These little guys attach to anything in seconds, offer good battery life, are reasonably bright but not obnoxious, and are easy to recharge — I’ve bought three pairs for various bikes and always been pretty happy with them. Plus, they’re pretty damn cheap.
https://www.amazon.com/Ascher-Rechargeable-Headlight-Resistant-Included/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG/
For lights I use these cheap little bastards: https://www.amazon.com/Ascher-Rechargeable-Headlight-Resistant-Included/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=bike+lights&qid=1627013859&sprefix=bike+li&sr=8-3
Easy on and off but stay on the bike even through rough terrain, cheap as hell, bright enough all things considered, rechargeable with a usb, and their battery life is bizarrely long — like, I can’t remember when I last charged them and I use them every day.
If you're looking for the budget option, I can personally recommend these.
Pros: cheap, small, inconspicuous, rechargeable, and GREAT battery life. Has 3 modes: constant, blinking, and burst, When I'm not using them I clip around the hubs of my wheels.
Cons: light output on the front light is "bare minimum". Rear light doesn't project as well and shouldn't be used as a headlight.
I would feel comfortable riding at night with my lights. Even without them I'd still ride a paved bike trail but you have to watch out for the other riders doing the same thing. Often times you won't see each other until you're pretty close and you better hope that person is paying attention and not in your lane.
Yeah or even better, Amazon get you a set of powerful LED for just $11 and they are even charged through USB (no need to buy batteries/cells), like these : https://www.amazon.com/Ascher-Rechargeable-Headlight-Resistant-Included/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG/ref=sr_1_4 , so yeah I don't get the point of risking your life for such a small amount of money (prices are the same in France where the video was made), some people just don't care at all I guess...
I use a good headlight and tail light. Night rider 1000ish lumen and 200ish rear. Sets are a good deal. The headlight should be strong enough to see your path.
I use two cheaper flashing lights for side visibility.
Two whites similar to these. https://www.amazon.com/Ascher-Rechargeable-Headlight-Resistant-Included/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG
I decided on these lights, but haven’t found a seat yet. I also have to mindful of a few things like when I fold the bike and store it what seat won’t take up too much room, but yet gives me more comfort.
Ascher USB Rechargeable Bike Light Set,Super Bright Front Headlight and Rear LED Bicycle Light,650mah Lithium Battery,4 Light Mode Options(2 USB Cables and 4 Strap Included) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ABP4REKJ2A1RJBJPYGR0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I bought a few pairs of these button flashers to mount on the bike right below my seat facing the sides.
Limited-time deal: Ascher USB Rechargeable Bike Light Set,Super Bright Front Headlight and Rear LED Bicycle Light,650mah Lithium Battery,4 Light Mode Options(2 USB cables and 4 Strap Included) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_dl_ZKT0K4FXY9EQ0ZPVH5K6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I HIGHLY recommend lights like these. I bought one set to test, then bought 3 more. Granted I’m a gear-up ebiker, my thing.
I run all white light at front half of bike, all red on rear half & ground effects. These have standard high/low/blink, but they Also do the kinda aircraft/airports double slower pulsing fade in/fade out...which I’ve gotten so many comments about.
IE People SEE them, as they look quite idk, ‘commercial’ in effect. They also make them a little larger in square.
Nice mounting so I have one white light on front strobing, and two on the forks angled 45 deg out, one down to light ground which is also quite visual.
At front of my rear rack, I have a red strobing on either side. 2 more off back.
Sometimes for fun I anchor serious (Gorilla tape) one of my brighter green lasers about 6-8 ft off my back. It’s Really hard to miss that focal point on the asphalt
Finally my main headlight is a Nitecore BR35 😏
Ascher USB Rechargeable Bike... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
These lights work well for me as something that gets me seen. I wouldn’t recommend if you’re riding in the dark and actually need the light to see the road.
I ride with these in the mornings when other cyclists and cars may have a harder time seeing me, but I can still see the road due to sunrise and street lamps.
Ascher USB Rechargeable Bike Light Set,Super Bright Front Headlight and Rear LED Bicycle Light,650mah Lithium Battery,4 Light Mode Options(2 USB cables and 4 Strap Included) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_p48-Fb580C6BX
I agree with this comment. While knowing and following the law is admirable, sometimes you need to prioritize your safety. So I've seen large groups of people rollerblading downtown and they were all on the sidewalks.
u/EnormousOrangutan get yourself some good bike lights. I really like this set and it's only $13.99 today on Amazon. They're rechargeable and have various setting of brightness/flashing. A helmet mounted light would likely be the best option for the front, but if you're tight on money this would be a good way to at least stay safe and have better visibility while you figure out a helmet mount. Good luck, be safe, and have fun!
I had a similar question and ended up just buying a pair of cheap LED blinking lights (Ascher LED Lights) from Amazon.
It's not ideal because you need to clip it on something (e.g., bag / jacket), but they are bright, rechargeable and get you noticed by cars / pedestrians if you street skate at night. I had trouble finding anything else better at a reasonable price point.
i bought this just to give me some visibility while riding. the road i live on has a non existent breakdown lane. the white line is the edge of the road. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EUQ7ZQG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
These: Ascher
We'll just say, I have a set of Light + Motion lights that cost 10x as much which I never use since I got these.
Battery is good and since there's two cyclists and 5 bikes in our house we have three sets so one is always ready to go. Or you can take an extra on long rides. For the price you can actually afford to do so. They are visible from the side and actually pretty bright both fore and aft. 4 modes. The blink and strobe are both good. They are more "be seen" lights than "see" lights for riding in the dark, but they are excellent at what they do at the price they are.
I have no idea how many lumens my lights are, which probably means they aren't bright enough. It didn't even occur to me to check. What would you recommend?
My current lights are these, which do have a flashing setting, but I can't find anything definite about how strong they are.
I use two front lights and one rear light. I'm in an urban area so everything is relatively well lit and the lights are more so that people see me and not for me to light up the ground. The lights are lezyne zecto for the front and back pair, and then a cygolite metro. They are both easy to take on and off if I'm going to park the bike outside for lunch. They have a mode where some of the lights blink and some of them stay on all the time. The cygolite uses the old style usb charger and it will wobble around when mounted so I'm looking for a replacement. I think the new ones work differently. Also happy with these as spares https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Ascher-Rechargeable-Lithium-Included/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG but it is annoying that the power button on the back light doesn't face up.
I have these strapped to my backpack, as well as using this flashlight. Love the flashlight, super bright.
I put these reflective strips on the front and back of my backpack, as well as my wrist guards. I put these stickers on my helmet. I think it's important to have both light, and some reflective material as well.
I don't ride much at night, but when I do I make sure I'm seen.
I have had good luck with these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01EUQ7ZQG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Easy to move from bike to bike and remove for USB charging.
I used these lights but mounting them is quite ugly because I used a combination of hot glue, superglue and rough tape.
Yes, I bought reflector tape and put it on the sides and also these bike lights Ascher USB Rechargeable Bike... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG?
I am a flashlight nerd, I grabbed these which aren't bad for the price but only had them a few weeks. Micro usb recharge, brightness for the white light is underwhelming if you are using it for seeing at night. I just loop the red one on my bag or back pant loop.
I carry this flashlight , because its cheap enough I dont mind if I bust it but it lights up the road well.
Also is rechargeable. AA size so pocket friendly.
I just use something cheap: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
But I don't really bike in the dark, so I don't know how good they are in that respect.
I got a set I love on Amazon that I love for like $30. Holds charge for a week's worth of rides or more, are bright and have multiple modes. Ascher USB Rechargeable Bike... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
> The optics in the B01 looks pretty weird, but promising. However, I am afraid, that it's beam is too wide. I am sure, this thing is great for a roads without ambient lighting(forest trails, dirt roads, small towns etc.). But in my case, wider beam means less concentrated beam, which can be lost in a city's road lights. Correct me, if I am wrong.
You are correct. Wider means less concentrated, narrower means more concentrated (all other things being equal).
> But I think that a really strong blinker pointed to asphalt can improve my visibility (safety), especially in a places, where I am out of line of car driver's sight.
Your visibility is definitely super important. I don't know that using the same flashlight for both makin you visible to others and making other things visible to you is the best solution. You may want to consider getting something inexpensive like this to handle making you visible so that your flashlight can be dedicated to making road hazards visible to you. Something like those little lights I linked to are designed to be equally visible from almost any angle, and they blink too. They're useless for lighting your way but they are absolutely perfect for making you visible to others and they're cheap too. Just put a red one on the back and a white one on the front, just like car lights.
> It is bad that these lights have large diameters, which will can cause certain difficulties with mounting to the bicycle. But I'll look for a light with the XPH LEDs. Thanks.
That's good to know. Definitely stick with 1x18650 cell lights then as they all have ~1" diameter body tubes which are pretty universal. I noticed I misspelled the LED names twice in my original comment. I intended to day "XHP" which is the correct spelling. My bad.
If your current M1 is not bright enough and is too throwy (too small of a hotspot) but you're concerned that something a lot more floody like the B01 would be "lost" in the ambient lighting, maybe consider a new M1. This one uses a domed Cree XM-L2 rather than the de-domed XPL-HI in your existing M1. Domes on emitters makes the light a little more floody (all other things being equal). That listing is also availible with 8x7135 chips which is ideal, so you will probably get some more brightness out of it even after thermal stepdown. I tried to find an orange peel reflector for the light too, which would again make the beam slightly more floody, but they don't appear to be availible. Not a huge deal.
The light won't over heat so you can just put it on 100% if you want to and it will adjust its own brightness accordingly to regulate it's temperature. That will give you the max possible brightness.
> What is the best beam color to illuminate road hazards in warm white ambient lighting? I suspect neutral white may not be best.
I think you're right. Neutral white is usually the best option for most use cases but for your specifically I think cool white would actually be best and will definitely give you the most contrast between it and the warm ambient street lighting.
> Closing thoughts
The M1 with 8x7135 and a cool white XM-L2 is the best 18650 based solution I can think of right now. It's not super expensive either which is nice, so I would try that and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, you might just have to move up to a larger light and figure out a different mounting solution.
Also thanks for asking the question! This was a really fun exercise.
Honestly not worth tracking them down. Probably cost you more to get the replacement part. Bought these for my wife’s bike. Amazed at the quality to price ratio.
They're a pair of bike lights I bought on amazon. They come with one one white and one red light. I got two pairs, they fit nicely on the trucks.
Get one of these https://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Ascher-Rechargeable-Lithium-Included/dp/B01EUQ7ZQG/ They are holding up pretty well for me. And get a second headlight and taillight that stays on, not blinking.
I believe you're looking for something like this...
There is no directional, but the lights do strobe on and off.