If you're thinking of buying some proper lights ...

if anyone fancies a 4hr ardcore s.wales ride on a wed nite give me a shout

Until last night I thought night rides were like day rides but slower because the visibility was restricted.

Wales a bit of a stretch for me, Sussex might be do-able at some point, though

i think there comes a point with modern lights, where they're so powerful IT IS like riding in the day! (i'm talking in the £400 & above price bracket here!) if you're doing a 12/24hr race & fast lap times count thats fair enuff. but for me half the buzz of nite riding is the limited light & scary factor!

I know there are probably 1000 topics on STW , but what lights are best when you dont have much to spend ??

at the moment I have some dual Electron , 10 + 5 watts . They have done 2 years of going to work and back and I need something a bit better for MM . Paid £50 for them .

any suggestions ?

Chris, i use 1 of these http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=5770 ideal for 24 hour events as it has a 5-6 hour burn time I also use a 15 watt halogen BLT helmet light.

From what I've seen, cheap and really good lights don't go together.

I had a Cateye for commuting, and bought another for some off-road excursions http://www.evanscycles.com/product.jsp?style=13883

One of the guys I went riding with had this set up (£200)

http://www.lumicycle.com/Product/product2.aspx?product=SYSLIION2&dep=104

but says the new Halide is better, even with just one lamp (£280)
http://www.lumicycle.com/Product/product2.aspx?product=SYSHALIDENIMH&dep=100

Here's a long term review of some Lumicycles

http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/lumicycle.html

Frankly, having spent £80 on the Cateye's, the £200 Lumicycles are worth the cash and from what Jeremy said, the Halide is worth the extra.

Definitely a case of you get what you pay for, unless you have a friendly electronics geek who will make you up a set (I'm trying to find one!!)

yeh i've got a jalopy set. 7.2V nickelmetalhydride remote control helicopter battery mated to a vista headlamp, bulb replaced with some 30W halogen, massively overvolted, gives 2hrs after 1.5hr charge. thats the basics, he went into mega specifics but to be honest i'm not really into the electrics side of things

I had some cateye ABS 25 things, 15W spot + 10w flood, NiMh cells. They retailed for about £130 a few years ago. They were OK, lasted a couple of hours if used carefully, gave enough light to see with.

Last year picked up a L&M HID. Its amazing. Lasts 3hrs+ with smaller battery, one light unit so smaller and neater. Much more light, and more useable too. Very nice unit all round.

Given the price of some of the Hids about now (the rush etc), this would be good.
BUT LEDs are stomping forwards now, though not seen any of this years models in the flesh. The devices are really coming down in price, so would look carefully at getting some of these next if it were me.

2 good points made there
1, the weight of lights has come down a LOT in recent years. my mates cateye stadiums were considered awesome a few years back is like an anvil compared to more modern lights (apparently aided by technology in mobile phone batterys)
2, LEDs are the future, i've seen some of the new hopes & they chuck out a lot of light with low battery drain.

Thanks chaps . but no way I can spend £200 on lights .

Might have to go the homemade route . cant be that difficult .