Cycling UK Forum

to see with, as opposed to be seen by. Am I right in thinking that it's the orange-peel reflector variant I'd want, and that the bike mount with the plastic knobs (rather than the one with the velcro) should be OK?

Anything better for the price (i.e. just under £60 with the mount)?

And what would be a good "be seen by" attention-getter to go with that without spending over-much?

Yep, I was recommended the orange peel reflector for bike use. I have the L2D (normal 2 x AA version) and it's a great light. Depending on how fast you want to go or how rough the road/trail is, you might need 2 of them to see everything. For average pace on normal country roads it is great, though. The velcro mount has worked fine for me for over a year, never slipping if you attach it tightly. I remove it every time to swap between bikes and it is still in good nick. The other mount seems overly complicated, but I suppose would allow you to aim the beam if mounting is in an odd position.

NB The flash mode is totally ridiculous on the fenix, much too bright! I would just get one of the basic cateye or knog lights for their flashing mode.

The orange peel reflector is meant to be best, but the plain one does perfectly well.
The black & orange Fenix bike mount has a bit of a reputation for rattling, but is the only mount where you can adjust the left/right aim. Other mounts are the Lockblock rubber/velcro, and I use an O-ring with a shaped block of plastic (polymorph) between the light and the bars.
Another suggestion is to use a bracket like this Electron QR (£3), attaching the torch with a couple of cable ties round the torch and upper section of the bracket.

Unless you actually want a torch as well, get a proper bike light with a sensible beam pattern!

Interesting link squeaker, but that doesn't excite me at £72 incl p 'n' p - especially when it's only approved in Germany for bikes under 11Kg or as a secondary light.

I have an L2D which I have rarely used since I found these used with the Fenix bike mount.

/recycled from another thread/
Very bright and using two gives an adequate spread of light. The batteries are 18650 Li-ion which probably put off a lot of people, but they are much better for high power applications than NiMH AA types, don't self-discharge and last well over 2 hours at maximum setting. (They are still useable on lower power and last much longer)
And they are very cheap!


The only reason IMO to choose the much more expensive Fenix is that they take AA cells which are easily sourced. For commuting, the Li cells are fine, I just take a spare or two.

danfoto wrote:Interesting link squeaker, but that doesn't excite me at £72 incl p 'n' p - especially when it's only approved in Germany for bikes under 11Kg or as a secondary light.

That's because in Germany it's illegal not to have a dynamo (unless your bike is below a proscribed weight). The Ixon would be fine in the UK under "European harmony" as we don't have such a restriction.

On the other hand, the Fenix is flat out illegal.

I can understand why people go for the £10 Tesco torches but the idea of spending £60 when you could have a "proper" light instead for £70 makes less sense to me (although of course, you can use the torch as a torch should the need arise). If I were you, I wouldn't worry too much about the legalese though, as 99.9% of bike lights are illegal anyway.

EdinburghFixed wrote:I can understand why people go for the £10 Tesco torches but the idea of spending £60 when you could have a "proper" light instead for £70 makes less sense to me (although of course, you can use the torch as a torch should the need arise).

Quite: I use one of said Tesco torches as a 'high beam' on the trike, but the novelty of illuminating tree branches overhanging the road wears off very quickly, IME

I use a Fenix LD10 Q5 and a TwoFish bike mount combined with rechargeable batteries and this charger.
The LD10 Q5 is the shorter version of the LD20 Q5 (which is the new version of the LD2) but only uses one AA battery instead of two and has a lower output. If I were to buy again I would get the LD20 Q5 instead as I think the longer battery life is worth the size increase. I have the orange peel version which is normal recommended for cycling but haven’t tried the other version.
I think the TwoFish mount is excellent and holds the torch firmly in place but is easily removed but as said there is no left/right aim adjustment.

As said there are alternatives but the Fenix torches are good and AA batteries very easy to get hold of.

Ixon IQ is 10 euros cheaper (59.90) here :
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;n ... 7b411812af

Now waiting for Bike24 to get back to me with a price for the Ixon IQ less batteries and charger delivered to the UK. Does anybody know what the odds are on having to pay import duty on arrival?

danfoto wrote:Now waiting for Bike24 to get back to me with a price for the Ixon IQ less batteries and charger delivered to the UK. Does anybody know what the odds are on having to pay import duty on arrival?

As far as I understand it, you don't need to pay import duty if it's bought in the EU.

danfoto wrote:Does anybody know what the odds are on having to pay import duty on arrival?

None: EU

Correct, there is no duty from elsewhere in the EU. I have bought two Ixon IQs from Bike 24, one last year at 65 euros and one just last month at the new price of 59.90 euros (both without batteries and charger as I have plenty of AAs already and a 15 minute charger). Postage costs 5.95 euros to UK. Usually arrives within about 3 days.

I have just purchased a LED Lenser P5 to be mounted on the helmet and a LED Lenser P7 for the bars, both mounted using the Twofish mounting blocks.

Awesome lights I have to say.

As part of my new found fetish for all things that glow in the dark, I also bought a LED Lenser P14 as a general torch, now that is bloody "BRIGHT".............

1000 metre range, pity that its to be large to be mounted in the bars.