I want light and lots of it!

For me, the brighter the better. I am currently using a NiteRider Moab HID headlight, which sells for the OBSCENE price of $600. It's bright, like really bright, like blindingly bright. Did I mention bright? It's professed battery life is 8 hours on high, 12 hours on low (which is still dang bright.)

I guess I'm paranoid about being hit. If I get hit, I want to be able to say "Are you kidding me? Do you know how BRIGHT my lights are??? How could you NOT see me???"

Riding here in Portland, the roads are obviously wet alot. I find that lights tend to wash out on wet roads (same with headlights) and I want to put as much light on the ground as possible. I still have times when oncoming headlights are so bright that it washes out my headlight (situational blindness, basically) but that comes with the territory. On really dark streets, it lights up the road very well.

The Moab's light beam is very concentrated. Usually I like this, though sometimes I wish for a wider beam (My old dual headbeam Niterider has a concentrated light and a wide angle light, 25W altogether. That was a great feature).

Jeff uses a Light In Motion HID light (cost about $500 2 years ago), that's excellent as well. Puts out as much light as my Moab, but casts a bit of a wider beam. I actually prefer the pattern of his light to mine, but went with the Moab because I wanted the extended battery life (kicking around the idea of doing a 24 hour time trial here in Oregon).

So, what do I dislike about the Moab?

A) Well, it doesn't attach to the bike well. It has a battery that is designed to "hang" under the top tube, secured by a velcro strap. Two problems with that. 1) I use a Zefal frame pump, so that spot is taken. And 2) the velcro strap doesn't loop through any part of the battery, so I'm afraid the battery will slide out of the strap. I solved this problem by putting the battery in a water bottle, and threading the battery cord through the top of the lid (removed the stopper). Seems to work well.

B) Battery life has been closer to 6 hours or so on high, not the advertised 8. Perhaps the battery will "season" with time and improve.

C) My first light was sent back on warranty twice. I made them replace it with a brand new light, which so far is working well (fingers crossed). The first time the pins were too short, so the contact between cord & battery was too loose and the light would not stay on. Then once I had a working battery, I discovered the light flickered in all settings. The replacement seems fine so far.

D) Dang, it's expensive.

Besides the headlight, I make sure to have two rear red lights (one solid, one blinking), reflective apparel, and plenty of reflective strips on my bike. Here's a tip: Put reflective strips on your crank arms. The up and down visual as you pedal really attracts driver's attention and immediately communicates that you're a cyclist. That's why I like shoes and tights with reflective bits on the back. Motion attracts the eyes.

Best of luck with your commuting efforts. I always feel SO much better about my day when I bike to work instead of drive.

Susan