Originally Posted by
rekmeyata
The Chinese clone lights are far overrated, if they say 1200 lumens expect around 100! And their reliability is poor, so you could be spending that $35 or so every year. For $50 or less all you're mostly going to get is a to be seen light and not a light to see by.
Just not so.
You can easily get a lot of light to see by with a $10 flashlight, $3 mount, with a few more dollars if you need the battery and/or charger. Or get about the same thing in a cycling-specific package for $17 to $35. The LED is the same LED used elsewhere. Agreed, the battery or other elements from some sellers have higher failure rates than the more costly brand names.
Spend a little, get a lot of light, and expect that you'll need to replace it sooner. Spend more, get a lot of light, and expect that it will last longer than you may want to keep using it because the latest and greatest products will outperform them and cost less.
Both are perfectly valid choices.