Help ,Need Light Advice :)

[MickOR]

Hi ,
Have been out f the loop for a few years and about to start cycling again, in the process of taking the bike out of the attic and putting the wheels back on !!, It is a Trek Fuel 80 2003 model in mint condition Anyway, was looking to get some lights for it but not spend a fortune, after doing a bit of google'n i came up with the following options

Front :Fluxient 3x XM-L U2 or Magicshine MJ 880
Rear :Hotshot 2W or Fiber flare shorty or moon shield 60

Any opinions? , generally i will be riding off-road in the 'middle of nowhere' with no traffic with a small amount of road use as well so i am looking for something fairly bright, any advice greatly appreciated !!

[Ian_C]

Welcome to the forum Mike.

There are so many options it will make your head spin. It did mine. It still does

There is no simple one size fits all answer.

You need to determine:
- Your budget
- Expected average ride time (with some buffer cuz "stuff happens")
- What kid of terrain you'll be riding (wide open fire road, twisty trail deep in the woods with switchbacks, rolling road, steep slopes covered with rocks and roots, etc)
- Weather where you'll be riding (tropics vs great white north)
- How fast you'll be going on the downhills (Faster = need more throw to see further)
- and many other things that just aren't jumping to mind right now

Spend a few hours reading through the postings here. They'll at least give you a feel for what questions you need to ask yourself. I know there's been a lot of good stuff posted since I started reading here in mid August. Don't just limit yourself to today & future postings.

Your budget seems in line with mine, so take with a grain of salt the "you can't live without most expensive light on the market" comments.

There are tons of lights reviewed, with beam shots, comments on throw, flood, colour, ergonomics, heat dissipation, customer service, mounting, and much much more. Real user experiences are much better than the seller's website description.

You mentioned lights for front and rear. Up front you didn't say bars or helmet. Most here recommend one on each, with different beam characteristics.

Have fun exploring, but keep the aspirin in standby for when you get overwhelmed. Then take a break, and read some more another day.

[MickOR]

Thanks for the reply,
I have decided to go with the Hotshot and a fiber flare for the back and probably the magicshine for the front ( mounted on the bars) as i couldn't find any reviews of the fluxient other than from sellers, although im still a bit undecided, does anybody have the fluxient?

[fightnut]

I decided to import two models of Fluxient lights. The 3XU2 and the 4XR5 as of Nov2012 do a quick search on ebay for Fluxient I'm the only US Seller. My store is Video-TechSolutions. 14day return policy, If you don't like them send them back. P.S. In group rides you don't want to see your shadow, I never see mine! (When someone with bright lights is behind you, You always want to have enough lights to kill your shadow). John

John, see those ads on the right? They PAY to advertise here. Your posts have been reported as spam.

[MickOR]

The hotshot arrived, great rear light although quite a narrow beam, v happy with it.Just seen the magicshine mj-800U version of the front light, anybody using one of these?