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 posted on 27/1/09 at 09:54 AM |
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Cycle light advice sought
Gents, I've just returned to cycling to work and need a good front light. I used to use a Smart rechargeable 2w/10w halogen with a fram-slung
battery but the battery was dead, the lamp reflector bowls were very discoloured and I thought I was helping myself by ditching it and getting a
Cateye HL-EL600RC. This has, unfortunately, turned out to be feck-all use as the light is not
bright enough and the quoted 2hr burn time on full beam is optimistic at best.
My route to work is 95% rural roads, often with potholes and occasionally with mud on them so I have to be able to see clearly where I am going, but I
will not ever be off-roading at night, not my idea of fun!
Has anyone any recommendations? I don't really want to spend idiotic amounts of money but I don't want to throw good money after bad
either.
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02GF74
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| posted on 27/1/09 at 10:02 AM |
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how much you wanna spend?
LED emitters are the future - search my posts on how to DIY a set.
Mine will end up costing about £ 20 per lamp that will outperform stuff you can buy for £ 200.
and there is the crunch - you want really bright lamps, then look to spending upwards of £ 100 or more like £ 150+ hence why I did mine myself.
At the moment I am on the smart lamps - same as you - maplins sell 6 V lead acid but as you have spotted, the silvering o nthe lens bowls starts to
go; plus I bet the bulbs will nto be cheap nor easy to find replacements.
there are at least 2 others that have made the same sort of lamps using emitters (<-- fancy term for hoigh power LEDs).
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balidey
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| posted on 27/1/09 at 10:12 AM |
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Plenty of people on bikeradar forum have made their own with good results using Tesco branded LED torches....
http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12593438&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
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Guinness
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| posted on 27/1/09 at 10:44 AM |
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I have a Cateye LED headlight, HL-EL320 http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/325 on the front, which flashes to highlight my position, and 2 x 3W
LED 2xAA Tesco's torches on my handlebars to show me the way.
Works brilliantly.
Mike
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Davey D
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| posted on 27/1/09 at 11:12 AM |
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Im in the same position. i need some bright lights for my cycle route to work, as it is pitch black away from civilisation.
Ive gone through all manner of halogen lamps, which quite frankly were crap... so bad that i often ended up in a hedge, or bush, as i couldnt see it
in front of me 
ive now got a Cateye-El220 http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/342 which i would say is ok, but it still only provides the minimum amount of light
im happy with.
ive seen all the expensive powerful stuff, but no way am i prepared to shell out that much money for a lighting setup
Ill have a look around tesco on my way home to see if i can find some of those torches 
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dhutch
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| posted on 27/1/09 at 01:37 PM |
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I got one of these for christmas, and while its more the tesco torch (which i would be insterested to compair it to) its as bright as bike lights
twice its price.
http://www.thetorchshop.co.uk/acatalog/LED-Lenser-Police-Tech-Focus.html#aPTFOCUS
Failing that, my uncals cycaling group uses these lights when there missioning around the malvern hills at night.
Daniel
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DannyC
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| posted on 27/1/09 at 01:48 PM |
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Home made lights
In good traditional style I made my own.
I also had a Smart Twin light set up and have replaced them with two LED downlights, replacements for the 12V ceiling lights. I have housed them in
sink drain pipe fittings, as they fit well, and are also sealed from the rain. For added visibility amongst the Bristol traffic, I added a
'Chav' 'Not to be used on the road' flashing LED, although I have to turn this off on the lanes as the flash is really
annoying.
These are powered by two of the batteries used in the Smart lights.
This is only my second day of usage so I do not know how long the batteries will last, but I would expect a couple of weeks. The results are OK for
lanes, but certainly not off road.
The only down side is that it looks cr*p!! But he ho.
Danny
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Browser
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| posted on 27/1/09 at 05:52 PM |
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Thanks for the replies gents. I've decided on a NightFlux VisionStick
Halogen 10 as it is compact, lightweight, has good burn time and was very reasonably priced from this retailer!
Maybe now I'll be able to see where the hell I'm going!
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Schrodinger
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| posted on 29/1/09 at 12:57 PM |
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When the lead acid battery on my lights failed I bought a replacement NiMH battery of the same voltage (7.2v) made up by
http://www.cellpacksolutions.com/
The bulbs in my lights are small spot lights as used in low voltage cieling lights.
So if you still have the old lights new bulbs and battery could be a cheaper idea.
Keith
Aviemore
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Browser
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| posted on 29/1/09 at 03:13 PM |
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Sadly I don't,as I'm on a new don't-hang-onto-that-old-junk-'just-because-it-might-come-in-handy'-throw-it-out! kick
(sort-of) and I slung them when I realised they weren't working.
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