Bright Lights

An urban bike like Chuck is not complete without a set of lights.  Keeping in line with my cheapskate philosophy, I have been looking for some purely functional lights since getting Chuck.  Over Christmas, my nephew showed me the lights on his little bike.  He uses them simply to be able to ride around the yard and go back and forth between Grandma's house and home.  I was surprised how bright the lights were and immediately asked my brother about where he had bought them and what brand etc.  Turns out they were just a cheap set he had picked up at the local store.

Well, I set about finding something comparable online.  I took time to assess exactly what I wanted the lights to do for me:  they needed to make me visible, but did not need to be extremely bright as most of the area where I plan on using them is additionally lit by street lights.  I also knew I wanted them to have the blinky function as I personally notice bikers using such lights when I'm driving.  I knew to keep costs in line that generator lights were out of the question for the moment, no matter how attractive they seem.  So for the most part, my lights need to attract attention from drivers.  With that in mind, I decided to go with cheap as my top criteria and ended up with these. The reviews seemed to reflect that these would function adequately for my purposes.

With my other project experiences in mind, I tried to slow things down a bit with this process.  I immediately noticed that Bell did a nice job of including spacers so the lights would fit a variety of tubes. The second thing I noticed is that Bell made it possible to install these with no tools, which is nice for those of us with no bike shop in a spare room.  I simply decided where on my handlebars I wanted the headlight, inserted a spacer, and twisted the knob until the light clamp was secure.  Then I popped the light onto the clamp and voila!  Headlight.

 

The taillight was just as easy and within a few minutes, Chuck was equipped with lights both front and back.  I know that anytime I am riding on the roads, both of these little lights will be on--taking extra precautions never hurt anyone.  I'm one of those people who drive my car with the lights on at all times--why should my bike be different?

C'mon Baby Light My Fire

After reading this post and the ensuing comment about the glories of nighttime riding, I've been able to think of nothing else--even though I am "working" and should be plugging away at my case load.  I know that when I do get my bike, I am going to need to do some night riding because 1. I won't be able to stay off my wonderful new bike and 2. my work schedule has a possibility or changing which would mean a commute in the darkness on the days I ride to work.  So it seems inevitable that lights for my bike are in my future.  The question is which ones to get.

I've mentioned a few times that I'm a "cheapskate" but that word just has such a negative connotation.  What I mean is that I don't really throw my money around and if there is a bargain to be had, it's got my name all over it.  This is tempered by the fact that I don't want to buy things 6 times because my cheap piece of crap whatever keeps breaking.  I'm not the type of girl who buys a lot of products in my search for "the one".  I try to do some research and come up with some good ideas and then ask someone knowledgeable either at the store or sometimes I email a complete stranger who seems to know what is going on.  I'm not at the point in my life where I think about things lasting forever or until I'm 80 or the rest of my life. I want it to last awhile--say a couple or maybe 5 years minimum.   I want something that works now, is of good quality and is not super expensive.  It's a bonus if the product is made in the USA.

I've done a little looking at lights and have thought of what I want my lights to do and here is what I've come up with: 

1. I want a headlamp and an additional light mounted on my bike.  (I'm thinking mounted low instead of on the handlebars so that it is focused on the road.)
2.  I want the light/s to have setting that include flashing/steady preferably with a range of brightnesses.
3. I want the headlamp to be something I can also wear without my helmet.  (You know, for all the  spelunking I do.) No, but seriously.   
4.  I want a taillight that also has various settings.  I haven't decided if I will mount this on my rack or on the back of the seat.  Since my commute route would be through some heavily trafficked areas this needs to make me VISIBLE. 
5. I'm thinking I will need to go battery powered at this point which is fine as I probably won't be using the bike everyday for commuting.  Though I like the thought of the dynamos, honestly at this point, it's not a huge factor to me.

I don't have $300 to spend on the top of the line lighting system for my bike, but I do want my setup to keep me safe and help me feel confident with riding at night.  Since I'm scared of getting squashed this is very important.  I'm also looking into illuminating my bike as well- but that is not my first priority. I read a good article in Bicycle Times Magazine about lights last month.  Check it out here and here is one on  blinkies.   Ecovelo also has some good articles here  and here as well as stellar content day in and day out. 

A few of the candidates I have looked at so far in my limited search are (in no particular order):

Velo Orange Cateye:

Planet Bike Blaze: 

Planet Bike  Sport Spot:

Planet Bike Dynamo:

Planet Bike 1200:

 

RivBike EOS:

I don't know what other companies have a reputation for quality, or the specifics of the performance for any of the above lights.  Any reader suggestions?  Anyone have a really good or bad experience with any of these or with a light I haven't listed?   Anyone have a great lighting setup to share as an example?