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What's a good lumenage for those unlit night time road rides?
I have an exposure joystick and a moon comet or meteor but was a thinking some img a bit brighter but not so expensive. I have a cree light I got from mtb batteries but don't really want to be running the battery pack an all.
Tips or advise?
i have a mkiv strada that's than enough for me @ 800 max.
Something like a Cat eye volt 700?
I commute with a Diablo
Just bought a B&M Ixon Premium from Rosebikes. Previously used my MaxxD on low and pointing down and to the side, but still dazzled oncomers, so thought I'd try the fabled German road legal lighting. Arrived yesterday, planning on using it tomorrow night for the first time.
If you search for the Ixon on road.cc it brings up a decent review but also their beam comparison photos for quite a few well known lights.
All year long commuting with first gen Magic Shine. Listed as 900 lumen but realistically it is probably about 500...
Plenty enough for back roads of South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
Cheers!
I.
Hovering on the buy button for that ixon, so please post up a review morecashthandash!
£60, just buy it!
I'd regret spending £60 if you come back from a ride saying it's garbage
Don't need many lumens if they're all going on the road. I've got a modded Phillips Saferide with about 270 non-ebay lumens and it's plenty. I do also have a 1600 lumen light for when there's nobody else around, but I'd struggle to claim it was necessary 🙂
Mk 2 Strada and a Mk 7 Joystick for pothole spotting. That's about 800 lumens. The Joystick isn't really suitable for the road unless pointing down at about 30 degrees. The Strada is very good at peripheral lighting, and the newest has more lumens (800).
Cateye [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/cateye-nano-shot-plus-front-light/rp-prod110614?gs=1&gclid=CNKv7PH-xMcCFYIcGwodIz8Gkw&gclsrc=aw.ds ]Nano Shot Plus[/url] would be a good choice too and better value. I also have a nano shot that is bombproof, with similar lighting to my Strada. Volt 700 is a bit like a Joystick and I doubt will have the peripheral light that helps on the road.
Like pdw, I have a SafeRide, but unlike him, mine is unmodded (four AAs) & puts out 80, which I find fine for unlit roads. The German shaped-beam lights are the way to go.
(I also have the dynamo version which is only 60, and it's a noticeable difference; makes it just manageable for my elderly eyes. )
[url= http://road.cc/content/review/142193-niterider-lumina-750 ]NiteRider 750[/url]
+1 for the Nightrider 750. Brilliant light.
Raw lumens doesn't necessarily tell you how much useful light you are actually getting on the road, and the B and M lights are spec'd by lux instead (lumens per square metre).
I use a Cyo IQ Premium dynamo light, which is 80 lux, and really lights up the road, but my back up is a battery Ixon Core, which is 50 lux high power, and I've used it successfully on unlit roads on low power at 12 lux.
There are some useful beam tests on this website that will give you an idea what those lux ratings actually look like:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp
Your joystick should be fine, too many people run silly lumens that blind driver's and pedestrians
My commute is a mixture of city and pitch black country lanes. I run a Trace/TraceR combo for in the city. Then turn the Diablo on when I hit the country lanes.
Everyone knows you need Twelftygzzzillion lumens from at LEAST 17.8 leds.
Mines the battery version of kcr's dynamo B&M. I was relying on that review and beam shot when I bought it......
Just bought a B&M Ixon Premium from Rosebikes.
I've had one for a couple of years. Terrific light, with a proper beam shape that illuminates the road and nothing else. You get 5-6 hours on high beam and it takes rechargeable AAs. A bit bulky I suppose.
Nearly all other lights have a totally inappropriate beam shape for road use.
thepurist - first ride review for the Ixon Premium:
Wasn't totally dark while we were out, but did a couple of loops round the village after we'd finished in the pub at the end. Does what I need it to do perfectly well. Main beam bright enough for 20-30 mph descents, certainly good enough for unlit towpaths, low power fine on lit roads. Bracket seems robust. Might need to adjust the angle on the handlebars to get it properly sorted.
It takes a bit of getting used to if you are used to an MTB light kicking out 600 lumen plus like a searchlight in all directions - the beam is focused on the roads and is narrower than an MTB light, but that's easy to get used to. No horrendous dazzle to oncoming people/vehicles either.
Does look a perfect commuting light for me.
For me my Strada mk 3 (650 lumens) is only just enough and even then ideally backed up with a another light pointed closer in front. Most of my night riding is training on unlit country roads, the Strada is great up to about 20mph but when descending I start having to back off quite a lot. I reckon the mk 6 version would be ideal though (still might need a second duller light for close in though), I see they've moved the beams from side-by-side to top-and-bottom which might work better to.
The problem is it's price so the temptation to go for cheap Chinese lights despite the floody beams that aren't suited for on-road use is strong. I do wonder how much margin there is in Exposure lights...
Just ordered a Busch and Muller Ixon Core. Just over £30 from Germany
Should go nicely with my Cateye 300 on pulse/flash for commuting
Have a fluxient U2 mini and SSX2 if I really need to light things up
I keep considering the Cateye Volt 700 for the road bike.
Apparently it has a good beam for road riding & doesn't dazzle oncoming drivers like other 'bright' lights can do.
I tried my new Joystick on the bars the other night and thought it was pretty good on dark roads. It normally resides on helmet for evening mtb rides though
I have 2 Cateye Volt 300 for commute. They are plenty bright on dark country lanes, so much co , that drivers have flashed me as they were blinding them.
Just got a Indigo5. 1800 lumen max. 3.5 hr pulse mode is plenty for club and solo night runs. Looks to be a compact and solid built light with replaceable rechargeable internal battery.
the Strada is great up to about 20mph but when descending I start having to back off quite a lot…
…cheap Chinese lights despite the floody beams that aren't suited for on-road use
Whereas the Strada is… a floody beam that's not suited to on-road use. All they've done is squidge one of the beams into an ellipse.
The Strada chucks out easily enough light for riding above 20mph provided you point it far enough ahead. Problem is, if you do that then it's in everyone's eyes because it's a floody beam. You can point it down, but then you've got a massive hotspot just in front of you and it's not so good at speed.
I'm still waiting for someone to combine Exposure levels of lumen vomiting with a proper B&M IQ2 style dip beam.
I'm still waiting for someone to combine Exposure levels of lumen vomiting with a proper B&M IQ2 style dip beam.
My bank manager hopes that B&M crack that one before Exposure do.....
The new B&M Lumotec IQ X looks rather good. Claims 100 lux, and seems to be a rather wide beam.
http://www.bumm.de/produkte/dynamo-scheinwerfer/lumotec-iq-x.html
It is dynamo powered, don't know if they will make an equivalent battery version.
Ta for the review MCTD
Wow thats pretty nice, I think ill have one of those for my next bike. Dynamo lights and mudguards are just things that make sense for a bike you'll ride in the dark, as its inevitably going to be a miserable time of the year anyway.
Yeah, the new B&M has potential but the main difference compared to their existing lights seems to be the super-wide nearfield illumination. That's not something I find useful. Will be interesting to see it in real life: their beam shots show the Cyo Premium being a bit brighter at distance, but that may be unrepresentative. There's beam shots and there's the real world 🙂
After much waiting my IQ-X just arrived, quick test ride up the road and back very encouraging.
Compared to anything ive used before the beam pattern is great, lots of light on the road without shining in drivers faces. Seems about the same amount of light as the off-road version I made myself.
I'll report back when I've actually used it in anger !
I have a Cateye Volt 1200, which I'm really happy with. Much better light and beam pattern than my cheap Chinese torch. Good settings. Love the pulse setting for riding in traffic.
Full whack is a little overkill for the road, but then when you're doing 45mph+ down a pitch black descent it's nice to have. I reckon the Volt 700 would be a great light for most riding though, and it's pretty cheap. However, one of the things that attracted me to the 1200 was the additional battery life.
Edit. Gah, I just realised this topic is 4 months old!
Good of you to join us..... 😉
I have a dynamo light that puts out about 300 to 400 lumens and find that fine for general road rising int the complete dark. It does start to be a little insufficient when you head downhill at speed though, so I have an additional headlight sometimes.
I have a lumicycle that goes from 200 to 1500 lumens. 300 lumen Cateye as back up.
I would say 600 good lumens is plenty.
I'm v happy with my Exposure Strada at all the speeds I ride at. I'm cautious about fast descents in the dark; you just can't be as sure what's there compared to daylight regardless of the lumens
Done a couple of night road rides on unlit Cambridgeshire lanes with my Smart 700 lumen now. £30 off Amazon I think. Rarely needed to put it on full power - most of the time lowest setting is fine. Some might say its a little floody for road use but not been flashed yet, and noticed cars switching down from full beam before I get round the corner.
Ooh, I didn't think the IQ-Xs had shipped yet.
After much waiting my IQ-X just arrived, quick test ride up the road and back very encouraging.
Compared to anything ive used before the beam pattern is great, lots of light on the road without shining in drivers faces. Seems about the same amount of light as the off-road version I made myself.
I'll report back when I've actually used it in anger !
Should I infer from that that this is your first German style beam? I've been waiting for a review of this light, but I really want a comparison to either the Cyo Premium 80 or the Luxos U…
I've got a dynamo powered Cyo at 100 lux, perfect for commuting twice a day in Leicestershire. Beam pattern means no dazzling, much less light than an MTB one, but more than enough for road or canal path riding. Puts more than enough light onto the road.
Bez - yep, it's here - I ordered it in mid November from Rose.de so I guess it's form one of the first batches, hopefully that doesn't mean quality issues.
You're right, it's the first German style beam light I've had so I won't be able to help with the comparison you're looking for, all of my comparisons are against "torch" style beams, whether that be dynamo or battery.
I've got a dynamo powered Cyo at 100 lux
The brightest one B&M make is 80 lux…
Bez - MemberThe brightest one B&M make is 80 lux…
Not according to this...
"Gehäuse: Aluminium – silber oder schwarz
[b]100 Lux[/b]
Großflächen-Lichtfeld mit Nahfeld-Ausleuchtung
Sensorgesteuertes Tagfahrlicht mit seitlicher Abstrahlung
Standlicht"
Interested in views on the IQ-X as well. Is it this one?
I use an Equinox on a low setting, but suspect it's still quite annoying for oncoming drivers.
I use a pair of Light & Motion Urban 800's for my 15 mile country lane commute, the low setting (175 lumens each) is enough most of the time and the high setting (800 lumens each) is adequate for all but the really fast (45+ mph) descents.
John, bike-discount.de don't seem to stock the IQ-X, but Rose do, link below
[url= http://www.rosebikes.com/article/b--m-iq-x-led-headlight/aid:837401 ]IQ-X at rose.de[/url]
Another cateye volt 700 here. For road riding you don't need many lumens and want something that isn't going to annoy other drivers by blinding them.
Crucially it feels very well made and sturdy too. They were on offer at most bike websites when I bought mine.
I'm not sure if trust it for a 45mph descent in the dark but if I'm night riding I don't really plan on doing that anyway.
I meant they don't make a Cyo over 80 lux.
Evening. Be careful with power. It's blatantly unfair to other road users to have powerful beams shone in their eyes. It can causes crashes.
Do you really need that much power? I often turn my front lights off and enjoy the inkiness 8)