Help With Lights for Night-time Riding Please

I'm after some advice please. I came back to cycling in the spring after a
good 20 year break and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I'm far healthier
and I've lost weight to boot! Due to work etc. I'm generally out riding
after 7.00pm and, of course, it's dark now at that time. My usual ride
splits into roughly one third local roads, one third main roads and one
third country roads / lanes. To ensure that I'm seen, I'm using an EL-520
and an HL-500BS on the front and a TL-LD260BS and a TL-LD1100 on the rear,
all being Cateye lights. The front lights are great until I hit the unlit
country roads, whereupon, seeing where I'm going can become a bit of
guesswork. I'm thinking of going the rechargeable twin light route, but the
variance in wattage, battery life and cost is tremendous. Can anybody
recommend something that should be adequate to use but will not break the
bank please? I'm normally out for about 45 minutes to an hour at a time.

Thanks in advance,

Kevin the Lurker

On 2007-10-24, Kevin Harper wrote:
I'm after some advice please. I came back to cycling in the spring after a
good 20 year break and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I'm far healthier
and I've lost weight to boot! Due to work etc. I'm generally out riding
after 7.00pm and, of course, it's dark now at that time. My usual ride
splits into roughly one third local roads, one third main roads and one
third country roads / lanes. To ensure that I'm seen, I'm using an EL-520
and an HL-500BS on the front and a TL-LD260BS and a TL-LD1100 on the rear,
all being Cateye lights. The front lights are great until I hit the unlit
country roads, whereupon, seeing where I'm going can become a bit of
guesswork. I'm thinking of going the rechargeable twin light route, but the
variance in wattage, battery life and cost is tremendous. Can anybody
recommend something that should be adequate to use but will not break the
bank please? I'm normally out for about 45 minutes to an hour at a time.

These things are OK:

http://www.parker-international.co.u...5-336554b28c0e

Mine were 6W+6W instead of 10W+2.4W and were a bit cheaper I think, but
otherwise similar.

The idea of 10+2.4 is presumably that you turn it down to 2.4 when
you're going through a village with street-lights to save batteries.

But if the ride home is only 1hr then I wouldn't bother-- just give it
four hours charging every day.

Quite bulky but very bright and you can certainly see where you're going
in pitch darkness. 4/5 stars.

Ben C wrote:

On 2007-10-24, Kevin Harper wrote:
Can anybody
recommend something that should be adequate to use but will not break the
bank please? I'm normally out for about 45 minutes to an hour at a time.

These things are OK:

http://www.parker-international.co.u...ductID/6407/gr
oupID/1/categoryID/11/v/7936c7ad-806f-48df-b165-336554b28c0e

I would recommend these too. I've used them for 5 or 6 24hr MTB races,
and have never crashed at night!
They are nowhere near the brightest lights out there, but they are
clearly adequate for country lane use, and off-road riding - on mine I
rarely turned the 10w bulb on, as the 2.4w is fine for the speeds I do.

I've seen them for as little as £25. A spare battery can be bought from
Maplins for around £7, though the battery easily has 3 hours use on it,
probably more.

The next step up is something like the Busch and Muller Ixon, which can
be bought for use with 4 AA batteries at ~£50, or a rechargeable version
around £20 dearer at £70. Good bright light from this one, but I dont
think you'd get 2 hours from a set of Duracell betteries - NiMh
rechargables are recommended for it.
Alan.


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"A.Lee" wrote in message
...
Ben C wrote:

On 2007-10-24, Kevin Harper wrote:
Can anybody
recommend something that should be adequate to use but will not break
the
bank please? I'm normally out for about 45 minutes to an hour at a
time.

These things are OK:

http://www.parker-international.co.u...ductID/6407/gr
oupID/1/categoryID/11/v/7936c7ad-806f-48df-b165-336554b28c0e

I would recommend these too. I've used them for 5 or 6 24hr MTB races,
and have never crashed at night!
They are nowhere near the brightest lights out there, but they are
clearly adequate for country lane use, and off-road riding - on mine I
rarely turned the 10w bulb on, as the 2.4w is fine for the speeds I do.

I've seen them for as little as £25. A spare battery can be bought from
Maplins for around £7, though the battery easily has 3 hours use on it,
probably more.

The next step up is something like the Busch and Muller Ixon, which can
be bought for use with 4 AA batteries at ~£50, or a rechargeable version
around £20 dearer at £70. Good bright light from this one, but I dont
think you'd get 2 hours from a set of Duracell betteries - NiMh
rechargables are recommended for it.
Alan.

I was heading towards this type of thing anyway, so it's quite reassuring
that I'm going in the right direction. I'd be interested to know where
you've seen the smart ones for £25 - the going rate seems to be about £50.
Again, they also do a 6W + 6W version for about the same cost - is that
overkill or would it be worthwhile? The country lanes I use are totally
unlit.

Thanks for the help so far

Kevin

Kevin Harper wrote:
snipped

I was heading towards this type of thing anyway, so it's quite reassuring
that I'm going in the right direction. I'd be interested to know where
you've seen the smart ones for £25 - the going rate seems to be about £50.
Again, they also do a 6W + 6W version for about the same cost - is that
overkill or would it be worthwhile? The country lanes I use are totally
unlit.


http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id31435.html have the 6 / 6w one at £25.

I've seen the 10/2.4 in an ad in the MTB mags recently at £25.
Alan.
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A.Lee wrote:

Kevin Harper wrote:
snipped

I was heading towards this type of thing anyway, so it's quite reassuring
that I'm going in the right direction. I'd be interested to know where
you've seen the smart ones for £25 - the going rate seems to be about £50.
Again, they also do a 6W + 6W version for about the same cost - is that
overkill or would it be worthwhile? The country lanes I use are totally
unlit.


http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id31435.html have the 6 / 6w one at £25.

I've seen the 10/2.4 in an ad in the MTB mags recently at £25.


The above link shows 'out of stock' for the 6/6, but they do have the
10/10 in stock.
Alan.

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"A.Lee" wrote in message
...
A.Lee wrote:

Kevin Harper wrote:
snipped

I was heading towards this type of thing anyway, so it's quite
reassuring
that I'm going in the right direction. I'd be interested to know where
you've seen the smart ones for £25 - the going rate seems to be about
£50.
Again, they also do a 6W + 6W version for about the same cost - is that
overkill or would it be worthwhile? The country lanes I use are
totally
unlit.


http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/id31435.html have the 6 / 6w one at £25.

I've seen the 10/2.4 in an ad in the MTB mags recently at £25.


The above link shows 'out of stock' for the 6/6, but they do have the
10/10 in stock.

Alan,

Thanks for this. SJS Cycles have the 6W+6W on their web site for £25 as
well. I think I will go for that.

Thanks again

Kevin

Kevin Harper wrote:

I was heading towards this type of thing anyway, so it's quite reassuring
that I'm going in the right direction. I'd be interested to know where
you've seen the smart ones for £25 - the going rate seems to be about £50.
Again, they also do a 6W + 6W version for about the same cost - is that
overkill or would it be worthwhile? The country lanes I use are totally
unlit.

AIUI the only difference between the 10+2.4 and the 6+6 is the bulbs
carried in the lights.
If you want these lights then I would recommend buying the cheapest
option, and then buying bulbs to suit, keeping the other bulbs for spare.

I used to run a similar cateye system with 10+6, keeping a 2.4W bulb as
a spare, or for use if the battery was low.

Martin.

On 24 Oct, 16:13, "Kevin Harper" wrote:
I'm after some advice please. I came back to cycling in the spring after a
good 20 year break and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. I'm far healthier
and I've lost weight to boot! Due to work etc. I'm generally out riding
after 7.00pm and, of course, it's dark now at that time. My usual ride
splits into roughly one third local roads, one third main roads and one
third country roads / lanes. To ensure that I'm seen, I'm using an EL-520
and an HL-500BS on the front and a TL-LD260BS and a TL-LD1100 on the rear,
all being Cateye lights. The front lights are great until I hit the unlit
country roads, whereupon, seeing where I'm going can become a bit of
guesswork. I'm thinking of going the rechargeable twin light route, but the
variance in wattage, battery life and cost is tremendous. Can anybody
recommend something that should be adequate to use but will not break the
bank please? I'm normally out for about 45 minutes to an hour at a time.

Thanks in advance,

Kevin the Lurker

I bought these:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/M...?ModelID=15442

for my commute which is about 45 minutes almost entirely on unlit
couontry roads, often with potholes. They seem to do a good job of
lighting the road ahead, plus you can switch the 10W bulb off when
going through streetlit areas to conserve battery power.

"Martin Dann" wrote in message
...
Kevin Harper wrote:

I was heading towards this type of thing anyway, so it's quite reassuring
that I'm going in the right direction. I'd be interested to know where
you've seen the smart ones for £25 - the going rate seems to be about
£50. Again, they also do a 6W + 6W version for about the same cost - is
that overkill or would it be worthwhile? The country lanes I use are
totally unlit.

AIUI the only difference between the 10+2.4 and the 6+6 is the bulbs
carried in the lights.
If you want these lights then I would recommend buying the cheapest
option, and then buying bulbs to suit, keeping the other bulbs for spare.

I used to run a similar cateye system with 10+6, keeping a 2.4W bulb as a
spare, or for use if the battery was low.


Martin,

That makes a lot of sense.

Thank you

Kevin