Lighting > Lights Front Lighting

Advantages: Excellent Waterproofing, Very Bright, Reliable
Disadvantages: Bit lardy, poor bracket, price

I've always liked Cateye lights. They tend to be more expensive than other lights, but have attractive styling, seem to be well made, and last a long time. I still have a battered but functioning Liminax Micro Halogen by Cateye. LED's Most commuter lights nowadays use LED's rather than standard or Halogen bulbs. LED's have several advantages. Namely very long bulb life. 60,000 hours is not unusual for an LED bulb, and is significantly longer ...
...is the flex tight bracket. Cateye use this same bracket design across several models. It's like a plastic jubilee clip which you tighten by turning the knob. Getting it tight enough so the light won't slip can be a real headache. The bracket has a tendency to loosen off in use, meaning you have to periodically tighten it. I have had a bracket fail trying to get it tight enough so it wouldn't slip. The thing is Cateye already had a perfectly acceptable ... Read review

Advantages: Very, very bright; Build quality
Disadvantages: Large; Ugly

...exploited to remarkable effect. The Blackburn have shown the benefits of that evolution to the full with their Quadrant front light. As it suggests the name Quadrant means there are four LEDs mounted in this space-age looking contraption. If I'm looking to be picky I'll list this here and now as the only drawback to the light - it's ugly, really ugly. And it's pretty big as well (it has to be, it's powered by four AA batteries), though it managed ...
...if all that wasn't enough, Blackburn offer a lifetime guarantee on the light. Now THAT is confidence in the ability of this light to last. I can't talk up this light enough, but if you really want to see how bright it is in motion visit www.citycycling.co.uk and look at the ccMovies page - until 7th December there will be a video on there of the light in action (and the accompanying rear light which will be reviewed shortly), and after this date ... Read review

Advantages: Very Bright, easy to use, price
Disadvantages: None

...a review of this the SMART SM317R in a magazine where they raved on about how bright it was for such a cheap price. In this day and age where if you are a cyclist you need to do your upmost to be seen, I thought i'd get one.....for the grand sum of £10.50 on ebay!!!!! Before you switch it on, it looks like any other light, but when you switch it on that's where the similarities end......... ......this light is BRIGHT!!!! Not only is it bright, ...
...vehicle flashing lights, which draws even more attention to you. It says that battery time (and yes, they are included in the price) is approx 160 hours for flashing mode - only time will tell if that is the case. If you want to be seen in the dark, get one of these. I'm embarrased at how dull my old light was. Well worth the £10.50. ... Read review

Advantages: Compact, Versatile, Bright for size
Disadvantages: Appallingly fragile bracket, poor waterproofing

The Brand Cateye are a Japanese company and have been around since 1946. They have 3 factories 2 in Japan and one in China. They have always produced good looking (in my opinion) and well built lights (certainly in the past). Pricier but better made than their competitors. The Cateye Experience The lights are small and have 3 fairly bright LED's. They are intended to make you visible to other road users in well lit towns. If you are ...
...lights for you. The lights have 2 modes steady and flash. A small button on the underside of the unit turns the light on/off and selects flash/steady. The button is fairly easy to use, and can be found with little trouble with a gloved hand. So in summary these lights are small, look good, and are bright enough for commuting on well lit roads. And unfortunately this is where the good stuff ends. The Infernal Flextight Bracket Cateye's patented ... Read review

Advantages: Everything
Disadvantages: None

...on it. About Blackburn Mars 3.0 has been named after a bright red planet visible from afar. It has seven superb right red LED's inside a sleek water resistant case. Lens optics increase visible distance and side LED's provide 180 degree safety-boosting visibility. Two AAA batteries should last for 50 - 150 hours on a flash mode. That information says producent and seems to be about right. I use in my lamp energizer rechargeable batteries. Some ...
...only, very small issue in Blackburn Mars 3.0 is when replacing batteries you need to unscrew 3 tiny screws. Is not a big deal as do not have to do it often. It has three modes: slow flashing, fast one (almost like strobe) and viper style but up side down. My most favourite is fast flah. Altogether Blackburn Mars is the greatest bicycle rear light I have ever had in my life. I like absolutely everything in it. It is nicely designed and you can rely ... Read review