Winter has definitely arrived this week with the first delivery of snow and ice. The nights have closed in and daylight is taking an extended lie in in the mornings. Thankfully what also arrived in the post this week was my new headlight for my bike fresh fromHong Kongand recently purchased of eBay.
My last headlight a Cateye HL-EL530 cost £50 and takes 4 AA batteries to work. I picked this one as it was highly recommended by a magazine I read at the time. Unfortunately however it was of some use on a well lit street but about as much use as a candle in the wind on an unlit road or trail. Here’s a photo of its brightness in my garage.
My mucker Nigel, a man who spends a lot of time on his mountain bike in dark blasting around forests discovered what looked to be the bargain of the century on eBay. The deal was that for £30 you would get a CREE XML T6 LED Headlight that is 1600 Lumens bright and a battery which lasts for 3 hours and that comes with its own electric charger. I read that 1600 Lumens was equal to a cars headlight and to be honest I was a little sceptical. What I did know was that if I had of bought a light that claimed this level of performance from a bike shop they would have been looking £250 plus, so at £30 I judged it worth the risk. So after two weeks in the transportation yesterday afternoon it arrived and shortly after so did darkness. I headed out to the garage to check it out in excitement and a little apprehension. Here’s what it provided – what do you think?
Obviously it needs field tested to see how the battery lasts and charges but at this point it very much looks like it was £30 well spent. The performance between my two lights is certainly night and day different and I’m so far delighted with this astonishing little bargain!
