Bike Lights?

**Nobody Famous** · 08-18-2005, 08:09 PM

The days are getting shorter and I'm thinking of riding later in the evening. Does anyone have experience with the new (front) bike lights?

I've seen a few local riders with these nice bright lights, riding around some side streets. I live in what is best described as a leafy-suburb, -- the side streets don't have many, if any, street lights, but the main streets do and are well lit. I'd be riding about 2/3 side streets and 1/3 dirt trails (no street lights, dark due to trees and vegetation), with a few blocks of riding on a busy, well lit, main street.

I know lights are designed either 'to be seen', or 'to see' (the stronger/brighter ones). I think I want the 'to see' variety. Anyone have experience with these lights? ... For ex. I read that Light & Motion is at the forefront of technology with light brightness, and charging/battery technology. But heat dissipation and cooling is an issue .

All the high end lights appear to sell in 275-450 dollar range. Has anyone use these lights, and is the high price worth it?

**mntlion** · 08-18-2005, 09:22 PM

get 10-15W and one on the head, one or two on the bars.

red LED flasher on the back.

**gravitylover** · 08-18-2005, 09:24 PM

I use the Light and Motion LiIon Ultra. SICK light! Worth the money for sure but $450 is a tough nut to swallow. For the last few years I used Marwi or BLT NiMh units but you needed two, handlebar and helmet. Now I just run the helmet.

**Darkside** · 08-18-2005, 09:44 PM

HID is the ticket. It's pricy, but it's worth it. Never worry about the battery dying (8hr. + runtime) and leaps and bounds stronger than any halogen. The Nitrider Firestorm is $450, and you won't be disappointed.

**wintermittent** · 08-18-2005, 09:57 PM

I just got back from an evening ride that turned into a little late-nite SAR and patient extraction, assisted by my bike light.

High end lights, whether they're tungsten halogen (incandescent) or discharge (arc), are an investment in time and money. Be prepared to accept the fact that at some point, a ballast, battery, cable, or lamp may fail and you'll have to send it back to the manufacturer for repair or replacement.

That being said, companies like Light and Motion and NiteRider generally take very good care of their customers.

I currenly ride with a Light and Motion ARC. 3 seasons of hard use. I commute with it, race with it, and patrol with it. Last year I had a ballast problem that was taken care of, no questions asked.

Arc lamps are BRIGHT, but can be finicky and are expensive. Standard incandescent lights are less bright, but are less expensive and a bit more reliable. LEDs really are the ideal bike light source, and brigher, higher-end models are starting to show up on the market now.

Take a look at the Light and Motion Vega. Very nice, reasonably priced, and surprisingly bright LED lamp. It's rechargeable. Might be a good start; you can always purchase a brighter unit to complement it if you really get into the night riding.

For mountain biking, a helmet-mounted main light and bar-mounted secondary source is ideal... Having two sources is a luxury, but it does add some depth of field to the stuff in the trail that's trying to kill you.

**Idris** · 08-18-2005, 11:02 PM

Tomorrow, if I'll try and explain how for a few $ and probably 2 hours effort you can build a light system brItighter than anything on the market.

Properly rigged it will make oncoming car driver think twice!

**Idris** · 08-18-2005, 11:02 PM

Must remember to buy red bull (the can is an important part of the system).

**El Chupacabra** · 08-18-2005, 11:15 PM

I have an old (original) NiteRider 12/20W "commuter" model, still running. Very bright. The battery is a water bottle style, which is pretty heavy -- I don't know if the newer HID ones are lighter (i.e. if they could use a smaller battery and get decent 3-4 hour run time).

-Karl

**Spats** · 08-18-2005, 11:52 PM

Or you can get two Planet Bike Super Spots for about $25 each at Nashbar (with perpetual 10% off coupon code). I'd see if that meets your expectations before dropping $250+. They're really, really bright -- enough to actually see the road by unless you're going very fast.

If you use them a lot you can get some NiMH rechargeables from Thomas Distributing.

My second choice would be the climbing/caving headlamp. If you have a $400 lighting system on your bike, you can't use it to go anywhere because it'll get stolen. The Super Spots you can just pop off and carry with you.

**Frozone** · 08-18-2005, 11:55 PM

There were a coupla years there where I don't remember riding with natural light or setting up a camp during the daylight. At the time there weren't nearly as many choices as there are today. I used (and still own) vista light halogens, 2 10w on the bars and a 15w on my head.

I've replaced all kinds of stuff on these over the years but replacing nicad batteries is expensive, I tried building my own but never really got the same brightness out of them.

Couple years back started riding with buddies who use Niterider HIDs at 24 hours of Moab, my set up started looking like a bic lighter. Jumped into research mode and found Jet lites for halogen and of course Niterider for HID. Jet seems to be able to make super bright lights that are more durable than HID, but then you have to deal with managing battery power by changing the brightness of your light as you ride (need less when you're climbing etc). As I called Jet dealers to ask about the lights and the company they raved, then I asked what they rode and they'd tell me "HID" mainly because you didn't have to worry about the battery, they're just more efficient. So I bought a niterider storm and have been pleased.

That said, you want a light on your head instead of your bars, and the HIDs are heavy and take some getting used to. As has been mentioned, HIDs are also fragile and expensive to repair and a few buddies have had issues with their Niteriders but have always been taken care of.

Finally, on the road, you probably don't need as much light as bombing single track in the dark, but who would ever want "less" light, especially when big, black garbage cans or construction road cuts suddenly appear out of nowhere when you're cruising at 25 mph. Definitely at least one rear flasher is required, more if you've got em, they're cheap.

As far as building goes, I've seen some pretty cool ideas, instructions, etc. that appear to work well if you're willing to put in the effort and are handy, it'll be interesting to see what IDRIS has for us. I'm just too busy (lazy) doing other things and the parts still cost money.

At any rate, night riding is always a blast but more so on the dirt than the pavement.

**Nobody Famous** · 08-19-2005, 05:54 AM

I'd also be intereted to hear what IRDIS has to say.

I found this very interesting comparison at MTB Review: http://www.mtbr.com/spotlight/lightshootout/

They've done a very nice job on the beam pattern comparisons, based on that alone, the combo approach throws off a lot of light.

**homerjay** · 08-19-2005, 08:49 AM

Get a light for your head, it's all you need. Blinker for the back if on roads.

In particular, Nite Rider Storm HID.

**TurxSki** · 05-29-2008, 05:40 PM

From 2005.
Anywho...I'm looking for a Rechargeable, SELF CONTAINED headlight. For *cheap*, like around $100.
In the past, I've been getting the own-brand models from Performance, and Nashbar, for about $40.
The latest incarnation is pretty bad. The light shines in your eyes, then the batteries come loose, then the contacts break

...So, I was thinking of buying a more expensive version

I don't want one with a seperate battery, though.
So, all I can find are the L&M Vega

Originally Posted by wintermittent

Take a look at the Light and Motion Vega

Or the Marwi NightPro Bullite
http://smartbikeparts.com/search_details.php?itm=LT7519

Or, possibly, one of these 2 CatEyes, from the Single Shot EL 600 series. although it's not clear if the rechargeable batteries go inside.
http://smartbikeparts.com/search_details.php?itm=LT4118
http://smartbikeparts.com/search_details.php?itm=LT4119

Do Y'all know of any other headlights with Self Contained, Rechargeable batteries?
Or any thoughts on the lights, above? Cheers!

**XXX-er** · 05-29-2008, 05:59 PM

I got a 2 lamp 10-15 BLT quartz halogens which are enough for simple trail rides that I leave mounted on an old hard shell vetta corsa ,I put the battery in my camelback .Trail riding at nite in light snow specialy after it has refrozen is lots of fun

I use the 10 going up and both coming down ,DO NOT try to switch on the go ,you will bobble on a bump and switch off the system completely while going downhill in complete darkness

The problem with one on the bike and one on the helmet is you either need 2 seperate battery packs or you are conected to the bike by the power cord if you need to get off or fall off

carrry a spare handlebar mountd LED just incase you have a problem

**Yukonrider** · 05-29-2008, 06:05 PM

How about one of these, I hear they are bright

**TurxSki** · 05-29-2008, 06:15 PM

^^^ NOT self-contained though

I hijacked this old thread (see above). Cheers

**Yukonrider** · 05-29-2008, 06:20 PM

I know It was an attempt at humor, i have no useful knowledge

**TurxSki** · 05-29-2008, 06:25 PM

Solly!
Perhaps you do. Have you ever been to the bike shop in Chi-town that's selling these lights? SmartBikeParts?

2908 N Wisner Chicago IL 60618

**Yukonrider** · 05-29-2008, 07:42 PM

Originally Posted by TurxSki

Solly!
Perhaps you do. Have you ever been to the bike shop in Chi-town that's selling these lights? SmartBikeParts?

I have not, thats about 20 minutes south of me though.

**Skipig25** · 05-29-2008, 07:49 PM

got a BD vectra IQ headlamp, ridden night DH with it a couple of times. that's about all you need to SEE. being seen is a different story

**Andy_B** · 05-29-2008, 08:05 PM

BR Lights, Pricey but nice.

**Crinkle** · 05-29-2008, 08:25 PM

LEDs and these low weight lights are cute and all, but if you plan on doing anything with speed, get something with some UMPHHH.

http://www.google.com/products?hl=en...&um=1&ie=UTF-8

less than 3 bills, brighter than a car light. Makes you a moving freight train through the night-time woods. I love mine.

**jepilot** · 05-29-2008, 11:35 PM

no love for this? http://www.ems.com/catalog/product_d...=1212125629807

Conundrum's got one, who else?

**Spats** · 05-30-2008, 02:19 AM

Modern tactical flashlights FTW!

I use one of these:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/t25-o...lashlight.html

190 lumens! That's basically the same as a Dinotte 200L, and a lot less money even if you don't already have a battery charger and NiMH batteries. Then you get this:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/tpec-ttg2800.html
And either these:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/hybrio.html
Or these:
http://www.batteryjunction.com/tpeh-taa2700-4-case.html

Look on CPForums for the 5% discount code to batteryjunction.

And one of these to mount it to your helmet:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12000

Total cost about $100. The Dinotte is basically the same thing in a more bicycle-specific package. Longer run time (4xAA battery pack), but not useful for anything but a bike light.

**m1e448** · 05-30-2008, 07:23 AM

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...Front%20Lights

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...Front%20Lights

either of these may work. I like spats solution above as well. I have some exposure lights which are self contained but may be a little out of your price range. They really were and still are ahead of their time. SLED's and self contained, with machined aluminum housings. People who had HID's were laughing at me when I got them over a niterider, but I'm laughing now.

http://www.use1.com/exposure/

The joystick sounds like it would be perfect for you but maybe a bit pricey.