Biker needs help

Hello everyone. I need your help on what bike light to tell my friend to get.

His needs- He needs about a two hour plus runtime (He rides about an hour to work and will need another hour to get home, unless he can recharge the batteries while at work). At the beginning and end of his rides there is a chance he can get blinded by headlights. In the middle of his ride he is on dark trails and will need to see to the sides as well as sticks on the ground. He is looking for a nice beam that has some throw to it. He would love multiple brightness levels so he can turn it high for when he has bright headlights coming at him and turn it lower on the dark trails.

I told him I would post this question on the forums and surely they could help.

So any ideas on a good bike light for him?


Thanks,
rob

Unless he want something that is really bright, like those 500 lumens HID bike lights. I think that 1 or 2 flashlight mounts with a multi-level flashlight is a good choice, so he can have a flashlight and a bike light.

I had Cateye Solo II (USD220) mounted on my bike, but I always worried about it being stolen when I'm away for some snacks/beverage...etc, you know, these bike lights use fast mount, which can be easily unmounted.

Jet Designs, or Vista, or NiteRider, or NightSun. Have him buy a real bike light, or two. If he wants to alert cars, best bet is a helmet-mounted light, as it will track as he turns his head to look at the car! Remind him that blinky LED tail/side lights are essential too.

check out ... http://www.mtbr.com/spotlight/lightshootout/

I went for the Light n Motion HID - seemed to be best bang for buck, and has been around for a while (proven product)

and have an extra mount for any one of several backup lights

Try here http://www.lumicycle.com/pages/default.aspx

Mark

Thanks everyone. Keep the suggestions coming.


Thanks,
rob

For biking I use a HD45 (available at the Sandwich Shoppe for $185) running on a Li-ion 18650 battery. It will run 135 minutes on high, and provides an excellent beam for biking (intense hotspot, large corona, and very intense spill light). I use a twofish cyclopblock to attach it to my bike's handlebars. It isn't a cheap setup, but it works very well.

Elektrolumens QuadStar, go to http://elektrolumens.com/QuadStar-Bikelight/QuadStar-Bikelight.html

Pi_is_blue said:

For biking I use a HD45 (available at the Sandwich Shoppe for $185) running on a Li-ion 18650 battery. It will run 135 minutes on high, and provides an excellent beam for biking (intense hotspot, large corona, and very intense spill light). I use a twofish cyclopblock to attach it to my bike's handlebars. It isn't a cheap setup, but it works very well.

Click to expand...

Does the twofish work well? I have a HD45 and this seems like it would be a great set up. Where did you get your twofish from?

Thanks,
rob

I agree with ersanada. I own an Elektrolumens Quad modified as a bike light and when it only had one power level, high, it would consistently give two hours of BRIGHT light using regular Powerizer 5,000 mAh C cell batteries. Since Modamag modified it, it will easily give three+ hours combined high and low. I had Wayne make two battery tubes for me so I could maximize my night riding time.

The Quadstar will be Wayne's own design and will also have either two power levels or a potentiometer for variable power adjustment.
It will give the run time your friend needs, and NOBODY will be able to say they could not see him coming. Your friend will also have plenty of light to ride as fast as he needs to ride. My light has 2 17mm reflectors and two wide angle LP optics. I can see clearly 50 yards in front of me and can take tight turns on steep rutted mountain roads or trails nearly as fast at night as during the day.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

Damn man!

When you said BIKER I thought you actually meant BIKER!

Cyclist, your friend is a cyclist, I am a BIKER theres a huge difference... :rock:

Thats like saying a mall secuirty guard is a navy seal :laughing:

Peace,
Firebladz.

The best place to learn which bike lights are best for your friend is the bicycle light user reviews at mtbr.com.

Paul_in_Maryland said:

The best place to learn which bike lights are best for your friend is the bicycle light user reviews at mtbr.com.

Click to expand...

I go to mtbr regularly, but you won't find a Quadstar there.

This is acutally the ultimate bicycle headlight links page. You will find links to lights here that are not even listed on mtbr. Then mtbr can be used to read user reviews if the light you want to read about is listed.

http://www.mikebentley.com/bike/headlights.htm


Firebladz,

You are refering to the biker being the security guard and the cyclist being the Navy Seal, right?

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

fleegs said:

Does the twofish work well? I have a HD45 and this seems like it would be a great set up. Where did you get your twofish from?

Thanks,
rob

Click to expand...

The cyclopblock works great. It holds the light very securely. I use another one to attach my HDS U60 to the top of my helmet for a headlamp. I got it from http://www.nashbar.com but they seem to be out of the cyclopblocks. They still have the twofish lock blocks which will work, but don't seem to be built as well as the cyclopblocks. I believe there is currently a group buy being done by greenLED for the lock blocks ($10 for 3).

I spoke to a rep at twofish last week and the cyclopblock has been renamed and will be called a cycle block, this is used to hold larger flashlights on bikes..

He also said that the new product has been shipped to there vendors and will be available in about a week to 10 days..

Well I ordered the twofish lock blocks before I knew they were not the same as the cyclopblocks. I hope I like them.


Thanks,
rob

my twofish lock blocks have no problems holding a Surefire U2. solid enough for mountain bike use.

twofish must have recently changed design. before I ordered lock blocks, instead of cycloblocks. Had guy from Nashbar pysically pull both and compared. He claimed both were identical.

don't have a cycloblock in hand, but it seems twofish has beefed up the straps.

I've had zero problems with lock block straps holding. Very_secure

Lockblocks work well with smaller light up to about surefire G2 in size. Much bigger than that and they wiggle too much.

But anyway at the high end of the dollar spectrum the Stenlight S7 and the new 3x3W cateyes look very interesting. But seriously the most bang for the buck is still a dedicated 15W Halogen light like the Planet bike and others. I would recomend two units one for the bars and one for the helmet. If he buys two units he can keep one of the chargers at work and one at home to top off the lights. Or perhaps a slow charger for home and a fast charger for work. I have NiteRider digitals, but don't think digitals are neccessary unless he has the gear addiction like we do.

It takes a Navy Seal like determination to be a dedicated bicycle commuter. I did it for a year in a half at a former job through darkness, rain, sleet and snow. I would buy a dedicated bike light not a strap on solution. However the G2 with a lockblock makes an awesome emergency backup.

Over on the bicycle forums a lot of commuters use high quality Hub generator lights. The best being sold by Peter White Cycles:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/lightingsystems.htm

I prefer the flexability and awesome brightness of rechargeable versions myself, but the always there when you need it aspect of generator lights is something to consider.

Cave dave has a great point. I have a Planet Bike Alias and it is an amazing little light. It as an open cage at the bottom so it lights down and to the sides. When commuting, the rider's bike and legs are illuminated and this makes the rider much more visible then a conventional bike light. My Quad is brighter, but the Planet bike Alias is bright enough for general riding (I will arbitrarily say under 30 mph on roads, though I have used it while descending faster). I do not care for its run time on high, so I would get an extra battery pack to be safe for a two hour ride. My wife uses that light when we ride and it's beam is the standard that I worked very hard to get my Quad to match.
It's battery packs are also very small.

Take Care,
mtbkndad :wave:

What about an X990? Probably not that waterproof, but amazing output. Little heavy on the handlebars, but straped to the frame, seems like a good idea. Plus, then you have an excuse to buy a great HID light.

Mounted on the bar, and since it has an adjustable head, you could dim it (down) so that you don't blind traffic. Eh, I'll be trying it soon.