Front lights best and worst

[ApolloMTB]

Hello all

just wondering what is the best front lights to buy as im in the market to buy a really good one. As we are all getting older and need to ride more

eg best light coverage and distance

also what are the worst that we have bought

thankyou

Matthew

[Mulger bill]

G'Day Matthew, welcome

How much do you want to spend? High end lights can run to $1000 plus if you're interested in signalling aircraft or melting bitumen

Shaun

[ApolloMTB]

looking to spend about $200
but cheaper is better for the hip pocket but i want to be able to see

[Mulger bill]

OK then, as an example, I run a "Smart" brand ten watt halogen unit, it set me back about $140, it's fairly lightweight and gives a pretty good beam spread but the burn time at 90 minutes can be a bit frustrating. I'm no expert on light tech, there's a few members here who can tell you much more. Come on in fellas

Shaun

[sogood]

I think there's a recent long thread on this topic here. So it would be worth doing a search first and continue the discussion.

Otherwise the $$$ is proportional to the brightness of the light. So depending on your personal visual perceptive limits, you'll be able to cope with lights anywhere in the range of of $30 to $1000. Seriously, you need to better define your situation.

[fobfob]

If you're buying right now, and if you can possibly stretch your budget to about $300 then I suggest a HID light. They can be had for that little with LiIon batteries (3+ hours burn time), equivalent to 30+ watts Halogen, and and nice white light. I can't really see myself with anything less.
LED is very soon going to take over completely but right this minute, HID and halogen are still the best bang for your buck.
Hint: check out O/S especially US sources. Look at the exchange rate!

[mikesbytes]

Why do you want a bright light? Do you ride down bike paths at night?

[ApolloMTB]

i ride on bike paths and streets and ive had to many flat tires cause of not being able to see glass on the path

[senator52]

Your location Guildford, as in Guildford, Perth?

[ApolloMTB]

location Guildford, as in Guildford (the best city) Sydney
pmsl

matt

[senator52]

Oh right, one of those from the otherside...

[ApolloMTB]

no your from the other side lol

matt

[LuckyPierre]

A couple of shops here in Canberra have Cygolites that would fall in your price bracket. I'm thinking seriously about the Hi-flux 200.
ps. I'm not pushing the store, it's just that they had an easy to find link!

[LuckyPierre]

The store we usually push - Torpedo7 - has some good deals too!

[ApolloMTB]

don't bother me what store you push as long as it helps me out

but what do you think of these
sigma website
Mirage Evo X Pro Endurance
SKU: 16532

[Mr888]

I ride the paths around your area very often (everyday to and from work actually) and find that the 27+ LED lights off ebay (~$10) works brilliantly for these paths.

I'm looking at purchasing a 53LED model for $20 soon. I'll keep you posted on how they fair...should be good.

C'ya on the path

[Aushiker]

A couple of shops here in Canberra have that would fall in your price bracket. I'm thinking seriously about the Hi-flux 200.

One thing that bothers me with these sorts of lights is the charging of the battery. I assume it is easier to overcharge them or do some of the better systems have electronics to switch the charging off or at least down to a trickle once fully charged?

I have an older, Sigma set I think that I used on my MTB and I managed to cook the battery to the point where I reduced the charge life.

Regards
Andrew

[ApolloMTB]

Andrew

thankyou for the advise ill check it out soon

mr 888

what paths you riding on

pipe line
rail trail

matt

[Mr888]

Part of my trail to/from work runs from Fairfield Station and follows the rail trail to Parramatta.

If I'm in training I'd also do the pipeline (on the home run) from the top of Guildford over bridge and follow it all the way through to the Prospect reservoir (only during EDLSTwhen the gates are open late), then through to Cecil Hills and back to Fairfield/Canley Vale via the creek trail. During EST I'll loop back via the shooter's range and follow the Orphan School trail.

On weekends, I might take the pipeline through to Prespect and detour on to the M7. From there it's usually to Norwest and back, but I'm planning to loop around back to Parramatta via the new T-Way trail.....of course I won't be doing these for the next few weeks as I adjust to life with a new born again.

PM me should you or any one else like to join me on these rides

Cheers

[ApolloMTB]

congrats on the new born

my little boy is turning 2 on the 6 july

im more of a social rider then long distance but i may join you for a ride some day

[Bnej]

Depends on how fast you plan to go.

At roughly 20km/h, I find a Cateye HL-EL 530 adequate, provided it has fresh batteries - but this light is not bright, you can see the shape of the road, but not far enough ahead to ride at speed. Costs ~$130. The good thing about this light is it will provide some light to see by for 90 hours on a set of 4 AAs.

I have a set of new Ay-up lights, which I used on a 32km, 24km/h avg. speed on-road night ride tonight, with many unlit streets. These lights are great bang for buck, and cast a good, bright beam that lights up your lane and lets you see far enough ahead to pick up speed. They don't light up much to the sides though, so it can be hard to see around corners with just the headlight - not a big problem, but there it is. They are from ayup.com.au, the kit I bought (single light, 1x6hr rechargeable battery) will set you back $230 or so.

I have had a cheap BBB 5 LED headlight, these are quite visible to others, but do not cast light far enough ahead to be useful on unlit roads.

Having done a few rides with the ay-ups I don't feel like I'd get much benefit from brighter lights than that - they are fine for my road speeds.