Lights

Yossarian · Post by **Yossarian** » 21 Dec 2015, 4:41pm

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a lighting solution. I am planning to ride to work and back and it will be dark on the way home (for the next few months anyway). I have done the route plenty of times in the summer when it's light but I have never really ridden in the dark at all.

It is 13 miles overall, and includes 7 miles on an unlit towpath (fairy decent surface, bit craggy in places), and a couple of miles of busy town roads. I am keen not to dazzle anyone on the road section but need something fairly powerful for the towpath.

Not sure if I need 2 separate front lights or if they have different settings? Any advice to point me in the right direction would be appreciated! (links would be great). I am looking at around £100.00 but can stretch to more if it makes sense to.

Heltor Chasca · Post by **Heltor Chasca** » 21 Dec 2015, 5:52pm

http://www.rosebikes.com/article/b--m-l ... aid:620049

Does a good job of near/far visuals for me. Budget excludes the Dynamo hub, but convenience or battery purchase may swing it.

Welcome to the forum. There'll be lots more intelligent replies coming your way...b

Brucey · Post by **Brucey** » 21 Dec 2015, 5:54pm

for regular use a hub generator setup is the easiest to live with in the long run. Cheap hub generator wheels start around £40 which leaves £60 for lights. It ought to be enough.

cheers

gaz · Post by **gaz** » 21 Dec 2015, 6:07pm

Welcome to the forum.

Broadly speaking a lamp complying to StVZO will meet your requirements for a non-dazzling light to see by. There are suitable battery lamps but you need to consider run times and charging regimes.

I use a Philips Saferide Gen 1. Even though there are diminishing stocks of this out of production lamp I'd still recommend reading reviews before buying. There's at least one linked from this thread.

It sees me safely along an unlit canal towpath with a very rough surface on its low setting. However it's a wide little used route where I am extremely unlikely to encounter ninja peds, the cut off does make it hard to see anything above the cut off barring reflective surfaces. You may wish to run a second "main" beam.

Philips Activeride is one of the very few lamps offering "dip" and "main" beam in a single unit. "Dip" is not StVZO approved. There are some indications that this may simply be because of the "Main" function, other reviewers suggest the cut off on the dip is not on a par with the Saferide and would not meet the requirements.

mjr · Post by **mjr** » 21 Dec 2015, 6:10pm

Yossarian wrote:I am keen not to dazzle anyone on the road section but need something fairly powerful for the towpath.

Shaped beams are your friend, with lenses directing light where it's needed. While some unapproved lights have A-shaped beams, the simplest way to be sure it's not dazzling is to buy one which has K markings (which means compliance with German StVZO) or BS markings (but they're rare now).

That's more likely for dynamo lights and https://mashing53.wordpress.com/2014/10 ... -infinity/ is a good introduction to dynamo lighting.

[XAP]Bob · Post by **[XAP]Bob** » 21 Dec 2015, 7:14pm

Cheapish hub Dynamo (from rose bikes), a cheapest rear B&M light (another £10) and the rest on a Cyo or similar in terms of front light...

It would be a shade over 100, but no battery costs....

(I.e. Go economy on the wheel, and the rear, spend the money up front)

661-Pete · Post by **661-Pete** » 21 Dec 2015, 7:30pm

Well, as far as the front light goes, I've no complaints so far about the Cree XM-L which I bought a few weeks ago. Amazingly cheap for what it does, and throws a perfectly adequate light for completely unlit country lanes. At its high setting, it would probably suffice on an unlit towpath too, unless you're in the habit of belting along it at 20mph+ !

The battery life would be more than adequate for your commute distance, but it might be worth carrying a spare, just in case you forget to re-charge...

The only downsides are: the battery pack is not very watertight (wrap it in insulating tape); and, if you leave it connected to the lamp, it slowly discharges even while the lamp is switched off, because of the indicator LED.

deliquium · Post by **deliquium** » 21 Dec 2015, 7:48pm

661-Pete wrote:Well, as far as the front light goes, I've no complaints so far about the Cree XM-L which I bought a few weeks ago. Amazingly cheap for what it does, and throws a perfectly adequate light for completely unlit country lanes. At its high setting, it would probably suffice on an unlit towpath too, unless you're in the habit of belting along it at 20mph+ !

It should be noted that these lights (I use one on its lowest setting in addition to the superb B&M Cyo PREMIUM dyno light = overkill but great in very rural darkness) can be fitted with a fresnel lens to prevent it dazzling oncomers - and is highly recommended

http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/product-39m ... -lens.html

Vantage · Post by **Vantage** » 21 Dec 2015, 9:13pm

Another vote for the hub dynamo option from me.
I made the change last year and can honestly say it's one of the best decisions regarding the bike that I've ever made.
I had the front wheel built at the local lbs using a 3n72 hub, sputnik rim and stainless plain gauge spokes for iirc around 70-80 quid and the b&m cyo premium 80 lux light (£60 ish) is more than bright enough for a riverside cycle path midnight ride at 20mph+.
No issues with dazzling due to the shaped beam, no flat batteries to worry about and daylight running lights are a plus imo.

Yossarian · Post by **Yossarian** » 21 Dec 2015, 9:26pm

Wow, thanks for all the replies. I will have a good look through in the morning

661-Pete · Post by **661-Pete** » 22 Dec 2015, 9:47am

deliquium wrote:
661-Pete wrote:Well, as far as the front light goes, I've no complaints so far about the Cree XM-L which I bought a few weeks ago. Amazingly cheap for what it does, and throws a perfectly adequate light for completely unlit country lanes. At its high setting, it would probably suffice on an unlit towpath too, unless you're in the habit of belting along it at 20mph+ !

It should be noted that these lights (I use one on its lowest setting in addition to the superb B&M Cyo PREMIUM dyno light = overkill but great in very rural darkness) can be fitted with a fresnel lens to prevent it dazzling oncomers - and is highly recommended

http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/product-39m ... -lens.html

I have a simpler solution: when a road user approaches I 'dip' the light manually with my hand! There is a certain amount of spill of light outside the main beam cone, but not enough to dazzle I believe. At any rate, I've not had any complaints!

The light has, in fact, three settings: high, low and blink. The switch to change modes is a bit fiddly to operate with gloves. I use low in town and on busy roads, high on country lanes. I very rarely use blink.

tykeboy2003 · Post by **tykeboy2003** » 22 Dec 2015, 10:17am

Bike lights must be a Catch-22 situation for you.

Sorry if this has been pointed out before....

old_windbag · Post by **old_windbag** » 22 Dec 2015, 10:24am

Hi, I have the B+M cyo premium dynamo light which as others agree is excellent. The dynamo wheel with top of the range shimano dynamo was just over £60 but they do others lower in the range for less, they being Rose bikes of germany. An alternative beyond amazon million lumen offerings is the B+Q ixon iq premium. This is the battery powered version of the dynamo cyo premium mentioned. They aren't expensive and may set you up for a few seasons and test the waters.

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/b--m-ixon-iq-premium-led-headlamp/aid:703598 without charger etc( you may already have them, can use standard AA's too from the bumf )

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/b--m-ixon-iq-premium-led-illumination-set/aid:703616 with charger and rechargeables

These are showing long lead times at Rosebikes but if liked you can shop around ( they sometimes get them much quicker when called I found that on tyres ), but there are many stockists europewide.

This chap has done a nice video overview of the iq premium https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwM7vDvvGhU

Worth a look I feel as it gives you the shaped beam and a fast recharge at work etc. I love my dynamo+cyo but budgets may not always extend to that amount and this is easy to swap between bikes with different wheel sizes.

mjr · Post by **mjr** » 22 Dec 2015, 4:17pm

661-Pete wrote:I have a simpler solution: when a road user approaches I 'dip' the light manually with my hand! There is a certain amount of spill of light outside the main beam cone, but not enough to dazzle I believe. At any rate, I've not had any complaints!

Fail to dip enough near me and you will get complaints and they will be in finest Anglo-Saxon. The increasing number of road users (cyclists AND motorists) with illegal dazzling lights is becoming really quite annoying.

pwa · Post by **pwa** » 22 Dec 2015, 5:36pm

Any good lighting system will have two independent lights at the front, and two at the back. No light is 100% guaranteed to function all the time, and you need a second light (front or rear) to get you home safely if one of your lights lets you down. If you have only one rear light and it stops working as you are riding, you are unlikely to notice it immediately. You will be riding with no rear light, unaware of the danger. The failure of a front light is more easily noticed, but it can still be dangerous. I once had my front light fail as I rumbled over a cattle grid at about 30mph, leaving me with no light on a pitch black lane. That was the last time I used a single front light with no back-up.

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