bike headlight

I've been reading the reviews of some of the bike headlights, but I can't seem to get a good idea of which light is best for my purposes. I want to spend approx. $50. I'll be using my bike for night time driving on a road that has lots of pot holes. So I would like to be able to illuminate the pot holes that are 30 feet ahead of me. Please let me know which light you think will be right for me.

thanks,

sylvestor.

Check out the user reviews at
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/lights/ .

A friend of mine spent big bucks on a good HID system. Everytime he dropped the Headlamp he broke the bulb. That cost him $25 each time. He told me that was the last time he purchased an HID light.

I am trying to find a way to strap my Streamlight 4AA Lux light to my bike.

Riding at a decent speed at night requires a bright light. LEDs just don't cut it. I bought a NiteRider Road Rat when they were on sale for $54.99. Prices have gone up since then. Performance has them on sale again for $64.99. Still a very good deal at that price. It is 10W and has about a 2.5 hr run time. I'm very happy with mine. The only thing I don't like is the relatively big and heavy SLA battery.

Road Rat at Performance



I particualry like the multi-LED tail lamp from NiteRider. It is VERY bright.

Cheers,
Ken

$50 might not buy you what you're looking for, but the NiteRider in the post above would probably be a very good choice. I believe it is the same one my friend has, and it's performance is pretty good. If you're willing to spend fifty, it would really be in you're best interest, in my opinion, to spend $64.99 (plus shipping). 10w is pretty bright. The light I have, a Planet Bike Insight 15w, cost me a total of $161. I'd say that NiteRider is a steal and would make you much happier than any bike light that would use AA batteries.

Wow,,, that's just about the cheapest good bike light I've seen.

here's a pic of my HID storm, which has a helmet and bar mount w/four hour runtime

I would suggest you to build your own Light... Use a Cheap Metal Housing ($5 - $10) for the Lamp & Reflector Assembly (Use Philips Reflector Sealed Halogen Beam... $10 @ Max) (1.9 Inch Dia) 100 Watts...

and a 7 AH 12 V SLA Battery ($20 @ Max) . It should give you Nice Light & Runtime ...

You can Mount the Battery Below & Behind the Seat or Below the "Water" Bottle Holder (to keep CG Low for the Wt. of SLA Battery)

Own the Road then /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Pictures coming soon.. and....
OK Here are they... This is the Light Assembly... That I am suggesting...




(for the last 2 images, used Last Stop for -Ve Exposure)
alternately

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Lights/product_124425.shtml

http://www.cygolite.com/light/products/13Rover.htm

http://www.cateye.com/en/products/viewProduct.php?modelId=14&catId=7&subCatId=1

What light you need really depends on how dark it is where you're going to be riding and how fast you're going to go. I found that on a really dark, paved bike trail, even a 1W Arc LSH-P worked surprisingly well when strapped to my handlebars at 11-13 mph. Right now I use a QIII with an R123 battery and it easily lights up 30 feet ahead in a non-light polluted area and offers a lot of smooth spill as well. If you've got a small flashlight that you prefer, you can pick up a twofish lockblock (www.twofish.biz) at theledlight.com and strap it to your handlbars for less than $10. I've also found that two lights like a QIII and SL Jr. LED (just as an example) make for a nice light when you use two lockblocks. It's a cheap way to go if you've already got lights!

Thanks for all your suggestions !!

I think the nite rider road rat looks interesting.

Has anyone tried the Cateye HL-EL500 ? How is this light for seeing 30feet ahead of you ? ( http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile_combo.cfm?SKU=19628&estore_ID=&subcategory_ID=4320&CFID=31964154&CFTOKEN=30298694 )

thanks,

sylvestor

Oh holy cow! I just ran across a light that meets your under $50 criteria! It's about the same as the NiteRider RoadRat (but currently half the price!). It's a NiteHawk Raptor 10 watt light with a sealed lead acid battery that drops into the water bottle cage (not sure if the the NR drops in, or velcroed to the frame). It's on sale HERE for 34.99!!!

When I bought my light 3 years ago I didn't think there were any options as afordable as this available.

This website has lots of cools lights. If you really want the LED, they sell one called the Viewpoint GEN 3 headlight that I found reviewed somewhere(?), and the reviewer said it actually appeared to be as bright (or brighter) than a 10w headlamp.

------------ As an edited note: The ViewPoint GEN3 also comes in a digital model which Performance is selling on sale for $109.99, regular $139.99....my edited note is that I just picked it up "to try out" on ebay, brand spanking new, for $27.07!!! (plus $8.50 s&h) I placed my final bid with 4 seconds left in the auction.

The EL500 is what got me in this flashaholic craze I have been in for the past 2 years. Not that I cared for that particular light, but this new LED technology amazed me.

It uses a 1 watt led. I believe to be a clone. The one plus it has for it, is that it is waterproof, tested by my bathroom sink. I gave it a good dunk overnight to test it. 50% output appears to be at about 4 hours. It throws about as far as my Dorcy 3aaa light.

I quit using the light because the artifacts are just terrible! By far the worst of any bike light I have ever owned. Even worse then those Bell cheapo halogen lights sold @ Walmart.

For now it is my backup bike light and my wife seems to be happy using it for home use as well. I paid $50 for it before I knew any better.

Nite Hawk in Canada makes a nice LED digital helmet-mounted light which should do the trick. It runs on 4XAA's for times varying between 96 hours on 100% blink, to 6.25 hrs on 100% steady beam, using 2300mhr Nimh AA's. See my review elsewhere on this site for full details! I use it as a summer light or for travel/rental bikes. My winter helmet light is a lot like the overhead projector bulbs pictured above, except mine is a 12 +24Watt double in a machined aluminum case with a ni-cad custom rechargeable battery pack, worn on my belt, with a helmet mounted 12-combined 12+14watt-off toggle switch which is waterproof---at least heavy rain...!
Bike on!

I was hoping I would not have to get a battery that would go into my water bottle cage (because I will need a place to keep my actual water bottle.) I'd also like to have a light that has the battery pack attached so that when I park my bike, I can detach the light and not have to fuss with the wires that connect to the battery pack. How long do the sealed lead acid batteries last (ie: how many times can I recharge them before they can't hold a charge.)

thanks,

sylvestor

p.s. does anyone know of any stores in downtown Toronto that carry reasonably priced bike lights ?

I was looking at that NiteHawk too. It's an amazing deal - but I think at 2.5lbs it might be worth getting a NiMH system instead. I found this 15w Cygolite on sale for $70, and it's half the weight: http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=101&subcategory=1067&brand=&sku=13662&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

I didn't see the Cygolite at the URL you provided, but they're pretty good as far as function goes, or so I was told by the guy who works at Incycle. I actually considered buying one because, at the time, it was the cheapest with the best performance, but, if I remember correctly, I shyed away from it because it looked like it was constructed flimsily. That was 3 years ago, and I think it cost, then, $99, or $110. I'm not sure how they're made now.

Man, there are a lot of affordable high power lights these days! 30w NiteHawk for $99! Wow! I wonder how they're made though? I can't tell from the picture if they're "plastic" (meaning cheap), nylon (great), or metal (also great). It looks like the lights mount below the bars, which is kinda cool.

2.5 lbs is heavy? My Insight is a NiMh and I don't think it's any less than 2.5 lbs. I don't even notice weight. Anyway, as long as not on your head, 2.5lbs is pretty light.

Well I hope so, because I just ordered the 2.5lb Nitehawk after all! Nashbar sold the last Cygolite minutes before I tried to add it to my cart. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif I would have gone for the NiMH version except the batteries were held in a neoprene bag. I wouldn't expect that to last more than a few months.

Which 2.5lb NiteHawk did you get? Is it the 30w for $99? I'm curious about the material used for the cases of the lights/batteries, maybe you can post when you get it. If you got the 30w one, you're gonna be REALLY happy with it's performance! (as far as power goes, at least)

[ QUOTE ]
sylvestor said:
I was hoping I would not have to get a battery that would go into my water bottle cage (because I will need a place to keep my actual water bottle.) I'd also like to have a light that has the battery pack attached so that when I park my bike, I can detach the light and not have to fuss with the wires that connect to the battery pack. How long do the sealed lead acid batteries last (ie: how many times can I recharge them before they can't hold a charge.)

thanks,

sylvestor

p.s. does anyone know of any stores in downtown Toronto that carry reasonably priced bike lights ?

[/ QUOTE ]

Go for QIII with R123 ... its Good Light, you may attach a "Beam Shaper" Lens to make more wide flood ...

Use some sort of "Light Holder" on your bike

If the light output is not enough.. you can use 2 of em /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

http://www.j2ledflashlight.com/ has some good deals for you... since you are in Canada. you can pickup the light and save on shipping costs...

This will serve Duel Purpose... EDC + BikeLight /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Just bought the cycloblock http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=0994&sku=3203&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=
It allows you to use a flashlight of your choice on your bike.

I tried it out with a few lights last night. Strapped my SL Propoly lux light last night and was riding towards some kids who were walking ahead of me, they turned around and said " look at the headlight on that bike, I thought it was a car coming"! It made a great bike light.

I had ordered a Q3 and R123 from batterystation because it is smaller and will look a bit cooler. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

hookoo's almost making me second-guess myself. I'd considered a Q3 in a holder, but I'd heard the 10w halogens were around 300 lumens, which is a significant step up from the Q3.

Trashman - I got the 10w w/SLA for ~$40. The cases are supposed to be rainproof, which is what I wanted. I used to have a 2-light 30w system w/NiMH in a neoprene bag, and I loved the lumens but the bag wasn't going to last and was kind of exposed. I expect the 10w light to be enough for my riding, if not as cool as a dual 30w system /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif