# What road light do you recommend?



## rbtwenty (Jul 22, 2018)

I recently bought a road light at Amazon for about $12, it looks something like this. I used it tonight and it just isn't bright at all. It does nothing.

What do you guys recommend? The park I ride in (modtly at night) has several slightly lluminated sections, but some areas are just pitch dark.

Thanks.


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## Srode (Aug 19, 2012)

Minimum 450 lumens, preferably 700 to 850 and rechargeable of course. Cygolite is what I use, great brand which is reliable, I would recommend it.


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## xxl (Mar 19, 2002)

Srode said:


> Minimum 450 lumens, preferably 700 to 850 and rechargeable of course. Cygolite is what I use, great brand which is reliable, I would recommend it.


^This.

Cygolite makes great lights.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

Can't go wrong with a cygolite. I've had one for years. 

I agree, 450lm is the minimum. If you're riding over 15mph, then it's barely enough. If you're riding in a park then it may be ok. 

It also depends on the length of your ride. A 450lm light on high is only going to get you up to 1hr. A 700-1000lm light doesn't cost much more and you can run them at 500-600lm for a few hours. 

$68 for 1100lm is a pretty good deal.
https://www.amazon.com/Cygolite-Metro-Rechargeable-Light-Black/dp/B01N4ANAPU


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

I've been using magic shine lights for the last several years.

https://www.amazon.com/Magicshine-W...argid=aud-798931705416:pla-568579324222&psc=1

They've lasted me several seasons and are so cheap I have one on each of my bikes. I commute in the dark on an unlit bike trail and still only need to run the thing on medium. $68 for that cygolite is a pretty good deal too. Those are good lights. Go for something that's 900-1000 lumens. Not that you'll always need that much light, but it's good to have it, and I think most manufacturers over state how bright their lights really are. 

The OP might balk at spending $60-$70 for a light, but to someone who has been commuting in the dark for decades, it's incredibly cheap. Lithium batteries make lights these days so light and compact and the LED bulbs make them so bright. Years ago, I can recall paying $200 for a crappy Niterider light with half the brightness, powered by a big NiMH battery that fit in the water bottle cage, lasted maybe an hour and took 8 hours to charge. And I thought that was great compared to my Bike Nashbar system that consisted of a lead acid battery strapped over the top tube and two lights velcro strapped to the handlebars that never stayed in place. Lights ... one of the few biking things that have gotten much better and much cheaper over time.


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## DBT (Oct 31, 2008)

I have had great luck with Light & Motion. I have 2 of their headlights (Urban 850 and 550) that I rotate, along with a seat post mounted taillight (Vis180). In the darkest of winter commutes, I also use the helmet mounted head/tail light (Vis360) to help with seeing and being seen.


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## No Time Toulouse (Sep 7, 2016)

You need something that has a separate battery and a cord I bought one that has something like 7 LED bulbs for about $35 from Amazon. Not terribly light, but the battery has enough storage that I'll never deplete it on a ride. While the light pattern isn't terribly wide, it is freakin' bright! The flash mode causes reflection from street signs 3 or 4 blocks away!


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

No Time Toulouse said:


> You need something that has a separate battery and a cord ...........


No you don't. See below - battery contained within light, no external battery required:



tlg said:


> $68 for 1100lm is a pretty good deal.
> https://www.amazon.com/Cygolite-Metro-Rechargeable-Light-Black/dp/B01N4ANAPU


I have the 850 lumen Cygolite Expilion which was at the time the brightest light available with an internal battery. 

Another vote for Cygolite.


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## tlg (May 11, 2011)

No Time Toulouse said:


> You need something that has a separate battery and a cord


Why? If you're riding for an hour or two, a light with built in battery is perfectly fine and you don't have to mess with routing wires around you or your bike.

The OP is riding around the park at night. I imagine that's not a 2+ hour ride.


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## Srode (Aug 19, 2012)

Lombard said:


> No you don't. See below - battery contained within light, no external battery required:
> I have the 850 lumen Cygolite Expilion which was at the time the brightest light available with an internal battery.


Yeah, the 850 my favorite for riding in the dark on the streets, nice wide beam and plenty bright plus the Expillions have removable internal batteries so you can swap them out on longer rides. I like the 450 for daytime riding because it has a better flash pattern to catch driver's attention. 

For off road I like the Cygolite Triden 1300 with external battery because it is brighter and has a wider beam than the 850 which helps off road at night.


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## Bremerradkurier (May 25, 2012)

Anyone else having Niterider Luminas bricking themselves in short order?


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## Finx (Oct 19, 2017)

I'm a big fan of the Bontrager front and rear lights (Ion and Flare series). 

They are very well made, charge quickly, and have all of the modes I like to use for my early morning and late evening commuting. 

The modular mounts are great. I have a Flare RT on the back of my Giro Aether helmet and a backup strapped onto my seatpost.


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## cdhbrad (Feb 18, 2003)

I actually like the Nightrider Lumina.....I think mine is the 1000 lumen model. Works fine for my needs. I don't intentionally ride at night and, primarily, use the strobe feature or solid beam when I need light to get to an early ride during the Winter.


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## ljvb (Dec 10, 2014)

rbtwenty said:


> I recently bought a road light at Amazon for about $12, it looks something like this. I used it tonight and it just isn't bright at all. It does nothing.
> 
> What do you guys recommend? The park I ride in (modtly at night) has several slightly lluminated sections, but some areas are just pitch dark.
> 
> Thanks.


The others have pretty much covered what you need.

What you bought is not designed nor can it be used as a light to illuminate anything. They are for you to put on your bike so people can see you.


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## BCSaltchucker (Jul 20, 2011)

I use bike lights for two reasons: riding at night in wilderness in pitch darkness, or riding on the road in daytime or dusk, or just after dusk. On the MTB I need super bright lights, dual lights of thousands of lumens. 

On the road bike I just use a Cygolight Dash 450. Love the Dash series because they are tiny and lightweight enough to be used on the bike all the time - daytime with just a flasher, night time with just enough light to see my way home. But I would not set out into the dark with this light, just use it for times nearing dusk or just after dusk 'too-see'. It is not quite as nice as say a 800 lumen light for seeing the road ahead, and many deer here. It can work as a helmet light on a mtnbike in combo with a brigher bar light, though I prefer brighter. 

Though last night it got dark into our ride and my light went dead because I did not charge it, lol. So I swapped with my wife and I led the ride.


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## bilbo (Aug 2, 2017)

Bremerradkurier said:


> Anyone else having Niterider Luminas bricking themselves in short order?


I just had two go a few days apart a couple weeks back. One was a 950 Boost, just the little OLED display quit working but the rest was OK. I sent it back and they repaired it for nothing. The other one was a 600 that's about 5 years old. I got caught in a nasty rainstorm and watched the light die a slow painful death. They said to send that one back too with a check for $25 and they would repair it. I haven't got that one back yet. Hoping soon as it's nice to have a backup at times.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

How about a bottle generator and light?


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## bilbo (Aug 2, 2017)

Figure I'd update this. NiteRider fixed the OLED 600 light and sent it back to me, but it wouldn't charge. I called them and they said send the light back and we will replace it with the 1100 light, which arrived a couple days ago. So far, NiteRider has been a great company for me to work with.


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## velodog (Sep 26, 2007)

No Time Toulouse said:


> You need something that has a separate battery and a cord I bought one that has something like 7 LED bulbs for about $35 from Amazon. Not terribly light, but the battery has enough storage that I'll never deplete it on a ride. While the light pattern isn't terribly wide, it is freakin' bright! The flash mode causes reflection from street signs 3 or 4 blocks away!


If you're going to use a light with separate power source why not just go to a generator hub and light. It's more costly but the light is always ready with no worries about charging or run time. There's minimal drag, maybe 3 watts, and the lights have pretty sophisticated beam patterns, and the generator hub can also be used to keep your phone battery fresh.

I've got mine set up so the tail light wire runs thru the frame, there is only about 2 inches of exposed wire from the fork into the down tube. There are keepers on my fork from the drop out to the fork crown to run the wire to the head light. I've seen others who have used helicopter tape or zip ties to keep the wiring secure.


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## kiwisimon (Oct 30, 2002)

bilbo said:


> Figure I'd update this. *So far, NiteRider has been a great company for me to work with*.


that has been my experience too. I'm still using my 16 year old NR lite.


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## pmf (Feb 23, 2004)

kiwisimon said:


> that has been my experience too. I'm still using my 16 year old NR lite.


That's amazing. I never had one last more than two years. I got one out of the box and plugged the charger into the wall and it started to smell like melting plastic five minutes later. NR had pretty good customer service, but I found that their products were unreliable. This is 20+ years ago when these lights were serious money.


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## Tachycardic (Mar 31, 2013)

Some great recommendations here for sure, but I'll just throw in the Axiom SuperSpark 150 if you want something light and unobtrusive--it's about the size of a c-cell battery. Sure, it's only 150 lumens, but in a moderately lit park where you ride, it will do the trick. I have been using it for 3 years, sometimes as a primary, but mostly as a backup, and it is still going strong.


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