Brightest possible front light

[indalo]

They have a light comparison tool at the bottom which gives you the ability to compare lots of lights in the same conditions. Its a brilliant bit of consumer focused journalism in my opinion ...

Useful tool!

Indalo

 

[morphix]

All these slide-on slide-off LED lamps seem woefully underpowered to me, they're ok for letting people know you're there but not good for illuminating pathways in pitch black darkness.

There should be a mega bright lamp which can light up the entire pathway.. I've seen those handheld torch lamps which are VERY bright and solar powered too (usually for camping or for emergency lighting in black-outs)...they're not very expensive either and they can charge during the day and then provide x hours continuous light from the internal li-ion battery.. perhaps something like that would be good for a bike, if it doesn't already exist.

For some reason anything very bright designed to go on a bike carries a ridiculous price tag, I've seen some lamps selling for over £100 and you can buy those big solar lamps I mentioned for like £10-£15.

Since the bike already has a big power source why not just modify one of those big lamps anyway to run off the e-bike's main battery using a power inverter to get voltage to 12v or whatever the lamp needs.

LM2596 Step Down Adjustable DC-DC Power Supply Module New

Input voltage: 3.2-40V.
Output Voltage: 1.5-35V (adjustable) ,input must least high 1.5V than output.

£1.22 from China DELIVERED FREE!

 

[morphix]

Here's a selection of lamps from the bargain retailer Choiceful.com

Static Front Bike Light - £8.57 + £2.66 delivery:

� Super-bright bulb provides visibility up to 500 feet with 220
� visibility.
� Soft slide power switch accesses the steady mode for hours of run time.
� Compact case is weatherproof lightweight and durable.
� Includes seat post seat stay mounts and fixings (123g weight).

Hi-Tech All Weather Front Cycle Lamp - £10.98:

� 70% brighter krypton bulb.
� Detachable for added security.
� Suitable for all weather conditions.
� All fittings and batteries included.

They also sell this which might be interesting if you could mount it:

2-in-1 LED Head Lamp - £6.16:

� Three LEDs and one krypton bulb.
� Operated by on/off switch.
� Adjustable head positioning and elasticised straps.
� Requires three AAA size batteries that can be purchased separately.
� Suitable for hands free work in dark areas.
� Manufacturer's warranty included.

Energizer 3-LED Headlight £26.26:

And lastly, the "screw the budget" one:

Energizer High Intensity Extreme Headlight - £35.63:

� 3xAAA Lithium Batteries (inc).
� Lightweight headlight includes.
� 1 Watt LED light (45 lumens) = 11 hours duration.
� 2 White LED’s light (14 lumens) = 50 hours duration.
� 2 Red LED’s light (10 lumens) = 75 hours duration.
� Shower proof casing.
� Adjustable headset.

Choiceful also have an affiliate program with 10-15% cashback...but I think you have to sign-up directly, not available through TopCashBack and other cashback sites.

 

[morphix]

Energizer 3-LED Headlight

Another one I missed, Energizer 3-LED Headlight, available from Choiceful.com for £26.26:

Durable 3-LED hands-free headlight that is compact and lightweight. It features two white LEDs with a range up to 65-metres and one red LED with a range up to 15-metres all with a life of 8000-hours. It operates using 3 AAA-size batteries which will last up to 50-hours with continuous use between battery charges.

� Rugged weatherproof design.
� Comfortable adjustable fabric strap.
� Features two lighting options with white LEDs for day use and a red LED for night vision.
� Swivels for directional light.
� Low battery drain.
� Ideal for camping and outdoor use.
� Supplied complete with 3 AAA-size batteries.

 

[morphix]

F**k it, this is what you want, 1 million candle power, this is SURE to light up ANY road or path:

DRAPER RHL120/50A 1 Million Candle Power Rechargeable Halogen Lamp 120mm Diameter 48218 £20.17:

Draper 48218, RHL120/50A, 6V Rechargeable 1 Million Candle Power Halogen Lamp.

Portable hand lamp ideal for camping, caravanning, vehicle breakdowns, security and many other applications. The halogen bulb gives extra brilliant white light. On/off locking switch on hand grip. Gives up to 30 minutes continuous usage. Built-in 6V rechargeable battery, supplied complete with 230V AC mains adaptor with 3 pin plug and in-car charger unit.

Run that off a power inverter on e-bike's battery, lovely jubbly.



Lloytron 1W LED Lightweight SpotLight - £10.99

Matt Black Unit, 1,000,000 Candle Power, Extra bright 1w LED, Super Lightweight Design (Less than 340g), Weatherpoof, Includes: In-Car 12v Charger and AC/DC Adaptor, LED Charging Indicator, 3hr service time, 15hr Battery Charging Time, Lead Acid Rechargeable Battery

 

[Old_Dave]

Run that off a power inverter on e-bike's battery, lovely jubbly.

And have no power to get home from the post office... lol

 

[morphix]

I want to buy all these lights and compare/review them

 

[jazper53]

I did notice this novel way of increasing ones all-round visibility not sure about the front illumination cover

Revolutionary bicycle lighting - YouTube

 

[morphix]

I did notice this novel way of increasing ones all-round visibility not sure about the front illumination cover

Revolutionary bicycle lighting - YouTube

Wow that's pretty clever! How does it get its power source, from some brushes or something presumably?

 

[jazper53]

Wow that's pretty clever! How does it get its power source, from some brushes or something presumably?

Revolight says : "The system consists of of 2 thin profile LED rings (with eight LEDs for each wheel - white for the front, and red for the back) that mount directly to each wheel rim (just below the brake calipers) using a series of rim specific clips. Electrical power arrives via a thin wire to the hub where a lightweight and slim, USB rechargeable polymer lithium-ion battery is held in a special bracket. A small magnet is secured to the fork to provide speed and orientation information to the rings." Starts to sound a little bit complicated ?
Maybe one of these would be better:

 

[alemanyorks]

Really dishonest illustration pics at the bottom - taken in daylight.


Ah, Torchy; now he's an honest seller of chargers and 18650s that won't burn your house down. Him and "big_f_d_d".

+1 recommendation for big_f_d_d on ebay, quality kit supplied.

 

[103Alex1]

^^ Seems so .. that's the identical handlebar mount to the one I got from Magiclight for £15 at a much more reasonable price !

Swivelmount for Magicshine / Inton / Fluxient / Starlight etc bike lights | eBay

 

[Deleted member 4366]

looks like this one is the brightest normal bike light if you don't want the bulk of the 5 Cree XML T6 torch. This one has three LEDs so should be three times as bright as the one I previously recommended. I have a torch with the same LEDs and it's as bright as a car halogen headlight on full beam.
HOT 3 x CREE XM-L T6 LED 4000LM Bicycle bike HeadLight Lamp Light Headlamp | eBay

 

[morphix]

looks like this one is the brightest normal bike light if you don't want the bulk of the 5 Cree XML T6 torch. This one has three LEDs so should be three times as bright as the one I previously recommended. I have a torch with the same LEDs and it's as bright as a car halogen headlight on full beam.
HOT 3 x CREE XM-L T6 LED 4000LM Bicycle bike HeadLight Lamp Light Headlamp | eBay

That looks really good it lights up the path nicely, and not tooo expensive.. I've seen some similar being sold by BMS I think for about same price $50 I think. Why do you think it says don't use too long in high power mode? Battery would run down too quick? I doubt LED's would be a heat problem, but I suppose it's possible if they're high energy ones.

 

[Scimitar]

Many of the high-power LEDs will fry themselves if left running too long at full belt - they need careful heatsinking for that kind of use, and most of the available ones aren't all that well done.

 

[Caph]

looks like this one is the brightest normal bike light if you don't want the bulk of the 5 Cree XML T6 torch. This one has three LEDs so should be three times as bright as the one I previously recommended. I have a torch with the same LEDs and it's as bright as a car halogen headlight on full beam.
HOT 3 x CREE XM-L T6 LED 4000LM Bicycle bike HeadLight Lamp Light Headlamp | eBay

Dave, I was going to go for another single T6 but this I've plumped for this beast instead. Three of those monsters in one light? NASA will see me from the Space Station!

 

[morphix]

Dave, I was going to go for another single T6 but this I've plumped for this beast instead. Three of those monsters in one light? NASA will see me from the Space Station!

Yeah I'm tempted to get one myself as where I ride it's pitch black there's no lamps at all through some parts, so I generally stick to the bus route lane which is well lit.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

That looks really good it lights up the path nicely, and not tooo expensive.. I've seen some similar being sold by BMS I think for about same price $50 I think. Why do you think it says don't use too long in high power mode? Battery would run down too quick? I doubt LED's would be a heat problem, but I suppose it's possible if they're high energy ones.

The BMSBattery ones are single LED, so not as bright.
I guess the reason not to run it too long in high power mode is heat. I've been using the torch with 3 T6 LED's and it lasts about 2 hours with twp cells. This one has 4 in the pack, so should last twice as long. I don't think the heat will be two much for our cold winter nights. Even if we do have to turn the power down, the torch is more than bright enough on the second setting.

 

[morphix]

The BMSBattery ones are single LED, so not as bright.
I guess the reason not to run it too long in high power mode is heat. I've been using the torch with 3 T6 LED's and it lasts about 2 hours with twp cells. This one has 4 in the pack, so should last twice as long. I don't think the heat will be two much for our cold winter nights. Even if we do have to turn the power down, the torch is more than bright enough on the second setting.

Dave do you reckon it would run the e-bike battery down significantly if you took the cells out of that and put a small voltage inverter inside and ran it that way? I guess this thing slides on and off easily off and batteries are easy enough to charge so probably not worth the hassle anyway?

 

[NRG]

Beware of cell imbalance with these lights if they come with battery packs, all three of mine had simple LVC circuits but no facility to balance cells so I ended up adding balance leads to all three packs. Two of them showed badly balanced cells which meant shorter than expected illumination time