The nights are drawing in, and soon people will be asking about the best lights. Here's a new one from Banggood for £12.41 including postage:

http://www.banggood.com/LED10-U_S-CREE-U2-Chip-10W-Motorcycle-Headlight-Motor-Lamps-HiLo-Beam-p-936965.html

It's much neater than their previous ones and looks to be waterproof too. It comes with various bracketry. I modified one to fix it to the fork crown. Apart from it's exceptionally bright light from the Cree U2 emitter, it's main advantage is that you can connect it to your bike's battery with a switch on one wire to turn it on and off.

 

I have a torch with three Cree T6 emitters. They both give out about the same amount of light, but the Banggood one has a brighter narrower middle. The spread of light away from the middle is about the same.

 

For those of you that have never tried a light with a Cree T6 emitter, you have to recalibrate your brain to understand the amount of light that comes out of these. Forget your bike shop, Aldi and Magic Shine lights. You wouldn't even know they're on when this one's around.

 

This is the LED10 light. There's also a LED 20 that I think has a bigger emitter (12w instead of 7w), and if that's not enough, there's the LED 100 and 200, which I believe run at higher current (10w and 15w) because they have an extra heatsink on the back.

 

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq236/d8veh/lights/20140911_1405131_zpsd0f4ea34.jpg

Great find

Much better than the previous one you purchased?

Do you know what the actual LED is? U2 and T6 are just "bins" as they are known - in effect just classifications within a particular LED type. I'm going to guess the Banggood is a single XM-L emitter.

 

I made a twin head light for my road bike a couple of years ago with two XM-L U2 LEDs with a dipped beam arrangement so as not to dazzle oncoming road users. I've had cyclists think I'm a very quiet car as I come up to overtake...

 

Michael

Still going strong ...

I've been looking around for a decent front light. I've done a couple of commutes in the dark, and the built-in light on the Wisper is OK-ish, but not really adequate for dark rural roads. I was thinking of something like this:

 

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cateye/volt-300-front-usb-rechargeable-light-ec052622

 

which has the advantage of being USB-rechargeable, so I can plug it into the computer at work and get my lighting free from my employer. Has anyone bought one of these?

 

For connecting to the bike's battery, how does one go about this? I was wondering about the possibility of wiring in a 12V socket so I could use my satnav, recharge the phone etc while on the road, but I can't see where I could tap in, or how to reduce the bike's 37V to something useable.

You need a dc-dc converter. This should do it:

 

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=291054073365&alt=web

 

When buying these, it's important to get the ones with 50v caps on the input side, since your 36v battery is really 42v hot off the charger. It's also important to set the output voltage correctly.

 

I know the spec says it's 40v max, but I've used them at 42v without a problem.

I've been looking around for a decent front light. I've done a couple of commutes in the dark, and the built-in light on the Wisper is OK-ish, but not really adequate for dark rural roads. I was thinking of something like this:

 

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cateye/volt-300-front-usb-rechargeable-light-ec052622

 

which has the advantage of being USB-rechargeable, so I can plug it into the computer at work and get my lighting free from my employer. Has anyone bought one of these?

For Christ's sake, didn't you read what I wrote. That light probably isn't even as bright as your Wisper one and it costs £45. For a tenth of that price, you can get this one that runs direct from your battery and will be twice as bright:

http://www.banggood.com/Motorcycle-Bicycle-Assist-Lamp-LED-Headlights-Modification-Spotlight-p-919876.html

 

If you really need to spend a lot of money, get one with a Cree t6 XML emitter. You can pay over £100 for them, though they're just as bright as the ones that cost £8, seeing as they have the same emitter.

d8veh is the Lighting Guru. I usually follow his advice on lighting. There really is no need to spend a lot of money, particularly on front lights.

 

I've yet to see anything which will better my rear light though. But that cost £50 and I can'tremember the name of it just now.

 

Edit: BikeRay rear light. Not yetfound anything to match it.

Edited September 12, 201411 yr by tillson

Tilson, you forgot to mention which light you've got!

 

I'm not a guru, but I must admit I do like to try different lights. My knowledge of rear lights is fairly limited.

 

Last night I went out with Saneagle for a ride in the dark. I used my favourite rear light, which is a Smart Lunar double LED one. I fix it to the back of my helmet with only one of the two LEDs on. As I was standing there, Saneagle said, " Bloody hell Dave, you look like a traffic light". I had wondered why cars were always very reluctant to pass me.

 

He was using two of those little Aldi clip on ones, one on each side of his bike. They were pretty bright too. As he disappeared in the distance (not his lights though) with both flashing, he looked like a police car that had pulled someone over, and I could see the cars that overtook me immediately slow down while they tried to figure out what was ahead of them.

 

I don't believe that you need to spend so much money on rear lights. Those Aldi ones are very bright. The Smart Lunar often comes top in comparisons, which is why I bought it and is bright enough for fog, but to be honest, it's a bit too bright for a rear light.

 

On his last bike, Saneagle had one of those ones that makes two laser lines on the road. That feature was pretty useless, but the main part gave a very nice multi-directional spread of light. It looked very similar to a good motorcycle rear light.

My current front light is the last Banggood one which you brought to our attention. It has fins all over it, takes a wide range of input voltages and needs the cable entry sealing. It's a good light, but I might try your latest suggestion. I like lights!

 

The BikeRay rear light is in a class of its own. It demands attention even on a sunny day.

Have got some of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201074854409 they have a metal clamp plus take a single 18650

Rear light http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Logo-Intelligent-LED-Bicycle-Laser-Taillight-Bike-Rear-Light-Braking-Warning-UK-/190865635425?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item2c707a7861

from same supplier imposes a bike pic on the road - bit weird - I like it.................

Edited September 12, 201411 yr by Ken Dando

I've been looking around for a decent front light. I've done a couple of commutes in the dark, and the built-in light on the Wisper is OK-ish, but not really adequate for dark rural roads. I was thinking of something like this:

 

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/cateye/volt-300-front-usb-rechargeable-light-ec052622

 

which has the advantage of being USB-rechargeable, so I can plug it into the computer at work and get my lighting free from my employer. Has anyone bought one of these?

 

For connecting to the bike's battery, how does one go about this? I was wondering about the possibility of wiring in a 12V socket so I could use my satnav, recharge the phone etc while on the road, but I can't see where I could tap in, or how to reduce the bike's 37V to something useable.

 

That Cateye is a decent light, I have something similar made by Lezyne.

 

Very neat, and the USB charging is handy.

 

Note Evans describes the Cateye as having batteries which are 'safe' - that a veiled reference to some of the cheap Chinese rechargeables which have been known to catch fire.

 

The Cree and various copies are bright.

 

Something equivalent to an air raid searchlight is great for trails at night, but can be too bright for commuting when there are lots of other road users about.

 

The Cateye will probably throw a good beam, but won't be bright enough to disturb others.

 

Sometimes, less is more.

Something equivalent to an air raid searchlight is great for trails at night, but can be too bright for commuting when there are lots of other road users about.

This is a very important point, and one which some of the light manufacturers are trying to address. One of the first bike lights with a shaped road beam was the Philips Saferide (in its various incarnations), and Busch and Muller produce some good lights with similar dipped road beams. It's all about putting lumens in the right place on the road and not spraying them everywhere.

 

Of course, as you say for night trails you don't have to be so careful - indeed a standard symmetrical beam can be more useful. My lights put a lot of light on the road but don't illuminate up at the sides, so don't for example pick up branches straying into a trail.

 

Michael

The nights are drawing in, and soon people will be asking about the best lights. Here's a new one from Banggood for £12.41 including postage:

http://www.banggood.com/LED10-U_S-CREE-U2-Chip-10W-Motorcycle-Headlight-Motor-Lamps-HiLo-Beam-p-936965.html

It's much neater than their previous ones and looks to be waterproof too. It comes with various bracketry. I modified one to fix it to the fork crown. Apart from it's exceptionally bright light from the Cree U2 emitter, it's main advantage is that you can connect it to your bike's battery with a switch on one wire to turn it on and off.

 

I have a torch with three Cree T6 emitters. They both give out about the same amount of light, but the Banggood one has a brighter narrower middle. The spread of light away from the middle is about the same.

 

For those of you that have never tried a light with a Cree T6 emitter, you have to recalibrate your brain to understand the amount of light that comes out of these. Forget your bike shop, Aldi and Magic Shine lights. You wouldn't even know they're on when this one's around.

 

This is the LED10 light. There's also a LED 20 that I think has a bigger emitter (12w instead of 7w), and if that's not enough, there's the LED 100 and 200, which I believe run at higher current (10w and 15w) because they have an extra heatsink on the back.

 

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq236/d8veh/lights/20140911_1405131_zpsd0f4ea34.jpg

Technical question. What would be the negative effect, when running this light, on my battery and my anticipated range before battery depletion

Let's assume you have a 36v, 10ah battery. That's 360wh.

 

This light is 10w, so your battery would run it for a solid 36h .

 

Or to put it another way, if you run it for 1 hour, it will consume 1/36th of your battery power. Less than 3%.

 

Or to put it yet another way, the square root of f##k all.

For Christ's sake, didn't you read what I wrote.

 

That's a pretty hostile response to a genuine question, frankly.

 

To answer you, yes I did read what you wrote, and in fact I have two similar lights on my motorcycle, and very good they are. But I am looking for something I can just clip to the bars, not something I need to wire into the battery. Thanks for taking the time to reply, anyway.

d8veh is the Lighting Guru. I usually follow his advice on lighting. There really is no need to spend a lot of money, particularly on front lights.

 

I've yet to see anything which will better my rear light though. But that cost £50 and I can'tremember the name of it just now.

 

Edit: BikeRay rear light. Not yetfound anything to match it.

 

What is the wattage or the lumens for this light tillson?

 

MS.

What is the wattage or the lumens for this light tillson?

 

MS.

 

It's a 3 Watt Cree LED. It has a red emitter, not a red filter over a white emitter, so you get the full 3 Watts of unfiltered pure red light.

 

It's a nicely made article and has the feel of quality about it. What I particularly like is the fact that it attracts attention in bright sunlight and I have it switched on all the time, day and night.

 

I've not found a cheap equivelant of this light. I suppose you could stick a red filter over one of the excellent cheap from lights which d8veh has found for us, but by doing so you reduce the output by only allowing the red light to pass through it.

 

Here is the link to it http://bikerayuk.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_61&product_id=55

It's a 3 Watt Cree LED. It has a red emitter, not a red filter over a white emitter, so you get the full 3 Watts of unfiltered pure red light.

 

It's a nicely made article and has the feel of quality about it. What I particularly like is the fact that it attracts attention in bright sunlight and I have it switched on all the time, day and night.

 

I've not found a cheap equivelant of this light. I suppose you could stick a red filter over one of the excellent cheap from lights which d8veh has found for us, but by doing so you reduce the output by only allowing the red light to pass through it.

 

Here is the link to it http://bikerayuk.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=59_61&product_id=55

 

Nice and informative reply.

 

MS.

I use a Cree something or other !! but its a twin light design and puts out a total of 5000 lumens of which I can say darkness doesn't exist but they don't last to long!! (the battery's) I make sure that I charge them in the evening for the next day and go from low beam to flashing as it gets brighter and the reverse in the evening but they are very very bright !!!! my rear light is a Cateye Rear Bracket light and another with a Lazer out the back and is very noticeable and I have just fitted an EL wire to my saddle bags which I will switch on in the dark so ta-da instant visibility(hopefully)and will take a few pics when dark !!!.

Does anyone know if any of these Cree lights can be bought as an all-in-one rechargable unit i.e without separate battery pack. I've already a light on my bike (connected to battery) plus various other wires near the handlebars and am limited for room so would ideally like one of these but as simple as possible. (but without paying silly money for a branded one)

Thanks if you can help

Get one like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UltraFire-2000LM-CREE-XM-L-T6-LED-Zoomable-Zoom-Flashlight-Torch-1-18650-Charger-/310956232875?pt=UK_SportsLeisure_Camping_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item48666f90ab

 

and a clip

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flashlight-Mount-Holder-For-LED-Bicycle-Bike-Torch-Clip-/270817438512?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3f0dfa2b30

and a clip

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Flashlight-Mount-Holder-For-LED-Bicycle-Bike-Torch-Clip-/270817438512?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item3f0dfa2b30

 

I would avoid those clips - they're bloody awful. I bought a couple of them and neither lasted more than a two weeks of commuting. What worked for me in the end were a couple of interlinked jubilee clips.

They work OK for me. I also use the velcro ones which work pretty well. You can use them for any torch on your handlebars.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Magic-Tape-Mount-Holder-Clip-Clamp-for-Bicycle-Bike-LED-Light-Lamp-Flashlight-/351096702543?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item51befe864f