What is the best commuter bike light to purchase?

crayfish: What is the best commuter bike light to purchase?
When I commute home from work most of the streets are well lit, but there’s one two mile stretch where I bike through a park which has no lighting. Any recommendations on a good bike light? LED versus halogen? Is it worth it to spend $ 200+ on a good bike light?

Answers and Views:

Answer by hazel_nut333
$ 200 bucks so that the 2000+lbs car going approximately 30mph over the speed limit can see you better and avoid greasing you? I’ld say it’s a good buy.

Answer by hpnotst
I like rechargeable batteries for the distance mentioned. I use Light and Motion. Their batteries are fairly lightweight. Many of the rechargeable ones are bulky. Since I bought mine, Light and Motion has finally shipped the Vega. It looks like a pretty easy unit to use and is your price range. Built-in charger and supose to be very bright.

When I bought mine, I knew I wanted a bright light. The more expensive lights are generally bright. You get what you pay for. Many of the cheaper lights use regular batteries. This can be good but expensive.

One of the key things for me is being seen. A good light will help you do this. Many cyclists are just hard to see at night. Reflectors and shiny flashing red lights only go so far. You need something that will catch a drivers attention.

If you want a full blown discussion on lighting, look up brevets and find one of the mailing lists. These guys have endless discussions on lighting. These are very long distance rides and many involve riding through the night.

Answer by its10after10
go HID (high intensity discharge)a 12 watt HID system is equivelent to 40 watts in halogen and by using less watts, HID lasts longer per charge. also go with the lithium ion battery. Niterider has a HID lit-ion set up that weighs 400gram compared to a 800-1000gram ni-cad, or nickelmetalhydride. they also have one that lasts 12 hours, and its so bright, cars will flash high beams at you cost:$ 590.00 ouch….but mercedes benz puts a 15,000 dollar HID system in their high end cars….its that good.