Need a bright light for riding bicycles at night

My mate is after a bright light for riding his bicycle home from work in the dark. Any sugguestions? My guess would be a bright 3-5 watt LED with rechargable batteries.

I believe there is somebody here selling a 15w Planet Bike Alias bicycle light. My suggestion would be that one. I've got the Planet Bike 15w Insight, and it's great (and bright.)

Like Trashman said regarding Planet Bike. Here's the link:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/121576

There's also NiteRider's HID + LED light for bike riding.

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

I'll google Planet Bike 15w then

CPF Member benh is selling a Planet Bike Alias SC 15 watt in B/S/T HERE

Hello Orion

I use at my bike a Lupine light. I'm happy with it but it's not cheap:thumbsdow.

Do you ride at streets or also in the terrain? With a single Lux light I would see problems by rainy conditions.

When I would need a bike light, I would go with a multiple Lux light. Take a look at

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=17

There a great creations for Trilux-bikelights in a Mag body.

Good luck and best regards

_____
Tom

Hello Tom,

my mate is a bike commuter so I guess he rides on the streets at night in all conditions.

Thanks guys, keep the sugguestions coming

I'm a bike commuter and spend 50% of time on main roads and 50% on completely unlit offroad bike paths through bush reserves for my nightly ride home. Brisbane is always dark by 6. I use a flashing white LED to get other motorists attention when on road (where car headlights and streetlights provide most of the illumination), in concert with a 1W torch (Longbow Micra) mounted on a homemade handlebar clamp for seeing where I'm going on the bush sections. It's probably not a perfect solution, but it's amazing how well it allows you to see once the eyes are dark adapted.

I think the main problem with LEDs for headlights, brightness aside, is that although they may appear to be white, they actually give poor colour rendition at a distance, and don't cut through fog/rain well. As an ex-Melbournian, I can sympathise with your mate!!

I love cycling at night and can share these opinions:

1. flashing leds on handlebars are good for being seen only.
2. 1 watt luxeons will get you home but ride slowly and you still might hit a chuckhole for lack of seeing it soon enough. I have a Fenix L1 which mounts neatly on my helmet with a large rubberband pushed through the center vent. Makes a nice lightweight light for when you might not make it home before dark.
3. 5 watt halogen or xenon. Okay for slower speeds(8-12 mph).
4. 15 watt halogen or xenon. Perfect for moderate to fast pace (13-20 mph) and you'll see road imperfections in advance to avoid.
5. HID lamps -- awesome but who has $400 for a bike light?
6. helmet-mounted lamps are perfect for looking forward into curves, seeing road signs, and spotting wildlife.
7. I currently use a NightRider Digital Headtrip with 15W, 10W, 5W settings, and use only the 15W setting when riding.

Happy night riding!

I have a Light and Motion Vega that I use for night commuting. On lit roads, the low mode works fine, since it's mainly there so other people can see me. Putting it on max doesn't do much if the road is lit. On side streets, I use the medium level, which lights up enough so you can ride safely. It's safe enough on low, but medium is more pleasing. On max the thing really screams (for an LED light), but I kinda worry about heat. It gets pretty warm, and the 2 hour advertised runtime is a bit overoptomistic (I get about an hour 15 minutes before it steps down). It does have thermal protection though, and will stepdown to a lower level if it gets too warm. Still, I worry about it (even at night here, it's warm outside). Advertized outputs are 35/55/85 lumens, and comparing them to my other lights, I have no reason to doubt the ratings.

The thing I like the most about the Vega is that it's self-contained. Internal batteries, etc. All you do is plug the AC adapter into it and it charges. Lights like the Cateye Trippleshot might be brighter with longer runtimes, but you have to muck around with the external battery packs, wires, etc.

If you want a really nice self-contained LED headlight, look here. However, these make the $150+ Vega look like a drop in the bucket. If I were to build a bike light from scratch, this is the kind of thing I'd make (I'd use Lux IIIs though). It uses dual 5W LEDs, one with a flood reflector, one with a focusing lens.

None of these will outshine a HID system, but for commuting, they're enough.

what I use is Niterider HID for raw power situations. Stenlight for headlamp/long runtime role.

Custom Red luxeon two staqe E1E mod by McGizmo for tail light duties.

with this setup, one can ride at night on main streets without fear of not being seen.

I have a modified Fenix L1P on my helmet, MillerMods boosted output to 490mA (1.7 watts) and it works well. My UWAJ LuxeonIII LEDs have arrived so it is time to get about 20 more lumens out of it. It works well at slow speeds to actually see with and when coupled with a 10 red LED Cateye tail light flasher (on lithium AA cells) A great combo to be seen with. You can use it in complete darkness at around 25 KPH (15 MPH) but not the thing for city riding.

Since it is summer time, the MillerMods UWAJ L1P and Cateye work fine. Hopefully, decent low wattage Luxeon K2's will be available by August/September for my winter light. Basically, four K2's pushing over 100 lumens each (@ 700mA) through McR 20 reflectors. 400 lumens provided by four Luxeons in a 8AA Mag should give me the brightness I need for a frame mounted light. Now for Lumileds to provide the K2's and Andrew Wynn to put the BAM Mag mod together.

You're posting in the LED forum, but IMHO the best value in bicycle lighting is still incan.

In the wintertime I do a lot of mountain biking at night. I believe my comments will generally apply to road riding as well, although there might be different nuances.

First, if you have only one light, you want it on your helmet, NOT on the bars. Your helmet always points where you're looking which, it seems so obvious, is where you need your light. Your handlebars do NOT always point where you are looking.

As for being seen by motorists (not an issue offroad of course) the helmet-mounted light can be pointed in their general direction to increase the chances that they see you. It should go without saying but, of course, you don't want to blind the oncoming motorist either.

If you're going to have two lights, for safety/redundancy, then the second light should be handlebar mounted. It makes a nice compliment to the helmet light.

Multiple light levels are a common option and they're nice to have. If you only need a low level, you get a payoff in increased runtime.

The high-end stuff will use HID with NiMH, *or* Incan with Lithium-ion batteries... and the way-over-the-top units combine HID and Li-ion. Go for it, if cost is no object. However, I find my JET 20W 3-level incan with NiMH batteries suits me just fine and I get 3+ hours on medium, enough for the longest night rides.

Finally: on the road, DON'T FORGET THE TAILLIGHT!!!

How much does he want to spend - and does it have to be LED and/or commercially available (read: what can/want you/he to do yourself)?

With LED and commercially available, you're looking at three figures (or European import - but since those lights start at around 50 Euros w/out the generator, you're probably into three figures by the time you have it on your bike - check out the Inoled 20+ e.g.).

Otherwise, for on-road, I'd still suggest the Cateye 1600, a set af NiMHs and a decent charger (and a matching rear light). For off-road in Oz... well, I don't even ride off-road over here (much...), but I'd say get the brightest you can afford.

Bye
Markus

I can't recommend a headlight by riding a bike. Headlights are very useful at different purposes, but not on a bicycle imo.
On the streets by traffic it will confuse other drivers and at rainy conditions it will be blind yourself.

I would prefer a handlebar mounted light with two brightness levels and high output.

Best regards

____
Tom

HID w/ integrated battery pack - NO WIRES - NO EXTERNAL BATTERIES

http://www.yellowjersey.org/alias.html

I've used my Pila GL3 and/or SF U2 with twofish lockblocks on my handlebars. Either light is bright enough (although the U2 get's washed off a bit under street lights - bright enough to make yourself noticed). I also had a NG500 sammie + minimag on my helmet, and LED blinkies (front and back). Add reflective tape to your bike and riding gear as well.

If I had to do it again, I'd incorporate a FluPIC on my handlebar or helmet setup and use the strobe option to make myself more visible.

Long John said:

I can't recommend a headlight by riding a bike. Headlights are very useful at different purposes, but not on a bicycle imo.
On the streets by traffic it will confuse other drivers and at rainy conditions it will be blind yourself.
____
Tom

Click to expand...

That is the point, to confuse other drivers into noticing you! A moving light is very noticable to drivers...and very noticable when it is pointed at them. A great way to "wake up" drivers when they are backing up (look into their rear view mirror) or at corners (look sideways and straight at them) You don't need a ton of power, a friend of mine reports great results with a stock Fenix L1P on her helmet.

I've found a high power light on my frame (my recumbent does not allow "handlebar" mounts) and another light on my helmet to make me very obvious to other drivers. My 1.7 watt U bin modded Fenix L1P works great by itself if I get caught after dark and when coupled with a frame light, a great combination for lighted city streets to see with. Don't forget the helmet mounted red LED flasher to go with the Cateye on my rear rack.

Long John said:

I can't recommend a headlight by riding a bike. Headlights are very useful at different purposes, but not on a bicycle imo.
On the streets by traffic it will confuse other drivers and at rainy conditions it will be blind yourself.

I would prefer a handlebar mounted light with two brightness levels and high output.

Click to expand...

I have to second BentHeadTX on this one. While riding in the city, the whole purpose of lights on your bike and yourself is for *others to see you*. Blinking lights are great for this purpose. Blinking headlights are even better, because the brains of drivers see an uncommon luminous source and that raises a flag - they notice you.

There's plenty of street illumination and you could get by without a light to see where you're going, but a (preferrably blinking light) like to be noticed is a must.

Also, I differ on your perception of lights and rain. I rode my bike under some serious PNW rain last winter, sometimes going a little faster than usual and didn't have any issues. YMMV, but IMO, it'd take an HID on your helmet and a white wall of snow or dense fog for a headlight to be an issue.

The good thing is, everybody has his own view and ideas of iluminations and this is the reason for the many lights, which exists.

My own experiences with a headlight at biking are not so good, like I wrote above, apart from the insects between my tooths

Best regards

_____
Tom