You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Just got back from my maiden voyage in the new Dark Peak. It was fun, it was different, it was cold and dark. This now makes me realise.... my Diablo mk9 (tap tech) is NOT suitable as a bar light!
Soooooo any good recommendations for a decent bar light I can use without spending an absolute fortune?!?!?!
Was looking at a Strada.... but nearly £200 😳
Ravemen PR1600
https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/accessories/lights/front-light/ravemen-pr1600-front-light-review/
It was disguised as a Halfords 1600 light thread. I'd recommend it, works well if you can sort the mounting out as the rubber one in the box nearly gave me epilepsy over bumpy ground.
I've just ordered a Niterider Lumina 1200 as a helmet light. £69.
Reviews are good, I'll let you know how it runs...
I'm expecting a Ravemen PR1600 to arrive tomorrow, will be used mainly for commuting along unlit canal, cycle path & back lanes. I also have a MTB Batteries Luminator 18 which is fantastic for off road but not suited to paths & roads as it's far to wide a beam and blinds oncomers, if the PR1600 works out, it'll be for sale.
Im waiting for my Four4th Scorch to arrive tomorrow, this will compliment my Toute Lumen Liberator.
The Raveman is ace, a colleague had one but tbh it wasn't that much better than the £16 aliexpress light I had on my commuter- just did the same things in a slightly cleverer better engineered way. I wouldn't use either for mountain biking though. The days of narrow beam bike lights are done, except for road use where it's actually important.
tbh it wasn’t that much better than the £16 aliexpress light I had on my commuter- just did the same things in a slightly cleverer better engineered way. I
Any chance of a link pls? Was going to trade up my PR900 to the PR1600, but something near as good for less could be ideal.
Strada has a more road focused beam. For off road, maybe a Race? Mine is the previous model, picked up for less than £200.
For cheap that bikehut / Halfords advanced 1600 is hard to beat for an all in one unit. Lasts a good few hours, no wires and pretty good light output.
If the budget isn’t a bit more but not exposure money then maybe some kind of Magicshine with a billion lumen claimed output or try an mtb batteries lumenator.
You don’t want a Strada for off-road as it’s road orientated anyway. I think Race or Toro are the ‘cheaper’ off road Exposure lights.
Probably not what you are after, but i've got a £15 Solar Storm x2 with another £50 in the drawer for when the battery fails. Works a treat.
The Ravemen PR1600 is good as a road light and while I am sure it can be used as an off-road light with both beam on, I am not convinced it would be ideal; mainly because on full whack the battery life isn't fantastic (it's a very compact unit & so the battery capacity is not huge).
On full-whack with both beams, I don't think it even manages 1.5hrs.
On the road the road beam alone gives you 2.5hrs at full whack, but I normally run mine one level down which gives 4hrs. For me, this is fine & gives a decent amount of back-up in case of a mechanical or other issue requiring you to be out for longer and I can always whack it up when required.
Thanks for all the input guys.
Will be mainly used for roads and bridleway/cycle path type stuff. I have a magicshine bar light for off road duties with a separate battery pack, so was after an all in unit for ease of use for the gravel bike.
Do like the look of the Strada, and I’ve got a Diablo so know exposure are good bits of kit, just not sure I can justify the price tag right now!
That rave man looks like a good option though
I use a Pavo 2000, currently back in stock at CRC, 4 light levels, 250,500,1000,2000L. I leave mine on 1000L off road and just select 2000L for techy stuff, then 250 or 500 on roads. The only downside is the battery level indicator only flash’s when it’s at 10% but I’ve never had that happen even in rides up to 4 hours. I’ve modded mine to have a Go Pro mount on it.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/lifeline-pavo-2000l-front-light/rp-prod161245
I have both a Strada and a Race, the Strada is great on the road, especially the remote which allows you to change between settings, most of my rides are gravel bike these days, so i can have it on medium or low setting on road, and change to full beam for bridleway sections, but i did notice that it is not much good when riding properly off road on mountain bike, very wide beam that does not project very far forwards. The Race/Toro/6 Pack is better for pure off road, i then have a Joystick on helmet
Plenty of options for me to look at. Cheers guys
Anyone used the the Chilli-Tech lights I'm getting pushed on Facebook at the moment? Apparently if you add a bar light to your basked, you can get the helmet light at the "2-4-1" offer price. Though more of an off-road light.
WIth a decent beam its amazing how little output you can get away with. I've a B+M Eyro (STVZO beam pattern) on my road bike to make it road legal, and while not bright it is adequate for riding unlit roads at night despite a puny rated output.
￡9.10 51%OFF | 5200mAh MTB Bike Front Light Bicycle Light 2 Holder Mount T6/L2 LED Flashlight Power Bank Bike with Taillight Gift Waterproof
https://a.aliexpress.com/_BUtgzW
The 5200mah 3x L2 would be my choice from the various options. Plenty more on Ali if you want to look through them. I have an older XT40 that still works very well. Went with a 4x18650 battery box and a nite core smart charger and batteries.
I like a self contained light for the bars. Those Raveman's look really good but I managed to get a Lezyne 1600xxl for about £70, seems to have been a one off price on CRC as it was back up to £95 the next day.
Not a bad light, nicely made and certainly bright enough for solo night riding. Its got far too many light levels but you can program it to only use the ones you want.
For the helmet I just use a Solarstorm X2.
BITD I used to use a 10W and 5W Halogen Vistalite set up, or those heady days when I spent £300 on a Hope HID that delivered a mighty 600 lumens!
Modern LEDs feel like cheating.
Ive a set of MTB Batteries lights on order, expect them to be sent out this week or next.
Much more expensive than the very cheap ebay/amazon/ali ones, much cheaper than the exposure type ones....
Hopefully a reasonable compromise, UK based, and if the world of the www is to be believed, reasonably well supported.
Top - bikehut (halfords advanced) 1600 (handlebar mounted)
Middle - mtbbatteies Lumen 800 (head mounted)
Bottom - both together
£105 all in, I'm happy.
Minor niggles - bikehut has too many modes and microUSB; lumen800 helmet mount isn't too elegant
p7eaven
Free MemberAny chance of a link pls? Was going to trade up my PR900 to the PR1600, but something near as good for less could be ideal.
Eh, had a look and this seems to be the closest I can find, it has some minor differences but I'm pretty sure it's hte same basic light with just a slightly differently machined casing
I also have one of these which is waaaay too spotlighty for mtb use and frankly too tight really for road bike use, but it's tiny- kind of like two gloworms put nose-to-tail- and so I have it literally superglued to my commuting helmet. Burn time on full is under an hour but the lower power mode was still a useful head light.
Went with the PR1600 in the end.
Thanks for the input people, appreciate it
I've got an old MTB batteries 900 lumen light for off road stuff but it's too big for a quick blast on the road at night.
Can anyone recommend anything for unlit roads for about £40? Ideally small with a good light spread and usb too
@ElShalimo maybe have a look at the Ravemen LR800P? Merlin have a discount on it at minute. I think it supports the cabled remote button, which are about a fiver?
It’s mentioned (along with loads of other self-contained lights) about 7th down this page:
https://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/self-contained-z-1105995.html
@Northwind, thnks for taking a look, appreciated - that first link seems broken tho
Have a look at Planet X Lights if you like seperate battery pack ones
The Wide beam light looks okay too:
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LIPXPOWWBH/planet-x-powerbankwide-beam-headlight-
After years faffing around with cheap Chinese sourced lights, today I have taken delivery of a light set from MTB batteries. Quality batteries and good after-market service was the clincher. Just don't ride enough on the MTB in the dark to justify an Exposure light.
@p7eaven – thanks, I got the LR800P. Will hopefully get to try it out very soon
^ cool, would be interested to hear how it performs on diff modes (unlit roads) and runtime. Bookmarked in case 😉
I can confirm after a few rides the four4th scorch is absolutely superb. The helmet mount is strong and the light is brilliant and is as good as my Troute Lumen Liberator.
For £135.00 it’s a bargain