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Tech Suggestions for a USB front headlight

adventurous cyclist

turtle speed cyclist
May 16, 2019
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Well I'm going to have to invest in the USB front headlight for my bike.
I had a cat's eye battery operated one but I was found out that it was a great disappointment for the price that I paid for it. And it wasn't that bright at all.
I need a really high powered light that can have a good distance and also a broadness of it also.
Thanks.
 
And how long do you want it to last before needing another charge?

Cost or Performance? the former usually determines the latter in lighting.

What cateye light did you have and why was it disappointing? Cateye have great warranty service too BTW.
 
And how long do you want it to last before needing another charge?

Cost or Performance? the former usually determines the latter in lighting.

What cateye light did you have and why was it disappointing? Cateye have great warranty service too BTW.
I don't recall what model cat I had but I think it cost me 2300 yen.
It didn't have the brightness that I really needed to ride a bike at night time.
That's why I think a USB headlight from what I've seen people ride the bikes on is pretty bright.
Distance wise it's no more than 30 35 minutes one way at night time wherever I'm at usually I only go to McDonald's come back around 8:30 at night sometimes 9:00 or 10:00 at night.
 
the USB or battery really has little impact on brightness. It's all about lumens

I'll be buying a light next week along with 2 tubes at the bike shop. I can't think of anything else I need to buy at the shop. I'll get a few more patches at the 100 yen store, save about 300 yen each from buying at the shop. Don't mind helping the guy out, gave me a lot of free stuff when I bought the bike, also I'm going to need him to print out some stuff also.

Thanks for the info.
 
To see and be seen, the Cateye Volt 800 is good. Powerful, range of modes to deal with different light conditions, long life and you can carry cartridges but that would be proper all night stuff.

Not cheap but a quality product.

Andy
 
To see and be seen, the Cateye Volt 800 is good. Powerful, range of modes to deal with different light conditions, long life and you can carry cartridges but that would be proper all night stuff.

Not cheap but a quality product.

Andy
Just checked it out. Yep! The price is too steep for me. Really need to stick around 4500 yen if possible. Thanks though.
 
USB charging does add cost as it's a compact rechargeable battery and controller included.
with lights I find you really do get what you pay for. Most likely the LBS will have a limited selection but should carry the Cateye range. https://www.cateyeamerica.com/ampp500-hl-el085rc/5340850/ looks the business and priced at ¥5,500. A little more than your budget but it is bright 500 lumens for when it really is dark.

watch the 100 yen patches, I find they suck. Cheap and nasty.
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I second @kiwisimon's suggestion, Cateye has great, durable lights. I got my wife an AMP 500 for about 4,500 ¥. They also have the Volt 400 for a little more that has a replaceable battery. I have the Volt 800 with 800 Lumens and in fact did replace my battery.
 
Ravemen do decent lights. This one is within your budget and has decent runtimes.
Ravemen LR500s. It got a decent review on Road.cc
Thanks Winston
Gives me something to work with now. I'm kind of naive when I go into a bike shop knowing what is a good discount price. The owner always gives me a discount other then on labor.
I'll be checking out LR500. As we get older, it is very true that we do need a brighter head light at night.
 
I second @kiwisimon's suggestion, Cateye has great, durable lights. I got my wife an AMP 500 for about 4,500 ¥. They also have the Volt 400 for a little more that has a replaceable battery. I have the Volt 800 with 800 Lumens and in fact did replace my battery.
Thanks Oreo
In your opinion, which is better... USB or battery AA ?
 
USB, no question.
Thanks
I agree. Went to the bike shop today and picked out one . 450 lemurs . Be getting it Monday. Forgot to get the name, but its not a Cateye one.
 
450 lemurs .
Congrats. Gosh, that's a lot of lemurs... :warau:

istock_000017155114_small-d578918362bd9863aeb7cbb5aa0c502e3288b42e-s800-c85.jpg
 
Congrats. Gosh, that's a lot of lemurs... :warau:

istock_000017155114_small-d578918362bd9863aeb7cbb5aa0c502e3288b42e-s800-c85.jpg
Thanks.
The problem is when you get up there in age, the darkness takes on a whole different meaning. Need them bright lights to see what's ahead of me.
 
USB or battery AA ?
I use AA form factor cells (#3 in Japanese) for some applications such as helmet lights or auxiliary rear lights, and I always go for rechargeable NiMH such as Eneloop instead of single-use alkaline cells because the NiMH cells can be recharged hundreds of times and therefore last many years. But that's for an application where, unlike in a headlight, not much power is needed. For headlights (especially for use outside town) the only real options are lithium ion batteries and dynamo lights.

NiMH cells have a much lower energy density than lithium ion cells as used in most USB batteries (60-120 Wh/kg vs 100-265 Wh/kg). So basically a lithium ion rechargeable battery stores as much energy as NiMH cells that are double the weight!
 
I'm a fan of any of the Knog brand of lights.
I've got their PWR Road (they like leaving out the vowels), which is a modular bike light. Can act as a mobile battery too.
https://www.knog.com/product/pwr-road-700l/

I never really had much love for CatEye lights, but I was using them about 10yrs ago. Found them to be clunky, bulky, and a bit ugly but the cost was pretty low. As I use my lights pretty much every day I invested in the Knog PWR light, but have owned quite a few different ones over the years. Some of them can even be plugged into your PC & be programmed to suit your own needs.
 
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