Lights - upgrade Lumicycle vs Chinese Cree XML vs ?

I have the same light as john, i was concerned about the quality of the waterproofing on the batteries, so I constructed a water bottle to hold mine. Basically chucked the batteries in the water bottle, drilled 2 holes in the top and stuck the cable through. The sealed off with tape, does the job and stops my frame getting scratched from those battery holders.

I had something of the same dilemma as you John, except my Lumicycle is a lot older. I decided the cost of new battery or bulb from Lumicycle was too great, given that it's basically an obsolete light.
[OK, I know this is Retrobike so obsolete is good, but even you don't use 1991 lights!]

On the other hand, I think the cost of new Lumicycles/Exposures/Hopes is unjustifiably high - but at the other extreme, I wouldn't trust the really cheap lights. With my luck, I would be left in the dark many miles from home on a rainy night, and then I'd regret not spending a bit more.

I also didn't want a single emitter lamp. I know they're bright (albeit that one saying it is 1800 lumens is just a lie - Cree themselves rate it at 1,040 maximum!), but single emitters tend to give more of a spot beam which is fine for road, but I thought for my purposes a flood beam from a multiple emitter lamp would be better.

I bought one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121030449930 (unfortunately he keeps relisting them, so this link will only be current for a short while). I can't vouch for its longevity obviously, but I do find the seller trustworthy and the Fluxient 2-year warranty may well be reliable. I would say the 1600 lumen claim is in this case valid - the lamp is brighter on the low setting (20%) than the Lumicycle 12w spot. You get over 3 hours on the high setting, and medium (50%) is ample for most off-road situations.

Anthony":32i6ix89 said:

I wouldn't trust the really cheap lights. With my luck, I would be left in the dark many miles from home on a rainy night, and then I'd regret not spending a bit more.

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It's being plunged into darkness at 20+ mph on a decent that I'd be more worried about!!!

I picked up one of these a couple of weeks back and I'm very happy with the quality.

http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/bikehead-li ... e-xml.html

We have now got four of these (two for me and two for my son). We move them from bike to bike and my sons are both doing duty on his CX bike at present, belting around the local woods at night. One of mine is on an mtb, the other is on my road bike.

We found some diffuser lenses, which spread the light horizontally, so we have those fitted to two of the lights.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CREE-XML-XM-L ... 20c5013dc9

Where did you get the diffusers from Neil? I've got two of these lights and wouldn't mind having one spot and one diffused. ta!

BobCatMax":dr07lwsx said:

Where did you get the diffusers from Neil? I've got two of these lights and wouldn't mind having one spot and one diffused. ta!

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My son found them on the bay, I'll get the link and post it.

The spot and diffused combination works well, good enough for the boy to tear-ass around the woods on his CX bike.

EDIT: Found it: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wide-Angle-Le ... 3cccd5d10c

lovely, thank you chap.

Agree with the diffusers they make a big difference on mine, I have also purchased some hope universal mounts that get rid of the rubber band mount and gives a sturdy mount Im sure if anyone is riding off road on rigid like I do this a welcome addition as I got fed up with lighting up my feet and not being able to see in front

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=23533

I have a Magicshine MJ-872: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Magicshin...ing_LightsLanternsTorches&hash=item336f4e9b38, which is very bright, but also very "floody", which is fine for off road, but not so good on road where it's likely to dazzle on coming traffic.

For my commuter, on road, I had a Smart Lunar 35, which is plenty bright enough to be seen by, but wasn't really bright enough for unlit roads. I wanted something bright, but an all-in-one unit that can be easily removed from the bike if I need to lock it up outside. I did a bit of reading and bought a Cateye Nano Shot Plus: http://reviews.mtbr.com/cateye-nanoshot-2013-mtbr-lights-shootout. I tried it on the sea wall route on my way home last night and it's pretty bright, plenty bright enough for unlit roads and has a much more road friendly beam pattern, it seems to be partially cut off at the top and gives a long "hot spot" on the ground ahead of you. All in all, I'm very pleased with it, it's not cheap compared to some of the "Ebay lights", but none of them seem to make a single unit, road/commuter type light.

road.cc has a nifty beam comparison widget here: http://road.cc/lights2012/index-wide.php