Looking for and finding a quality set of lights for bicycle touring and commuting I have a couple ideas on this topic as daylight saving time begins this weekend.  

Preparing for commuting needs may simply mean having some nice bright little flashers to communicate your presence to motorists.  However, if you're one of those lucky commuters who enjoys the less traveled side roads or when enjoying more rural bike commutes you may want a front light that provides enough Lumens to light your way.  Pot holes, road debris, wet painted surfaces or wet metal surfaces, it can be quite a list of potential inanimate road hazards of night time commuting.  

My commutes are a mix of well lit moderate to high motorist traffic with plenty of very dark side roads without street lights both rural and historic residential areas.  Roads which are older and have plenty of potholes and loose road debris.  In fact I recently repaired a neighbors bike who had hit a large chunk of asphalt left behind by a road working crew on his regular bike riding route.  He didn't see the debris and upon hitting the piece went over the handle bars thus damaging his bike and his ego.  

For ten years I have been using a discontinued Cat Eye Opticube front light which doesn't offer a flashing mode. I put that old light on my mountain bike for trail riding as it has a 31.8mm clamp diameter and can be angled left or right for accurately lighting the center of the path.  And if I find myself pulling a trail stunt like neighbor hitting the asphalt, damage to my old light wouldn't be an issue.