dwmckee

I have owned nearly a dozen of these. Each was great until it stopped working and got piled in the junk drawer at home (not wanting to admit I wasted my money so I saved it instead of throwing it out). Adding up the cost it looks like I have spent over $150 over several years on cheap lights. Not a single one is still working reliably enough to use as a bike headlight. Some do not come on, some cannot be switched to other modes, some switch modes spontaneously, One does not turn off. One is still reliable enough to use to look for things in the basement, but I have to twist the end sometimes to get it to stay on (not a good scenario for a bike headlight at night). They all looked really nice when I bought them though! I recommend you spring for one good light which will be more reliable and save you money in the long run...

noglider 

Like @dwmckee, I've bought too many cheap lights. It took me a while to learn my lesson. $100 is a good budget for a serious headlight. Cygolite makes good products, and I gather NiteRider does, too. There are other good names. I like Cygolite because the mounts are really well made and positive. I had a Cygolite tail light fail to charge after two years. They sent me a free replacement even though the warranty had expired. And they make their stuff in the USA.

For dynamo-powered lights, my favorites are Busch & Müller. They are very well designed and very well made.

tigris99

Those cheap lights turned me off from riding at night. Headache inducing, had the first 2 fail and go in the garbage. I got a free light in a raffle which did ok for my short commutes to and from work but still hated riding at night.

Then that light broke (dropped it down my stairs). So had to find a new one. Found what was actually out there. Played with cheap Chinese crap for a while. Could be made into useable lights once I dug out my soldering stuff and such. But several points still annoyed me. Especially when I live in a small town in the Midwest. Solely reliant on my lights as Street lighting is minimal and none existant once edge of town is hit. Then of course trail riding.

Got into modding and all that, my inner LED nerd came out. Wanting something USB chargeable for commuting I tried the Fenix bc30r. Got 3 months out of it before it stopped working. Warranty mess was taking too long, have a WIZ20 now. Been perfect since last fall. Did awesome all winter even on the coldest nights I chose to ride. Even playing in the snow on my fat bike at midnight.

My inner light nerd is why I stay away from big brands like nightrider, cygolight's, etc for front lights. Way over priced for designs that have been surpassed 10x over by less well known companies that give you far better products for lower costs.

ItsJustMe

Is 500 lumens a problem? Even spread out with a lens, I can do 25 MPH descents in pitch black conditions at 500 lumens very comfortably. 500 is kind of my sweet spot. Very much more than that is just wasting battery power IMO, but I suppose there could be people who need more - perhaps they do descents down mountains?

I'm not really defending the quality of Chinese chargers and batteries, but I have had 5 battery packs and at least 5 cheap chargers now, and they have all performed just fine for a couple of years each. I also have had one of GeoMan's excellent packs, overengineered and built with high quality cells. It didn't really last any longer than a cheap $20 Chinese pack, nor was the runtime noticeably better.

I have I think 4 cheap Chinese lights. They all still work as well as they did when new. I've replaced a few wires - not the ones wired to the lights themselves, but the Y and extension cables that I use to route power around the frame. I buy them cheap, $2 or $3 each, and just replace them when they die.

a1penguin

I have had really good luck with inexpensive Chinese lights. But I only buy the lights recommended by people on Home | BudgetLightForum.com. I have been using my XinTD C8 that I purchased for $30 from highly recommended US vendor mtnelectronics.com for two years now and I commute and ride at night a lot.

YMMV

tigris99

Oh nothing wrong with only 500 lumens if it works for you. Not at all. For urban type use i usually only run 6-800. Outside of that on pavement usually 1000-1200 with a good mixed beam. Want to see skunks and such before they become an issue. Trails Ill use from a little over 2000 to closer to 4000 lumens total between bars and helmet light.

There is a lot of good and cheap flashlights (im active on BLF as well and me and the owner of MTNelectronics talk a lot as we are working on some custom stuff). I have a convoy L4, S2+, BLF Custom A6 and list goes on lol. But everyone knows to buy good cells to use in them. Flashlights are much simpler than bike lights because of everything people want for extremely low costs. Not to mention simply manufacturing a flashlight over a bike light is A LOT SIMPLER AND CHEAPER. Add the higher demand on top of that. Results are a lot better. Add in a good US vendor thats a light geek too and we're set.

Bike lights on the other hand has been so hit and miss as to quality and safety. There are a few out there, which I own (did a review on a couple) that aren't bad at all. But a lot of "warranty" type issues for a lot of people that bought them. Which of course, they dont come with an actual, usable warranty. Having first hand experience with the failures of the cheap lights is part of why I try hard to steer people clear of them. The list of good ones is rather short imo.

However, many have good luck with them. As said though many that have the failures dont admit to it. Not near as many as will post up that they are plenty happy. I dont want to even come close to admitting the money I wasted on cheaper lights. At the same time though no reason to go out and spend crazy money on a light. Sub $200 is usually great for a light or lights for mtn biking, around 100-150 (unless of course you catch sales or such) is a good point to get all the things that matter IMO (warranty, service, performance, quality) without issue and will perform like the expensive stuff or better. Just minus a big brand name and some flashy options usually.

If a light works well, just like if you like the bike you ride, thats great and enjoy it. Night riding in all forms is a blast and in some cases the only way we can get saddle time. But if your going to be cheap about it, be informed and BE CAREFUL.

PS: GeoMan is out of business due to a recall on batteries. Geoman from what i know didnt actually make anything, just a really good dealer for lights and such. When one of the companies didnt stand behind their products when their was a massive failure due to the use of the cheap cells, Geoman got stuck with the mess and it put them under. As I recall it was Magicshine (which is why I dont own any magicshine lights, no better than cheap chinese stuff) but I could be mistaken.

Here's the link to the government recall: https://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/2011/...o-Fire-Hazard/