I'm a unicyclist (I've ridden 45,000 km), I have free hands, and there's nothing better than a light in your hand.

• I light my way with a light I hold in my hand.
• I light exactly where I need to, dazzling no one, neither cars nor pedestrians.
• I light in a way that means no one flashes at me, honks, complains or curses at me, etc.
• I communicate with pedestrians and cars using the torch.
• Pedestrians and cars know about me in time, they know where I'm going, etc.
• With the light in my hand I can show where I'm going.
• I think the light in my hand has many times stopped a car that wanted to endanger my health and life.

I've tried dozens of torches and invested an absurd amount of time studying lights.
I have several dozen torches in stock, both handheld and for the unicycle.
I make mounts, shades, diffusers and diffuser-shades.
I'd rather advise you for free than have you buy something that doesn't work ideally and costs several times more than something better.

EUC handheld lights are divided into:

• a light for fast riding - slower riding
• torches by weight: light - heavy
• torches by size: compact - large
• a light for the forest, etc.
• a light for better communication with pedestrians, cyclists and cars
• a compromise for multiple purposes
• by light colour: warm - neutral - cool

On the road and in the city I definitely use a completely different light than for the forest, etc.

Popular types of lights

• Torches with a narrow beam
  • + shines further into the distance
  • + suitable for fast riding
  • + best suited for communicating with cars and pedestrians
  • + better for the city, for traffic, among people
  • + easier to light exactly where you need without dazzling anyone
  • - not suitable for slow riding
  • - not suitable for lighting up close (under your feet)
  • - not suitable for the forest
  • - poorly lights the area right in front of the wheel

• Torches with a wider beam
  • + shines more widely = less throw into the distance
  • + suitable for slower riding
  • + suitable for riding through the forest, etc.
  • - shines less into the distance
  • - greater chance of dazzling someone
  • - harder for those around you to understand when you communicate using the torch

Basic properties of the torch you want

• Rechargeable battery
  • the best power source is a replaceable li-ion 18650 or 21700 cell (other cell sizes are less cost-effective, there's a smaller selection, etc.) You can take such a cell as a spare in your pocket. You can charge it in an external charger.
  • A built-in cell is still an acceptable alternative, but a less advantageous one. The cell can't be replaced.
  • Lighting with classic disposable batteries is economically and ecologically unacceptable.
• The option to charge the torch via USB-C (micro-USB is also acceptable, even though it's "the stone age" these days)
• A classic control button at the front. A rear control button in the style of tactical torches for the army and police is clearly unsuitable for unicyclists; your hand would hurt and you'd also increase air resistance.
• High brightness of the torch. It's good to look not only at the maximum brightness; some torches also have an extreme brightness = turbo = a brightness that really lasts only a very short time. It's also good to know the nominal brightness = the brightness the torch maintains over a long time. With a torch in your hand, especially when riding in the city, you don't light non-stop but only when you need to, or you change the brightness as needed = you can often use turbo too. With a light on the unicycle you ideally turn the torch on and then don't touch it = you run on the nominal, long-term brightness.
• Colour rendering quality = Colour rendering index R_a (CRI – color rendering index) = the better the colour rendering, the more colours you can perceive = the better you see.
• Colour temperature of the light (also chromaticity temperature)
  • warm light - 2700 K - a light bulb, the sun at sunrise and sunset - very pleasant light that dazzles and disturbs the surroundings the least, usually has better colour rendering
  • warmer neutral white - 4000 K - the usual warmer, more pleasant daylight, usually has better colour rendering - personally I recommend this one perhaps the most
  • cooler neutral white - 5000 K - the usual bright daylight, you can still find a light with good colour rendering - personally I recommend it for lovers of cool light
  • cool white - 6000 K - the brightest midday light; in my view natural white ends here, it's often hard to find a light with good colour rendering - I consider this the last, coolest usable light
  • blue white 7000 K and more - usually miserable colour rendering, a false sense of greater brightness with poor resolving ability, it was heavily promoted in the early days of LEDs when they were in their infancy, low quality and shone exactly with this light. It's a very unpleasant, dazzling light for those around you. My first EUC torch shone like this; I'll be glad to get rid of it if anyone is interested.
• Light control
  • The best light control is on lights with the Anduril 2 firmware - wonderfully pleasant, simple, natural control of the torch, which also offers an almost absurd number of additional functions
  • Anduril-style control - a simplified firmware that takes the great control basics from Anduril and removes the advanced, less important functions
  • an example of poor control: OFF - maximum brightness - medium brightness - lowest brightness - strobe - SOS. For example, when I want the lowest brightness (so it doesn't dazzle me and the surroundings), I first have to turn on the maximum brightness, then the medium brightness and only then do I get the lowest brightness I wanted. Then when I want to turn the torch off, I treat myself and my surroundings to a strobe, then a "super useful" SOS, and only then does the torch finally turn off. That's really something you "want".
• water resistance of the torch
  • most torches end up managing everything somehow, whether they're rated for it or not
  • it's more sensible, though, for them to be rated for immersion in shallow water; almost all the torches I offer should manage this. Please don't immerse any devices in water - don't do it with a torch, your "waterproof" phone, or your unicycle. If you need above-average high water resistance, check that your torch's sealing O-rings are in good condition and grease the threads with silicone petroleum jelly (without greasing, some torches failed in tests and managed it after greasing).
  • diving torches = torches you really don't have to worry about using underwater - I don't recommend them, they're not suitable for unicyclists, poor control, etc.
• The right beam for the given occasion
  • the optics of torches is a slightly more complicated topic
  • the main thing is that the torch doesn't dazzle, which can sometimes be adjusted with a shade and sometimes unfortunately can't, or only with great difficulty (torches with more LEDs, TIR optics, etc.)

Torch prices

• Bike blinker - approximate price: from 150 to 500 CZK - de facto unusable for actual lighting
• Headlamp - approximate price: 600 CZK - if you have this light as an auxiliary light on the wheel, in an emergency you can hold it in your hand and light your way better with it
• Handheld torches - approximate price: from 800 to 3,000 CZK - torches meant for lighting by hand; the lightest, smallest models can also be used as an auxiliary light on the unicycle.
  • From the cheapest light, compact torch that's perfectly adequate for slower riding.
  • Up to a torch that's a car's "high beam" in your hand (theoretical throw 1000 m, usable throw at most 500 m)
  • Up to a madness that simply makes "day in the night" (16,000 lm for a short time)
• Shades for torches - approximate price: from a freebie to 100 CZK

I try to keep several dozen handheld torches and unicycle lights in stock.

If you're interested in a torch or just want advice, contact me by phone: +420 602 717 084 (11:00 - 21:00)

I sell the best, highest-quality Chinese torches on the market; they're highly valued in the flashlight community and usually outperform much more expensive torches in quality.

I try to keep prices as low as possible, as if you ordered the torch yourself from China.

I don't recommend most of the torches you'll commonly find from a Chinese seller; in particular, watch out for various torches that claim a brightness of 1,000,000 lm or a throw of 10 km - they're usually ...

The torches commonly available on the Czech market are mostly a stone-age tragedy, often even on ordinary batteries, and when they do start to get a bit interesting, they often cost many times more than they should.

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A light on the unicycle

• Personally, most of the time I have all the lights on the wheel just to be seen.
• A light on the wheel either doesn't light or it dazzles, and when it dazzles it just as often doesn't light where I need it (into a bend, uphill).
• The need to light only with a light that's on the unicycle, in my opinion, stems from comparing the unicycle with traditional means of transport that have handlebars or a steering wheel = the rider doesn't have free hands = can't dedicate one hand to controlling a light.
• You'll find more about auxiliary lights for the unicycle in a separate article.

A light on the helmet

• We've of course tried a light on the helmet too; we kept shouting at each other with friends: "turn it off right now, or ..."
• A light on the helmet keeps dazzling someone.
• You often want your head turned somewhere other than where you want to light.
• A light on the helmet is probably fine somewhere in the forest where there are no people, just like lights on the wheel.

Powerful auxiliary lights for your unicycle.
Auxiliary lights significantly increase your visibility and safety when riding in traffic and in poor conditions.
Choose the type of light according to your riding style, your machine and the environment where you ride most often.