Front lights - which one?

I'm after a new fron light, until recently I've been using a Smart twin
headlight (4w and 10w) with the separate 6v lead acid battery, but due
to a bike change, fitting this to my road bike is a bit of a pain, so
I'm on the lookout for a new front light.
Single light, quick release is required, as well as batteries in the
main unit.Max. price of £50.
This is used on occasional dark training rides on the road, and even
more occasional off-road riding in the dark.
Cateye do a large range on Wiggle, one, the EL530 at £45, looks to have
a good spec, but is it overkill - do I really need 1500 candlepower?
There is another (EL320 at £30) with 'only' 1000 candlepower - would
that be a better compromise?

Any others to look at?
Thanks
Alan.
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On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 09:46:40 +0100, (A.Lee) wrote:

I'm after a new fron light

Cateye do a large range on Wiggle, one, the EL530 at £45,
There is another (EL320 at £30)
Any others to look at?

How about the B&M Ixon? Battery powered LED model:

http://www.amba-marketing.com/produc...?cid=8&pid=345

http://www.velorution.biz/?p=1053

I've had mine for a few months now and am very impressed with it. At
the time of purchase it was a toss up between the Ixon or a more
substantial investment in a new SON, wheel re-build and Solidlights
1203D. As I'd not long before bought a decent battery charger and a
number of AA NiMH's I decided to try the Ixon. I haven't regretted it
at all.

Previously I was using two Cateye EL200's but they just weren't bright
enough to see properly at night. The Ixon on the other hand provides
plenty of illumination, even using the low power mode gives ample
light for riding on unlit roads. I rarely use it's full brightness
mode.

I'm sure the SON and 1203D combo would produce even more light, but of
course that comes with a fairly hefty price tag. The Ixon is £55, not
cheap, but far, far less than a new SON set up. With good
rechargeables running costs are close to nil.

The light is easy to clip on or off the bike as needed, can be used on
multiple bikes (extra brackets £1.49), and, if you need longer run
times, you just throw 4 more AA's into your seat pack.

It's a good bit of kit, and certainly worthy of consideration.

"Bob"
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If you are considering an EL530 wiggle have a twin pack "in stock soon" with
an LD1100 rear light for £53.99

If you don't want the LD1100 it would probably fetch around £20 on ebay.

Jc.


"Call me Bob" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 09:46:40 +0100, (A.Lee) wrote:

I'm after a new fron light

Cateye do a large range on Wiggle, one, the EL530 at £45,
There is another (EL320 at £30)
Any others to look at?

How about the B&M Ixon? Battery powered LED model:

http://www.amba-marketing.com/produc...?cid=8&pid=345

http://www.velorution.biz/?p=1053

I've had mine for a few months now and am very impressed with it. At
the time of purchase it was a toss up between the Ixon or a more
substantial investment in a new SON, wheel re-build and Solidlights
1203D. As I'd not long before bought a decent battery charger and a
number of AA NiMH's I decided to try the Ixon. I haven't regretted it
at all.

Previously I was using two Cateye EL200's but they just weren't bright
enough to see properly at night. The Ixon on the other hand provides
plenty of illumination, even using the low power mode gives ample
light for riding on unlit roads. I rarely use it's full brightness
mode.

I'm sure the SON and 1203D combo would produce even more light, but of
course that comes with a fairly hefty price tag. The Ixon is £55, not
cheap, but far, far less than a new SON set up. With good
rechargeables running costs are close to nil.

The light is easy to clip on or off the bike as needed, can be used on
multiple bikes (extra brackets £1.49), and, if you need longer run
times, you just throw 4 more AA's into your seat pack.

It's a good bit of kit, and certainly worthy of consideration.

"Bob"
--

Email address is spam trapped, to reply directly remove the beverage.

A.Lee wrote:
Cateye do a large range on Wiggle, one, the EL530 at £45, looks to have
a good spec, but is it overkill - do I really need 1500 candlepower?
There is another (EL320 at £30) with 'only' 1000 candlepower - would
that be a better compromise?

LEDs aren't actually that much more efficient that halogen bulbs, so don't
expect 1 watt LED light to compete with your 10 watt halogen. The main
advantage of LEDs over halogens is that LEDs last for years, whereas
halogens have to sacrifice bulb lifetime to achieve good efficiency. IMHO
the problem with Cateye lights as sold in the UK is that they are
unregulated. This means that they can claim both high light output and long
runtimes, but that you'll only get full light output when the batteries are
fresh. Some of the versions sold in Germany are regulated, but I haven't
seen them for sale over here.

For under £50, I'd suggest a Trelock LS-600 (under £30 from Cyclesurgery),
or for a bit more cash a B&M Ixon as someone else has suggested. Both of
these are regulated and have good beam patterns designed not to waste light
(similar to dipped headlights on a car). I use the Trelock, and my only
real complaint is that it takes 5 AA batteries, which is an awkward number
to fit in a charger -- and you will want to use rechargables with any high
powered battery light. Most cheaper battery chargers only take batteries in
pairs.

If you're willing to spend lots more, a dynamo system is probably the way to
go, but the good ones aren't cheap.

Anthony

Beware of reading too much into the number of 'candlepower' that a lamp
has. Candlepower is an obsolete unit (roughly equivalent to the modern
'candela') measuring luminous intensity or brightness. A lamp with a
very bright, but tiny, central spot will have a high brightness,
measured on the central axis. It may, however, give out much less light
than another lamp that emits light over a larger angle.

For riding on unlit roads I should think that the Busch and Muller Ixon
lamp would be an excellent choice since it has a beam that is
appropriately shaped for illuminating a road and not dazzling other road
users. (See http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m.asp)

For off-road riding you may well prefer a flood-type beam. The Cateye or
Smart halogen lamps with separate battery packs would probably be a good
choice but, not being an off-roady, I'll leave a recommendation to others.

Bob

Bob Johnstone wrote:

For riding on unlit roads I should think that the Busch and Muller Ixon
lamp would be an excellent choice since it has a beam that is
appropriately shaped for illuminating a road and not dazzling other road
users. (See http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m.asp)

Thats 3 recs. for the Busch then, looks like I'll take a look at them
this week.
Thanks for all of the replies.
Alan.
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To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

A.Lee wrote:
Bob Johnstone wrote:


For riding on unlit roads I should think that the Busch and Muller Ixon
lamp would be an excellent choice since it has a beam that is
appropriately shaped for illuminating a road and not dazzling other road
users. (See http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m.asp)


Thats 3 recs. for the Busch then, looks like I'll take a look at them
this week.
Thanks for all of the replies.
Alan.

Make that 4, I have one as well and it does the job. It eats through
batteries though, so best to kit up with rechargeables as well.

--
Don Whybrow

Sequi Bonum Non Time

One tentacle, one vote.

On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 20:06:43 +0100, Don Whybrow
wrote:

A.Lee wrote:
Bob Johnstone wrote:


For riding on unlit roads I should think that the Busch and Muller Ixon
lamp would be an excellent choice since it has a beam that is
appropriately shaped for illuminating a road and not dazzling other road
users. (See http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m.asp)


Thats 3 recs. for the Busch then, looks like I'll take a look at them
this week.
Thanks for all of the replies.
Alan.

Make that 4, I have one as well and it does the job. It eats through
batteries though, so best to kit up with rechargeables as well.

There was a review of rechargeables in one of my comics (Arrivee, I
think). The winners in the AA stakes were 7dayshop.com 2700mAh NiMh
for value for money and capacity.



Tim

"Don Whybrow" wrote in message
...

Any recommendations on where to but the Ixon, on the web?

Jc.

On Sun, 24 Sep 2006 22:25:04 +0100, "Josey" nospam@josey wrote:


Any recommendations on where to but the Ixon, on the web?

I couldn't find it stocked by any of my usual online suspects. It's
imported by Amba though, who seem to supply quite a large number of
shops. You can see a clicky-map-list-doobrey on this page:

http://www.amba-marketing.com/produc...?cid=8&pid=345

Any of that lot should be able to get one for you.

Incidently, the new Ixon Speed model listed on the Peter White site
someone else linked to looks interesting, although not yet available:

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m.asp

"Bob"
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