Recommendations on headlight, tail light, and computer?
- Thread starter Shak180
- Start date
Depends on your riding circumstances and your budget. Do you, for example, need to see, or just to be seen.
I've been very happy with my L&M Stella & Seca lights, very high quality units bought on eBay for less than 1/2 of retail. I put the Stella 200 on my helmet and run the Seca 700 on the bars; have set my son, who commutes in the dark, up the same way. For a tail light, I run two Radbots (twice as bright as Blinky Superflash, but cost no more), one under the seat and another down low on my left seatstay; I sometimes add a third light on the back of my helmet. Had I more money, I'd probably purchase a Dinotte rear light, which is much brighter than even the Radbots. (I have an aversion to becoming an overtaking car's hood ornament.)
For safety's sake, I've installed a very small Planet Bike Blinky flash headlight on my bars, to turn on so as to be seen should I be caught out later in the evening than intended without my L&M lights. I was inspired to do this after coming within 1/2 inch (literally) of being struck by an oncoming car whose driver did not see me at dusk and nearly ran me over when suddenly turning left across my line of travel.
As for computers, my preference would be Garmin's 705 or maybe the newer model (800?), were I able to afford one. I've been disappointed with Polar's wireless units and have not been very happy with my Shimano Flightdeck units either.
I've been very happy with my L&M Stella & Seca lights, very high quality units bought on eBay for less than 1/2 of retail. I put the Stella 200 on my helmet and run the Seca 700 on the bars; have set my son, who commutes in the dark, up the same way. For a tail light, I run two Radbots (twice as bright as Blinky Superflash, but cost no more), one under the seat and another down low on my left seatstay; I sometimes add a third light on the back of my helmet. Had I more money, I'd probably purchase a Dinotte rear light, which is much brighter than even the Radbots. (I have an aversion to becoming an overtaking car's hood ornament.)
For safety's sake, I've installed a very small Planet Bike Blinky flash headlight on my bars, to turn on so as to be seen should I be caught out later in the evening than intended without my L&M lights. I was inspired to do this after coming within 1/2 inch (literally) of being struck by an oncoming car whose driver did not see me at dusk and nearly ran me over when suddenly turning left across my line of travel.
As for computers, my preference would be Garmin's 705 or maybe the newer model (800?), were I able to afford one. I've been disappointed with Polar's wireless units and have not been very happy with my Shimano Flightdeck units either.
For the headlight I want it to do both, be seen and see the road ahead of me. Budget wise probably between $150 at the max for everything. I got stuck riding home in the dark last night and some areas lighting was few and far between, those parts were not fun to ride.
I have the $10 head light from WalMart, two, and the matching tail light. They
are very bright and the batteries last several weeks using them every day for
several hours at a time. The tail light has had the same batteries for over six
months and is still nice and bright. Both units will flash as well. They are fine
for twenty mph riding. They also snap on and off.
I have the Bell wireless computer and it is flawless. $20.
are very bright and the batteries last several weeks using them every day for
several hours at a time. The tail light has had the same batteries for over six
months and is still nice and bright. Both units will flash as well. They are fine
for twenty mph riding. They also snap on and off.
I have the Bell wireless computer and it is flawless. $20.
I haven't used the Nashbar lights, but I've been using a Nashbar Tempo wireless computer on one of my bikes for a couple of years now and it works great.
I have the Nashbar Combo light set. Why would'nt I. I should be a limited partner in this outfit. Anyways I am happy with mine. Both lights work well and function as listed. The head light gives off enough light to see the road ahead and the tail light can be seen from quite a distance. Keep in mind that this is not a rechargeable light set and you will need to keep a supply of batteries on hand. The batteries that came with it lasted about six hours and off the top of my head you will need a total of six AAA's for back up's. Unless you purchase rechargeables of course.
Also these lights are very easy to install and can be swapped between bikes without tools. I use mine all the time on my mountain bike out on the trails and on my road bike during overcast weather, dusk and dawn rides.
Also these lights are very easy to install and can be swapped between bikes without tools. I use mine all the time on my mountain bike out on the trails and on my road bike during overcast weather, dusk and dawn rides.
Shak check this out from Nashbar it is a light computer combo for 19.99.http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_506188_-1_202630_10000_202553
Your going to get a thousand recommendations including mine. For $150 you can get a decent starter system, you start with the rear and get a Blackburn Mars 4 tailight, it's the brightest on the market for a self-contained battery model, and it has side illumination something that is missing on a lot of other lights. But the bats don't last anywhere near as long as the manufacture says, you'll get about 33% of what they claim! But it's a good tail light and very rugged and you will never need to buy a better one! Their cheap at around $22, and you can always buy rechargeable AAA bats if you want to but carry a spare set just in case. Here's a video of the Mars 4 with another popular light: http://www.youtube.com/watch?index=36&playnext=1&v=u8GgNnI_jck&list=PLE171C492A722A3CC
The head light is the tough one, you have about $120 left so I would look at Cygolite ExpiliOn 250. I also own this light and I really like it. It puts out 250 lumens of light that lets you see the road really good and not just be seen. The light is a self contained rechargeable battery light so there is not external battery with wire and no bats to remove to recharge. It's also very ruggedly made. And here's a site that compares a bunch of headlights including the Expilion 250 and you will rapidly tell that for the money the Cygolite is a great light for the money; see: http://www.ivanhoecycles.com.au/bike-lights/front-bicycle-lights/cat_259.html You can find the Cygolite on Amazon for $102!
The with the money you have left buy a pair of leg reflectors bands.
Then later you can add depending on your needs, like a helmet light, or a brighter head light and move the other to the helmet, or some bar end lights like the Soma Flares-these are really intense.
The head light is the tough one, you have about $120 left so I would look at Cygolite ExpiliOn 250. I also own this light and I really like it. It puts out 250 lumens of light that lets you see the road really good and not just be seen. The light is a self contained rechargeable battery light so there is not external battery with wire and no bats to remove to recharge. It's also very ruggedly made. And here's a site that compares a bunch of headlights including the Expilion 250 and you will rapidly tell that for the money the Cygolite is a great light for the money; see: http://www.ivanhoecycles.com.au/bike-lights/front-bicycle-lights/cat_259.html You can find the Cygolite on Amazon for $102!
The with the money you have left buy a pair of leg reflectors bands.
Then later you can add depending on your needs, like a helmet light, or a brighter head light and move the other to the helmet, or some bar end lights like the Soma Flares-these are really intense.
"...get a Blackburn Mars 4 tailight, it's the brightest on the market for a self-contained battery model."
Uh, no. Bright, yes. But nowhere near as bright as a Radbot 1000:
http://www.ridepdw.com/goods/lights/radbotâ„¢-1000
Here's a link to some YouTube videos comparing the Radbot to other self-contained battery models:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxnYHRINovU
If the Radbot isn't powerful enough for you, take a look at the new self-contained Dinotte 300R, or the external battery models 140R and 400R.
http://www.dinottelighting.com/Products.htm
Uh, no. Bright, yes. But nowhere near as bright as a Radbot 1000:
http://www.ridepdw.com/goods/lights/radbotâ„¢-1000
Here's a link to some YouTube videos comparing the Radbot to other self-contained battery models:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxnYHRINovU
If the Radbot isn't powerful enough for you, take a look at the new self-contained Dinotte 300R, or the external battery models 140R and 400R.
http://www.dinottelighting.com/Products.htm
The Radbot is about the same intensity as the Mars 4, I saw both on demonstration at an LBS and the Mars 4 was far brighter from the sides. They have to be the same intensity they both use a 1 watt LED!! But the Mars 4 uses one 1/2 watt LED on each side, whereas the Radbot doesn't use anything thus it's not as visible from the side.
The Dinotte 300R is $200...his budget is $150 for BOTH tail AND head, so your recommendations does not answer or help his situation at all.
The Dinotte 300R is $200...his budget is $150 for BOTH tail AND head, so your recommendations does not answer or help his situation at all.
Not sure I'd care about illumination to the side, though more is better I guess. More concerned about being struck from behind by an overtaking car. To help keep that from happening, the Radbot has a reflector built in. My riding companions told me they couldn't believe how brightly it reflected light from car headlights--a nice feature if the battery should become weak or die when out on a night ride, as has happened to me from time to time.
In any event, to each his own. And insofar as the OP posted his inquiry back in February, I'm sure he's long since made his purchase, so the $150 limit is no longer relevant. [Why did you resurrect this thread?] My recent post was simply a response to your note above. Unlike you, I've never done a side-by-side comparison. You have.
In any event, to each his own. And insofar as the OP posted his inquiry back in February, I'm sure he's long since made his purchase, so the $150 limit is no longer relevant. [Why did you resurrect this thread?] My recent post was simply a response to your note above. Unlike you, I've never done a side-by-side comparison. You have.
Headlight:
I very much enjoy the Cygolite ExpiliOn 250
http://www.amazon.com/Expilion-250-USB-Li-Ion-High-Brightness/dp/B0043B51EC
(seems to be the best price, right there)
I've had mine for months. It is perfect for a casual rider. I can find no fault with it other than the fiddly mini-USB cover-cap, a minor annoyance
easily tamed by a smear of lubricant.
The handlebar mount is ideal. I love that Cygolite allows a sideways pivot-motion to the light, just push it left or right as you ride, if you like.
The release from the mount is easy and instant if you know what to press, and it holds the light secure. It is relatively pilfer proof to a stranger.
My bike was stolen last month. But, due to the easy-release of the Cygolite,
I did not have the light on the bike at the time, lucky me.
So all I need to get is a replacement mount from Cygolite (and another bike!).
___________________regarding now the rear light,
I had the Planet Bike Blinky Seven on my now-lost bike. Like the Mars, it the PB7 offered good side-visibility.
For my next rear light I am tempted to try
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030BOUWU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A3SNLLVFZ6ABAC
based on the number of positive reviews. It too offers promised-good side visibility.
It also looks good on a cruiser type bike, imo, style-wise, which the PB7, did not.
This review is from: Portland Design Works The Red Planet 5 LED Tail Light (Sports)
This tail light is bright, so bright that flashing mode is rather annoying, though the "kitt" mode is tolerable
while still highly effective at making the cyclist a visible presence on the road - during daylight in the city,
it's quite good. The intelligent design superbly exploits the parameters of the light from both rear and sides,
creating a lit and reflective surface area that seems much larger than the light itself. Two of these together
on constant mode look just like one of the tail lights on my Toyota wagon rolling down the street - it's that good,
so good and so affordable that I ordered an extra. Easy to install, and the light clips onto the mount securely
yet is quickly and easily removed to prevent theft.
The LED lights aimed out to each side are pure genius. You can actually see the tail light from about 45 degrees
from the front of the bike, much like the wrap-around lights on cars. The package says not to aim the light at people's eyes for a reason -
it's almost painful, even at 40 feet. I had to aim mine a little low to prevent antogonizing traffic,
but even in that position, the light is still amply bright and then some.
With two placed together on constant mode, I went night biking at my folks' place in the country as a test.
My parent's said the lights were still noticable in the country dark when I was half a mile away.
They said I looked like an older model car with one tail light out puttering slowly down the highway.
Nice to know that's what drivers coming up behind might be expecting. Won't they be surprised?
I mounted mine one above the other, which creates one big square of light. This is a better light than most
and does its job for less. PDW did good with this little puppy, and I highly recommend it, especially using two in tandem.
I very much enjoy the Cygolite ExpiliOn 250
http://www.amazon.com/Expilion-250-USB-Li-Ion-High-Brightness/dp/B0043B51EC
(seems to be the best price, right there)
I've had mine for months. It is perfect for a casual rider. I can find no fault with it other than the fiddly mini-USB cover-cap, a minor annoyance
easily tamed by a smear of lubricant.
The handlebar mount is ideal. I love that Cygolite allows a sideways pivot-motion to the light, just push it left or right as you ride, if you like.
The release from the mount is easy and instant if you know what to press, and it holds the light secure. It is relatively pilfer proof to a stranger.
My bike was stolen last month. But, due to the easy-release of the Cygolite,
I did not have the light on the bike at the time, lucky me.
So all I need to get is a replacement mount from Cygolite (and another bike!).
___________________regarding now the rear light,
I had the Planet Bike Blinky Seven on my now-lost bike. Like the Mars, it the PB7 offered good side-visibility.
For my next rear light I am tempted to try
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030BOUWU/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A3SNLLVFZ6ABAC
based on the number of positive reviews. It too offers promised-good side visibility.
It also looks good on a cruiser type bike, imo, style-wise, which the PB7, did not.
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Portland Design Works The Red Planet 5 LED Tail Light (Sports)
This tail light is bright, so bright that flashing mode is rather annoying, though the "kitt" mode is tolerable
while still highly effective at making the cyclist a visible presence on the road - during daylight in the city,
it's quite good. The intelligent design superbly exploits the parameters of the light from both rear and sides,
creating a lit and reflective surface area that seems much larger than the light itself. Two of these together
on constant mode look just like one of the tail lights on my Toyota wagon rolling down the street - it's that good,
so good and so affordable that I ordered an extra. Easy to install, and the light clips onto the mount securely
yet is quickly and easily removed to prevent theft.
The LED lights aimed out to each side are pure genius. You can actually see the tail light from about 45 degrees
from the front of the bike, much like the wrap-around lights on cars. The package says not to aim the light at people's eyes for a reason -
it's almost painful, even at 40 feet. I had to aim mine a little low to prevent antogonizing traffic,
but even in that position, the light is still amply bright and then some.
With two placed together on constant mode, I went night biking at my folks' place in the country as a test.
My parent's said the lights were still noticable in the country dark when I was half a mile away.
They said I looked like an older model car with one tail light out puttering slowly down the highway.
Nice to know that's what drivers coming up behind might be expecting. Won't they be surprised?
I mounted mine one above the other, which creates one big square of light. This is a better light than most
and does its job for less. PDW did good with this little puppy, and I highly recommend it, especially using two in tandem.
What your looking at with that light on Amazon is not a bright light by any means compared to others on the market like the Mars 4, or the Radbot. That light uses standard LED bulbs, not 1 watt bulbs like the Mars 4 or the Radbot. If the Amazon light did use 5 1 watt bulbs the light would only burn for about 4 hours using 2 AAA bats!
That's why I carry spare bats for my lights in my saddle bag, 2 AAA's for the Mars 4 and 2 AA's for the Flares. If you haven't looked into the Soma Flares for your barends do so, their great, far brighter then the button battery barend lights.
Blackburn are a great choice for the lights. They offer a genuine lifetime guarantee, that a friend of mine recently tested. He guessed he bought his light near to ten years ago, and it stopped working. He sent it off and they sent out a new light, a new model, free of charge with no hassle. I'd go for the most expensive 'Mars' rear light your budget can afford, and either a Voyager front light, or a Flea front light if you can stretch to it.
Tail lights:3 1 Cateye Reflex mounted on the rack http://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/TL-LD560-R/
2 Plant Bike Plant Bike Blinky Superflash, 1 on each side of the rack attached to the rack support http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3034.html
Head lights:2 1 Plantet Bike Beamer 1 used as a strobe (no longer made)
1 Plantet Bike Beamer 3 http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3029.html
Computer: dont have a dedicated computer, use my iPhone with cycling apps.
2 Plant Bike Plant Bike Blinky Superflash, 1 on each side of the rack attached to the rack support http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3034.html
Head lights:2 1 Plantet Bike Beamer 1 used as a strobe (no longer made)
1 Plantet Bike Beamer 3 http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3029.html
Computer: dont have a dedicated computer, use my iPhone with cycling apps.
All this talk about lights and computers is amusing. Personally, I think a light bulb is a light bulb, regardless of what you pay for it or how big the name brand is. It's just a light bulb. Or an LED. Either way, why pay a high price for one when a cheaper light will hold and use the same bulb/LED? Same thing applies to my bike computer, which is the cheap Schwinn unit. It does everything the more expensive brands does, and just as well. My light is a headlamp, also known, in the old days, as a frog light for illuminating frogs in the creek. Not the same thing as those cheaper pieces of junk that pass for headlamps these days. This has a 6-volt bulb in it, which can be replaced with a 12-volt bulb if you want to carry the battery for such a thing. It's as bright as one of those floodlights that plug into your car's lighter plug. It can also be mounted on a handlebar bracket instead of a headband. I might replace my son's light later with one of these. I paid about $6 for mine, and assume they're a bit more these days.
For my son's bike I got one of those LED handlebar lights with the blinky tail light included. I think it was less than $20 at Wal-Mart, probably the same one mentioned in a previous post in this thread. It'll work to make him seen, especially after we install some scotch-bright strips in place of those dorky plastic reflectors in the rims. These strips, available at some bike shops, are the same things sown onto some panniers, and are extremely bright when hit by any light source, such as car headlights. They also don't throw your wheels out of balance.
All this being said, can anyone tell me if they've actually seen any difference between the cheaper "wally-versions" of these things and the more pricey ones?
For my son's bike I got one of those LED handlebar lights with the blinky tail light included. I think it was less than $20 at Wal-Mart, probably the same one mentioned in a previous post in this thread. It'll work to make him seen, especially after we install some scotch-bright strips in place of those dorky plastic reflectors in the rims. These strips, available at some bike shops, are the same things sown onto some panniers, and are extremely bright when hit by any light source, such as car headlights. They also don't throw your wheels out of balance.
All this being said, can anyone tell me if they've actually seen any difference between the cheaper "wally-versions" of these things and the more pricey ones?
