Alot of good info on lights lately
but
can only aford one light – should I go bar mounted or helmet mounted?
Opinions please.

Helmet – but split your budget and get both. deal extreme torch for £30 or something is well cheap and worthwhile

I think it depends on how your brain processes visual input into 3 dimensions I think.

I can’t stand helmet mounted only, because it removes all shadows and everything looks flat. Consequently I find it really hard to ride!

However other people don’t seem to have this problem and can ride perfectly well, enjoying the advantage of being able to see wherever they look.

Get something that can be helmet or bar mounted, then you can switch til you find what you like 🙂

Do you have a budget/ceiling price, in mind ?.

I think it depends on how your brain processes visual input into 3 dimensions I think.

I can’t stand helmet mounted only, because it removes all shadows and everything looks flat. Consequently I find it really hard to ride!

First foray into helmet mounted lights was at the D2D and I found it hard to get used to with all the rain. The light really lit every drop up right in front of your face & it was quite hard to see ‘through’ all the bright droplets.
It was a bit like putting main beam on in fog.

I got used to it after a while and running the light on low mode helped, but I was definitely glad I also had the bar mounted light!

Thanks for the replies.
I was thinking in tems of the new Joystick.
I have a set of Electron 16 LED which my better half can use when we are out together (bout once a week) and I was thinking of using the Joystick. But if I’m out on my own or with mates I can use both.
Just not sure what it would be like using the Joystick on its own when out with partner?
Cheers

The new Joystick at 300 lumens is plenty for riding off road on your own. If you are in a group it will be drowned by others with brighter lights

A iainc says but there is more light available for less money

As for helmet mounted in the rain its rubbish – you need bar mounted then

Myself I like to have both.

Or like I say you could just have one that mounts either way.

I was a bit sceptical of all the DealExtreme & equivalent lights, but bought one of these a few weeks ago for helmet mounting:

http://www.spokeshirts.co.uk/product.php?productid=16399&cat=0&page=1

and it does a great job. Comes with helmet & bar mounts + an extension lead. Battery is good for 3hrs on high/9hrs on low and seems well sealed.

It may not have the finish quality of the Joystick, but once you get above a certain level of quality I’m not sure you actually gain anything. The Spokeshirt light definitely isn’t lacking in quality.

I took some beam shots of it, comparing it to my Lumi LED conversion. Pics here:

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/spokeshirt-light-beam-shots-pics-of-helmet-mount

Well worth considering.

Saw the pics earlier – impressive but I didn’t fancy the cables for a head mounted light – also whats it like for weight?

From the website, the light unit with bracket weighs under 180gram.
Mounted on my helmet, it’s barely noticeable as extra weight, although that was with the battery stuck in my rucsack. I haven’t tried mounting the battery to the helmet as well to see how practical that is.

I’ll agree that wireless operation is advantageous, but for me the benefits weren’t worth the extra cost, especially as the Spokeshirts light is so bright.

I use two cheap DX torches – one on the bars and one on the head. Works very well and lots more light than a Joystick for less money, but runtime may be an issue if you’re doing longer rides. However, I usually only have time for maybe an hour or so after work in winter so a good solution for me. Can’t go far wrong with one of these:
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12325

You’ll need batteries and charger to go with it, all of which you can get cheaply from DX. Not the fanciest way to go, but cheap as chips and as much light as you are ever going to need.

I use a Spark up top and a DX on the bars, the latter i’ve only just started using, but not impressed as after charging over night the battery seems to only last an hour which can’t be right.

DX torch, SKU12060.
The lights they do with battery packs seem unreliable by all accounts.
Least with the torch you can just swap cells over.

i have a nukeproof reactor on the bars and soon will have a one23 on the helmet