Hey guys, ive been doing some riding in the dark and although I haven’t had any major falls due to lighting problems, but i think i should get a light that can light the road up. I already have a small 2 led knog light as a safety light.
problem/limitation is that i want to be able to mount it on the uni and not the helmet.
can anybody reccomend a decent light that can be attached onto the uni? under 40 dollars if possible. I dont need the best or brightest. something that can make a semi lit path better. And also perhaps something on the smaller size.
i have a nimbus 29 with kh t-bar and a brakes on the t-bar
It is very easy to attach to the handlebars and it gives a reasonable amount of light. It is not in the same league as the high-end ones, but it is OK for a bit of riding in the evening.
hows for size?? the space where i can put it on my handelbars is limited.
take a look at picture below for reference. and also battery life isnt the best but its not the worst either.
i know they work well, but my helmet is not capable of attaching a light fixture…
its one of those snowboard/bike/skateboard/everything helmet so the hole placing is inadequatee
I have a Sacred Fire NF-019 CREE handheld flashlight. It puts out according to the advertising claims 900 Lumens. I Think it is more like 500 lumens. This is a flashlight about 6 inches long that I carry in my hand while I am riding at night. When I go into a store etc. it goes in my pocket. It uses one LI-ON battery (18650) and is extremely bright, lights up anything in my path, even when car headlights are shining at me. Almost every night it is used when I run my dogs on the uni. I am happy with this arraingment. I use my light for about 45-60 minutes per session at night. With Batteries, Charger, shipping and all I paid $75 for this flashlight.
I also have a white single LED frog type BELL light on my main frame as a secondary light, a BELL Radian red tailight on the seat post frame, and have a yellow elastic band I put around my ankle area on my left foot, and then attach a red blinkie light to that.
This is my night riding set up. Try the high power handheld flashlight idea, it is much better than a dedicated light because you can shine it at the menacing dogs that startle you, anything that interests you, and even directly in the eyes of drivers that try to cut you off when making turns. The sudden bright light in the drivers eyes has stopped my than one car in its tracks that was going to cut me off.
I have mounted it in two different ways. The best one would be on the cross piece of the handlebars, but that may interfere with using the brake. The light is not very big and just wraps around the bar so it may still work. The other alternative is to mount it on the seat post. You can then adjust the angle and direction. I have used it that way on a Nimbus 24". The only downside is that my leg occasionally rubs against it, and my legs interfere with the light beam a bit.
Let us know what you decide to do. It is a small light and you could hold it in your hand.
I use rechargeable batteries in it. Most of my evening rides are 10-15 minutes and it will be good for a number of them. I have not tried any long evening rides.
Are you planning on riding the pre-LA marathon with David?
That’s why there’s 3M Dual Lock! it’s like super-velcro.
I use the 250/400 combo for my helmet cam and it takes a good amount of strength to remove. For my light kit, I just use the 250/250 combo. it holds plenty well.
thanks for all your suggestions!
i think im going to go with a light that i can attach on my t-bar. ill move the brakes back a bit.
i have been looking at the following
cateye hl-el450, el520, and even el530 (but this one might be to big)
or the
niterider ultrafazer 5.0 or niterider max (but this ones battery life is not good)
i dont need antyhing ultra powerful so these lights are in the right price range and are nicely sized. i usually ride in dimly to moderately light places so i dont need any of the high powered ones.
im not sure about the marathon race yet but am interested. ill keep you posted.
I use a cheep (I think it was around $25) Noma flashlight with a CREE LED, it supposedly gives off 140 lumens which isn’t blinding but pretty good.
I use one on the uni under the handle and one on my head, the one on the unicycle helps show the trail texture better and gives you better depth perception with the shadows than just having one on your head.
I have a planet bike superflash for the back which is very bright and cheap (20-30 bucks). Search for it on Google and you’ll see it is highly rated and used by a lot of cyclists.
+1. This seems to be the increasing trend in the cycling world- using cheap but powerful torches instead of dedicated cycle lights. There are a lot of handle bar mounts for various size torches on eBay which is very usefull.
I suppose the only major disadvantage is that you only have one mode- solid
after literally hours of reading reviews and watching videos (literally, i am a very indecisive person when it comes to buying such things),
i bought the niterider ultrafazer max which has the luxeon bulb. i also bough sanyo rechargeable batteries were additionaly 20. I spent a total of 60.
Decided to just opt for the ultrafazer because its small, simple design, and its highly reccomended.
The UltraFazer Max raises the bar for NiteRider’s Commuter Series lights. New for 2011, the Max features an ultra bright 1 watt CREE LED delivering 70 lumens. When combined with NiteRider’s highly efficient reflector, the Max produces a beam pattern void of rings and halos. Also new for 2011, the Max features a switch lock out, preventing being accidentally turned on while transported in a backpack or pocket. Rounding out the Max’s features is three light levels; high, low and flash and a waterproof seal to 50 meters.
Features:
• 1 Watt Luxeon LED
• 3 Light Setting – High/Low/Flash
• Fits Both Standard and Oversized Bars
• Operates on 2 AA Alkaline or Rechargeable NiMH Batteries
(Alkaline Batteries Included)
• Waterproof to 50 meters
its got really good reviews and will be able to function decently on a unlit street. i will always be riding in the street/urban setting so the light need not to be super pro. battery life sucks but thats why i got the sanyo rechargeable (i think i should start using rechargeable batteries from here on out!)
Hello,
heres a little review about the new light i got (niterider ultrafazer max)
(disclaimer: this is my first road headlight style lamp so it may be biased!)
this lamp is based on 1 luxeon bulb, has high/low/blink settings. i tested on alkaline batteries and its suppose to be better with the nimh batteries.
Today i went on a 5-6 mile run with a friend and was able to test all 3 settings in pitch dark, low lit, and moderately lit areas.
The light is very bright (even for the low setting). It doesnt project a very wide beam but it defintely isnt narrow. And it smoothly disspassipates from the center without any holes as LED lights would. the switch design was a plus for me to switch around from high to low to flash settings easily.
In the moderately or low lit areas, this headlight was very helpful.
In the dark areas, the headlight was also strong, but not so strong where i could pedal as fast as i can and be assured. regardless, this white lamp is very bright and I believe if your gonna be riding in low lit areas ( and sometimes on dark streets), you will be more than happy with this one.
I just bought a bike light made by Serfas. I bought the 250-lumens version from my LBS for about $100. The 150-lumens version at the link below was about $70 at my LBS.
The mount is a bit of a mixed blessing. It is designed so that with a small bit of effort, it can be swiveled left and right on a set of handlebars. Since I have mounted it on my seatpost, that adjustment is up and down. That’s very convenient, but I had to get a little creative to make it more difficult to adjust so that it didn’t move on its own.
