Best Budget Headlight

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The Critic

The Critic

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I am in the market for a headlight for my mountain bike. The headlight will be used for nighttime riding on city streets where there is already a decent amount of light from street lamps.

The budget is $50 or less. What would you folks recommend?

Thanks.
 
Originally Posted By: tom slick
Do you need the light to see where you are going or just to be seen by others?

Good point-- I need a light to be seen by others.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: tom slick
Do you need the light to see where you are going or just to be seen by others?

Good point-- I need a light to be seen by others.


Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
Get one from an unattended bike.

Good idea.
 
I would get the Planet Bike Blaze 1/2 watt or 1 watt led. The 1/2 watt is ~$27 and the 1 watt is ~$40. If you need a tailight, you can get the combo pack which includes the Blaze 1/2 watt with the taillight for ~$45. the Both use 2-AA batteries so you can use rechargeables easily. I have the Blaze 1/2 watt and use that as my to be seen light, its not bright enough to actually see the road though.
 
If you can up your budget to around $80 you could get a Minewt mini USB light. Not the brightest but I believe one of the cheapest that you can actually use to see and be seen. I bought the girlfriend a $30 to be seen light when I bought my $250 lights because #1 if I came home with an expensive set of lights without getting her anything I would be dead and #2 they had a pink one lol. However, it's barely bright enough to be seen. I'm going to buy her (for Christmas) the MiNewt Mini USB because it's perfect for city riding where you need to be seen with the occasional dark street that you need it to see. It also isn't so bright like mine are to where you have to worry about oncoming motorists flashing their brights at you.

Off topic but after spending some time at the LBS trying out lights for her I had to leave or I was going to end up charging a $700 light on the credit card for me and giving her my current ones. Niterider has a light out that you punch in the run time you want and it adjusts the output accordingly to hit that target. I believe peak output was something insane like 1,200 lumens at 3 hours.
 
If you had a real budget, Id say the light&motion Stella 200L.

For a low budget, not sure you can get anything really good, Id be mainly concerned with being visible to others. There are sub-$50 lights out there, Id probably look for the one that takes the largest number of batteries, and has the most, brightest LEDs. Id then buy low-drain AA rechargable batteries and a slow charger to keep the economics of use up.

There are some tiny LED lights that use a rechargable li-battery inside, which charges from a AA when not in use. THey are cheap - less than $50 for a few of them, red and white. Very bright for good visibility. Cant recall the name though - but likely good things to clip on yourself.
 
2nd vote for Planet Bike lights. Get a combo headlight and tail light set from REI or Amazon. Get the brightest light you can afford (1/2 or 1 or 2 watt). Do also get a tail light and don't ever rely on reflectors. They're just not enough.

pbpiv-1.jpg
 
Actually these 14 LED lamps are incredibly bright, incredibly cheap, and worked incredibly well for me (over a year of heavy duty use one a cyclocross road bike) until the day they were stolen by some lousy bum.

http://cgi.ebay.com/21-LED-Bicycle-Bike-...=item2303974d55

At first, I thought it was junk, as I couldn't mount it on my thin road style handlebar, then I figured out they'd mount perfectly on my front fork. Very waterproof and shock proof. Good stuff and highly under rated.
 
Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
Get one from an unattended bike.
That is HORRIBLE, and not even slightly funny for joking about. I can't even count the number of times... it's so annoying.
 
Do you have a link to a current item?
Originally Posted By: ueberooo
Actually these 14 LED lamps are incredibly bright, incredibly cheap, and worked incredibly well for me (over a year of heavy duty use one a cyclocross road bike) until the day they were stolen by some lousy bum.


[url=TIAhttp://cgi.ebay.com/21-LED-Bicycle-Bike-Head-Light-Torch-Tail-Rear-Lamp_W0QQitemZ150384102741QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2303974d55][url=TIAhttp://cgi.ebay.com/21-LED-Bicycle-Bike-Head-Light-Torch-Tail-Rear-Lamp_W0QQitemZ150384102741QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2303974d55]TIAhttp://cgi.ebay.com/21-LED-Bicycle-Bike-Head-Light-Torch-Tail-Rear-Lamp_W0QQitemZ150384102741QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCycling_Parts_Accessories?hash=item2303974d55[/url][/url]

At first, I thought it was junk, as I couldn't mount it on my thin road style handlebar, then I figured out they'd mount perfectly on my front fork. Very waterproof and shock proof. Good stuff and highly under rated.
 
Last edited:
Take a look at the Fenix LED line-up and then get a bike mount for your flashlight and you'll be good to go when the sun goes down.

You could probably even get 2 Fenix flashlights and 2 mounts and still be under your budget and you'll own the night.

BTW I use a Wolf Eyes Storm R2 with 1450 lumens on a velcro bike mount for my Trek MTB.
 
I use these:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.31871

$2.41/ea.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1255

$5.88/pair

Mounts on handlebars (I have one on either side of the neck), VERY bright, even at 3x the price. Uses 3xAAA and can be quickly removed if needed. Even if stolen, its not a big loss.

Since I use a pair, I can aim one on the ground directly in front of you and the other straight on to help ensure it is seen by auto dirvers. The adjustability of twin lights makes the system very useful.

While your at it, you might consider on of these as well (visible from rear and both sides).

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3031

Less than $15 (free shipping on all orders) and you are well equipped to be seen at night.
 
I buy stuff from them too, but are they bright enough to see by as well as seen by?

What the heck. They are cheap, maybe I'll just order it along with some rechargeable AAAs and try em.
 
Originally Posted By: chuckerants
...but are they bright enough to see by as well as seen by?


"Bright enough" is a really personal judgement. Having used numerous low to mid priced bicycle specific lights in the past, it is my opinion that a pair of those flashlights is VERY bright. Bright enough that it hurts the eyes to look directly into them. By changing the level of the lights, you can aim them to be at eye level for many of the cars out there. They put off an extreme white light with a slight hint of blue - similar to HID car lights.

I was expecting much less (both quality and light output) when I bought them, but like you said, they are cheap and I took the chance. They are an incredible bargin for the price and am more than happy with them as bike lights.

Check out some of the reviews to get other opinions on them.
 
Last edited:
You're absoluetly right. They are cheap enough to try. I'll order it and give it a shot. Worst case, I can use the flashlights as flashlights.

Thanks.
 
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