light recomendations for this winter

[DirkaDirkaJack]

so i have had a niterider light in the past, the rubber-band-onto-your-bars thing is ridiculous and the battery didnt stay charged.

also had (have) a light in motion stella and the plastic mount broke.

what does not suck these days? planning to buy new...

those lezyne lights look pretty cool and aren't super expensive...

look for a bar light and a helmet light.

[kidwoo]

jett lights

Good stuff

[DeathVan]

Check out FoxFury
-serious illumination

http://www.foxfury.com

[jamesp]

http://www.ayup-lights.com/

[zion zig zag]

How are the magicshines?

[climberevan]

I have had mixed luck with the direct-from-China ebay lights. They are basically knock-offs of the Magicshines, but incredibly cheap. I recently bought a headlamp-style one for $26--shipped from China. That is an XML, cnc-ed body, and 2 18650 Li cells with charger! For those prices, it's ok to just buy several and roll the dice. If one dies, you can do what I did and replace the guts for about $10 worth of LED and driver.

That said, the more expensive ones are definitely nicer and more reliable. For $100-200 more they ought to be.

http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/ more than you ever wanted to know.

[reynolds.trailrun]

Magicshine are good just be prepared to fiddle with them, i.e. the mounts are suspect. They tend to move around on the handlebar and helmet mount as they are not that stable. But for the price tag they are nice. Probably my next light will be a Jet Lite but that is a ways off... grad school does not support that budget option.

[Greguar]

I recently pulled the trigger on that pro 1800 single beam niterider for ~$250 or so. Surprised noone is recommending that as at 1800 lumens it was the brightest single bulb unit I could find. Is their lumen rating just bull shit or what?

[Swine]

I'm pretty damn happy with my L&M Seca 1700, ain't cheap, but I like supporting American made and engineered. Mine has a rubber strap type attachment, has been working out so far (and I mach down rocky shit at night with it on the bar). Also, I bet L&M would hook you up with a new mount for the Stella...

[Dr.Sih]

I have been thinking about getting one of these. Its pretty inexpensive, but that might speak for the quality.

Worth a look though.

http://www.superbrightleds.com/morei...amp/1187/2798/

[biggins]

Slight thread-jack, any recommendations on a tough, clip-on dog collar light? I used an old bike taillight the other night and he shook it into uselessness in about 30 seconds.

I'll recommend Magicshine- though I've only used it twice so far so I cannot comment on long-term durability.

[Shredhead]

Slight thread-jack, any recommendations on a tough, clip-on dog collar light? I used an old bike taillight the other night and he shook it into uselessness in about 30 seconds.

http://www.amazon.com/Nite-Ize-SLG-0...+led+pet+light

I've tried everything and these work the best. Red is the easiest to see from a distance, but I have two dogs so use white also. They last up to a month and I use them a lot.
Buy a couple because batteries can cost just as much, they take two, if you don't buy them on line!

[supermodel159]

Slight thread-jack, any recommendations on a tough, clip-on dog collar light? I used an old bike taillight the other night and he shook it into uselessness in about 30 seconds.

I'll recommend Magicshine- though I've only used it twice so far so I cannot comment on long-term durability.

I love my magicshine. Like someone said though, their mounts are not the best.

[Beaver]

Fenix make some really nice lights. Headlamps, bike lights, tactical lights. Bright as fuck. I've got a headlamp now I want a light to clamp to my Ruger for killing coyotes.

[bean]

Also, I bet L&M would hook you up with a new mount for the Stella...

They sell the mounts on their store, which are reasonably priced. What is not reasonably priced is the cost of shipping for a stupid little plastic mount. I've broken and replaced both mounts on my L&M commuter lights and ended up paying about half the cost of new for the replacements. Their lights are nice, but the mounts are garbage and absurdly expensive to replace, and I won't be buying anything from L&M until they fix that.

[brannen]

Slight thread-jack, any recommendations on a tough, clip-on dog collar light? I used an old bike taillight the other night and he shook it into uselessness in about 30 seconds.




I'll recommend Magicshine- though I've only used it twice so far so I cannot comment on long-term durability.

this light has lasted for a few years, just changed batteries once. he swims with it, snow, swamps, deer carcass; its pretty indestructible

http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.a...2&pdeptid=2120




hmmm, magicshine is relevant again?

[jm2e]

hmmm, magicshine is relevant again?

Not since Geomangear went under. If I want cheap Chinese lights that might burn the house down, I'll go to ebay and stop looking in here for advice.

[reynolds.trailrun]

Um they are now being offered by Magicshineusa.com. Seems to have a similar warranty though I have not had an issue with any of my lights (1000 lumen, 400 lumen, and 85 lumen back light for my commuter).

[jm2e]

wow. i did not know that.

[JoshP]

I got in my first ride with a new Magicshine 872 last Friday night. So fun. Can't speak to its long term worthiness yet, but it ran flawlessly for its maiden voyage, and is insanely bright (1600 lumens at the highest setting, which I didn't even need). Really happy so far, and geeked on riding in the dark. Its a hoot.

[BrianH]

I took my first night ride of the season last night with L&M's Seca 1700. It worked fine, and overall I like the setup. But now I'm bummed to read about the mount failing. We'll see, I'm running it on my helmet, that might make a difference.

Stupid question: I don't know if this is an optical illusion or what, but as I went over obstacles, I had the feeling the light was blinking on and off. It made me wonder if there was a loose connection, or a short.

Was it just my eyes and brain getting used to the way the light changed as it reflected off of different things as the bike and my helmet moved? When stopped and I shook my head I didn't notice this issue.

[Denbar]

so i have had a niterider light in the past, the rubber-band-onto-your-bars thing is ridiculous and the battery didnt stay charged.

also had (have) a light in motion stella and the plastic mount broke.

what does not suck these days? planning to buy new click here...

those lezyne lights look pretty cool and aren't super expensive...

look for a bar light and a helmet light.

Why dont you try led lights. They are cool to

[zombinate]

Stupid question: I don't know if this is an optical illusion or what, but as I went over obstacles, I had the feeling the light was blinking on and off. It made me wonder if there was a loose connection, or a short.
Was it just my eyes and brain getting used to the way the light changed as it reflected off of different things as the bike and my helmet moved? When stopped and I shook my head I didn't notice this issue.

If riding with the helmet as your only light, there can be an adjustment period. Usually it manifests as obstacles that appear less gnarly than they are, this due to any shadowing being hidden due to the light source being so close to your eyes.
What you are describing sounds more like a short, or, more likely, the light bouncing a bit causing the beam to temporarily not shine where you expect it to. That said, the Seca 1700 is pretty bright, and on vs. "plunged into darkness" should be pretty notable. If you are feeling like you are seeing the latter, then a short is likely the culprit.

[JoshP]

I got in my first ride with a new Magicshine 872 last Friday night. So fun. Can't speak to its long term worthiness yet, but it ran flawlessly for its maiden voyage, and is insanely bright (1600 lumens at the highest setting, which I didn't even need). Really happy so far, and geeked on riding in the dark. Its a hoot.

So 10 hours of riding later, I still love this thing. Running it on the bars, with nothing on the helmet (yet, will probably add something next year) and don't even need the highest brightness. Holy crap is it fun to ride in the dark too. I am almost bummed out that we are going to get 6 inches in the valley so I will be switching to skis momentarily...almost.

[SchralphMacchio]

Bumping this thread. I need a decent combo for helmet light + bar light for < $250 combined. I only night ride maybe 12-15 times a year so it's hard to justify more than $200. I was thinking flood on bar and spot on helmet.

My old combo was MagicShine MJ-816 on bar and BD Storm headlamp on my forehead in spot mode. It worked, wasn't the greatest. Magicshine now stolen, hence the need for new lights.