Night Lights?

[SloMoJo]

What kinda night lights you folks use and why?
Gettin to be that time O year.
Thx
-SMJ

[pk]

My favs are the new Niterider HID blowtorch and/or storm. The only downside is the price--$369 retail! Yipes!

However, these things blow everything else away, and you can finally see where you're going, even as you zip downhill.

I've only had them a few months, so we'll see how long they work.

pk

[Dino Sore]

I'll second the thumbs-up on the Storm HID. Expensive, but it throws an amazing amount of light and has a 4 hour burn time.

I have heard some people say they don't like the "whiteness" of the HID light because it washes out the shadows and makes it harder to see things in the trail. I personally don't have a problem with this; I want as much light as possible.

Since the Storm is a helmet mount, I also use a inexpensive handle-bar mounted light with rechargable NMHi AA batteries. I turn it on for additional extra light in trouble spots and when riding on the road between trails.

Don't forget to get a small flashlight (or LED) so that you can find your way out of the woods if your main lights fail.

[johnnyt]

Anyone used the Trail Rat 2.0 on the helmet? Looks like a good little light, and very nice on the wallet...

[SloMoJo]

Thanks guys.

Just got my L&M Cabeza Logic headlight. Well designed light! $235 with Turbo charge unit. Love it!

Had a great ride last night!
-SMJ

[hogboy]

I'll second the thumbs-up on the Storm HID. Expensive, but it throws an amazing amount of light and has a 4 hour burn time.

I have heard some people say they don't like the "whiteness" of the HID light because it washes out the shadows and makes it harder to see things in the trail. I personally don't have a problem with this; I want as much light as possible.

Since the Storm is a helmet mount, I also use a inexpensive handle-bar mounted light with rechargable NMHi AA batteries. I turn it on for additional extra light in trouble spots and when riding on the road between trails.

Don't forget to get a small flashlight (or LED) so that you can find your way out of the woods if your main lights fail.





anyone who says it washes out the shadows doesn't know what they are talking about. My HID system creates perfect black shadows which clearly define the terrain far better than an normal bulb


if you use a light on your head THEN I can see a problem. head mounted systems are dumb IMHO because there are -no- shadows, making everything look flat [but this is with any light not just HID light].


I have a NR Blowtorch and it is awesome

[splat]

I use a Home made System with a 28 watt Halogen spot light mounted on my head. I use 2 7.2 volt 4.0 Ah Nii-Cad paks to power it. I also carry a Cat eye 2.6 watt ( 4 AA nicads ) handle bar mount for emergency purpose.

I have several other home made systems But this one works the best off road.

[Adam]

The HID lights are the way to go! Niterider Storm & Cateye Stadium3 are wonderful lights standalone, and together they make a dark, technical night ride seem like a noontime lunch outing.
Most HID lights have a much brighter light, but that's only 1/2 the advantage over a standard light set. Many HID sets have a 3.5-4 hr battery life, so not only are they bright-they'll last as long as you on a night ride.
Adam

[guitarsark]

I have the handlebar mounted trail rat which was about 90 bucks. I do like it, but think I might get a helmet mounted one to. one trail rat is fine if you travel in a group, but i find it's not quite bright enough for solo riding.'

[C.P.]

Sorry to bring up the fact that it's that time of year again.(getting dark earlier)
I am getting the lights charged up and ready for ridin.
I need some niterider "digital" advice if anyone has it.
I dug up my wife's 1 season old Niterider Digital single beam light, and plugged it into the charger, and the charger showed a blinking red light. The manual states that this blinking red light can mean 1 of two things.
Either the charger is in "trickle" charge mode when the battery is really low/high on charge, and automatically goes to full charge when the battery reaches a certain level, or there is an "error".

Okay, after sitting overnight, it's still blinking, and means I have an "error"...what now? back to Niterider? Is there anything else I should try before sending it back?

Thanks

[joe]

I'm also in the market for a new light. I have a helmet light that I'm not terribly pleased with (battery issues) so I am looking to get something to mount on my handlebars.

I noticed that Supergo is selling the 2003 Light & Motion Dual Logic with the turbo charger for $200, which seems like a really sweet dealcheap (the list price on this light with the turbo charger is $390). Has anyone used one? Anyone know if L&M has something up their sleeve for 2004 that might explain Supergo unloading these lights at 50% off retail?

[nhiker]

Performance viewpoint on the helmet and night sun Team on the bar. Plenty O light!

[If_Rider]

Sorry to bring up the fact that it's that time of year again.(getting dark earlier)
I am getting the lights charged up and ready for ridin.
I need some niterider "digital" advice if anyone has it.
I dug up my wife's 1 season old Niterider Digital single beam light, and plugged it into the charger, and the charger showed a blinking red light. The manual states that this blinking red light can mean 1 of two things.
Either the charger is in "trickle" charge mode when the battery is really low/high on charge, and automatically goes to full charge when the battery reaches a certain level, or there is an "error".

Okay, after sitting overnight, it's still blinking, and means I have an "error"...what now? back to Niterider? Is there anything else I should try before sending it back?

Thanks


CP,

If you have a voltmeter, check the voltage of the battery and the output of the charger. Chances are the battery's cooked if it sat around for too long without being charged (especially true if it's put away in the discharged state). What type of battery is it? The charger may have failed too but I'm not familiar with them so I'm throwing darts here. Digital chargers have more circuitry for monitoring the charging circuit etc, so there's more that can go wrong with them.

I have a VM and if you want I'd be happy to take a quick look at it.

Mike

[C.P.]

Thanks, IF

I called NR, and they said it can take up to 24 hours for the charger to bring a fully discharged battery out of that state, so it can go to full charge - somehow the digital circuitry in the charger does this - all while keeping the error light blinking...It's been just about 24 hours, and it's still blinking. I'll try the VM thing out tonight for sure.
After that, it goes back to NR.

C.P.