new one that does the below:

A) can see very well with it on unlit roads I have lasered eyes and therefore rubbish night vision
B) suitable for a 400/600 audax
C) batteries not a silly separate pack, ones I can take spares of with me but that I can also recharge
D) that I can easily whip on and off the bike commuting and switching between bikes, so one if those kind of rubber stretchy mount things like on an exposure flare rear light
E) in an ideal world £100 or less
F) decent battery life but not so important if I can carry spare batteries

Is that too demanding?!

[Frank9755]

A Hope Vision 1 ticks all those boxes.

[Nethypete]

I've been using one of these this winter and am happy with the light

http://road.cc/content/review/52554-buschmuller-ixon-iq-light

[LMT]

Fenix BC30

[mcshroom]

The Ixon IQ Premium gives a bit more light and will have the new beam shape (which I prefer on my Cyo Premium over my older Cyo.

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/b--m-ixon-iq-premium-led-headlamp/aid:703598

[MAC]

A Hope Vision 1 ticks all those boxes.

+1

[Lady Cavendish]

From the pics it didn't look like a hope vision 1 can just quickly one on and off with no faff. Can I just whip the light on and off and switch between bikes? The rubber band type mounts seem so fast for this, no screwdrivers required

[Kim]

Someone will be along in a minute to confirm, but AIUI the Hope clamp quickly releases from around the bars, rather than leaving a bracket attached to the bike.

[Sergeant Pluck]

The Fenix BC30 is worth a look.

Another contender might be one of the bigger Exposures. Good for switching between bikes as they have a bracket that remains attached to the bars so you don’t have to adjust the angle.

Scrub that - just noticed you want removable batteries.

[MAC]

From the pics it didn't look like a hope vision 1 can just quickly one on and off with no faff. Can I just whip the light on and off and switch between bikes? The rubber band type mounts seem so fast for this, no screwdrivers required

The HV1 light is fastened to the clamp. The clamp is as easy to undo as a QR skewer. It can easily be adjusted for different size bars.

[Bobbinogs]

I know your ticklist is fairly specific but is it worth a little more consideration? The HV1, and others in the same category, are going to struggle to give you good riding conditions in pitch black for more than about 2.5 hours. You will then have to fanny about trying to locate your spare batteries (which will need to be kept bone dry) and then replace them, possibly at the side of the road in the dark and possible rain. Repeating this several times on a 400/600 does not sound like fun to me.

It may have the inconvenience associated with swapping but I would seriously look at the thing you really need: a modern dynamo/light combo. It will undoubtedly break your budget but can be swapped over (front wheel included, assuming compatibility). The transfer will take a little while but not too long once practised. The benefits at the thick end of a long ride will be immeasurable.

[hillbilly]

More positive vibes for the Fenix.  Great light.

Coupled with the right lithium rechargeable it kicks ass.  Saw me through a raft of 400s and 600s.  It has/had a messed up flash mode though.  But I got mine when it first came out in 2013 and so it might have changed.

[Hot Flatus]

I'm using a BC30. Supplemented by a dynamo light. Very pleased so far. Look on eBay, mine cost £56 as a best offer deal from the far east.

The flash mode is now sorted

Try making an offer on this:

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/281435822048?nav=SEARCH

[PaulF]

Someone will be along in a minute to confirm, but AIUI the Hope clamp quickly releases from around the bars, rather than leaving a bracket attached to the bike.

That's right! In fact I like the design so much I've bought Hope clamps to fit to other lights

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I find the Hope clamp to be a right pain in the neck but YMMV

[hillbilly]

It shows how far lights have come on when a key point is what the clamp is like 

I don't have a Hope (titter ye not) but have seen them in action.  I would consider one if I was in the market for buying new lights.  There will be some nerdy online reviews of both it and the Fenix.  JGI.

[mattc]

It shows how far lights have come on when a key point is what the clamp is like 

What is a shame, is how little they've progressed since the ones I remember in the 80s!

Most of them work pretty OK - if you leave the clamp on the bike. If you have to move them between bikes and adjust the size, i've never known a good one. I borrowed a Hope once - IIRC the clamp was nicely made, but did not solve the quick-adjust problem. This is all a bit silly - if you only want lights on 1 bike, dynamos win!

Rubber-band systems mostly solve this. They don't seem to have taken off  with manufacturers.

If I decide I like my latest light (an Ixon), I'll probably buy a 2nd clamp. And then rant endlessly about how much spare clamps cost

[Hot Flatus]

O-ring fixed lights tend to be ones with external battery pack, so the o-ring just needs to hold the light head. Which is not what Lady C wants, so is for a separate discussion.

Personally, although Hope make some great stuff, the lights aren't amongst them. Not bright enough for the bulk.  I think last weekend's Brian Manhole Cover crash in the dark is a pretty good example as to why I've always gone for the brightest lights I can find. You don't need the brightest setting on all the time, but you do need it when you are going fast.

The one issue, in fact the only issue, that I have with the BC30 is that with thick winter gloves on it isn't easy to operate the button to change settings on the fly.

[Frank9755]

I'm not on commission from Hope but I find:
- the clamp is very easy to use, even easier than a rubber band, in fact. I take mine off when I park at work at swap between bikes all the time. People buy Hope clamps to fit to rubber band lights as an upgrade. 
- it has three levels. The lower one is bright enough to ride at a moderate overnight audax pace by. For descending, I flick it on to a higher level. If you keep it on high level, you'll only get 2-3 hours but on the low level, it will be fine all night. IMHO keeping it on high level all the time is overkill.

Best thing is to find someone with one on a ride and get them to scroll through the levels and see if it is bright enough for you. 

The B+M Ixon wd be the obvious alternative but I've no experience of how their clamps work. 

[mcshroom]

It shows how far lights have come on when a key point is what the clamp is like 

What is a shame, is how little they've progressed since the ones I remember in the 80s!

Most of them work pretty OK - if you leave the clamp on the bike. If you have to move them between bikes and adjust the size, i've never known a good one. I borrowed a Hope once - IIRC the clamp was nicely made, but did not solve the quick-adjust problem. This is all a bit silly - if you only want lights on 1 bike, dynamos win!

Rubber-band systems mostly solve this. They don't seem to have taken off  with manufacturers.

If I decide I like my latest light (an Ixon), I'll probably buy a 2nd clamp. And then rant endlessly about how much spare clamps cost

If you want an extra bracket, I'd suggest getting a Smart lunar of some sort. They are often pretty cheap, use the same bracket, and are pretty good backup lights if the ixon starts playing up.

[Lady Cavendish]

I definitely can't be doing with swapping wheels. I change bikes a lot more than I ever ride a 600 so I'm more worries about that.

This hope light- I assume I can just buy 2 clamps and have a clamp on each bike? It just very quickly comes off the clamp?

So it uses rechargeable normal batteries?  Slightly worried by Flaaaaaaaaatus's comment that it isn't very bright- I want to be able to see on not lit roads is it good enough for that?

Any thoughts on these lezyne lights that seem to have the rubber band thing? I like the look of them but worried they will just run out of juice in the night

[Aunt Maud]

I use these and I'm happy:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-deca-drive-loaded-y8/

A mere 900 lumens, comes with a spare battery should do you good for 8 hours on low beam, which is BRIGHT , Hi beam is good for pitch black badger spotting and melting the retinas of non light dipping motorons.

[Lady Cavendish]

That bc30 looks quite good is it normal batteries and is it good enough without the dynamo supplement

[frankly frankie]

Any thoughts on these lezyne lights that seem to have the rubber band thing? I like the look of them but worried they will just run out of juice in the night

Small blingy lights are not up to the job of a full night ride.

Then again, if you're talking about summer 400s and 600s, it's worth making a realistic assessment of just how much riding on unlit roads is involved - depending on the route, and what you do at controls, it could easily be as little as 2-3 hours.

I find the Hope clamp to be a right pain in the neck but YMMV

You can get thrown off the forum for saying things like that!
The clamp, loved by so many, is IMO the most stupid arrangement imaginable.
They need the very best available rechargable batteries to run properly - batteries that are just 'good' are not good enough.
And my observation is that most serious nightriders who do use Hope V1s, use them in pairs.

[mcshroom]

I'm not sure whether that's to do with the light (which, though I haven't got a Hope Vision 1, seems bright enough to me), or because with the first edition they had a habit of cutting out at low battery without warning. AIUI that's been sorted now.