I realise I could easily be opening a can of worms here, but I need a torch for the front of my bike. As much as getting a bike light would be an OK idea, I need a light to see, not to be seen, so without spending £100+ on a decent bike light with an atrocious battery life I reckon a torch would be a bit closer to what I need. Anyway, for recommendations I'm after something for £20-35 at most with a decent battery life, that if I shine at the road I can actually see potholes or bits of road with no surface ~ 20ft ahead. Why such a small budget? It's for the bike I'm taking to music festivals this year, so if it goes walkies it doesn't actually matter Thanks in advance Sharn
I know nothing about torches, but I do know a bit about bikes. Have you thought far enough to know how your going to attach a torch to your bike or are you riding one handed and holding the torch? I run a 900 lumen Hope Vision 4 which was around £300. You cant get them cheaper online now though. My boss at the bike shop runs one of these and it's not bad.
I have one of these (frequently cycled at night back at home) which is decent, and they do a more powerful one for a bit more cash. In my experience, Cateye make excellent lights. I've had ~5 of them across several years (2 bikes, 1 light stolen, none have broken).
Attachment thingy is here... Riding 20 or so miles one handed on a 60mph road is out of the question I agree Cateye lights are excellent, but there's the issue of what if it gets nicked while I'm at the festival? I'm £50-£100 down the pan, and even keeping it in the tent isn't safe... A pair of £3 Asda jeans and a bottle of liquid that wasn't brandy but had the colour and consistency of brandy, but wasn't... Both went walkies last year. I know it'll get nicked, but there's so much I'm willing to pay for only a few days of use. If it doesn't go walkies then even better, but planning for if it does means no disappointment.
That mount is amazing if the road it as smooth as a baby's ass. We sold a few in the shop then threw them all back at the rep as they were so crap. The problem is that you cant tighten the straps up enough so when riding the tip of the torch will move up and down (only a few mm) but it's enough to make for a terrible mount.
A Lockblock (as above) should meet your attachment needs. Edit - Yes, they do bounce a little, but not too bad if you mount the torch at it's centre or gravity and/or use a short torch. Torches though... £20 is a little low (I'd have at least doubled it), but I think the closest you're going to get to your requirements (and takes AAs at that) is the Solarforce L2r. The UK dealer sells them for about £24, but you can get them cheaper on ebay if you order from Hong Kong (I've had good results with itc_shop in the past), but you will need to order the LED module separately.
