Bicycle Light Recommendations Needed

[[email protected]]

I need a bicycle head light meeting this criteria:

1. Must reasonably illuminate the road in front of me on a dark road.
As long as I can see potholes, branches, animals, etc. it's ok. I do
not need the light of a car headlight.
2. Quick connect, no tools required to take the light off
3. Battery life at least 50 hours
4. Under $25.00

Any suggestions?

 

[[email protected]]

[email protected] wrote:
> I need a bicycle head light meeting this criteria:
>
> 1. Must reasonably illuminate the road in front of me on a dark road.
> As long as I can see potholes, branches, animals, etc. it's ok. I do
> not need the light of a car headlight.
> 2. Quick connect, no tools required to take the light off
> 3. Battery life at least 50 hours
> 4. Under $25.00
>
> Any suggestions?

You could use a generator, and get better light, no battery worries,
and no need to take it off the bike. The cheapest generators, when
fitted with a halogen bulb, have done well for many people and come
just under your price limit.

Or you could research any of the 437 threads that discussed bike
headlights during the past five years.

- Frank Krygowski

 

[Peter Cole]

[email protected] wrote:
> I need a bicycle head light meeting this criteria:
>
> 1. Must reasonably illuminate the road in front of me on a dark road.
> As long as I can see potholes, branches, animals, etc. it's ok. I do
> not need the light of a car headlight.
> 2. Quick connect, no tools required to take the light off
> 3. Battery life at least 50 hours
> 4. Under $25.00
>
> Any suggestions?
>

The old standard is the "Cateye HL-500II-C", a 4-AA halogen, which gets
about 2.5 hr on a set of batteries.

Nashbar has them on sale now for $10, about half of normal retail.

 

[Dane Buson]

[email protected] <[email protected]> wrote:
> I need a bicycle head light meeting this criteria:
>
> 1. Must reasonably illuminate the road in front of me on a dark road.
> As long as I can see potholes, branches, animals, etc. it's ok. I do
> not need the light of a car headlight.
> 2. Quick connect, no tools required to take the light off
> 3. Battery life at least 50 hours
> 4. Under $25.00
>
> Any suggestions?

You're not going to meet all your requirements. The closest you'll get
is some of the 5 LED lights that have come out this year. But they're
not really adequate for lighting your way on a *dark* road unless you're
just tootling along at 12 MPH.

Lumens, Long life, Cheap. Choose two.

Actually it's more like choose *one*.

You're best bet is to look for a sale on a SLA (sealed lead acid) halogen
light. They're a little heavier, but typically you can find one that gets
about 2 hours of 6-10W light on a charge for about $50.

I like Franks suggestion of a generator light, but even that will stretch
your budget. I'm biased though, I love my hub dynamo generator, and I have
a 5 LED set to blink as a secondary see-me light.

--
Dane Buson - z u v e m b i @ u n i x b i g o t s . o r g
Charlie was a chemist,
But Charlie is no more.
For what he thought was H2O,
Was H2SO4.