My Lights are Brighter than Yours!

[mikeitup]

Again, I can't fault the AyYup lights.
They are pricey coming in at, inc. import tax, £145 but they certainly do the business.

The selling point for me was that you have two lamps that are independently positionable which means you can see the road and be seen by oncoming traffic.

It might be overkill to be using lights designed for 24hr MTB endurance riders on London streets but I can vouch from experience that car drivers see me coming from much further away than they ever did with my old Cats Eye halogen jobby!

My Ayups are effing brilliant!!!

Used regularly throughout the autumn/winter on dark country lanes.

Well worth the money. The new kits are even better than the one I bought last year.

 

[HJ]

I'm saving my pennies for a Dionette rear light at the moment, does anyone know if they have a British Dealer?

On-One/Planet X don't sell them any more and advice to try the US, but closer to home GB Cycles stock them and recently had the 140L AA Rear Light on special offer at £75 (but think think they have just sold out). Also Chain Reactions which are also a reputable company. Sadly the pound has just slipped against the dollar so getting a bargain from the US less likely, which is a shame as the new 400L tail light does look tempting.

 

[goo_mason]

Again, I can't fault the AyYup lights.
They are pricey coming in at, inc. import tax, £145 but they certainly do the business.

The selling point for me was that you have two lamps that are independently positionable which means you can see the road and be seen by oncoming traffic.

It might be overkill to be using lights designed for 24hr MTB endurance riders on London streets but I can vouch from experience that car drivers see me coming from much further away than they ever did with my old Cats Eye halogen jobby!

I just treated the plastic to a set of Ay-Ups. They're stunningly bright, and so tiny ! They don't look big in the photos on their site, but they're even smaller in real life. The new 6hr battery in the Roadie kit has an on-off switch, and it's so small and light compared to my current Electron NiCad bottle-battery. They now have a UK distributor, and there's free postage this summer - but I still I ended up paying the same as you, tdrinka. Very swift FedEx next-day delivery though, so not bad as a free perk :-)

 

[RedBike]

I'm running a cateye stadium. The light output completely swamps the likes of the ay-ups but it's just soooo heavy.

If I had to buy another light I would probably end up getting something thats completely bar / stem mounted like the Cateye triple shots (or the Ay-ups).

 

[andrew_s]

Well it's getting round to that time of year when the evenings are drawing in and our thoughts are turning to bike lights. Having spent last winter commuting on a quite modest front light (£30), I'm wondering how useful, for road riding, high power lights are? Even though my commute is 75% along dark unlit country lanes, I never had a problem with being surprised by potholes, mud, animals etc and quite a lot of time, I could ride without lights, (very very little traffic).

So although I want to get something a bit brighter and certainly more waterproof, probably about the £80 mark, I'm wondering if there is any need to spend more, or is it just a case of "my lights are brighter than yours".

There is a fair amount of one-upmanship in in lighting, and bright lights do tend to be addictive. There's also a lot of difference in what people are prepared to ride with - some won't go out with less than 30W halogen equivalent, and some are quite happy with half a moon.

What a brighter light gets you, from a seeing point of view, is that you can still make out where the road is when a car with poorly adjusted headlights comes the other way, you can see the less obvious road surface problems such as patches of loose gravel more easily, and you can see further ahead so you go faster on non-straight roads.
The downsides are that your vision accommodates to the brightness so you can't see anything except what your lights light up, and you get shouted at by oncoming cyclists if your lights aren't suitably aimed. In this situation my reaction is to wobble about all over the road, one hand in front of my face (traffic permitting), so the offender *has* to stop.

From what you say, I would suggest that a single 3W LED (this year's model) would provide a suitable light. The actual LEDs are all the same, so what varies is beam shape, battery capacity, and high/low modes.
What I'd suggest is the B+M Ixon IQ. It uses 4xAA rechargeables, supplied, and is also available as the Ixon IQ Speed with a 4Ah external battery pack. It does have the advantage over Ayups etc of actually being legal lighting , should you care.

The new 6hr battery in the Roadie kit has an on-off switch, and it's so small and light compared to my current Electron NiCad bottle-battery.

A major upgrade!

 

[tdr1nka]

Oh Goo, you'll be wanting a tail light to match now!!

Thanks to Mr. Paul & Hairy Jock it looks like I can buy the Dionette
in the UK!!

 

[goo_mason]

Oh Goo, you'll be wanting a tail light to match now!!

Thanks to Mr. Paul & Hairy Jock it looks like I can buy the Dionette
in the UK!!

I'd be able to hire myself out as mobile stadium lighting with that and the Ay-Ups

I've got one of those Cateye TL-LD1100 rear lights, which is pretty damn bright in itself (I almost blinded myself looking into it when I first got it). I used to think I was being followed by an emergency vehicle in winter as it lights up the buildings on either side of the road, so you keep seeing flashing red lights out of the corner of your eye !

 

[A Nutter]

On the rear
>TL-LD1100 [on the backpack]
>TL LD600 [on the saddlepost]
>2 can't remeber off the top of my head on the frame lower down, on either side of the wheel!

Front wise im looking to improve. Got a 5 LED Bikehut super bright at the moment

 

[Amanda P]

I have the dynamo version of that B&M, although powered from external batteries, not a dynamo (historical reasons). It's very, very good, but probably not as bright as the Ayups.

On another bike, I have the light Fisha designed and described (what happened to him?). This has two 3W LEDs, one with a wide-angle lens and one with a narrower one. This is very impressive - throws an excellent light to see where you're going on dark country roads, is a very bright pair of pinpoint lights from the point of view of oncoming traffic, and doesn't draw too much current from batteries. If you fancy having a go at a DIY headlight, try it.

It looks good too.

 

[John the Monkey]

Thanks to Mr. Paul & Hairy Jock it looks like I can buy the Dionette
in the UK!!

Good god - that's a pic taken on Mars, right?

Bright rear lights make sense, to a point - you do tend to get given a wider berth by drivers, the downside is that you become a complete pain in the arse for any cyclist following you. The cateye goo has is favoured by a couple of commuters on my route, and if I can't overtake them sharpish, I generally back off 20 metres or so, the light is *that* painful to be behind (and tends to spoil your peripheral vision a bit).

 

[goo_mason]

Good god - that's a pic taken on Mars, right?

Bright rear lights make sense, to a point - you do tend to get given a wider berth by drivers, the downside is that you become a complete pain in the arse for any cyclist following you. The cateye goo has is favoured by a couple of commuters on my route, and if I can't overtake them sharpish, I generally back off 20 metres or so, the light is *that* painful to be behind (and tends to spoil your peripheral vision a bit).

The TL-LD1100; the rear light of choice for antisocial year-round commuters everywhere

 

[Plax]

I had complaints about my Smart 1/2 watt rear light from a work colleague cycling with me. Very rarely see other cyclist though so I'm not concerned about that. Was pleased when a car driving colleague commented that my rear light was very bright and he could see me from a mile off. Sometimes they make fun of me saying I couldn't possibly get run over as I'm like a flurescent flashing beacon (2 1/2 watt Smarts on the rear - 1 steady, 1 flashing. 10w and 5w Smart Halogen front lights, and a flashing Cateye EL-450 on the helmet. Along with my hi-viz jacket and other reflective bits I guess they've got a valid excuse to tease me!).

 

[goo_mason]

Oh, I don't know. I was lit up like a demented Christmas tree last winter and I still got a few SMIDSYs.

 

[tdr1nka]

Good god - that's a pic taken on Mars, right?

It's a bit sneaky that picture as the light is reflecting on snow.
I've attached another pic, note how the lamp is angled down.

Bright rear lights make sense, to a point - you do tend to get given a wider berth by drivers, the downside is that you become a complete pain in the arse for any cyclist following you. The cateye goo has is favoured by a couple of commuters on my route, and if I can't overtake them sharpish, I generally back off 20 metres or so, the light is *that* painful to be behind (and tends to spoil your peripheral vision a bit).

Still, in London I've yet to be blinded by another cyclists lights, that's probably either they don't have any or have jumped the lights so I'm never behind them long enough.

 

[magnatom]

I think Magnatom has the B+M described above. It doesn't look as bright as the Ayups.

I do indeed have a B+M. (I had to replace it as my first was damaged in a Clyde Tunnel accident!).

Your right, that they aren't as bright as the ayups. But for the price and the convinience of using AA batteries, they are pretty good.

See here for my video comparison with a cateye light.