Best option for battery operated headlamp

I need a decent headlamp for city commuting, with a few park paths that are
not well lit.

Any suggestions? I go to the LBS but with seeing them work, it's like a shot
in the dark!

Thanks

try www.bikelights.com

IMHO, the best bicycle lighting available.

I need a decent headlamp for city commuting, with a few park paths that
are
not well lit.

Any suggestions?

Duct tape a flashlight to your handlebars

I used this on the not very lit bike path, along with a $10 light on
the bars.
http://www.moosejaw.com/moosejaw/pro...I AMMKNGHMEAG
If the link doesn't work it is the Princeton Tec Matrix 2 for $31.96 at
Moosejaw. Moosejaw has seven pages of headlamps - all are not for bikes
but there is a selection.

I have a cygolite dual-beam night rover. It has served me well for the
past 5 years or so. The gel-cell battery is OK for my purposes, though
I understand they have a Ni-Cad and NiMH battery available nowadays
too. I have heard others say nice things about the cygo-lites as well.
They are good for actually seeing in the dark.

If you simply need to be seen, there are definitely cheaper
alternatives such as white LEDs and the like. OTOH, your circumstances
can change, and something that lets you see can always do double duty.

Later,
Nelson Chen
__o Same road Boycott Wal-Mart, union-buster.
_`\,_ Same rights
(_)/ (_) Same rules

www.turbocatusa.com

wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a cygolite dual-beam night rover. It has served me well for the
past 5 years or so. The gel-cell battery is OK for my purposes, though
I understand they have a Ni-Cad and NiMH battery available nowadays
too. I have heard others say nice things about the cygo-lites as well.
They are good for actually seeing in the dark.

If you simply need to be seen, there are definitely cheaper
alternatives such as white LEDs and the like. OTOH, your circumstances
can change, and something that lets you see can always do double duty.

Later,
Nelson Chen
__o Same road Boycott Wal-Mart, union-buster.
_`\,_ Same rights
(_)/ (_) Same rules

I have two of the 10w Cygolite NightRover dual lights with the NMH battery
packs, and they work really well for me.I think the new lights are now 12w.
They do seem to run for as long if not longer than advertised too.
I preferred the dual headlamps as on the off chance the bulb goes out on
one of the lights, I still have the other one to ride with.

Cateye HL-EL300 about US$35.00 110 hours on 4 AA
http://www.cateye.com/en/products/vi...d=7&subCatId=2

Headlight photo comparison http://eddys.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=493

The Eye wrote:
I need a decent headlamp for city commuting, with a few park paths that are
not well lit.

Any suggestions? I go to the LBS but with seeing them work, it's like a shot
in the dark!

Thanks

Buying a light for a bike is kind of like buying an automobile tire
years ago. There are no real specs, and no real information, mostly just
claims about things like "really bright", and "long runtime". It should
be obvious that you cannot have both from the same battery/bulb combination.

My experience is that for most casual riding at night (read low speed) I
need about 2.5 watts of incandescent (tungsten) light. Halogen bulbs
are somewhat brighter. I can also get by with a 1 watt white LED type
light. If you ride difficult terrain, or ride fast (say greater than 10
mi/hr) you may want more wattage. It is difficult to put a fine a point
on what your requirements will be in cases like these.

I am told that there is a German standard for bike headlamps/generator
sets which calls for a minimum of 2.4 watts. It also includes a 0.6 watt
tail light.

IMO lights less than 2.4 watts (tungsten or halogen), or 1 watt LEDs are
for being seen only, not for lighting your way.

Another thing ..It would seem logical that a 1 watt LED would burn 2.4
times as long as a 2.4 watt incandescent bulb. This in not the case. The
LED will burn much longer (perhaps 5 to 10 times) because it can run
effectively at a lower voltage and gets more use out of the batteries.

If the manufacturer does not supply wattage specs for the light you are
considering, then I would not buy it. Most likely it is just a “stand”
light.

HTH,
EJ in NJ


The Eye wrote:
I need a decent headlamp for city commuting, with a few park paths that are
not well lit.

Any suggestions? I go to the LBS but with seeing them work, it's like a shot
in the dark!

Thanks

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 17:20:29 -0500, "The Eye"
wrote:

I need a decent headlamp for city commuting, with a few park paths that are
not well lit.

Any suggestions? I go to the LBS but with seeing them work, it's like a shot
in the dark!

Thanks


I have the Night Hawk Raptor light and it works fine for me. Much
cheaper than a lot of the others but, like you, I commute home in the
big city (NYC) so I don't need something that lights up trails in the
mountains.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...eid=&pagename=

It's currently $50, which is about what I paid for it. I think I even
paid less by a few bucks. It has a pretty heavy lead/acid battery that
sits in the water bottle cage. It's easy to remove and take with me
during the day so that it doesn't get stolen while the bike is parked
outside. It works ok in the portions of the park that are dark on the
way home. It has a plug-and-forget charger, so I plug it in when I go
to sleep and it's ready in the morning. I used it all last winter and
just started with it again last week.

There are certainly better lights out there but this one is pretty
cost effective.