Lights

got this free with the p7 and its handy to clip to the hel-mut.

http://www.thetorchsite.co.uk/LED_Lenser_P2_torch_flashlight.html

Just added the stupendously priced 750 Lumens torch, available from Tesco.
Sold out at the moment, but worth a look if back in stock.

750 Lumens for only £70.00; almost unbelievable.

Active LED 750 Lumens (X-Glow Cree 750) £70.00 [750 LUMENS]
http://direct.tesco.com/q/R.208-0131.aspx

this has now dropped in price to £46.67, and 97 CC points to boot too.

has anyone any experience of this torch cum bike light?

edit - looking at the specs renders this one next to useless as a bike light. 35cm long. half a kilo.

barg

How is it mounted - does it have mounts?

easily make one out of an inner tube and a cornflakes packet

As for that Cateye TL-LD610 LED Rear Light rear light..
Everything else works as expected. Unit feels solid enough and has handled some wet rides ok (i've only had it a month though). Even after trimming, the bracket is too wide and my leg ends up pushing the light over. Annoying. I could drop it down another 5cm if I removed my mudflap which might alleviate the issues but then again it might not, I've not bothered yet since I want to use the guard.

The new cateye rear brackets are rubbish. I've had the same problem, it just sticks out too far to one side and so catches on your leg. what you need is one of these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Cateye_Rear_Light_Clamp/5300003973/

and one of these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Cateye_LD120~500~AU100~LD600~1000_Tail_Light_Bracket/5300004734/

much more tidy and doesn't get in the way.

Has anyone else had problems with lights mounted on a rear rack? I've found (on the wife's bike) that the rack seems to kill lights - must be something to do with the vibrations or something, but they seem to develop intermittent problems when either they will just not work, or will go really dim.

It takes a number of months, but it happened with a cateye TL LD 1100 (I think partly down to how the battery cover screws onto the end, which I don't think is a good design) and also to a cateye TL LD 610. I've been running a 610 on my seat post for twice as long and it hasnt had the same problem. When it started playing up a few weeks ago I took it off and it was much more rattly than mine, where I think the batteries were not held in as tight, so I've bodged it by wedging a little piece of rubber band on top of the battery then sliding the cover on and taping it. this seems to be working, but it's a bit strange. anyone else found this?

Just cut off the tail on the cateye lamp mount with some plyers

this has now dropped in price to £46.67, and 97 CC points to boot too.

has anyone any experience of this torch cum bike light?

edit - looking at the specs renders this one next to useless as a bike light. 35cm long. half a kilo.

aint it a bit big to have on the Bars at 35cm long? Any one got one mounted on a bike,

EDIT - seen the edit..

Electron Terra 2
http://www.electronlights.co.uk/lights/rechargeable/terra-2
bought a set of these and used them t'other night on the TNRC.
have to report that i'm very impressed.
battery life was excellent, we were out for 8 hours of riding and i had these on medium pumping them up to high on the descents, still plenty of life when i got back home.
the on/off button is easy to find and simple to use in the dark, this button changes to red when you hit 20% or thereabouts of battery remaining.
with the 2 lights one has a wide beam and the other a spot and both work well together. the light output is very good with a very usable throw and a white colour to it.
both the units come with a fixed attachment, they are easy to whip on and off but not ideal for a commuting situation as the whole thing needs to be removed.
the units are small and seem fairly tough.
the battery pack is secured by a velcro tab, not too bad too look at and the unit doesn't move once on the frame.
charging seems to take 8-10 hours. a small light on the charger signals when it's charged.
not sure on the weight but would be similar to any other front light set-up.
the price has to be the main pull here though as you can source them from your friendly local online bike shop for just £80 pounds.
i had done a fair amount of research and not found anything that offers this much light (240 lumens) with the battery life for the money.

i will update this post once i've had the lights on full burn for the duration.

Good initial review.

Interested in those Electron Terra 2s - £100 a lot for lights but they sound worth it, and I'm currently just running a visibility and no 'vision' light on front. No chance of doing towpaths and parks at night, which can be fun.

"and I'm currently just running a visibility and no 'vision' light on front. No chance of doing towpaths and parks at night, which can be fun."

this doesn't make sense???

"and I'm currently just running a visibility and no 'vision' light on front. No chance of doing towpaths and parks at night, which can be fun."

this doesn't make sense???

Neither does putting question marks at the end of a sentence.

What he means is his lights are for being seen rather than acting as headlights to light up his path. Furthermore, he enjoys riding through some unlit places at night.

thanks japseye for the grammatical tips. you are correct.

thank you for the interpretation.

@ schwaz
the electron terras come recommended.
at £80 they represent some really good value.
expensive maybe but not compared to the other lights on offer.

Anyone with any experience of the Light and Motion Vis 360 helmet light(s)? My LBS can do a deal on it

If they are (and they should be) anything like the build quality of the Stella 150L I have, you'll be on to a winner. Can't fault it in any way.

A further review of the Spokenshirts onethelite Bike light I bought at the bike sow a couple of weeks ago.
Clicky

The mount is a bit big but works better than expected, certainly for road rideing but feel it may induce a bit too much vibration for serious off road use. I have use the light for a number of high speed long night rides and it is superb. The view ahead is much brighter than my old ayups and I also prefer the beam pattern.

The light has a high and low setting. I have only used the high setting and it has lasted well over the 3hr run time with. The 3-4hr recharge time is great as I just plug it in every night afetr a ride, the charger is the inteligent variety too.

The low setting is very good BUT it interferes with my Polar S series Heart rate monitor speed and cadence sensors which loose connection whilst the low setting is active. However as the run time on full beam is ample this has not caused a problem yet.

One final critisism if the velcro strap for the battery pack is a bit weak, It has not fallen off yet but it feels as if I have to keep an eye on it. I will add a second velco strap to ease my fears.

Overall £90 for 900lumens is great value and means my Ay Ups will soon be on ebay.

If they are (and they should be) anything like the build quality of the Stella 150L I have, you'll be on to a winner. Can't fault it in any way.

Took the plunge, well happy, awesome lights!

Due to discussions on here about battery pack lights, I've added a new section to the list on page one (post #6). Photos to follow later.

Skully created a really useful thread here. Hope my hijack isn't minded too much.

I just took delivery of a Electron Terra 1 light.

Fabulous, nice powerful clean white light, 10 hours runtime on full and up to 70 hrs on flashing!
good mounting bracket and reasonable connectors.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=55126

£59 from CRC

It seems bright enough for some non technical off road, it certainly makes drivers take notice earlier at junctions. It seems well made but the real test will be next time it rains hard. will see how good the connectors are then as I suspect water will creep into them

Still, for the amount of people I see cycling in the dark and gloom, with no lights at all, this would still be an improvement.
I am perplexed by why riders would risk their lives

IIRC statistics do not back this up.

Ok so mini review of the Smart Lunar 35

It seems to be a reasonable well put together light, with side windows for side visibility (something a lot of brighter lights lack), very easy to mount although the mount is a little tricky to get tight enough to stop it slipping around on my bars. It starts to droop downwards after riding on cobbles for a bit...
As for the light itself, the low seems pretty good for streetlit visibility, high is brighter - but not massively so - I would say you would just about get away with it on unlit roads, but ideally you would want to back it up with something like a helmet light.

Still as you can pick one up for £25, it only needs 2AA batteries, is pretty compact (no battery pack) and is easy to mount onto the bike and unmount I would probably recommend it - although you may want to put some tape or something under the mount to stop it slipping.

Cheers for the review danb. Mebbe i will get one, and a Terra 1 or 2 for unlit excursions. My handlebars may be about to get quite crowded...

IIRC statistics do not back this up.

What does that mean? That statistics don't back up what I see, or that people are at risk with no lights? I can only corroborate what I see with photographic evidence. If I have time, I'll post some.

statistics and what you see are 2 worlds that do not meet in the middle, that rather, never see each other for they are so far apart.