Smart Lunar 35 Bike Light

I ride to work most days and up until the clocks changed I didn't really need a very bright light.

I used to ride to London, via an over ground train, in to the office everyday.  So I was using a CatEye OptiCube HL- EL300 and it was fine.
It didn't need to light up the road too much because of street lights, it just needed to make me be seen and, although it was a bit battered and scratched, it did it's job very well.

Since then I have changed jobs and didn't ride to work any more until recently.  I moved office which was closer to home, which prompted me to cycle to work again.

All was fine until the clocks changed over at the weekend, meaning my cycle home was now in the dark.
The journey was going well until I got to a stretch of road that was unlit.
The CateEye OptiCube HL-EL300 was not up to the job on this stretch of unlit road.  I could barely see the road in front of me and if it wasn't for the headlights of the cars going past I'd have probably crashed in to the curb!
It was time to get a new light, so I cracked open my laptop and searched the internet.

While searching for a new bicycle light I found that there are two types of light, those with a built in rechargeable battery and those that require batteries.  I can see why it's nice to have a built-in rechargeable battery but after a limited number of recharge cycles the battery will eventually die.  This means you will eventually have to purchase a new light.  Rather than have this happen I wanted a bike light that needed batteries.  The only down side to this option is that there are a limited number of high powered cycle lights that use batteries.

Searching around on the internet, and reading reviews, I came across a bicycle light from Smart; Smart Lunar 35.  It requires two AA, LR-06, batteries and has three different modes; steady low power beam, steady high power beam, and flashing high power beam.
The stated running times are:

• 12 hours in low power mode.
• 5 hours in high power mode.
• 18 hours in flashing mode.

It comes with a mounting bracket that doesn't require any rubber padding and just a screw driver to fit.

Also included are two alkaline AA, LR-06, batteries.

When I first received the light I was wondering how it would compare to my old CatEye, would it be brighter?  The short answer is yes, yes it was!
It was a lot brighter than my old CatEye OptiCube and was focused in to one point.  With the light off you can see that it is just one LED bulb with a reflector behind, which focuses the light in to a point.

I waited until it was dark and tried it out on my bicycle, what a difference it made!  This light, lights up the ground very well.  The light is focus in to a point about a foot, or so, wide but this is large enough to see everything you need to see.

I would recommend this bicycle light for use on lit and unlit roads but if your after car head light brightness then I think your only option is a rechargeable bicycle light.