LED Light suggestion please?
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LED Light suggestion please?
I'm looking for minimum 2000 Lumen LED front light with built in battery featuring at least 6000 mAh battery preferably 10,000 mAh and at least 500 Lumen rear lights that's designed for seat posts that isn't angled at 90 degree upright.
I have seen a lot of lights on Ebay but most of them have terrible battery and most of them don't even have built in battery i would like these lights to be USB rechargable.
I have seen a lot of lights on Ebay but most of them have terrible battery and most of them don't even have built in battery i would like these lights to be USB rechargable.
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I wanted a bright but cheap light with at least 3 hour run time so I settled for one with the external battery. I keep it on my commuter so it is not a problem for me. My nice bikes are afraid of the dark. Good luck on your search.
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Mine is from China and 3 years old now without any problems. I make sure to fully drain the battery and unplug it when I notice its fully charged. My only complaint is that the beams are not focused very well so I have to tilt it down on the MUP and roads so not to blind oncoming vehicles and pedestrians.
#5
Non omnino gravis
LifeLine Pavo 2000 Lumen
Any of the Chinese knockoff lights claiming 2,000 lumens might give you 700. Maybe. And will have poor cutoff. A good light with proper lens and cutoff, and an actual 700lm rating would be brighter and more functional than a "2,000lm" eBay/Amazon light.
As to a 500lm taillight? Good luck. I'm using a HotShot PRO, rated at a scant 150lm, and have had numerous people tell me it's the "brightest taillight they've ever seen." I mean, the Dinotte Quad Red is usually regarded as the brightest, most expensive taillight you can buy, rated at 200lm, and costing $150+. There are a lot of top-rated taillights in the 50-70lm range, for around 30 bucks.
Any of the Chinese knockoff lights claiming 2,000 lumens might give you 700. Maybe. And will have poor cutoff. A good light with proper lens and cutoff, and an actual 700lm rating would be brighter and more functional than a "2,000lm" eBay/Amazon light.
As to a 500lm taillight? Good luck. I'm using a HotShot PRO, rated at a scant 150lm, and have had numerous people tell me it's the "brightest taillight they've ever seen." I mean, the Dinotte Quad Red is usually regarded as the brightest, most expensive taillight you can buy, rated at 200lm, and costing $150+. There are a lot of top-rated taillights in the 50-70lm range, for around 30 bucks.
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I don't get it. You just bought a hybrid bike that you didn't know how to shift gears on or pump up the tires, then you wanted to convert it to a road bike, and when told that was a silly idea, you bought a road bike... Now you're getting ready to ride where with these kinds of lights?
Either you are the biggest troll in recent history of BF, or you're doing too much 'research' on lights without understanding any of the numbers.
Either you are the biggest troll in recent history of BF, or you're doing too much 'research' on lights without understanding any of the numbers.
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There's an Electronics, Lighting and Gadgets sub-forum where folks can respond to this in detail.
I went with a MagicShine triple-head cree light with an external battery. It produces a single long beam, a double wide beam, or a triple beam, and is dimmable with each setting. The externally battery is really convenient. I modified a water bottle to contain the battery and allow the connector to hang out the spout. I can bring it in to mate with the supplied A/C charger. The light and battery have lasted for five years of continuous use.
I use a NiteRider Lumina 650 helmet-mounted forward light (also comes with a handlebar light) which is USB charged with internal battery. Being able to direct the beam to the sides, around curves, and into approaching traffic if necessary are great benefits of the helmet system. I had one fall off of the handlebar and crack. NiteRider sent me a new casing under warranty. Terrific service.
For tail lights I simply use Blackburn and Planet Bike flashers, with AAA batteries. The batteries last long enough. The biggest challenge is moisture encroachment with the switch contacts. I put one flasher on the back of my helmet and another mounted to my rear rack or behind my seatpost.
Good luck.
I went with a MagicShine triple-head cree light with an external battery. It produces a single long beam, a double wide beam, or a triple beam, and is dimmable with each setting. The externally battery is really convenient. I modified a water bottle to contain the battery and allow the connector to hang out the spout. I can bring it in to mate with the supplied A/C charger. The light and battery have lasted for five years of continuous use.
I use a NiteRider Lumina 650 helmet-mounted forward light (also comes with a handlebar light) which is USB charged with internal battery. Being able to direct the beam to the sides, around curves, and into approaching traffic if necessary are great benefits of the helmet system. I had one fall off of the handlebar and crack. NiteRider sent me a new casing under warranty. Terrific service.
For tail lights I simply use Blackburn and Planet Bike flashers, with AAA batteries. The batteries last long enough. The biggest challenge is moisture encroachment with the switch contacts. I put one flasher on the back of my helmet and another mounted to my rear rack or behind my seatpost.
Good luck.
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LifeLine Pavo 2000 Lumen
As to a 500lm taillight? Good luck. I'm using a HotShot PRO, rated at a scant 150lm, and have had numerous people tell me it's the "brightest taillight they've ever seen." I mean, the Dinotte Quad Red is usually regarded as the brightest, most expensive taillight you can buy, rated at 200lm, and costing $150+. There are a lot of top-rated taillights in the 50-70lm range, for around 30 bucks.
As to a 500lm taillight? Good luck. I'm using a HotShot PRO, rated at a scant 150lm, and have had numerous people tell me it's the "brightest taillight they've ever seen." I mean, the Dinotte Quad Red is usually regarded as the brightest, most expensive taillight you can buy, rated at 200lm, and costing $150+. There are a lot of top-rated taillights in the 50-70lm range, for around 30 bucks.
I caught up with him to find out what brand/model it was.
It was a Dinotte 140 lumen.
But yeah, I sure the must be a reason to need 500 lumens back there.
#10
Fredly Fredster
I have Niteriders in 750 and 900 lumens and they generate plenty of light for pre-dawn rides. Solas 150 for taillight. I rarely ride for over an hour in the dark, so the batteries are more than enough for 30-45 minute rides. Niteriders charge up quick, too via USB on my laptop. Seems to be the only thing I use my laptop for these days.
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I'm using a HotShot PRO, rated at a scant 150lm, and have had numerous people tell me it's the "brightest taillight they've ever seen." I mean, the Dinotte Quad Red is usually regarded as the brightest, most expensive taillight you can buy, rated at 200lm, and costing $150+. There are a lot of top-rated taillights in the 50-70lm range, for around 30 bucks.
#12
Non omnino gravis
The battery life on the PRO varies wildly depending on what mode you run it on. I'm generally on the triple-pulse, it will go 8+ hours on that mode. Riding 12-15 hours a week, I can get away with charging 2x a week. On the single flash, battery life is 5-6 hours.
From what I can tell, all of the HotShots have the same form factor, and the exact same 830mAh Li-Ion battery-- which is why the HotShot 50 can go several weeks between charges-- ~1/3 the brightness, same battery. My wife still has the HotShot with the mini-USB (the SL?) and I don't think I even charge it once a month. It runs forever.
From what I can tell, all of the HotShots have the same form factor, and the exact same 830mAh Li-Ion battery-- which is why the HotShot 50 can go several weeks between charges-- ~1/3 the brightness, same battery. My wife still has the HotShot with the mini-USB (the SL?) and I don't think I even charge it once a month. It runs forever.
#13
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Exposure has what you want.
https://exposurelights.com/
These are high-end, British made lights.
Chain Reaction had some good prices when I bought a Strada 1200. Shop around.
-Tim-
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I'll answer the OP's question as simply as possible (and she is correct that the Chinese battery packs look like bombs, and the poster above is correct that their lumen specs can be questionable):
So first, she needs to stick with reputable brands that have been independently tested. Then I see four tiers of lighting:
1) If she is riding in generally urban settings, shorter trips or ending a ride that starts in daylight after dark, with street lamps, car headlights, and other sources of ambient light present, she will need more "be seen" lights or flashers, with a little bit of a beam to help illuminate debris that the ambient light may not already illuminate. Planet Bike makes the approx. $60 Blaze 180 headlight / taillight combo that exactly fits this purpose and is relatively inexpensive. These lights are powered by regular AA or AAA batteries, so when they run out, you buy more Duracells, or you can run rechargeable NiCad AAA/AA's if you buy a charger. They last a pretty long time on flash mode, but if you run the beams on continuous and ride a lot in that mode and don't use rechargeables, you'll end up spending a lot on batteries.
2) If she wants both a see/be seen light for shorter urban riding, something in the 700 lumen range with different settings (like NiteRider Lumina, CatEye, Planet Bike, or Light and Motion products) will do the trick, but she will still need the Planet Bike (or similar) taillight as at this price range lights are usually sold separately. This will allow her to go up to an hour or longer with the full 700 lumens, or 3 hours or so at half power, which will still be bright enough. Lights in this brightness range and runtime will cost between $60 and $100 or so. These lights are powered by lithium ion batteries, which can recharge about 400x before they're dead. So if she's riding for 2 hours a night 5 days a week, say 4 months of the year, and occasionally at night the rest of the year, she'll go through say 100 charge cycles a year, or about 4 years before the batteries are dead. Cateyes have interchangeable/replaceable Li-Ion batteries, and I think a couple other brands do as well, so getting an extra charger can cut down on the charging - if she's riding a lot at night. Otherwise 4+ years or $25/year for lights isn't bad at all.
3) If she wants to go to places that are truly dark, still on road, but far from home and maybe unfamiliar roads, and/or take very long night rides, without street lights or other sources of ambient light, and it is both a see / be seen light, but still road riding, she will want something in the 1000+ lumen range but with decent runtime (which allows her to dial back the setting for longer runtime), and the options available from NiteRider, Light and Motion etc are solid choices as is the Outbound road light, but some products with really long runtimes tend to get into trail oriented products that often have separate battery packs, but can run for hours at high intensity settings. She'll spend $150 - $300 for this.
4) If she's planning hard core offroad/trail riding at night, she'll need a 1500+ lumen race light like the L+M Secas or NiteRider Pro Race lights or Outbound Trail lights, in addition to a secondary light (from category 3 above) on the helmet with enough brightness that she doesn't outrun the beam, so all in this kind of setup will tend to run her $300 and up.
So first, she needs to stick with reputable brands that have been independently tested. Then I see four tiers of lighting:
1) If she is riding in generally urban settings, shorter trips or ending a ride that starts in daylight after dark, with street lamps, car headlights, and other sources of ambient light present, she will need more "be seen" lights or flashers, with a little bit of a beam to help illuminate debris that the ambient light may not already illuminate. Planet Bike makes the approx. $60 Blaze 180 headlight / taillight combo that exactly fits this purpose and is relatively inexpensive. These lights are powered by regular AA or AAA batteries, so when they run out, you buy more Duracells, or you can run rechargeable NiCad AAA/AA's if you buy a charger. They last a pretty long time on flash mode, but if you run the beams on continuous and ride a lot in that mode and don't use rechargeables, you'll end up spending a lot on batteries.
2) If she wants both a see/be seen light for shorter urban riding, something in the 700 lumen range with different settings (like NiteRider Lumina, CatEye, Planet Bike, or Light and Motion products) will do the trick, but she will still need the Planet Bike (or similar) taillight as at this price range lights are usually sold separately. This will allow her to go up to an hour or longer with the full 700 lumens, or 3 hours or so at half power, which will still be bright enough. Lights in this brightness range and runtime will cost between $60 and $100 or so. These lights are powered by lithium ion batteries, which can recharge about 400x before they're dead. So if she's riding for 2 hours a night 5 days a week, say 4 months of the year, and occasionally at night the rest of the year, she'll go through say 100 charge cycles a year, or about 4 years before the batteries are dead. Cateyes have interchangeable/replaceable Li-Ion batteries, and I think a couple other brands do as well, so getting an extra charger can cut down on the charging - if she's riding a lot at night. Otherwise 4+ years or $25/year for lights isn't bad at all.
3) If she wants to go to places that are truly dark, still on road, but far from home and maybe unfamiliar roads, and/or take very long night rides, without street lights or other sources of ambient light, and it is both a see / be seen light, but still road riding, she will want something in the 1000+ lumen range but with decent runtime (which allows her to dial back the setting for longer runtime), and the options available from NiteRider, Light and Motion etc are solid choices as is the Outbound road light, but some products with really long runtimes tend to get into trail oriented products that often have separate battery packs, but can run for hours at high intensity settings. She'll spend $150 - $300 for this.
4) If she's planning hard core offroad/trail riding at night, she'll need a 1500+ lumen race light like the L+M Secas or NiteRider Pro Race lights or Outbound Trail lights, in addition to a secondary light (from category 3 above) on the helmet with enough brightness that she doesn't outrun the beam, so all in this kind of setup will tend to run her $300 and up.
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One other thing I'll add - If she really wants a permanent light solution, she should bite the bullet and get a dynamo hub on her front wheel, and some high intensity B+M IQ-X lights. This shows about 180ft of illumination and a very even beam:
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Hook, line and sinker. Hook, line and sinker.
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if you are shopping ebay for lights, those lights are not 2,000 or 3,000, or 5000 or 20,000
they are like maybe 700Lm max and with a REALLY s*****y reflector/throw! and the so called 3 hour burn times are like 1/2 of the claimed.
they are like maybe 700Lm max and with a REALLY s*****y reflector/throw! and the so called 3 hour burn times are like 1/2 of the claimed.
#18
Banned
Put one of those Tactical flashlights on the handle bars .
Realize; more watts drains batteries quicker, less watt load, extends run times .
[ Battery Amp (or milliamp)/Hours ].
Yes a Hub dynamo power source solves the run time issue..
Realize; more watts drains batteries quicker, less watt load, extends run times .
[ Battery Amp (or milliamp)/Hours ].
Yes a Hub dynamo power source solves the run time issue..
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Where are you riding that you think you need a 2000 lumen headlight? If you use that kind of thing on the street or bike path, it's just going to annoy anyone coming at you. How far up the road do you need to see at 15-20MPH?
I ride a little after 4AM 2-3 days a week with a 40 dollar light off Amazon and it works just fine for me whether in town or the surrounding areas with no streetlights or any other lighting. When it's dark you don't really need much light to see far enough ahead to be able to react to it. Same is true for tail lamps. Just about anything can be seen at night for a long way. It's the daytime when you need the super bright lights.
I ride a little after 4AM 2-3 days a week with a 40 dollar light off Amazon and it works just fine for me whether in town or the surrounding areas with no streetlights or any other lighting. When it's dark you don't really need much light to see far enough ahead to be able to react to it. Same is true for tail lamps. Just about anything can be seen at night for a long way. It's the daytime when you need the super bright lights.
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https://www.lightandmotion.com/choos...00-black-pearl
I don't think you are going to find a 2000 L light with 6,000 mAh built into the light.
That amount of light is nice to have, but realistically you will run it on the 500 L setting... that is enough light.
I don't think you are going to find a 2000 L light with 6,000 mAh built into the light.
That amount of light is nice to have, but realistically you will run it on the 500 L setting... that is enough light.
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at 20 mph, much farther than people think. I really love my 1600 lumen Serfas E-lume
however hands down my 800 lumen Light & Motion has the best reflector and the best throw even on medium setting. On my road bike, after a certain brightness I really don't care how much brighter the Elume is. I really only care about being able to see what is coming with enough reaction time to compensate.
which makes the L & M my main rural light.
I actually use both. L& M for the rural 20 mph stretches, and then the E lume in town for the brightness and wider throw. and for the sake of being seen, Basically set apart from all of the other lights people are seeing.
Edit:
I really wish the US would pass laws require lights to have a height cut off on lights used for street use! No need to see the tops of trees, we only need to see the street. Shining anything above the dash of on coming cars just serves to blind them.
however hands down my 800 lumen Light & Motion has the best reflector and the best throw even on medium setting. On my road bike, after a certain brightness I really don't care how much brighter the Elume is. I really only care about being able to see what is coming with enough reaction time to compensate.
which makes the L & M my main rural light.
I actually use both. L& M for the rural 20 mph stretches, and then the E lume in town for the brightness and wider throw. and for the sake of being seen, Basically set apart from all of the other lights people are seeing.
Edit:
I really wish the US would pass laws require lights to have a height cut off on lights used for street use! No need to see the tops of trees, we only need to see the street. Shining anything above the dash of on coming cars just serves to blind them.
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I've got the Taz1200, the younger brother to the one listed above in @trailangel's post.
Do you know how much light you are really asking for? 1200 lumens lights the road up like a car light. My 350 and 450 lumen NightRiders get used far more often in any sort of lit at all environment. My 50 lumen Hotrod back light is visible in the day, let alone at night.
That is what that setup looks like, with 1200/50:
Do you know how much light you are really asking for? 1200 lumens lights the road up like a car light. My 350 and 450 lumen NightRiders get used far more often in any sort of lit at all environment. My 50 lumen Hotrod back light is visible in the day, let alone at night.
That is what that setup looks like, with 1200/50:
#23
Fredly Fredster
I can't tell the difference between 750 and 900 lumens at full power on my Niterider headlights.
#24
Senior Member
2,000 lumens is a HUGE light. I don't think you need that much light, certainly not on the road.
My personal favorite light is the Cateye Volt 800:
1. A true 800 lumens, plenty bright
2. Very reliable
3. Reasonably long battery life and the battery is modular and swappable on the road. You can buy another OEM battery for ~$50.
4. Industry leading mount: 100% stable, easy to use and tough
5. Good beam pattern
6. Warm light color
7. Some light directed to the side for visibility
My personal favorite light is the Cateye Volt 800:
1. A true 800 lumens, plenty bright
2. Very reliable
3. Reasonably long battery life and the battery is modular and swappable on the road. You can buy another OEM battery for ~$50.
4. Industry leading mount: 100% stable, easy to use and tough
5. Good beam pattern
6. Warm light color
7. Some light directed to the side for visibility
#25
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Exposure has exactly what the OP wants.
https://exposurelights.com/
Several models have >2000 lumens and >10,000 mAh.
-Tim
https://exposurelights.com/
Several models have >2000 lumens and >10,000 mAh.
-Tim
Last edited by TimothyH; 10-18-18 at 12:58 PM.