I live in Berlin and although we've got cycling infrastructure and reasonably well lit city streets, there's always a need to be seen (the numbers of reported accidents involving cyclists keeps going up).
All I have to say that this light on the medium and low setting is plenty bright for city traffic and definitely gets me noticed. Cars actually wait (as they legally should) before turning right, rather than cutting you off. Tonight on my commute home there's a very very thick fog (poor visibility beyond 20m) and on high, the Power Drive just cuts through.
The bracket is made out of high quality plastic and very sturdy. The quality of the light itself is amazing - beautifully machined, slots easily into the bar mount, simply hi>med>low>flash cycle through operation (long hold to turn on and off), beam pattern is a spot but floods enough for my commuting/road needs, replaceable battery (can buy a spare too for longer rides) and great waterproofing.
Things I dislike: - No low battery warning, although it does drop into flash mode (enough to get you home on well lit streets). - Doesn't come with rubber pieces to ensure a tight clamp fit, although I just used some old inner tube. - During charging, the LED flashes. So at work I've got this thing plugged in and off it goes, albeit at a lower intensity than the normal flash setting so it's not so bright. It stops flashing when fully charged however I'd prefer if it was more like, flashing for five seconds to show it's charging, then no flash and constant flashing to let you know it's fully charged. - The battery life is a little bit lower than stated.
Just used this light for the first time in anger on the way home from my local BMX track, which means riding through London traffic, something I try and avoid. Not only is it like having a fairly bright car following you at all times, illuminating signs maybe 100m away, making pedestrians shield their faces etc, it made me feel a lot safer, made cars wait for me to pass I guess assuming I was a faster travelling motorbike or something, absolutely faultless for the price.
I went for this over the more expensive and half-as-bright-again Super for the extra battery life and think that was the right choice. I've been in the market for a very good front light for a while now and apart from battery life which I haven't been able to check yet, this is perfect.
i originally had a "Raleigh Moon X POWER 300 lumen light" was the same power and price range i was happy with it, but i lost it and then bought this to try. This light is the best light that you get for the money, nothing else came close at the price range. you can use any USB to charge it, unlike the Raleigh light you had to use the supplied USB or risk damaging the battery. I'm pretty sure that this uses a standard size battery to so can buy spares if needed. alloy body the Raleigh had a plastic body. i commute and sometimes come through a forest, pretty scary at night but with this light nothing to fear even on medium beam you can see well, on high beam its amazing. I some times take my light up some fields at night, you can stun rabbits at 100 lumens.
Whether you're commuting through towns or cities, taking on a night time mountain bike ride or touring on a long distance road trek, having a reliable set of lights is crucial – and a legal requirement in many countries.
There's a great range of lights for all purposes and at all budgets, which can be broadly separated into models that'll help you BE SEEN (commuting, road riding, touring etc on relatively well-lit roads), and models that will help you SEE (mountain biking at night, lighting your way on unlit roads etc).
Front lights generally have handlebar attachments and rear lights attach to your seatpost, but there's also the option to fix lights to your helmet using helmet-specific mounts, and to a backpack or even your clothing.
There's a huge range of lights that'll help you be seen, and you don't have to break the bank to get a decent front and rear lightset. We'd advise you to get the best you can afford: after all, the more visible you can make yourself on the roads, the safer you'll be.
When you're looking for the right lights for you, check to see whether they offer good side-on visibility so that other vehicles and pedestrians can see you at junctions, for example. Also consider lights which offer a number of modes – some flash, some are constant. There's no limit to how many lights you can have, so you may want to have one light on flash and one on constant to make yourself that little bit more noticeable.
If you're commuting on unlit country roads, mountain biking in the dark or you want something more powerful than a general purpose bike light then we have something for you with our high-end performance front lights.
Bike light technology has advanced so rapidly in the past few years that you can now buy lightweight LED units with long running times which pack a huge punch. Yes, you'll pay a little bit more than your average front light, but the results are night and day (literally).
Many of these high powered units are lightweight enough to helmet mount – perfect for picking out trail obstacles when you're riding off-road at warp speed, but they're also just as useful on-road for pinpointing potholes and other road obstacles too.
Beam patterns on these lights vary – some with a wide spread; others with a more focussed beam. You may want to use a mixture of the two, or choose the one which suits your riding the best.
