Any reccomendations for a front light for a road bike? I want to see and be seen, but will only be road riding so don't need the sort of brightness needed for MTB. I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money, but want to be able to train in the dark this winter.

I use the USE Exposure turbo light. I use it both off and on road. It might be a little more than your budget but it does get the attention of car drivers.

They are here, although no mention of prices http://www.use1.com/exposure/

I have to ride on mostly back country lanes and it's perfect.

I use a HID light on both my MTB and my road bike on my dark commute - it shows the potholes and more importantly it really stops cars from pulling out on me, which is handy on a long dodgy section of dual carriageway I have to ride. I paid about £250 for mine (which is probably a stupid amount of money I know) and I wouldn't bother with anything less tbh.

I also have an HID now, but I used to ride with a Lumicycle halogen light - these might be more of a compromise on price (about 150 quid i think with one lamp), I used this for offroad but for on road riding you will really appreciate having something this bright too - either so you can see where you are going on dark lanes, or so that traffic can see you (it is amazing the different response you get from traffic when you have a decent light). If you are riding at a decent pace on a road bike on an unlit road you will probably want a pretty decent light anyway.
Otherwise, maybe some of the LED ones which are getting popular now(I think the ones bikescooby mentions are LED - and they may do a cheaper range than the ones she has?)
might be good though I am not an expert really. Almost everyone I ride with (off-road mind you) uses lumicyle.

I've been trying to get a twin Electron head light for my road bike through my LBS. the problem has been my oversize handlebars and getting a bracket to fit. I see Catseye do one, so I might have to spend a bit more, the Electron was going to be about £60. I don't generally use this bike at night so it was more for emergency use. Any other suggestions- I have Smart twin headlights on my mtb but they weigh quite a lot although they've been very satisfactory so far.

BTW be aware none of the above mentioned lights are road legal. If you are going to buy any of the above lights you will also need to use a single flashing led (or flashing 1-4 times per second led front and rear light) or a BS6102 stamped fronat and rear light.

I have an Exposure Race Light - about £289 just over a year ago. Came with 2 batteries which last 4 hours minimum on full beam (8 hrs on lower beam - fine for where there are street lights). If you want to ride at over 12mph on unlit lanes I think you'd need something in this price range. I tried a cheaper set (£60 - Knightlights - very disappointing. Found that you can't see well enough to go at speed). The newer exposure turbo light I think has double the battery life.
Best thing about the exposure lights is they don't have a lead and battery pack to strap to the frame - comes as one neat unit you attach to the handle bar.
Haven't tried any other brands in that price range. Check out BikeMagic reviews for more info.

Thanks Muddy, will checkout Bike Magic.

Hello again - just re-read your thing. If you go for exposure lights - mine came with bracket for standard bar fitting. Had to order another clamp (£15) for oversize bars - the fat bars seem to be on lots of bikes these days. Also had to move computer over because the magnetic/electric field generated by the battery/light affected the computer (no way can I ride at 60mph off road at night!!)

I have a set of Smar t lights on my roadbbike and I find that they are fine on road. They probably wouldn't be bright enough off-road though. I got them for £25 from SJS Cycles. I can see the potholes clearly even whe n coming downhill at 30mph. The battery pack is a bit heavy but I haven't really noticed it slwoing me down as I'm quite slow anyway Next year I might upgrade but for my budget this year they are fabulous.

I rode home in the wind and rain last night on my MTB and my Smart 6W lights were fine, I see that Wiggle are doing them again at quite a discount.

Still waiting for the oversize bracket for an Electron for my road bike, chap in my LBS showed me how you can upgrade the bulb from 10w to 20w, quite easily, then gave me a demonstration in his cupboard - of the light!!!! (Pity he's good looking!). It was very bright.

Do you think that the smart lights would be enough off road. I was assuming that they wouldn't but then someone was saying that they managed in a group when there lights went and I've been invited on a group ride I was wondering if there would be enough light.

I know people who have ridden with lights like that off road. However, the trouble is, if you go on a group ride where everyone has vastly more bright lights than you, then if they ride behind you they out shine your lights and you end up with a shadow in front of you, which is annoying.

Also I don't think they would be confidence inspiring for a first off road ride, and I reckon it depends how technical the ride is too. Basically I think you'd survive, but you might not enjoy it!

Sorry I don't know whether the Smart lights would be good enough, I tend not to do off roading (intentionally), not into muck and mud. But safe riding to those who are!

I'm now thinking of upgrading my lights. My smart lights are dying, well to be precise they died on me on the way home last night so I had to get train and then they died this morning so I had to turn round. I don't think they liked the weather :) So I'm after some recommendations. Not sure on budget yet but I want something I can use on road and off road, so they need to be easy enough to switch between bikes. What makes and models should I look at.

Smart lights use hulking big SLA batteries if I remember rightly - they don't have great burntime (especially when cold) and have to be babied when charging else you can destroy the battery (voice of experience with SLA batteries here). I will always buy a Li-on battery for my lights.

If its HID then:

Solstice HID 5.0 from The Rush (I have an older verion of this with 5 hour burntime) I move it between my commuter and MTB easily enough, am using a bottle battery now but did have my original battery in a bag strapped to frame. Basic but competitively priced.

Lumicycle are always worth a look as well, Light and Motion seem good and there is Lupine if you want to go up to silly money.

There are the LED based ones like USE Exposure but I have no experience of them.

There is just so much choice, I have been careful when charging my smart lights I actually think the horizontal rain I've been cycling in is what they don't enjoy. I've never actually been cycling off road so I'm not sure how bright I need the lights to be and it seems difficult to compare different brands.

I've had a look at lumicycle and the USE Exposure lights on the web, do they give a similar amount of light.

It really is just too confusing.

hi trio,
You're right, it's very confusing, you could always have a look on singletrackworld as there are millions of threads on there about lights, though if you are like me it will probably confuse you more.

I think bikemagic actually had a quite simple review of some lights recently with pictures of the light outputs from them side by side, you could take a look at that.

I use lumicycle lights, as do most people I night ride with so I can't really offer very impartial advice! the think I like about them though is that it's easy to upgrade, and you can mix and match bits, so you can buy a battery separately, etc. They are also very easy to put on and take off you bike with the bottle battery which is very convenient, esp if you are going to be commuting with them and moving them across bikes. Also lumicyle have a reputation for being great if anything goes wrong with the lights.

Someone I know also has the Light and Motion HIDs - he got them from the US for about 200 quid and he seems very happy with them.

Note that for the HIDs unless you get a good deal (or order from the US like my friend did) you are looking at about 250 quid plus (I think this how much the rush ones are - they are slightly cheaper than lumicycles and much cheaper than lupines - scary money!)

The lumicycle halogen lights are very good but a bit cheaper, about 180 for a set with two lights I think.

If you are looking at cheaper than this then may be worth looking at cheaper LED lights, I think you can get the cateye double and tripleshots on a good deal, I don't know much about them though. (I think the really well reviewed Exposure ones are also 250 quid plus though - I don't know anyone with these though)

Phew, sorry prob confused you more now! Personally I don't think you can go wrong with lumicyles, lots of people I ride with have had their sets for years and are still going!

One of the problems is, they don't use a universal means of measurement. Descriptions by manufacturer or retailers are always going to be glowing, they want you to buy their products. Have a look in CW and other bike mags, they regularly test things including lights.

I have the lumi hid lamp with a Lion battery - they are equivalent to 40watts - the beam is wide and very good for off road riding, long burn time (mine are 5 hours) and you can get a fast charger.
My SO has the exposure race - much narrower beam than the lumi hid but less money.
The one we have been impressed with for 200pounds is the dinotte 5w led light with the Lion battery from on-one - less money, 6hour burn time, can be mounted on handlebars or helmet and a good bright wide beam.