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City commute so doesen't need to be hugely powerful. I think what I'd ideally have is -
- all in one design
- easy to remove from mount bracket
- li-ion batteries built in (don't want to be taking it apart to change AA's a couple of times a week)
- ideally charges from USB (so can top up easily)
- battery life of close around 8 hours (so can get a week of winter return trips without charging)
Suggestions?
Knog Blinder.
Lesyne micro drive - you won't get 8hrs burn time, but it ticks all the other boxes and is also capable of ben used as a back up off road light and /or torch.
Roughly same price as Knog and much better light IMO.
I've given up on knog as nothing ive bought seems to last very long. I bought a Lezyne SuperDrive xl last winter which was pretty bright but I did find that the run times stated are optimistic at best and it seemed to take an age to charge. Seems built nicely though.
Wouldn't recommend Leznye as my micro drive had charging problems, may just be unlucky. I would say either spend a little and get a USB rechargeable one from Edinburgh bikes which is amazing value for a "be seen" light, http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-flash-front-silicone-led-light
Or spend a lot and get an exposure one as these are really well made and reliable as well as obviously being very bright. Joystick seems to be on offer at the moment.
I found that two lights - one flashing, one fixed - was the easiest for me to see as both a fellow cyclist and motorist. I could judge the distance much better.
Light and motion urban is a nice light that meets most of your requirements. Can charge from you computer so just plug it in when you get to work.
I found that two lights - one flashing, one fixed - was the easiest for me to see as both a fellow cyclist and motorist. I could judge the distance much better.
Flashing a bad idea except at dusk and in emergencies (dying battery). Can't judge speed of flashing lights and really annoying for other cyclists as well.
Or spend a lot and get an exposure one as these are really well made and reliable as well as obviously being very bright. Joystick seems to be on offer at the moment.
The new Exposure Trace looks great value at £50 and ticks everything but the battery life. 5 hours is probably actually enough - there's not that many weeks when I'm using morning and evening. Has anyone seen one?
However, in my experience Exposure lights have been anything but reliable. We've had two early joysticks that had circuit board failures and my current Race has never held charge properly. Used to go completely flat in about a month if not used. Went back to exposure and they claimed nothing wrong. Just got it out to start using for the winter (I've charged it a couple of times over the summer) and it now seems to die in 2 days (charged Friday day, full friday night, full yesterday afternoon, dead this morning 🙁 ). A commute light needs to be more reliable than that.
Will call exposure tomorrow but their policy before has been a new light at a discount. Given how long the others have lasted they still work out expensive that way
Light and motion urban
Looks like could be good. How does the bracket work? Looks like a stretchy silicone band - does it stand up to repeated use ok?
Exposure Trace looks ok - but how's the side visibility??
Every other light that's been mentioned so far looks like a spot pattern - fine - but with no side visibility for the beam, so not great for urban riding where there's potential for cars to pull out into the side of you. Is there anything out there that addresses that problem in a front light?
Exposure Trace looks ok - but how's the side visibility??
Will be better than any of the 'off road' Exposure lights - the lens on it has a ring around the edge. The Light and Motion has orange side lights which look good.
Reflective wall tyres FTW to avoid side impacts. Really effective
Oh. this is good - [url= http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/bike-light-database.html ]http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/bike-light-database.html[/url]
Budget? Cateye EL620 Nano-shot. Exposures have no side visibility.
Sport pursuit have lezynes on special at the moment.
The super drive and power drive XL light in a box are almost half price, I paid £100 for my power drive last year and apart from having to return one of the batteries its been faultless if a little slow to charge.
You also get a spare battery and helmet and bar mount.
Yeah the urban is a stretchy band. Mine has stood up to quite a lot. Including being run over. Should the strap break (it won't) you can get them as spares.
Flashing a bad idea except at dusk and in emergencies (dying battery). Can't judge speed of flashing lights and really annoying for other cyclists as well.
Like I said - the combination of a (less bright) flashing light and a steady light together on a bike aided visibility from my perpective. Having either one alone seemed to make it harder to judge distance from me etc.