Barrettscv 

What do you recommend as the best value in a moderately priced rechargeable headlamp?

I need a bright headlamp for twilight and evening use. 3 hour battery life at full power would be ideal.

Papa Tom

I suggest that you never, ever ask "what is the BEST" anything on these forums. You are about to either be ignored or (more likely) bombarded by hundreds of listings of what various cyclists own. Worst of all, most of the info will be useless because we do not have certain information to be able to actually help you.

You might want to add:

1. What type of riding you will be doing. Are you commuting on heavily trafficked streets? Pedaling for fun on a local bike path? etc.
2. What do you consider "moderately priced?"
3. Are you looking more to "see" or "be seen?"

Take it from me. If you're not specific, you're only going to be a lot more confused by the vast wealth of knowledge, experience, and stubbornness here at the forum.

I just bought a Cygolite Metro 850 for around $60. At 850 lumens, it's about bright as I think I will ever need for daytime commuting OR the little night riding I might ever do. To me, that was a lot of money to spend. To some, that's cheap.

Barrettscv 

You're overthinking this. I'll weed through the suggestions. No reason to limit posters to the micro level. I've actually been here a while.

no motor?

The Magicshine and clones are supposed to have a 3 hour runtime and will produce enough light for most, but I'm one of the many that hasn't gotten the batteries to last as long as advertised.

Andy_K 

My first stop when looking for a new light is always the MTBR light shootout: 2016 Bike Lights Shootout: Beam Patterns - Mtbr.com

The only lights that I have personal experience with that I think are sufficient for commuting are the NiteRider series. I have an old MiNewt 600 (predecessor to the Lumina) and a Lumina 750. The battery on the Lumina 750 is about to die after two years of use, and I think that might be because it doesn't stop charging when it's full. I think the new ones do that and my older MiNewt (which I still use) does.

I like the beam pattern on the Lumina, and I think that in most conditions 350 lumens is sufficient. That's the setting I typically use on my commute. At medium power the Lumina lights have a claimed life of 3 hours, and that is consistent with my experience. It's worth noting that lights with lower lumen ratings don't typically last as long at full power as the higher rated lights do at medium power, so to get 3 hours of battery life you might want to consider a more powerful light than you actually need.

DiabloScott

The best light is TWO lights, so you have a spare when the first one runs out; or run them both for short times if it's really dark.

mcours2006

I second the, er, second light.

Not sure what you mean by moderately priced, but I've got these two:

Lezyne Hecto Drive 350XL Front Light | ProBikeKit Canada

https://www.amazon.ca/Cygolite-400-L.../dp/B00LXTOT6I

The Cygolight is great, and better priced now than when I bought it four months ago. You can probably get three hours of use at the lower settings. At the highest I'm guessing about 60-75 min, but I normally run it at a lower setting.

The Lezyne I just got last week, so can't really comment yet, but it was half the price of the Cygolight.

ColonelSanders

There are heaps of choices and probably no one stand out.


I'm a big fan of Cateye lights and their 800 Lumen light can often be found at a good price.


It will run at 800Lumen for 2hrs or 400Lumen for 3.5hrs.

alan s 

Another vote for Niterider Lumina. One on the bars and one on the helmet is a great combination.

San Pedro

I like Cateye lights, partly because the mount works well for me, and you can buy extra mounts to put on different bikes. I have the Volt 800, and it is plenty bright enough at the middle setting to be used on my mostly unlit road I take home. I don't know how long it will last though, probably right around 3 hrs on the middle setting.

canklecat

Worn on your head, or on the bike? If on the head there are fewer choices.

The Light & Motion Urban 500 is very good for the money. But I should have ponied up a few more bucks for the L&M Urban 800, which could run 3 hours on medium output (350 lumens), good enough for most of my nighttime rides.

Beam pattern is pretty much equivalent to every other good bike mounted light out there. I do nighttime group rides a few times a month and see lots of lights. They're all pretty equal in brightness and beam pattern. The L&M Urbans have a very slightly smoother transition between the brightest central spot and peripheral beam.

My only gripe about the L&M Urban 500 is it can't be run while also charging. It's my only USB device that can't be operated and charged simultaneously from my external USB battery. All my other lights, my smart phone, video camera, etc., can be operated and recharged simultaneously from an external battery.

The newer Serfas E-Lume lights also look very good. I've only tried them in brightly lighted shops during the day, but the output and beam patterns look very good.

I'd also consider the Oculus if I had $150 or so to spend.

SHBR

I'm partial to Fenix lights.

I've got 2 of these on the bars.

I also like the Nitecore P36.

18650 batteries and charger is not included.

There are many options to choose from, and its easy to pack spares.

2 Piece

I have used the MagicShine MJ872 for several years when I was a daily commuter. Very nice light, good battery life and extremely bright. It is advertised as 1600 lumens. I most always only used it on low setting and it was still plenty bright enough.
A couple years ago I came across Cyclebeam Blinkrim 900. My Magicshine now stays in my cabinet as a backup.
The Blinkrim 900 is smaller, nicer sleek look, uses the MagicShine battery pack. But I guess that it is the "blinkrim" function of the light that I like the most. The primary light of the blinkrim is a cree xm-l2t6 led bulb, BUT..... it also has 12 micro led's that are around the rim of the light. There are two push button switches on the back of the light that controls the main light and the rim lights. The lights (both main light and the rim lights) can be on low, medium, high plus there is a blinking feature. It is pretty cool. I can set the rim lights to blink and the primary light to a steady beam which provides an extremely safe, visible combination.
The original Cyclebeam Blinkrim lights are pretty expensive on Ebay, but you can find the Chinese knock offs at a pretty reasonable price. I bought a couple of the Cyclebeam Blinkrim lights a couple years ago when they were priced a lot less than they are now. They have worked flawlessly over the last couple years, but I wanted to have a few extra just for backups or to lend someone who made need a headlight. I bought the Chinese knock offs that cost right around $10.00 each (just the light, no battery) and that included postage.
The Blinkrim is a very nice bright, small and light weight headlight with a unique "blinking rim" feature.
CycleBeam 900 Lumen Long Run Time Bike Light With Warning Blink | eBay

kingston 

I agree with @Papa Tom. This question is impossible to answer. The best value depends completely on what you value. I probably have a dozen or so working bicycle headlights and have used many more over the years. The "best" battery powered light I have used by far is the Busch + Müller IXON IQ Premium, but I don't use it for commuting. For commuting my preference is small, cheap, and easy to use. I use an axiom spark 3.0 that has been discontinued. When I have to replace it, the one feature I consider to be an absolute must-have is a silicon mounting strap. I'd probably just get one of these. I'm sure it's fine. I wear a safety vest when I commute, so I'm pretty sure drivers can see me. I don't really need that bright of a light to see where I'm going, and I like not having to carry a big headlight in my bag.

If you feel like you need something brighter the light-and-motion urban series looks good although none of them have the 3 hour run-time on high that you're looking for. I'd get the 350 because it's the smallest and cheapest. If they made a smaller and cheaper one, I'd get that.

I bought one of those sixteen dollar magicshine clones last year, and it's the biggest piece of crap on the planet. I have used it zero times. I learned that the other absolute-must feature for me is integrated batteries. I couldn't find any good way to dangle an external battery from my bike that wasn't intensely annoying. That and the connection between the light and the battery isn't very good so the light won't stay on, which is a pretty big negative.

bikemig 

I like the Light and motion light because that's what I use. It is very solidly made and I've been happy with the longevity of the battery.

That said, if looking for new, I'd take a long hard look at fenix lights. They don't use proprietary batteries.

Tiniest jorts

The Cygolite Metro 400 falls short of your desired runtime on full power, but I second the recommendation for it, especially at the current price on Amazon. I've only needed to use high steady power once, on a morning ride through a trail in the woods. I like the hard clamp quick release mount since I've had trouble with rubber mounts deteriorating with frequent removal.

bmthom.gis

I don't know if they are the best, but they have worked well for me. Cygolite Metro 500 mounted to the helmet, and a B&M Ixon IQ mounted to the fork. The B&M gives a wide swath of beam, while the Cygolite gives a bright narrow beam, and the ability to shine where I look. Also, one of the Cygolites settings is a steady beam that "chirps" which I like to use over a strobe.

rfmarotti

some good thoughts here: The Best Commuter Bike Lights | The Sweethome

noglider 

I like the shaped beams that B&M lights have, but are these lights easily available in the US? I've bought a few from European web sites.

Cygolite, Niterider, and Cateye are good brands. Some lights won't please you, but they are all well made and likely to last a couple of years. So look into those brands. I've had more experience with Cygolite than the others, and I've been pleased with the clamps, the construction quality, and the customer service.

kingston 

Peter White distributes B&M in the US through a pretty extensive dealer network so you can order directly from him or buy it in one of the shops in his network, so that's pretty easy. I bought my first B&M headlight from a bike shop in Chicago. It's usually quite a bit cheaper to order from one of the German online retailers. That's pretty easy too.

RubeRad

Any of these.

Zoomable flashlight cree T6

Spend about as much as the cost of the light on a pair of high-quality 18650 batteries from a reputable source (for instance batteryjunction.com), attach it to your handlebars with interlocked hose clamps. You should be set for under $30.

blackieoneshot 

Another vote for the NiteRider Lumina series. I have used a 750 for three years. The low setting is fine for 90% of what I need, the battery still holds a charge, and the mount is easy to move from bike to bike.

AdvXtrm

I've been running this one directly from my battery bank without issue. So I can run whatever setting on it want to for as long as my battery bank lasts. So for me it's basically hours and hours of bright light with no worries at all; highly recommended!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LXTOPNU

Darth Lefty 

For Christmas, I bought my sister a Blitzu Gator set off Amazon based on positive reviews. In the process I learned an important lesson. The seller solicits feedback twice, one and two weeks after buying. That means he gets a large number of positives - "I turned it on and it made light!" And that drowns out the normal reviews. As for my review, I have no idea if my sister has even unboxed it yet.

Phil_gretz

Convert an old water bottle to be the battery holder and use your downtube water bottle cage. Route the cabling so that you can provide strain relief on either side of the coupling between the head cable and the battery cable. Recharge right on the bike by decoupling the head and plugging in the charger. There are videos on youtube on how to do this...