Bike light xmas gift for my mom

pialia

pialia

Joined
Feb 11, 2012
Messages
494
Hi folks

My mom has been complaining that her bike lights keep dying and she's forced to replace them more often than once a year. Basically what she's used to is something in like the 15-25 lumen range, I'm pretty sure my Fenix E05 27 lumen light is brighter than what she's been using. In other words she doesn't really need a 650 lumen light :D AA/AAA would be the most practical, one or two modes will probably suffice. From ~October to about Feb/March it's more or less pitch black when she rides home from work so I figured I'd brighten up her day a bit!

She'll probably kick my ass and tell me to return it if it's more than like $50, but I'm looking to spend <$100. Something that's easy to maintain and that lasts.

So, what are you folks using? Any favorites? What type of life can one expect to get out of a light that is used everyday most of the fall/winter?

Thanks
Pia
 
I really know about nothing when it comes to bike lights. But around here I do see a few bike with them. I would look into some kind of LED/generator set up. You know, one the that is powered by the movement of the bike, so there is no battery to think of, plus being LED it should have a pretty long life. I would also wear a head lamp, and that would be the higher output light. There are many to choose from. But I would go with that kind of combo setup.

Head lamps seem to be the most common setup I see, as it has other uses, not just with the bike.

Now, I just googled "bike lights" and found in seconds many cool options. examples: "Magtenlight" a magnet powered generator ie. there is no physical contact to the wheels, so no drag...and "Xfire safety Light" check that out, for safety it looks very good.

And when it comes to headlights, there are many, many to choose from.

Good luck on the hunt.
 
She needs a headlight AND a tail light to see and be seen.

Check your local bike shop and see what they recommend. You can spend as much as you've got on them so don't go bananas. :)

I had a guy recommend a $500+ system "if money was no object" over and over after I told him it WAS an object. :D

B
 
when I was a kid I had a set of lights on my bike. It had a head lamp and a tail light too. it had a device so when I wanted the light to be turned on I just push it and it rest on the back tire. when I was rideing the bike it made the light to come on by spinning so I didnt need any batterys. I wonder if they make something like that today??
 
Problem with the generator lights is that the ones I have used are really really dim. I know she's going to refuse to wear a headlight, so that's out of the question unfortunately. She does have one of those red lights for the rear of the bike.

I figured there'd be loads of lights that you could clip onto the handle bars, but perhaps nobody but my mom uses those anymore? :D I've tried a few flashlight online stores, but the selection seems pretty slim. Going into a local bike shop would probably be twice or more expensive than ordering online, one of the perks of living in Sweden.

My mom is by no means a gadget person, but going to the local sporting goods places and picking up the lights they have there hasn't been working out for her.
 
Check out Light & Motion commuter series, the Urban 200.

Its on the top end of your budget but it will give all the light she needs to see and be seen (very important). Charges via USB. I use a headlamp version for winter commuting here in Canada and it also doubles as my skate skiing headlamp for night skiing. Works great and I haven't had any problems with it.
 
Like previous posters, I would recommend both a head lamp and a tail light. I bought a Planet Bike Blaze head light (1W) and Superflash (1/2 W) tail light for a friend about a year ago. Seems to be good quality for the price, the switch on the Superflash takes getting used to though. I just checked their website (http://www.planetbike.com) and it looks like they have a more powerful 2W Blaze and 1W Superflash now.

Note that these are more in the category of "being visible" and aren't suitable for seeing the road ahead at high speeds - but that doesn't sound like that will be a problem in this case and they should be adequate for moderate speeds, especially if she is o.k. now with a 25 lumen light.. btw: Sticking 3 or 4 pieces of reflective safety tape on the rims (between the spokes) will also help make her visible to cars - when the headlight shine on them, drivers will usually notice the rotating reflected light.

I've never tried Light & Motion, but they have a good reputation. As mentioned by previous posters, your choices are only limited by your budget.

I generally don't like lights that are (only) powered by generators for commuting. Unless there is a battery backup, they go dark when stopping at intersections, etc. The lights I mentioned run well on rechargeable NiMHs (I used Sanyo Eneloops) which is a nice option (unless it's freezing cold) if your Mom doesn't mind maintaining rechargeables. If she will be biking for long periods at sub-zero temperatures, a system that uses lithium-ion batteries would give her better run-time.
 
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