Front lights

[GilesM]

Hope vision one. Not the brightest, or the sexiest but it takes normal batteries and just keeps working.

Almost 10 years worth of winter commuting and it's still going strong.

I agree, they are just bullit proof, and the light from the newer ones is pretty good.

 

[RoubaixCube]

Fluxient U2 Mini. Its a firm favorite of mine and lasts a good few hours on the lowest setting. Box comes with everything you need to get it going.

Only real negatives I can think of is its probably not 1100 lumens as claimed but still more then enough for unlit pathways. The color of the beam is yellowish rather then the brighter white of other LED lights. and its not usb rechargable although it comes with a small dock that can be used to recharge a 18650 battery that you can plug into a USB.

 

[Kestevan]

Honestly, LED and battery technology has progressed to the point where even entry level lights are good enough for me.

I use a pair of Aldi lights. £10, rechargeable and bright enough to see adequately on a unlit reasonable road surface. Cars dip their beams when they see it, which is always a good sign. I haven't found out how long they last because it's more than the three hours needed for two days commuting.

I don't doubt in a couple of years time there will be £10 lights that make those look like dim rubbish.

Buy cheap, buy frequently is my strategy.

Hmmmm, not sure I can agree with this at all levels, although I can see where you are coming from, especially if you are using the cheap lights as a backup/secondary light.

I've had many cheap lights that have become unreliable/unworkable when wet or at low temperatures. In fact I bought a cheap "moon" rear light copy from Aldi last year that works fine until it rains hard, at which point it switches itself off randomly...

I'm not saying all cheap lights are like this - but as a year round commuter I want the reassurance that my lights are going go work no matter what - and so fat the Hope unit has done this admirably.

Oh and another lookout is regarding the rechargeable batteries and chargers supplied with some of the cheap ebay 1000 lumen lights. There have been several reports of fires when these are charged... if you do buy a cheap light/charger please be aware of this and take suitable precautions when charging.

 

[KnackeredBike]

@Kestevan you can avoid most of the pitfalls by buying a light that is clearly well put together, ideally metal case and rubber seals. Like anything from China the buyer specs to the nth degree the build quality and so it is worth choosing a retailer who has something to loose if it goes wrong. For me Aldi fits into that camp because they have started to flog a decent amount of bike stuff.

As for fires, if you sell many thousands of a product with a battery known to be fussy about charging, in an application where it is being bounced around a lot in the wet, and where any old phone charger can be plugged in you are bound to get some fires. It is sensible to either charge them attended or in a metal tin and I suspect the instructions specify this, not that anyone ever reads them.

The essential problem is that ideally you protect the circuit with a fuse on the board, but of course the fuse needs to be somewhat conservative. So they omit a fuse because they effectively write off the lights in all sorts of circumstances, with the downside that in a handful of cases it will self barbeque.

 

[si_c]

I'm not saying all cheap lights are like this - but as a year round commuter I want the reassurance that my lights are going go work no matter what - and so fat the Hope unit has done this admirably.

Oh and another lookout is regarding the rechargeable batteries and chargers supplied with some of the cheap ebay 1000 lumen lights. There have been several reports of fires when these are charged... if you do buy a cheap light/charger please be aware of this and take suitable precautions when charging.

Definitely agree, I want my lights to work, all the time, every time, doesn't matter what people say regarding reflectives / hi vis, my lights are what make me visible and help me see.

@Kestevan you can avoid most of the pitfalls by buying a light that is clearly well put together, ideally metal case and rubber seals. Like anything from China the buyer specs to the nth degree the build quality and so it is worth choosing a retailer who has something to loose if it goes wrong. For me Aldi fits into that camp because they have started to flog a decent amount of bike stuff.

As for fires, if you sell many thousands of a product with a battery known to be fussy about charging, in an application where it is being bounced around a lot in the wet, and where any old phone charger can be plugged in you are bound to get some fires. It is sensible to either charge them attended or in a metal tin and I suspect the instructions specify this, not that anyone ever reads them.

The essential problem is that ideally you protect the circuit with a fuse on the board, but of course the fuse needs to be somewhat conservative. So they omit a fuse because they effectively write off the lights in all sorts of circumstances, with the downside that in a handful of cases it will self barbeque.

The problem is actually worse, they are cheaply, sometimes reconditioned cells with no protection, paired with a cheap charger having poor quality components, with little regulation of current and voltage, again paired with no circuit protection. The result being that the cell heats up and then catches fire. There are plenty of explanations about why cheap batteries are hazardous. In addition to this, the lights provided are often underpowered giving a fraction of their advertised light output, and with power cells that don't hold the advertised capacity.

I purchased a low cost light, just to evaluate it and possibly run as a secondary, with an advertised 1200lumen output and 2 hours run time, the run time was broadly accurate on the lower setting, but the output on high was much closer to 300 lumen than 1200.

I have no problems purchasing products manufactured in China, the issue is with unscrupulous persons making them as cheap as possible and selling them online despite not having any safety considerations. If it was designed and manufactured properly, bouncing around in the wet wouldn't be a problem. My commuter light came with proper rubber seals to keep out moisture, and even provided several replacement sets. If you buy at the cheapest end of the market you get cheap shoot.

 

[Kestevan]

you can avoid most of the pitfalls by buying a light that is clearly well put together, ideally metal case and rubber seals. Like anything from China the buyer specs to the nth degree the build quality and so it is worth choosing a retailer who has something to loose if it goes wrong

This does somewhat go against your stated strategy of:

Buy cheap, buy frequently is my strategy

That strategy in many leads to buying very cheap. Now I've nothing against Chinese manufacture, but there are a number of "dodgy" retailers inhabiting a certain bay that will sell any old crap. I suspect many come with little or no instructions on charging and people will plug them in on the kitchen table overnight.... Some will say Caveat Emptor, but I firmly believe that a lot of these items are potentially dangerous and more should be done by trading standards (and ebay itself) to prevent the sale of this tat before someone (else) dies.

Having said that, as with all things I think there is a happy medium, where cost is enough to ensure a decent build quality but you're not paying more for a "brand name". Aldi/Lidl stuff has improved markedly in the last couple of years, and they are getting there... but I'm not yet sure I'd trust their kit as my only source of a safety critical item like lighting (although running multiple units you'd "probably" be OK).

 

[KnackeredBike]

@Kestevan the point is that, from China, you can specify a very good product and still get it cheaply made.

I had to source some LED lighting for a supermarket. Even for our fairly limited run we were offered three options for almost every aspect of the product, from the casing to the LEDs themselves. Each option came with details of reliability, expected life, colour temperature, etc. etc.

There wasn't a massive difference in price and we ended up specifying and getting a very high end product for a fraction of the cost of purchasing it here. However, that is the problem, some retailers like Argos just specify the minimum possible to get it through the guarantee period, and you end up with cheap crap. Then everyone assumes it's cheap crap because it's from China, when actually it is cheap crap because someone called Keith with spreadsheets rather than samples in front of him has asked them to make cheap crap.

tl;dr You don't get higher quality because you pay more, you get higher quality if you have a manufacturer or retailer who is invested in the quality of the product, rather than deciding on a price and just buying it as cheaply as possible thereafter.

 

[steveindenmark]

I can try that, I did try a thicker rubber.

This is where I cut an old inner tube up. Wrap it round the bars a couple of times and then put the light bracket on top of the inner tube.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

This is where I cut an old inner tube up. Wrap it round the bars a couple of times and then put the light bracket on top of the inner tube.

Inner tubes are great for many things. Even a great substitute for Parma ham when stocks are out.