Front Light for Really Dark Nights _ Any Recommendations??

Chalk me down as another Lezyne Mega Drive owner, previously had a magic shine.

Having a one box solution is great. Paid £107 for mine (for the loaded box).

For real world beam shots have a look at torchythebatteryboy's website. I used to have an Exposure strada and, as can be seen from the shots, the Lezyne really does beat it.

UltraFire 502B 1000 Lumens CREE XM-L T6 from Ebay. Not really 1000 lumens but not very far.
£14 posted with a charger and two batteries. Light on its own is only £7 posted! Get two for more power/flexibility/as a backup.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UltraFire-502B-1000-Lumens-CREE-XM-L-T6-LED-Fl...

Exposure Joystick & White eye coupled with a Redeye on the rear I also carry a piggy back for longer night rides.

I also have a Hope Vision One which I use as a flashing and back up light should the exposures burn out.

The flare is amazing plus it also means I never have to spend long on the front as the thing dazzles the rider behind

I've just bought two of the ebay Cree lights for xc training during the winter, when I'm expecting a few dark sessions. The first has arrived, a Cree XML T6, and first impressions are good - good reach and reasonable burn time (easily an hour+ on full), the second one a twin-unit is still on a slow-boat from China - the single unit may well end up attached to my helmet, so between them these lights should give be good coverage and plenty of battery life. However, I'm very conscious that these are £20 lights and so, to avoid the risk of being left in the dark should either fail, I'm backing those up with my Cateye One-Shot - that's a good reliable light that will get be home, albeit maybe not as quickly as it doesn't have anywhere near the same 'firepower' of the Cree's.
The intention is to see how this winter 'dark' training goes and maybe upgrade the Cree lights next year - that's assuming they prove to have issues, but they may turn out to be great.
Note - one of my pet-hates is cyclists who forget about their backs when it comes to lights so, even though I'll be cross-country for much of the time, there'll be two large flashing units on the bike and backpack... On-One/Planet-X have great deals on rear lights at the moment.

Very happy with my magicshine. Includes head attachment (!) and is very easy to put on/off bike. Used for MTB on totally dark trails. Battery life would only be about 2 hours on the max brightness.

http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/featured-products/magicshine-mj-872-1600-l...

Exposure are definitely the ones to beat when it comes to lights, not only are they bright but they have good burn times and excellent customer service. You pays your money

i commute daily on country lanes using the latest Strada and a Toro powering a Redeye paired up with a Hope District+. Also a Sirius and a Blaze for low light conditions which i swap between the road bikes and never had a single issue with any of them

I have a One23 Bright 1000. Guess what, it gives out 1000 lumens (advertised). It's a really good light. I use it for commuting on and off-road. For £60-65, it's great (IMO) value. I can travel at 25+ mph on unlit roads, no problem, attack trails with plenty of vigour. Compared with much more expensive lights, it doesn't fall far short. I've never had any problems with reliability and battery life is long (rechargeable separate battery). Only one minor complaint is that when it does go onto the "red light" for battery life, the light flashes, which can be, erm, fun when descending.....

But, yep, highly recommend it.

I have an Exposure Strada on the front and and Flare on the back. They are really great lights and during winter I'll do around ten hours a week on pitch black country lanes. I wouldn't do without them and they've been completely reliable for the past two years. Highly recommended.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-mega-drive-front-light-loaded/

Shop around. I got mine for forty quid less than that from CRC but they seem to have stopped selling the loaded option. I bought it in the summer when there isn't such a demand for lights as well.

Rob

I like the design and build quality of Lezyne stuff so bought the Power Drive (pre-XL). I find it bright enough on Medium (200 lumens).

I used to run a Fenix torch that ran on 2 AAs but have found that its lower output meant it was OK but not ideal on its own, particularly when the road is wet.

Have you looked at this?
http://road.cc/content/news/97193-big-roadcc-lights-test-2013

and from 2011:
http://road.cc/content/news/46538-big-roadcc-lights-test-data

I have a Niterider Lumina which gives 650-700 lumens, which I find fine for the roads, I see it's going for 80 quid in CRC.

Got to agree about the exposure lights though, got a Diablo for going off road and it is amazing.

+1 for the leszyne mega drive. I've been using one for riding on unlit country roads and it's great, even on 30mph descents. Not super cheap but still a good 100 quid less than the equivalent Exposure models like the Strada etc.

Exposure are I think undoubtedly the gold standard in bike lighting these days, I've paired my mega drive with their flare rear light. That said, I don't regret buying the lezyne and saving myself some cash.

if you look through the cree lights, you should be able to pick up one with a free rear light and a headband for about 17 quid. Search cree headlamp, and you get the best of everyworld. I got one last week, very happy.

It was one of these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200855315142?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2F...

(The seller has put the price up since I bought mine, but £17.99 inc p+p aint that bad).

all the best,

Paul

A couple of months ago I bought a Cree light off eBay for about a tenner, so I could ride out in the Peak District at night.

For the money I'm well impressed. The re-chargeable battery lasts about three hours and it really lights the road up.

I have a Lezyne Mega Drive light that I'm very happy with. I went for the loaded option which comes with a spare battery. Handy for long night rides.

It has a good beam pattern for road use (I haven't as yet annoyed motorists with it), is plenty bright enough and is an all in one unit (no separate batteries and cables). I've used it on a 15 mile commute on mostly unlit and often tree lined roads and ran it on low for most of the ride. Full power was only needed for confidence on fast descents.

The single unit makes it quicker to switch between bikes and easy to remove if leaving the bike out of sight.

People will recommend the cheap and bright ebay lights and I've used them myself but wouldn't go back to them now. Reliability is hit and miss and the beam pattern of most of them isn't ideal on the road.

The Lezyne isn't exactly a cheap option, but years of winter commuting has taught me lighting isn't an area to scrimp on.

Rob