You Get What You Pay For?

[pobox1475]

Being pretty well versed in flash & headlight tech I know squat about bike lights. I will be picking up my new Cyclocross bike for commuting in a couple weeks and am trying to get all my accessories in line. While browsing Princeton Tech's site I came accross their "Switchback" series lights. Are they good? What I desire in a light is reliability, good output (will use in urban areas), included rechargeable, efficiency and most important a very good value. I would be willing to spent up to $250 or so if neccessary. I do not however have any desire to make my own. Would prefer to have a companies tech support and warranty if ever needed. Any additional lights to look at and consider?

 

[Gaius]

See this link http://terrengsykkel.no/index.php?id=2440
Is in Norwegian but they have a lot of nice pictures. However they didn’t like the Switchback top model, to expensive and heavy against other brands.

 

[Calina]

Here is a review of quite a few lights:

http://www.gearreview.com/LEDs08_intro.php

 

[saltytri]

Congrats on the new bike! That's always a happy occasion.

I've never seen the Princeton Switchback models but I have to admit that they look very interesting. I'm less a flashlight guy than a cyclist and would say that there are a few thousand people on this forum who can give you much better technical info on lights than I can. Nevertheless, I'll weigh in because I've done a bit of night riding while doing endurance rides and have given a lot of thought, and not a little cash, to the problems of getting good light. As a general proposition, I'll stick my neck out and say that the high-tech flashlight manufacturers are almost always ahead of the bike light manufacturers. I just don't see much out there in the bike world that can compete with, for example, Fenix products, at least where battery powered lights are concerned. Although these aren't made specifically for bike use, there are easy methods of adapting them, i.e., Two Fish mounts on the handlebar or, for better security and more rigidity, Terracycle mounts. Go to the 4sevens.com site and do some shopping. The best bang, I think, are the 2AA lights with Eneloop rechargeable cells and a smart charger. You'll spend less for two lights than even the cheapest Switchback and have an excellent system with redundancy.

Though it exceeds your price target, my current system is a Schmidt SON20R generator hub feeding a Supernova E3 LED. Awesomely bright and it runs any time the bike is rolling. For details, have a look at the lighting section at peterwhitecycles.com. I should admit that I do have a 2AA Fenix light for backup because the E3 gets dim at 4-5mph, which happens a lot on hills!

 

[Eamon]

What sort of runtime do you need? Is your commute paved, unpaved, mixed? What sort of security considerations do you have? Are you looking for something that comes on/off easily and maybe converts to a helmet light?
Does your budget include a taillight?

Mo' data, please.

Eamon

 

[pobox1475]

^ Paved. Two hours would be nice. Quick detatch required. Tail not neccessary. Non-helmet capability.

 

[Fuzz541]

Build your own:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=368896

and

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=407160

It's worth signing up for all the info in these threads.

 

[Eamon]

^ Paved. Two hours would be nice. Quick detatch required. Tail not neccessary. Non-helmet capability.

No buildie? No problem.

Look here:
http://www.dinottelighting.com/Products.htm
Dinotte is quite well thought of among the people I know and ride with. They do a lot of different blink patterns, and the QR is about as simple as it gets. One of their claims to fame is their use of standard-dimension cells in their packs. You will own a cell charger if you don't already, but be able to get new batteries at the 7-11.

I'm tolerably pleased with this:
http://www.niterider.com/prod_minewtx2.shtml
Either this or the Mini-USB version are very small, come off easily, and throw a good amount of light for what they are. The battery pack and connectors are proprietary, so you're tied to them that way. I often carry mine as a backup light.

Busch and Muller does some interesting things. If you're going to get a BUMM, get one of the IQ versions. Peter White sells them, and he has at least one version that includes batteries and charger.
http://www.bumm.de/index-e.html?docu/vision-e.htm

or here:
http://www.bikelights.com/info.asp?uid=225&p=13

You have options. If you don't want to be tied into a proprietary battery pack, then the Dinotte is probably the way to go. You're in the market segment that everyone makes something for.

Enjoy
Eamon