Front light recommendation

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BugsBunny7788
Posts: 67
Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:48 am

by BugsBunny7788

Anyone using a front light that they think is really really good?

I have a Lezyne 700 lumen light but based on my limited knowledge of optics, it seems most of the light is diffused (lost) into the air.

My main usage of the lights is that I set it to about 200 lumens for city riding and when descending fast I will have it on full power.

Here are my thoughts on what makes a great front light:

- 700+ lumen on high setting.
- Swappable battery.
- Good battery life.
- Great optics so the full power of the light is used.
- Not too heavy.
- Reasonably wide cast - ie. not too narrow a beam.
- Comes with a solid mount (so it doesn't move on bit pothole hits).

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by Nefarious86

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gavin
Posts: 57
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:33 pm

by gavin

i use exposure lights and they are very good

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mogwaiboi
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

by mogwaiboi

I've had the Moon X-Power 500 for a few years now, and it's rock solid. Looks like it's been replaced by the LX560, and there is a 760 version. The mount is very secure and doesn't move at all and you can swap the battery. The beam is probably somewhere between narrow and wide.
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DMF
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Location: Sweden

by DMF

Let's just stop right here for a moment, there are lots of extremely nice lights on the market... Lupine, USE, Lezyne and so forth all usually come up...

I gotta tell you, commuting all year round in Sweden whilst also working in a shop that really deals a lot with high end commuters even during the winter... And usually a very sceptical man at that who had a hard time taking the superlatives of the sells rep... Until I tried myself, and Ive bean riding lots of twice as bright lights all thru winter...

Led lenser XEO19R...

This thing just blows EVERYTHING on the bike market completely put of the water, forget Lupine et al, this is just on another planet all together...

- 2000 lumen at brightest
- one auto-mode with light reflective sensor that gradually turns the light down for oncoming cars, you won't notice it happening but the car drivers really do
- loooooong battery life, and even outgoing USB charge capabilities on the battery, will fully charge a laptop, or you phone several times
- intuitive controls, becomes useful as this thing has lots of modes but you don't have to flip thru all of them just to get the mode you want, and sort of game console control pad intuitivety for the buttons
- a lot of different mounts for helmets, tri pods and what not. The handlebar mount does take some space on your bars but other than that, complete class leader, really Google it...
- seamless individual right/left lamp focus and spread. At first it just sounds stupid, but then it gets very useful, even on the fly as you can have left side lamp light the road and right side lamp light up more of the surroundings next to the road. Reversed order for left hand side traffic like the UK.
- also the light pattern really is on the road, not with half the spread up in the sky...

I have no affiliation with Led Lenser, and the shop where I work do no online sells, although I did get to buy one set of these for a very decent price in order to be a bit of a guinea pig. And I never, ever write a review like this... But really, you have to forget the usual suspects today. This thing, as far as quality, function and "finished product" goes, this is just on a completely different planet to the usual bike options...

And Led Lenser also have a really solid quality reputation in the world of flash lights and head torches...

Not super cheap though...

Oh, right, the bike battery mount is a complete joke. I did with some force manage to get the battery (with easy access to charging) into Specializeds smallest seat bag, and that thing is pretty tiny. There are two different extension choices on the battery cable and a twirly phone chord section.

Marin
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Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

I know that I don't need mega lumens for night riding - I've been very happy with the 320 of my Cygolite Dash.

I has a very good beam shape - this is important since with most lights, the brightest spots of the beam on the road effectively blind you, and kill your peripheral vision.

If only the build quality of the Cygos were better, as it is I can't recommend them. Had 5, lost 2, problems with the other 3 (1 melted on the charger, 1 stopped working, 1 fiddly on the charger plug).

cmcdonnell
Posts: 278
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2015 7:50 pm

by cmcdonnell

Exposure Strada seems like the best light out there if you can stomach the price. 800 lumens seems plenty for normal road riding to me. I have a Lezyne Macro Drive 600 XL and find it quite good. Gives me nearly 2 hrs on full burn. On paper the Power Drive 900 XL looked better but the run time is less on an equal power (1:30 at 600 vs 1:50). The Macro Drive is also quite cheap at around £40
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Bluecoupe
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Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2015 10:32 pm

by Bluecoupe

Marin wrote:I know that I don't need mega lumens for night riding - I've been very happy with the 320 of my Cygolite Dash.

I has a very good beam shape - this is important since with most lights, the brightest spots of the beam on the road effectively blind you, and kill your peripheral vision.

If only the build quality of the Cygos were better, as it is I can't recommend them. Had 5, lost 2, problems with the other 3 (1 melted on the charger, 1 stopped working, 1 fiddly on the charger plug).


I have used the Cygolite metro 360 for the past 2 years and I haven't had any problems with it. Its not 700 lumens but does what I need it for during those short night rides that I do.

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Asteroid
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Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:43 pm
Location: Los Angeles, California

by Asteroid

I used to buy expensive Niterider units, but their fiddly plug connection would sometimes break. Everything else worked great: modes, brightness, battery life, articulating heads, etc.

Then I discovered the $20 variety on Amazon. Exctremely bright (over 1000 lumens), decent reliability and battery life, but for that price you could always keep one in reserve. Only one broke/wore-out on me after 500 hours of usage. My other two (on separate bikes) are approaching 1,000 hours each, sometimes in wet weather. Small and light. The perfect light for a cheapskate like me.
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Calnago
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by Calnago

I really like Light in Motions Urban 800 series of headlights. They are light, have pretty good time on a charge and have good mounts but you can also really slickly mount it on the underside of a K-Edge XL Garmin computer mount as shown below with a Go-Pro adapter...
Image

But equally, or more, important if you're riding in the city or with cars is the rear light, and I've come across two that are really great...
The Dinotte Quad Flash at about $180 (ouch), or the Serfas TL-60 (around $60). The Dinotte is the brightest with the best battery life and that's important to me when I take off for the entire day solo and want to be seen from behind in daylight for 8 hours or so.
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uraqt
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by uraqt

I kinda think going the opposite way with lights might be the best approach

Light in Motions Urban and niterider lumina lights are so cheep and good kinda buy them with the idea that after 2 or three years you are going to get a new one ...

yes it's not an environment friendly idea but I think it's the best from a cost per use/cost per lumens/ and getting more lumens over time

I have a early lumina 650 and it's more than bright enough on the road, not sure if you need more light than that .. the new 750 is 80$ USD and the Urban 650 is the same... I bet in 1 year they are under 50$

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atakaoka
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by atakaoka

I'm using CAT EYE Volt 1200, great ligth whith good durability 3hs on the max ligth 5hs on internediate ano 10 on low.
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kode54
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by kode54

Lupine Piko in front under my Garmin.

small and light.
bright...1200 Lumens, but new ones may be brighter like 1500
bluetooth so adjustable via smartphone
remote is bluetooth as well and can be positioned in a very convenient place on bar. user selectable modes. i use high, medium and blinky. you can add one more with app.
oh, and swappable batteries. i generally use the small flat one and mount that on my stem. i have one that'll last for 4 hours on high...but that's much bigger that i mount on bottom of top tube.
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sawyer
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Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

I went through this earlier in the winter, and wanted something not too expensive, light and 1000 lmns min on full blast

Got the 1100 XL Lezyne heavily discounted and it scores very well on VFM/weight/output
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Mep
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by Mep

Light in Motion works very well for me. You can usually get them discounted, great deal for a super bright and rechargeable option.

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