Can anyone recommend some rechargeable lights (front & rear) to fit on a bike with a basket & rear rack?

[John_S]

Hi All,

I wondered if anybody could recommend some lights, both front and rear, for my wifes bike?

I think that what I'm after is lights which are USB rechargeable. Whilst I really like dynamo lights and have them on my own bike for commuting over distance including on unlit lanes that's not the use that my wifes bike gets. She uses her bike for short journeys only, say 1-2 miles, and it will rarely be used in compete darkness but more the twilight at the start or end of the day as the sun is coming up or setting as the days get shorter. Also it will only be used in & around town where there are street lights and so it won't be used on unlit roads.

Now I have been looking at websites & reviews etc. about lights but I find that with a lot of reviews they will give you the information about the strength of the beam, the number of hours it will last between charges etc. but often reviews don't go into lots of detail about the options for mounting the lights onto the bike.

This where I'm struggling a bit and I wondered if anyone has any recommendations based on experience they've had of getting lights for similar bike set ups?

My wifes bike is a Globe Daily set through framed bike. It has a basket on the front and also a rear rack but the rear rack doesn't have a mounting plate at the back of it for mounting a light on unfortunately.

In terms of the front light I could mount it on the handlebars but because of the handlebar shape (plus I can't easily mount it in the middle of the handlebars because of the basket) the light will be at a slightly odd angle and perhaps not optimum for the beam. However as an alternative on the legs that go from the basket down to where they are mounted onto the fork there is a sort of bracket (see photos below) and does anyone know if I could mount a light on there. It might be unique the basket and therefore absolutely no use at all when it comes to finding a light that would fit onto it but I just wondered if anybody did have any ideas?

Regarding a rear light whilst the bike has a rear rack unfortunately the rack doesn't have a plate on the back of it that you can mount a light onto in the same way as my bike rack does. I could get a rear light with a rubber mount that wraps around the seatpost but I sometimes worry in case they get obscured by a coat or something like that. Therefore I just wondered if anybody else had any good ideas as to where else I might mount a light (perhaps on the seat stays?) and if so what light they'd recommend?

Many thanks in advance for any ideas and advice!

Thanks,

John

[Brucey]

SJS sell brackets that bolt onto racks and allow fitment of a standard (rack mount) light. It isn't difficult to make something, either.

The typical scheme for mounting a small battery light to a basket like that is to use the edge of the basket as a 'handlebar', i.e. so that the clamp/band goes round the edge of the basket. If you choose the lamp carefully, you will be able to pass the end of the band between the strands in the basket.

I don't recommend that you use the bracket on the basket stand; it is perfectly legal but the lamp will be low down/obscured from some angles and more to the point you often can't even tell if it is on or off when riding the bike.

cheers

[backnotes]

A couple of other options for mounting lights on a front basket.

I've got a bracket that attaches to the front top of the basket, and gives a raised mounting for a handlebar-type mount that is out of the way above and in front of the contents of the basket. I got this at the LBS - if you want to know the make I can go in and find out.

You can also bodge a mounting under a wicker basket with a couple of zip ties - the light needs to be precision-angled, using e.g. half a wooden clothes peg between light and basket as a wedge to aim it downwards. Probably less relevant if you want a rechargeable USB light as the mounting is semi-permanent.

Good luck!

[John_S]

Hi Brucey & backnotes,

Many thanks for the advice and tips as well the photos which is much appreciated!

Best regards,

John

[mjr]

If the lights are purely to be seen by, I'd use some cheap lights like https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-Recharge ... 1872468970 and use the O-rings to strap them to the front of the right-hand fork blade and back of the right-hand rack leg and use them in "slow flash" mode to meet the required flash speed in law (1-4Hz). I believe the 15lm is per lamp so they easily exceed the required 4 candles brightness.

The linked lights might have only long/slow/"explosion" flash modes, so might be legal because they have no steady mode. That was unexpected. As people always point out when I mention legality, even if it's not, then probably no-one will care as long as it's not obnoxious.

Browsing the cheap lights, I see that at least three of this year's to-see-by models have lenses that look like they might not dazzle all oncoming road users, which is a good step forwards. Two have an LED facing downwards onto a shaped reflector and one has a lens which looks vertically striped (there is a name for that which I forget).

[nigelnightmare]

Lidl have got some!

EDIT

They don't have a flash setting.