Nite Riding - Lights

[PBG]

Starting to get caught in the dark when riding after work. I am looking for a handle bar / helmet set up. What works for you? Why?

[jdm]

I like a helmet light better than bar-mount. It is alway pointing where your are looking. Also, bar mount seems to be a little distracting on tight trails since the bars get moved around a lot.

I built some ~500 lumen lights with a few buddies for about $80 each. We machined & home-anodized aluminum housings, bought MC-E LEDs, lenses, and buckpucks. We scored on Li-ion batteries from a coworkers laptop that got step on.

[Jisch]

If you go with only one light, go with a helmet light. I have a Trailtech HID which has a ton of light - I am never envious of other's lights (maybe weight). I have really bad night vision and have no problems seeing well enough to go as fast as I want to. I've ridden with folks who have two HIDs one on the handlebars and one on the helmet and I think that's overkill, but it's bombproof.

John

[leebo]

Big fan of the minewt minis. Li-ion, LED. The basic set up is about 80, another 20 gets you the helmet mount. Been running them on the commuter for about 1 year now, throws a great beam, at least 60 ' .

[Slappy]

Big fan of the minewt minis. Li-ion, LED. The basic set up is about 80, another 20 gets you the helmet mount. Been running them on the commuter for about 1 year now, throws a great beam, at least 60 ' .


Second on the Minewts - good system for short $$.

[PBG]

Do you recommend Minewts with helmet mount for trial riding? My concern is it will not throw enough light.

[hammerhead]

I really like my Minewt helmet light. USB charged, plenty of light - comparable to (bluer but brighter) the old 15w Halogen.

Best riding is with both bar and helmet. Gives you much better depth perception than one or the other. Those things really matter in technical riding places, not so much in others...

H

[digger]

Helmet is my preference. But only alone if it's a full power modern lightset. On the bar will give you some shadows adding some depth perception. With a bright light, location doesn't matter as much.

While I have a Niterider HID that I've been using for a number of years, I saw this (http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_41&products_id=138) and had to see if it was for real. Not here yet but I'm hoping to give my neck a break and lose some weight. Some reports here (http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=521241).

[Slappy]

Do you recommend Minewts with helmet mount for trial riding? My concern is it will not throw enough light.

Guess it would depend on how much light you feel you need. No one in the group I regularly ride with runs expensive lighting systems and everyone gets by fine with Minewts or their equivalent. A bunch of us also have inoperable piles of junk that were once expensive lighting systems at home though. There's only so much $$ I'm willing to throw away on **** that doesn't hold up very long. :D

[antonio]

There's a thread going on at MTBR regarding a $90 light called the Magicshine with a claimed 900 lumens, and the initial reviews seem to be good. For the price I'd give them a shot, if I didn't already have a pair of lights that I'm happy with.

Don't forget to purchase a tail light as well, for cars coming up behind you on the road. I'm a fan of the Planetbike Superflash.

http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_41&products_id=138&zenid=8dnusfl0j6pi1tq2onu6vt4t95http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_41&products_id=138&zenid=8dnusfl0j6pi1tq2onu6vt4t95

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=521241&page=2

[Baked_Bean]

I like a helmet light better than bar-mount. It is alway pointing where your are looking. Also, bar mount seems to be a little distracting on tight trails since the bars get moved around a lot.

+1 - I found the bar mount to be tough in tight singletrack (especially the way I ride... wobbly):p, but the helmet mount works mint (for above reasons)

[woodsguy]

Are Digger and antonio the same person? :)

[antonio]

Oops. Sorry, didn't click on digger's links (still haven't, but I assume we're linking to the same sites).

[Jisch]

Geoman has the Magicshine light in stock:

http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4_41&products_id=138

I think I'm going to get one of those for my wife.
John

[leebo]

2 lights work best. If only one, it needs to be on the helmet, you turn your head for the turns before the bar swings around.

[wedgie]

Don't quote me on this but I think Pricepoint had a set of mininewts on sale for 169. I have a trinewt and I thought these looked like a good deal. Not sure if they are still on sale...

[hogboy]

2 lights work best. If only one, it needs to be on the helmet, you turn your head for the turns before the bar swings around.

this theory doesn't work for everyone

on head you cannot get the depth perception needed for rocks
and in fog and dust, forget it, you are blind

I am much faster with a single light on the bars.

[woodsguy]

this theory doesn't work for everyone

on head you cannot get the depth perception needed for rocks
and in fog and dust, forget it, you are blind

I am much faster with a single light on the bars.

Maybe on a road bike. On the twisty trails that I ride a bar light alone is almost uselsess as it would always be pointing into the woods and not on the trail.

But you do have a point that a head light reflects fog, rain, and dust. That is why both is best.

[BlackBlur]

I have a MiNewt X2 mounted on my helmet and it throws plenty of light! I suggest getting the X2 since it is much brighter than the original (Sol). It's very small, light and charges quick. Battery lasts longer than I can ride.

[woodsguy]

REI has 20% off bike lights.

[Jisch]

I just ordered the Magicshine, but it looks like I missed out on the stock that came in two days ago, so I probably won't see it for another couple of weeks. I'll post up when I get it.

I haven't been very successful at getting my wife out on night rides in the past, but we have done a bit of night skiing, it would be nice to have two bright lights for those adventures.

John

(edit - an old guy rant - why is it spelled "nite" in the title - is that extra letter that tough to manage? I fear our language is getting dumbed down by texting...)

[splat]

if you want to go Budget , home made is the way to go. funny thing is I have a Night rider HID , and yet I find my self using these more often.

One of Mine that is Helmet mount
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210494&highlight=cree

another persons handlebar mount

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214344&highlight=cree

[GeoMan]

I just ordered the Magicshine, but it looks like I missed out on the stock that came in two days ago, so I probably won't see it for another couple of weeks. I'll post up when I get it.


We'll likely ship yours later this week. I'm told to expect our next shipment tomorrow or Thursday.

:)

Geo

[kilozebra]

I picked up a set of MiNewt Mini USBs at REI (one plus [with the helmet mount and extension], one normal)... lots of light compared to what I've used on road rides before.

I haven't had them on the trail yet, but they seem like they'll be sufficient for my slow paced self. :)

A quick comparison shot against my 3.5W DuraVisonPro XLT-35000 cheapie (which, previously, I thought was "bright" :) ):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3451/3895336156_0c807f2172_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kha0s/3895336156/)

[hogboy]

Maybe on a road bike. On the twisty trails that I ride a bar light alone is almost uselsess as it would always be pointing into the woods and not on the trail.

But you do have a point that a head light reflects fog, rain, and dust. That is why both is best.

for you maybe. for me, lights on the bars.

[Sparkster]

www.exposurelights.com
why would you want anything else?

[digger]

A couple of shots showing the size of this thing. The light is not super small but I can't believe the size of the battery. Hard to believe 3 hrs. on high. I purchased a lupine helmet mount but was able to tape a small piece of plastic radiused like a handlebar to the central web on my helmet. If you need a helmet mount I'd wait until geoman has the cheap magicshine mount ready to ship.

I have had the light out but not in full darkness or with other riders for comparison. But it's bright, certainly enough to ride at a good clip. A recent mtbr post (http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=554139) goes into a little more detail in the beam and brightness. The unit seems well built and all was functional out of the box.

I'm going to use this in place of my HID - it's so much lighter on the helmet. Definitely good light for the price.

[Jisch]

I just got the Magicshine today as well. I rigged up a similar helmet mount (wish I knew there was a helmet mount on the way - but I had to do a similar rig job for my Trailtech and it's still working great 2 years later). I'll make a more permanent one once I see how my wife likes night riding - her first time a few years ago she loved it while we were out, but strangely I haven't been able to get her to go out since. Hopefully we'll get out tonight and see how it works out.

A guy on the night ride on Thursday had a Lupine LED light, it was brighter than my HID for sure - not saying this is a Lupine, but it was amazingly bright.

John

[Jisch]

Well I guess that's the end of the line for HID!

After a ride last night I can say that the Magicshine LED produces about the same amount of light as my Trailtech HID (Trailtech uses the same bulb as Niterider HID systems). The battery weighs about a third of my HID battery - likewise with the light itself. The light has a brighter and more focused center spot, with a bit less light outside of the center spot - but still plenty of spill over to see. Last night was pretty warm, and the Magicshine got a bit warm, but not as warm as my HID.

Anyone looking for a light system should get one (or two) of these. I guess long term durability is still a question, but it looks like its well put together and solid. I read something about putting some silicone around the coil inside the light due to vibration concerns, that may affect longevity of the system, but at $89 you really can't go wrong!

I'm very impressed...
John

[xcaliber]

I run the Minewt X2 on the bars and the Mininewt USB on the helmet. Worked great at Batchelor Street a few Fridays ago.

[Aging Wannabee]

I ordered one of those Magicshine LED lights yesterday after reading this thread. Today I read this one: http://nobmob.com/node/9475
Which makes some suggestions about "thermal putty" and must have pointed me to another review where this DIYer took the thing apart and critiqued it.

Do any of youz guys have them yet? How are they? Have you done any of the suggested modifications? I understand that the thermal putty thing is pretty important to not only LED life, but BRIGHTNESS, since they don't shine as bright when they overheat.
I think I'm going to attempt that, if nothing else.

Also, I didn't notice when ordering, but apparently the mount is one of those rubber O ring jobs like wot holds my teeny little computer to the bars. Seems pretty flimsy to me.

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[06epic]

I have ridden with 2 different people who bought the Magicshines. It is pretty impressive for the $$$$. The beam doesn't seem as focused and long as some of the higher end lights. It is a very "white" light.
The mounting O ring doesn't seem to be a problem on bars. I see they now offer a helmet mount which appears to be the same design as what Lights in Motion uses for its Stella line up and it works good for their products.

I just picked up a Princetontec Switchback 3 from Nashbar for $159.99 with a coupon they offered. I have a Switchback 1 (now sub $100) that I have used for over a year and is a very nice light as well just wanted a little more. Both of these have very impressive run times on high.

[digger]

I have heard of one MS received from Geoman that came with a broken lens. He sorted that out. Saw a post about a broken base. Most seem happy. The O-ring is pretty big and like the rest of it pretty much a knockoff of a Lupine Tesla. It works fine.

[Jisch]

My wife has three rides with hers - so far so good. The mount is not an issue in my mind.

I read that the manufacturer added thermal paste to their manufacturing process at the request of Geoman. I didn't open ours up to see if that is in fact the case. According to Geoman, the manufacturer has made several changes based on his suggestions (which mostly came from his customers). I saw another post somewhere that suggested that there should be silicone holding the coil in place - though no response that I saw from the manufacturer on that front.

John

[Aging Wannabee]

Thanks Guys.
I hope mine comes with the new and improved thermal paste build. I sent geoman an email but haven't heard back yet.

Oh BTW - I have a 2007 Princeton Switchback II that I am unimpressed with. I read that they improved the brightness the next year however.

[Jisch]

I demoed a Pricetontec SwitchbackIII last year and was unimpressed as well - my HID definitely throws more light. I don't see much, if any, difference in light output between my HID and the MS.

John

[Boosted333]

I have the Niterider Enduro HID, from Chainlove, on my helmet and so far so good for both off-road and my road-bike.