Best front light for Xmas

[Sweep]

On that light again busn, what's the beam pattern like?

Have you used it on dark country lanes?

It seems to be available for £40.99 by the way.

[itaa]

EVERYONE please stop with this stupid crap and wasting money on Lights where you pay 90% for just some ''name'' and they aren't even that good..

around $10 - Convoy s2/s3 ( circa -1000 REAL Lumens)
around $20 - BLF a6 ( circa 1600 REAL lumens in turbo mode which overheats the light in 45sec, around 900 in regular high)

And nothing else really.. best stuff there is for sensible prices with good quality!

You need a good 18650 batteries, if you got some old laptop batteries - tear those suckers up and you got free cells.. Otherwise something high-discharge like samsung q30 circa $5 a pop + you need a charger as well , something cheap and good such as $5 Liitokala will work fine..

I can bet my $20 BLF a6 is Miles brighter/better made/and more quality product than most of your $150+ lights..

[mjr]

EVERYONE please stop with this stupid crap and wasting money on Lights where you pay 90% for just some ''name'' and they aren't even that good..

around $10 - Convoy s2/s3 ( circa -1000 REAL Lumens)
around $20 - BLF a6 ( circa 1600 REAL lumens in turbo mode which overheats the light in 45sec, around 900 in regular high)

And nothing else really.. best stuff there is for sensible prices with good quality!

You need a good 18650 batteries, if you got some old laptop batteries - tear those suckers up and you got free cells.. Otherwise something high-discharge like samsung q30 circa $5 a pop + you need a charger as well , something cheap and good such as $5 Liitokala will work fine..

I can bet my $20 BLF a6 is Miles brighter/better made/and more quality product than most of your $150+ lights..

My lights weren't $150... More like $35. I suspect they'd still knock your lights into cocked hats, as yours are measured in lumens, which is usually a very bad sign. Lights with brightness measured at the bulb instead of on the road usually have rubbish lenses.

[squeaker]

around $10 - Convoy s2/s3 ( circa -1000 REAL Lumens)
around $20 - BLF a6 ( circa 1600 REAL lumens in turbo mode which overheats the light in 45sec, around 900 in regular high)

My lights weren't $150... More like $35. I suspect they'd still knock your lights into cocked hats, as yours are measured in lumens, which is usually a very bad sign. Lights with brightness measured at the bulb instead of on the road usually have rubbish lenses.

+1: convoy s2/s3 advertised as 'torches'
My 40lux Lidl front light (with no dazzling beam) was less than $20 IIRC, including a rear light.

[thelawnet]

EVERYONE please stop with this stupid crap and wasting money on Lights where you pay 90% for just some ''name'' and they aren't even that good..

around $10 - Convoy s2/s3 ( circa -1000 REAL Lumens)
around $20 - BLF a6 ( circa 1600 REAL lumens in turbo mode which overheats the light in 45sec, around 900 in regular high)

And nothing else really.. best stuff there is for sensible prices with good quality!

You need a good 18650 batteries, if you got some old laptop batteries - tear those suckers up and you got free cells.. Otherwise something high-discharge like samsung q30 circa $5 a pop + you need a charger as well , something cheap and good such as $5 Liitokala will work fine..

I can bet my $20 BLF a6 is Miles brighter/better made/and more quality product than most of your $150+ lights..

It overheats in 45 seconds and you reckon it's a good product? You're having a laugh...

You are looking at £35+ for light, mount, 2 cells + charger, for something with dubious quality control. http://budgetlightforum.com/node/46183

I would rather pay for a better quality light (which doesn't need to cost $150+) as price is not the sole criterion. Reliability is clearly #1 when it comes to lighting.

[busb]

Whatever you buy, I'd recommend steering well away from any front light that relies on rubber band mounting - even small lights tend to shift their beam upwards or downwards during a ride. There are loads of lights that have thumbscrew or cam clamp brackets that are tool-less & easy to fit. Unfortunately, many of the cheap & powerful lights from Amazon are rubber band mounting only.

[tincaman]

Have just bought a Moon Meteor Storm Lite from Evans (price matched for £49.99). Has a proper handlebar clamp so no useless rubber band fixing. Has 5 flash modes including a pulsed continuous mode, double flash so-called daylight mode 2 fairly standard flashes & an emergency SOS mode that I would not miss. There's 5 levels of continuous from 100 to 800lm. The twin 18650 batteries are easily replaceable. There's a Velcro mounting remote switch & USB charging. The light weighs 206g & 46g for the bracket so no light-weight for helmet mounting with the suplied 29g Velcro bracket. A double tap switches to 1100lm for 10 secs & has a 9 segment status display.
Was also impressed by a Ryder Alumia 1600 dual beamed light from Cycle Republic for £70.

The batteries are 18650 but have been modified so that plus and minus are both at one end. This stops you using standard 18650 unfortunately, also the moon replacements are expensive and very hard to get hold of. I would still recommend the light though as the battery life is very good

[Sweep]

Many thanks for pointing that out.

Good job I never got round to ordering that light.

So my general contempt for usb lights with dedicated batteries remains.

Apart from perhaps the lidl light championed by mercalia as it is very cheap and may have useful back up touring applications.

If anyone does know of a decent usb rechargeable light which DOES actually take standard cells please let me know.

[mercalia]

even if they were "standard" 18650 I understand most of the ones you get on Ebay at a "reasonable" price are not what they seem maybe wrong claims for their charge they being old pc battery cells, to inside they are some thing else - I saw pictures of a different cell inside the 18650 casing

[busb]

Have just bought a Moon Meteor Storm Lite from Evans (price matched for £49.99). Has a proper handlebar clamp so no useless rubber band fixing. Has 5 flash modes including a pulsed continuous mode, double flash so-called daylight mode 2 fairly standard flashes & an emergency SOS mode that I would not miss. There's 5 levels of continuous from 100 to 800lm. The twin 18650 batteries are easily replaceable. There's a Velcro mounting remote switch & USB charging. The light weighs 206g & 46g for the bracket so no light-weight for helmet mounting with the suplied 29g Velcro bracket. A double tap switches to 1100lm for 10 secs & has a 9 segment status display.
Was also impressed by a Ryder Alumia 1600 dual beamed light from Cycle Republic for £70.

The batteries are 18650 but have been modified so that plus and minus are both at one end. This stops you using standard 18650 unfortunately, also the moon replacements are expensive and very hard to get hold of. I would still recommend the light though as the battery life is very good

I had no idea that this was the case! They are sold as having replaceable 18650 batteries with no mention of needing their own modified batteries that should not be described as being 18650s! Although it probably wouldn't be beyond me to modify std batteries, I'd have probably not bought these had I known & the glowing reviews never mentioned this. I apologise to anyone who bought these due to my recommendation on the basis the batteries were standard.

[Sweep]

No probs, nice and encouraging to have your apology in a world where so many folk link their ego to stuff they have bought.

If I were you and you are unhappy, after checking the blurb that sold you them, I would consider getting a refund.

[tincaman]

Doesn’t look easy to Mod

[mercalia]

makes you wonder why they design lights so that you need a special battery?

[busb]

even if they were "standard" 18650 I understand most of the ones you get on Ebay at a "reasonable" price are not what they seem maybe wrong claims for their charge they being old pc battery cells, to inside they are some thing else - I saw pictures of a different cell inside the 18650 casing

A good few so-called rechargeable D cells were the smaller size C cells in spacers! The whole point of D cells was their greater capacity.
I had a good look at both the supplied batteries & the contact area. One would need to cut off the outer insulation of the replacements, fit thick plastic washers around the pos terminal & a metal ring in contact with the battery's case & neg terminal. The whole mod'd battery would then need new ultra-thin heat shrink sleeving. A definite faff but probably not impossible & certainly only for those who already own them. Fortunately, Li-Ion batteries are among the most reliable batteries in my own experience - unlike NiCads. Li-Ion cells also have very low self-discharge characteristics.
These lights are otherwise excellent - well-made, decent mounting brackets, have a remote switch (that I use find very useful) good beam pattern.

[The utility cyclist]

The Moon Meteor Storm lite is on sale at Halfords at the moment for £41, using topcashback gets you another 3% back from that, bringing it down to £39.80.