Bike Lights

[warthog1]

No mate. Definitely the luxos u.
It is left well behind for beam spread by even cheap led battery lights.
The philips saferide is way better as a shaped light for spread.
You can have the luxos if you want. PM me a postal address and I'll send it to you.

[Scintilla]

Meh! Nup. I'm fine thanks; have the IQ-X now and the wife likes her new Luxos U.

BTW, has the Phillips Saferide been upgraded or something. Described by many as a great light, spoilt by an average housing and inadequate mount. Last I looked it was only 80 lux. My new IQ-X is 100 lux, and has an excellent fork-crown mount..... right where I want the light to be.

[MattyK]

Meh! Nup. I'm fine thanks; have the IQ-X now and the wife likes her new Luxos U.

BTW, has the Phillips Saferide been upgraded or something. Described by many as a great light, spoilt by an average housing and inadequate mount. Last I looked it was only 80 lux. My new IQ-X is 100 lux, and has an excellent fork-crown mount..... right where I want the light to be.

Numbers are one thing, actual results are another.

Philips no longer make bike lights. The design was sold to Spanninga, a similar model (same optics, new body and Li battery) is now sold as the Axendo model. But claiming 60 lux/300 lumen (Philips was 80/270)
http://www.spanninga.com/products/headl ... do-60-usb/
There's an 80 lux e-bike version but needs an external battery.

Lezyne do a StVZO model which looks very interesting but I don't know much about, and of course isn't sold in Aus.
https://www.lezyne.com/product-led-perf ... 0stvzo.php
Beam width would be the interesting one. 80 lux, 290 lumen claimed (very similar to the Saferide)

Other cutoff beam battery powered lights:
Garmin Varia
Specialized Flux (Elite and Expert)
Knog - not familiar with this, lens optics not reflector: https://www.knog.com.au/blinder-mob-stv ... =knogcomau
Something cheap maybe worth throwing a lobster at to try:
https://www.banggood.com/XANES-XL05-Ger ... 78385.html
Lupine SL A - looks OK, very wide, VERY bright beam, not the most even beam though. https://www.lupine.de/products/bike-lig ... ights/sl-a

[ironhanglider]

This thread is an interesting example of YMMV.

Some prefer to use dynohub lights because of their reliability and not having to charge lights.
Others have stopped using dynohubs because of a lack of reliability.
There are those praising the german style optics (such as with the Luxos U) because they limit light to where it is useful and doesn't 'waste' light by shining it where it isn't needed, yet that is not suitable for others.

FWIW I am a dynohub user (with a Luxos U). I like the reliability, but also carry little lights as spares. I recently had to ride home with no tail light because the wire broke, and of all the rotten luck I had moved my spare onto a new bike and forgotten to move it back, so I had to buy another spare (which it turned out wasn't charged). A little bit of electrical fettling and it is doing the right thing again.

As for the german style optics of the Luxos U, I can see where both warthog1 and Scintilla are coming from. The light beam has a very distinct horizon and I set mine up as per the Peter White pictures with the beam at about knee hight at 50m. With the bike upright there is a really wide field of view and it is terrific for the long straights of the unlit paths that I use. However when the bike is cranked over into a tight turn, the horizon means that there is no light shining in the direction where you want to go. I have often considered getting a helmet mounted light with a tight beam to specifically deal with these situations, but for me it is only a minor irritant at low speed, rather than a major issue at high speed. Standing the bike up in the corners like a wannabe motoGP rider does work to some extent but it is hardly worth the effort.

BTW warthog1, I'd be interested in the Luxos U, because it works for me, but it would be even better with some sort of gimbal arrangement.

Cheers,

Cameron

[warthog1]

With the bike upright there is a really wide field of view and it is terrific for the long straights of the unlit paths that I use. However when the bike is cranked over into a tight turn, the horizon means that there is no light shining in the direction where you want to go. I have often considered getting a helmet mounted light with a tight beam to specifically deal with these situations, but for me it is only a minor irritant at low speed, rather than a major issue at high speed. Standing the bike up in the corners like a wannabe motoGP rider does work to some extent but it is hardly worth the effort.

BTW warthog1, I'd be interested in the Luxos U, because it works for me, but it would be even better with some sort of gimbal arrangement.

Cheers,

Cameron

I agree with the horizon, yes it is a problem for me on the downhill corners.
I disagree with the width of the beam however. Not deliberately trying to be diagreeable, but my biggest hazard on the commute is roo strike. Happened once and several other near misses.
I want a beam that sprays light everywhere so that I can see movement in the scrub off to the side of the road.
The luxos has a great beam for seeing where you need to go on the road.
The cut off is a problem when turning and the beam, whilst perfectly adequate for illuminating your path of travel on the road, is a bit narrow for seeing off to the side of the road in my use.

[Tim]

...my biggest hazard on the commute is roo strike. Happened once and several other near misses.
I want a beam that sprays light everywhere so that I can see movement in the scrub off to the side of the road.

I have the same problem at night and can add to the list rabbits, wombats, wallabies and in recent years whopping great almost horse sized Sambar deer.
The deer have become a serious problem for all night time road users around here. Not to mention the damage to native flora and farmer's diminishing grass and hay reserves.
A couple of years back I bought a helmet mounted My Tiny Sun Head 1000 Pro lamp.
German made, expensive, but very good quality.
The little lamp supplements a powerful bar mounted light (a bigger 2600 My Tiny Sun product). Mounted on my head I can look into and around corners and most importantly scan the surrounding paddocks and bush for grazing and browsing wildlife.
It's quite incredible the number of animal eye-shine reflections I pick up on night rides.
Interestingly, some spider's eyes glow quite intensely. Just as well, I haven't been attacked by a giant hairy Trianchoola yet, I pedal real fast away from them.

[rangersac]

Dynohub user here, started out with a SP PV-8 and now on a SON, and have used B+M Cyo Premium and now an IQ-X paired with a Hermanns H-Track with no reliability issues whatsoever. I agree with what's been pointed out with regards to cornering. Here in Tassie, Pademelons are almost perfect night camouflaged moving bike traps that emerge from dark places, especially when you are descending at 50kph on unlit windy roads. For additional ommph I have a Cateye Volt300 on the bars which supplements the IQ-X very nicely, has an excellent mount that can be switched between steeds in 30 seconds, and the ability to replace the battery. A Fly 6 on the seatpost completes the setup.

Helmet mount I find it hard to go past Ay-Ups. Yes they are not the most powerful units out there and are an investment but my original battery and light set is 10 years old and still going strong, and they provide great support

[Bunged Knee]

Arrgh, my eyes,where am I?
Not good to use this light and not recommended it.

[Mulger bill]

Second the helmet light option for peripheral assistance.

It's also a pretty good deterrent against side street pullouts at night...

[madmacca]

Arrgh, my eyes,where am I?
Not good to use this light and not recommended it.

Especially not recommended for a helmet mount.

[vodafone_au]

Front: Cateye Volt 800 (handlebar mount) and Moon Comet-X (fork)
Rear: Moon Comet-X (helmet) and Topeak Tail Lux (seatpost)

All of them are USB rechargeable except for Topeak one (this uses the coin battery).

I'm using the multiple lights in case one fails without noticing (this happened to me before) and to be seen easily both during the day and night time. I spent total $170-ish on the lights but definitely worth it.

[Mububban]

Front: Cateye Volt 800 (handlebar mount) and Moon Comet-X (fork)
Rear: Moon Comet-X (helmet) and Topeak Tail Lux (seatpost)

All of them are USB rechargeable except for Topeak one (this uses the coin battery).

I'm using the multiple lights in case one fails without noticing (this happened to me before) and to be seen easily both during the day and night time. I spent total $170-ish on the lights but definitely worth it.

I'm the same, on dark early morning rides I've got my Fly6 and Fly12 but I also use some Lezyne lights as backup just in case they die for whatever reason (which I've had before, the Cycliq products are not without their problems).
They're also useful if I'm planning an all day ride and want to maximise battery life for video recording, I'll disable the lights on the Fly cameras and use these little lights for maximum run time.

[P!N20]

A friend sent me this: https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/en-AU/2 ... ect-flock/

Looks interesting - I wonder if someone could get hold of one for a review?

[Mububban]

A friend sent me this: https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/en-AU/2 ... ect-flock/

Looks interesting - I wonder if someone could get hold of one for a review?

I'm testing some MagicShine lights for the forum currently, the rear light has this "downlight" function which illuminates the roads and the back half of your bike (and thus your legs), ambient light sensor (as the down light is useless in daytime sunlight), and brake detection mode. I'll be submitting the review soon, after a bit more use with it, but overall I think the downlight is a great idea for low light riding, and I always use front and rear light no matter the time of day or night

[AUbicycles]

I spotted this dyson award winner and on the one hand.. good on him. On the other... this is not a new idea and has been done a few times before.

The safety is like a bonus because it is secondary to the front / rear lights and doesn’t consistently work as intended in all curcumstances... for example with different riad surfaces and different environmental lighting. I have just glanced and seen ‘safety safety safety’ which we like to hear but in context it is overdone.

[Ross]

A friend sent me this: https://www.jamesdysonaward.org/en-AU/2 ... ect-flock/

Looks interesting - I wonder if someone could get hold of one for a review?

Very little detail as to what they are all about, no mention of output, run time, internal or external battery or if it is rechargeable (USB?).