night bicycle riding

[innerlight]

Hello,
I have been kicking around the incandesent forum for a while but I know NOTHING about headlights.

I want to get one for my college age sister in law who does a lot of commuting by bicycle.

I am sure she is going to want one as small and "stylish" as possible.

I was thinking that the priorities will be:

1) Size/weight
2) Throw
3) Standard alkalines
4) $40.00 max (30 would be better)

Any sugestions would be greatly appreciated
🙂

Innerlight

 

[greenLED]

There are a bunch of bike-related threads and discussions buried in the CPF archives. I even did a group buy of Twofish lock-blocks and started a thread on attaching lights to one's helmet.

Also, checkout mtbr.com, they have a section on bike light reviews.

Regardless of the headlight you choose, I strongly recommend getting some LED flashers (front and back, as well as sides), and finding a good reflective vest and/or reflective adhesive for her bike and clothes. Oh, yeah, a helmet light :rock:

Safe riding!

 

[k1_]

Hey innerlight, I'm a bike rider myself and got connected with CPF the same way, trying to figure out the "right" lights for what I need.

When you talk about bike lights, I assume you're interested in lights that allow your sister to be visible at night, rather than lights that project enough light to see into the dark. (I'm making this assumption more by your budget than anything else).

The best recommendation I have for low-cost bike lights for being seen are the Cateye lights available at Performance or really any bike store. Basically, buy the biggest one you want to afford. And greenLED's recommendation to pick up a rear LED light is a really good one.

If you want to think about spending a bit more for slightly better lights, you might check out Nite Hawk for their Emitter lights, as well as cruising eBay for Light & Motion Commuter or low-end Nite Rider lights. Sometimes you can find good 10W lights for $50 or so.

k1

 

[Illuminated]

I have a nephew in college in Philadelphia. He and his girlfriend commute to/from campus year round in city traffic.

I bought them each River Rock headlamps ($10 ea), Serfas multi-mode LED flashing tail lights ($25 ea), and ScotchLite reflective bands for the wrists/legs. I also provided them with 3-4 month supply of quality AAA alkalines.

They needed "be seen" lights that had to be quickly removable from the bike or they'd be stolen.

I'm a firm believer in lights worn on the helmet to be seen more easily above the roof line of cars, and you can get a driver's attention instantly by looking at them - even with a relatively low powered light, especially a white LED. The RR headlamp quite small, weatherproof, and is easily attached to the helmet vents using velcro. It runs on 2 x AAA alkalines.

I may upgrade their headlamps to the Princeton-Tec EOS (<$40) when they become available again in my locale. They're many times brighter than the RR and have many features I'll not describe here. Runs on 3 x AAA batteries of any type.

The Serfas tail light is obnoxiously bright and attention-getting, and easily unclips from its mount. It also has a belt clip allowing more elevated attachment to the backpack. Runs on 2xAAA alkalines.

This is by no means a be all-end all solution to their needs, but it is substantially better than what they had (virtually nothing).

Decent quality bike lights are not cheap, and the better LED ones are no exception. It's a shame that such a necessary piece of safety equipment should cost so much that the majority of persons commuting by bike simply can't afford them.

Hope this helps

 

[Nubo]

Hello,
I have been kicking around the incandesent forum for a while but I know NOTHING about headlights.

I want to get one for my college age sister in law who does a lot of commuting by bicycle.

I am sure she is going to want one as small and "stylish" as possible.

I was thinking that the priorities will be:

1) Size/weight
2) Throw
3) Standard alkalines
4) $40.00 max (30 would be better)

It all depends on what you need and expect from the light. Whether you want a light for "seeing" or just "being seen". If the former, how far ahead do you need to see, which is further dictated by how fast you ride and under what conditions (rural, suburban, urban). Surprisingly, it often takes more light to see comfortably in semi-lit areas than in dark rural ones.

Alkalines are going to limit you to the "being seen" category or perhaps with LED lights to the low end of "seeing" This is inconsistent with your other priority of "throw".

There's a lot to consider. If you are so inclined, for your price point you can build your own system that will be much more capable than any $40 bike light you can purchase retail.

Here's one useful place to start:

http://nordicgroup.us/s78/

p.s. from a safety perspective, a roll of good reflective tape is the best place to start and best bang for the buck. Put it all over the bike -- it needs no batteries and the bike will be very visible to any motorist with headlights on.

 

[innerlight]

Thanks for all the input
Some very good links and advice

I havent discussed it much with her, I know she has reflectors on the wheels and seat and wanted a "to see" light rather than a "to be seen". Also, wanted a headstrap one that she could wear while camping etc as opposed to just a bike mount, but maybe we are talking two different lights here?

And I only wanted alkaline for availability and ease. I use rcr123's myself,but I can imagine that she would either go with primary 123's which would be too expensive and therefore not use the light, or go with rcr's and forget to charge them and then not use the light. I just wanted to make this as painless as possible so that it would actually be used.

You've heard the addage something to the effect that it is better to have a .32 in your pocket rather than to have a .45 at home in a drawer?
Same thought process.

Anyway,
Thanks again and keep it coming.......

 

[Illuminated]

Given you updated requirement for camping use and alkaline batt use, then I'd definitely recommend the Princeton-Tech EOS.

Here are some links to info about this light:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=104861&highlight=EOS%2A

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=106321&highlight=EOS%2A

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=105241&highlight=EOS%2A

There are other threads on this light, so you might do a search using "EOS*" as the keyword.

This is my favorite small multi-purpose LED headlamp to date, and I will be using it as a helmet light in addition to a high end bike-mounted light.

Hope this helps - John

 

[vkan]

Hello,
I have been kicking around the incandesent forum for a while but I know NOTHING about headlights.

I want to get one for my college age sister in law who does a lot of commuting by bicycle.

I am sure she is going to want one as small and "stylish" as possible.

I was thinking that the priorities will be:

1) Size/weight
2) Throw
3) Standard alkalines
4) $40.00 max (30 would be better)

Any sugestions would be greatly appreciated
🙂

Innerlight

For $40 max, the best bike light to get is probably the Cateye EL-500, a Luxeon I that takes 4 AA's. In some conditions, it is good enough to "see by". I think it is very "stylish" as bike lights go and is pretty much the only thing that meets your criteria that I'd want to use as a primary light.

If you're into flashlight mods, you might get a Nuwai ALX-032 Luxeon III flashlight, drill the tail cap to run an exterior power connection to a fake battery (instead of two CR123a cells), and hook up whatever 6v source you care to build (you could do it for < $40 if you don't include labor and battery pack+charger costs). Combined with the Two-Fish Cyclop Block mounting, it's a decent bike head light, but very anti-stylish. I now use one of these plus a Cateye EL-300 (a 5 LED head light that you can get for $20 these days).

There are obviously better solutions out there, but none for $40 unless you got something like the Princeton Tec Matrix 2 Luxeon I head lamps when REI.com was blowing them out for $12 a pop (three of them would probably make nice bike lighting for $40 🙂.

 

[BentHeadTX]

Regardless of the headlight you choose, I strongly recommend getting some LED flashers (front and back, as well as sides), and finding a good reflective vest and/or reflective adhesive for her bike and clothes. Oh, yeah, a helmet light :rock:

Safe riding!

Green,
Ran into my physical therapist friend today, she loves the L1P helmet strap mod and will purchase one when she gets back to the states. Having a lot of fun blinding people by looking at them and that sort of thing. She went spelunking (caving) with her bicycle helmet on 🙄 and loved it. I then had one of those moments... a flexible rubber strap with velcro is used by phlebotomists to draw your blood! That flexible rubber strap, two thin cable ties and a Fenix L1P would be perfect for a helmet mount.

 

[wasBlinded]

Green,
Ran into my physical therapist friend today, she loves the L1P helmet strap mod and will purchase one when she gets back to the states. Having a lot of fun blinding people by looking at them and that sort of thing. She went spelunking (caving) with her bicycle helmet on 🙄 and loved it. I then had one of those moments... a flexible rubber strap with velcro is used by phlebotomists to draw your blood! That flexible rubber strap, two thin cable ties and a Fenix L1P would be perfect for a helmet mount.

I've been using a phlebotomy tourniquet to mount my lights to the helmet. Works well.

 

[BentHeadTX]

I've been using a phlebotomy tourniquet to mount my lights to the helmet. Works well.

Was,
Were do I purchase those phlebotomy tourniquets? The lab people quit using them years ago since they are hard to decontaminate the velcro portion. Now with Fenix L1P's at countycomm for $35, makes a great helmet light at the $40 range.

 

[greenLED]

I've seen them sold at a local camping store, by the aisle where the slingshot repair/supplies are. Different thicknesses are available.

Great idea! :thanks:

 

[Nubo]

Thanks for all the input
Some very good links and advice

I havent discussed it much with her, I know she has reflectors on the wheels and seat and wanted a "to see" light rather than a "to be seen". Also, wanted a headstrap one that she could wear while camping etc as opposed to just a bike mount, but maybe we are talking two different lights here?

And I only wanted alkaline for availability and ease. I use rcr123's myself,but I can imagine that she would either go with primary 123's which would be too expensive and therefore not use the light, or go with rcr's and forget to charge them and then not use the light. I just wanted to make this as painless as possible so that it would actually be used.

You've heard the addage something to the effect that it is better to have a .32 in your pocket rather than to have a .45 at home in a drawer?
Same thought process.

Anyway,
Thanks again and keep it coming.......

I understand your concerns. I can only offer my experience from many years of night riding (with and without lights), the advent of good rechargeable systems bumped up the convenience factor for me BIG TIME. There's a big difference between needing to have fresh disposables on-hand (or running to the store) and knowing you can effortlessly turn your spent batteries into full-capacity batteries while you sleep, time after time. This is the perfect scenario to take maximum advantage of rechargeables' strengths if you use the lights regularly. The advantage becomes even more apparent as you go up in power and by the time you get to serious amounts of light, alkalines become completely unfeasible both in terms of simply being able to power strong lights for any amount of time, and from a cost standpoint.

The other option is using a dynamo-powered light. I don't have any experience with them but have read many reports of users who swear by them. The primary advantage is that you never run out of power. At least as long as you're able to pedal 🙂. You're limited to about 3 watts of power but the dynamo-specific lights make the most of that power.

And, getting back to the reflectorized tape -- having entire bike tubes wrapped in the stuff is a quantum leap in visibility compared to plastic reflectors. Since the tubes are round you are guaranteed visibility from all directions, and over a much larger area. Try it and see -- doesn't cost much for a roll and you will be surprised at how visible the bike becomes. Get a good brand like Scotch-lite. Extremely effective. Wrap a couple of the larger tubes, and stick some pieces to the insides of the rims and outsides of the cranks to add motion to the mix. Then have her ride past as you sit in a car with the headlights on. It has the secondary benefit of increasing the "dorkiness" factor of the bike, which can be a plus if theft is a concern.