Im thinking of joining a local club in swansea which does night rides every week through the winter.

Apart from immediately thinking of Hope lights, what would be a sensibly priced combination to get me started. From what i understand I need one for my helmet and one for the bars

Appreciate any advice

Tom

I personally think night riding, road and xc is the brilliant. Whether its a local group ride, DD or something like Dusk til Dawn.

I prefer bars and helmet, an old(once new obz) vision2 used to be fine with a joysick on your helmet but now you can get drowned out by shadows from other riders mega lights . So the option os something no name from China.

However both Hope and Exposure have been good to me over the years, so I would say spend a bit on a decent light from either see how you get on and maybe buy another at a later date.

I’ve been night riding for about five years. For the last three I’ve been running a MTBBatteries Lumenator on the bars and a Solarstorm X2 on my lid with battery in my camelbak.

Combined, should set you back about £125. The Chinese stuff is of variable quality and some of the chargers are downright dangerous, but I’ve not had any issues with this.

The lumenator on the bars is softer light and more floody, the solarstorm is more spotty and better for a helmet light.

The £155 combo at the bottom of this page looks good to me too.

MTBBatteries

Whatever you do, go for it. Night riding is ace. Get in with a group, don’t shirk your round at the pub afterwards and you’ll be laughing.

You can start with a single cheap light to see if you like it.

I bet if you ask the club someone will lend you a spare.

Hope that wasn’t aimed at me Dan! My lights are charging right now so hoping to be out on Weds.

Not aimed at you, fella.

Pretty sure you don’t shirk a round – just maybe your attendance is not, ahem, 100%.

Look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

To the OP, if you do go for a Chinese light, have a look at the battery and don’t be afraid to insulation tape the hell out of it to seal it up better.

Or just buy a decent light from a UK company. Honestly if I could post a pic of my Diablo it looks likes it been through war but is still rock solid after 6 years.

I use an old Hope Vision 2 on the bar and an Exposure Joystick on my helmet. It’s worked well for me for a few years now.

I had to send the Hope back for repair (it was well out if warranty). Hope sorted it out free of charge and turned it around in a few days.

Or just buy a decent light from a UK company.

Yep, would be the preferred option, but a lot of people don’t have the funds to go fully ‘nice’.

As I said, I lucked out with my solarstorm as it has been excellent for 3+ years and my house is still standing. I fully accept that the Chinese stuff is more pot luck. However, put the charger safety issue to one side if you can. I reckon you could have 3-4 Chinese lights for the same money as a pukka brand and you would be 95% certain to get a good ‘un. This is completely unscientific and merely my perception.

For me, the issue is around safety of charger and battery, and on this point I agree with you.

Anyway, the key is to throw yourself into night riding. Work out what works for you and get on with it. It’s also a good pastime for really insincere people as one of the golden rules is not to look anyone in the eye if you’re using a helmet light 😉

I’d forget all the cheaper and less safe alternatives.
Some people may rave about them but
I have a Hope 4? on the bars and an Exposure Diablo on the lid; both around ten years old,
Expensive at the time (couldn’t afford them now).
but still in the middle ground of prices.
I wouldn’t go Chinese but also wouldn’t go Exposure 6 Pack ( not needed by most).

Couple of solarstorm x3 off eBay. 30 notes for the pair. Very bright. Lots of Chinese lumens. The old laptop batteries should last good year or so.
I get two hours out of mine.

Just charge them on an extension lead in the garden in a tin. That way if they do explode you’ll be ok.

I’ve had no problem to be fair. 100% would buy again.

Another vote for MTB Batteries, good light and excellent service.

From what i understand I need one for my helmet and one for the bars

You don’t *need* both and I’d say a single good light would be a better buy first than two poor ones.

Headlight puts light where you’re looking (so you can corner a bit quicker) but flattens the trail so can be hard to see obstacles. Bar light gives more shadow so you can read the trail but you might have to take some corners a bit slower. Start with a bar light.

I started with a cheapo wf501b (<£5) bungeed on the helmet. it worked fine. When i wanted to roll faster/longer I switched to a chinese helmet light (which isnt as good as a mates magicshine, but its also only 20% of the price).

The bigger question is “what are your mates running”. If they’re packing a lot more light than you are, the shadows when they’re behind you will drive you nuts.

Anyone tried one of these? The light looks good but I’m not sure about the bar mount.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Boruit-6L2-Endurance-6x-Cree-XM-L2-led-bike-light-with-head-mount/122767837472

Torchy has quite a good rep and after seeing recommendations on here last year I ended up buying three of his lights, two for me and one for my daughter, and I’ve been very impressed by them. I have the BK3 & 7 models.

As mentioned by others above,you could do a lot worse than go for the mtb batteries options. Great lights at a great price. I’ve the Lumenator on the bars and the small one on my helmet. Think they do both for £155 as a bundle which is ridiculously cheap given how good they are. Properly tested as well so no fires (hopefully). Had mine for nearly 5 years with no issues and still hold charge very well

I use Chinese lights (BT40s and some sort of torch) but with Torchy batteries (4 cell about £30 and single Panny 18650 £10) and charger (£7 iirc for 2a)

I started with a £30ebay job (uk seller punting out Chinese lights)

Upgraded to an mtbbatteries lumenator, using the above light as a helmet light. Worked pretty well, and if funds were tighter (they were at the time) I’d be more than happy.

Now I’m a bit more flush, I’ve a Hope R2 on my helmet and and an R8 plus on the bars and they’re brilliant. not cheap, but brilliant.