UKH

I Was out on a local trail ride the other night  my light died after 15 mins on low and 15 minutes on medium power I think I need a new one. Any non bank breaking suggestions.

The current ones are eBay specials.... the light is good the battery life less so.

The planetx ones have been suggested

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

I've a cat eye volt 400 that does the job. They do others in that range but this seemed to be a good compromise between price and available brightness levels. I don't do much off-road in the dark but it seems to light things up well.

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

Exposure, although they are quite bank breaking they are worth the money.

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

I have a very decent  light from Halfords which cost all  of £40.00 and is fine for  off road  in total  darkness.

In reply to Dark-Cloud:

Maybe a little pricey at the moment... 

In reply to Mike-W-99:

400lumens may be a little low but I'll look at rest of the range

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

if your light has a separate battery, why not just get a new battery?

In reply to Jon Greengrass:

Good idea. I had some eBay specials and found them really bright but battery life was sometimes a bit poor so ended up taking an extra battery pack and it was fine. 
Plus it makes it a bit more exciting if the light suddenly runs out of battery 😂

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

I gave up with Chinese/cheap MTB lights, they just don't last if used weekly.

If you use them a lot, then its worth investing in a decent light set-up.  An bar and head combo works the best. 

Get as many lumens as you can, lol; you'll never say, wish my lights were dimmer, (but always turn the lights to minimum on the road).  My set up kicks out >6500 at full bore.

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

Give 'Torchy' seller on Ebay a look - he has a good reputation for reliable MTB battery and lights.

In reply to ChrisJD:

His e-Bay seller name is big_f_d_d.  Very helpful guy, with useful information and photos of the beam shape for most of his lights.  Also sells through his own web site https://www.torchy.co.uk.

I have an LED headlight that I bought from him nearly eight years ago.  The first battery pack was faulty but he replaced it with no argument and since then it's still going strong.  I use it in conjunction with a head torch, but only off-road - the beam shape of the headlight would dazzle other road users, and if you tilt the headlight down enough for it not to be antisocial, the sideways coverage is poor (and users of this forum should know how bad head torches are for dazzle.)

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

Got the wife one of these:

https://www.chilli-tech.com/bike-lights/CREE-LED-bike-light-combo-deal

It's basically a Chinese one but at least with a bona fide UK seller. It's in daily use on her commute and is very, very bright.

In reply to Stuart (aka brt):

I bough a Cree branded Chinese thing about 10 years ago, looks quite like the one in your link. This winter I was going to go out at night, (at least if the wind ever died down a bit) so I dug it out, thinking I should discharge & recharge it since it hadn’t been used in 3 or 4 years, and found that it took just less than 2 hours to discharge.

I’ll wait and see, but it doesn’t look to me like there’s much wrong with battery longevity.

Mine cost about £35 as far as I recall.

In reply to colinakmc:

Back then Cree "branding", particularly on products from China, often had little or nothing to do whether a lighting product had any connection at all with Cree Inc - it was just a name that manufacturers knew would likely be recognised by end users as having a degree of cachet, so they stuck it on the box.

In reply to Martin W:

Yeah, the Cree “brand” wasn’t that convincing but it’s still a decently made wee light with solid connectors and a good spread of light, well up to off-road if maybe not gonzo downhilling. It leaves me feeling that the big brand names are well over priced.

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

I used the Chinese cheapys for years , had a few duff batteries and broke the connection to one light unit  . I then got a leyzne something or other cheap  off sport pursuit which has the battery built in and was only about £60 and us very well made and waterproof . I can't find it at the moment to tell you the model  . However now the kids have started coming out at night the Chinese lights are back in use . I ordered sone replacement battery packs off ebay and so far ( several charges ) they seem fine . I always carry a "proper " headtorch  as back up when using the cheap lights ( currently a bd acktik ) which on occasion is either used to faf with the lights or get back to the car when the batteries random stop working . 

This maybe be worth a thread of it's own , but the weak point of the cheap lights seems to be the connectors . They often go " baggy" and need to be taped together to stop them disonnecteting when bounced about on the bike . I tired various Heath Robinson methods but didn't find one that worked well.  I think it would be worth chopping them and soldering on something better ,a few years ago I tried to find something suitable when I had a couple of units that were playing up but then I bought better lights and lost interest . If anybody has any ideas ? 

In reply to mike123:

The 'weak' link with cheap Chinese batteries is them catching fire during/after charging!

Had two immediate friends this has happened to. 

On this risk alone, I would recommend avoiding.

If you think I'm over egging the risk, then read this:

https://www.singletracks.com/mtb-interviews/a-cheap-chinese-bike-light-near...

In reply to ChrisJD: I was going to mention this on reflection . Good that you have. I try to make a point of  never leaving them unattended and did make a lead lined box to cover them with when charging . ( roofing lead / small wooden box ) . But don't use it anymore . I hesitate to say I'm not concerned as I know it's a risk and it would be foolish to discount it .  

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07TJ4Y1GM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o...

Bright cheap works - had 2 months so far in mixed weather

Charging - daytime only

In reply to ChrisJD:

True, gotta watch out for anything cheap with a lithium battery!

My lights were £3 off eBay and are amazingly bright but they don't have their own power source. Got a nice fat eBike battery I can power them off tho

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

Ravemen 1600. Really pleased with this for just under 100 pounds. Well built  and with very handy dipped and flood beams that are  easily switched between ... so ideal for mixed mtb and road riding.. 

worth checking out 

Going to spend tomorrows imposed isolation researching all the suggestions

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

I bought USB rechargeable LED bike headlight on https://www.lepro.com/. It provides the brightness of 500 lumens and cost me $18 (about £15). After the full charge the run time is 3.5 hours at full brightness, 7 hours at half brightness and 16 hours at breathing mode. It works as I expected, so I am very satisfied with this purchase.

In reply to idiotproof (Buxton MC):

I have bought mine from https://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain-bike-lights/

No issues.