Your favorite high-intensity headlight?

[Catrin]

I need some recomendations for a very bright headlight that would be appropriate for pre-dawn/night riding that isn't over lit streets. There are just so many to choose from! Thanks!

[moderncyclista]

If you don't have a ton of money to spend I recommend the Planet Bike Blaze 2 watt headlight - $54 - $59. *(I've owned the Blackburn 3.3 too, it's bright. If you have no occasional street lights on your ride, you may want a rechargable system.) I used to ride with two Blackburn 3.3's strapped to my old bikes handlebars. It worked well. I was able to point one on flash a head of me towards any traffic and one down at the road to illuminate potholes and other obstacles. Boy did cars slow waaaay down when the one was on flash. They often stopped and said they thought I was a moped. That's some visibility.

[Melalvai]

Your lights serve two purposes: so motorists can see you, and so you can see your path. The first is generally more of an issue, particularly when the lighting is dim (early morning, cloudy days, dusk).

Initially if you are looking to not spend a lot of money a battery-powered or rechargeable light is fine. But at some point, after you've been caught with a dead battery one too many times, you might want to consider a generator-powered light. There are two kinds: hub generator and sidewall generator. I've heard sidewall sometimes has problems in wet or snowy weather. A hub generator has to be built into your wheel, probably requiring purchase of a new wheel. I adore my hub generator. It accomplishes both of the functions of being seen, and seeing.

I also adore my downlow glow, available from http://www.rockthebike.com. Mine is orange. I've had friends who were driving past me tell me how bright it is. But it is rechargeable and I get caught with a drained battery despite my best efforts.

Finally, I recommend reelights. These operate off of magnets attached to your spokes. Again, no batteries, no recharging. The only downside is they are located near the hub of your wheels, which is low down, and I like to have an additional light at eye-level of the motorists. Look in your bike shop for these.

[oz rider]

I don't know anyone who's not happy with Ay Ups - light, beautiful, see/be seen, reliable, flash/constant and awesomely bright.

[Catrin]

Thanks to everyone for their thoughts on this. I need to test my existing light (Stella 120) to see how well it performs without street lights. I know it is fine as far as my being seen, but I need to see

I am curious about the Australian Ay Ups, and may check one of these out should my current Stella not serve. None of the better lights are value-priced, but their prices are not in the stratosphere. I am hoping that my Stella 120 will work though.

I could always add one of the less expensive lights mentioned in this thread in addition to the Stella 120 light if I need to until I can justify pulling the trigger on a more expensive lighting system. Thanks!

[Atlas]

I love the Planet Bike lights. We have a lot hanging around and have the same clips on all our bikes so we can swap them around. The 2 watt is what my partner uses on his long rides in the country. I'm usually in town so I don't have any personal experience.

[TsPoet]

Dinotte are great, they are rather non-focused - ie really really good for off-road and some roadies don't like the spread. They are super light, super bright, super small, and easy to mount.
I'm thinking of ordering the ay-up for my velomobile, though.

[Crankin]

I have a Dinotte and I love it.