Haven’t ridden off-road at night for “some time”, ok, about 6 years. My last front lights I used were a USE Enduro turbo (which I was always convinced would make a leap for freedom due to the spindly bracket) and never really got on with, and a set of Dinotte lamps – one on the bar and the other helmet mounted (both a bit unreliable last time I used them with short run time and probably now rather dim).
Without going mad, what’s current in terms of reasonably bright, reasonably long run time without too much infrastructure (I used to used Stadiums so was prepared to ride with infrastructure).
I’m doing a couple of 12/24 hour solos this year and just want something that’ll be reliable, have decent output and good runtime. I used to quite like having bar and helmet lights for depth perception and seeing into and through corners.
Trout Liberator?
Gloworm X1/ X2 combo?
Hope lamps seem quite pricey as do the current USE.
Are Lumicycle still worth it? Something like the Explorer Enduro?
I’m just a bit confused with the choice now…. It used to be so easy!
Some advice would be appreciated.

The mtbbatteries Lumenator is popular on here. I had one for a few rides and it was excellent.

Depends on what you want to spend really!
Have a V2 and Lumen 800 from Smudge at MTB Batteries, had the V2 for a few years and just upgraded my head lamp to the 800. Use them at 12 and 24 hour events and they are more than adequate for my needs.

Mtb batteries looks interesting……
Thanks

Are Lumicycle still worth it? Something like the Explorer Enduro?

I’ve used Lumicycle for years and I think they’re brilliant. Stone reliable and you can move up and down the light sequence, rather than having to cycle through levels to switch your light down which a lot of lights including the Lumenator thing. But they’re expensive.

I also think Exposure stuff is good, the Joystick is a brilliant, narrow beam helmet light with a stand-out mount and I like the programmability on the latest versions. Rutland Cycling were/are selling them way under RRP atm.

In a minute someone will tell you that you can buy 8-billion lumen lights on eBay or Amazon or from Tesco or whatever, which is true. They’ll also tell you that if they malfunction, you can simply buy another one for 20 quid. And then another one. And another. All of them shipped from China in a splendidly ecologically hostile way.

But anyway, I think the bottom line is that there are some very, very good quality lights out there, but you pay a premium for them. And there are some cheap and pretty bright ones out there, but if you’re doing a lot of night riding, then you might think it worth the investment for something more reliable.

I have a Lumenator as a ‘guest light’ and it’s decent enough and has survived so far. I think for a 24 solo, you’d need at least one spare battery pack of that, maybe two, but it would be fine teamed with a Joystick on the head with a back-up/support cell thing for the Joystick.

I can see why you’re confused. There’s so much out there and such a wide price spread that it’s a bit of a jungle. My take would be a Joystick on the helmet, plus a nice, wide, powerful flood on the bars. I use a Lumicycle, one of the newer ones, but equally you could spend a lot less and still get a lot of light for your money. I’ve yet to be convinced that the cheapo lights are as reliable mind.

Dunno if that helps at all. Probably not.

Thanks, I’m quite happy to support local, UK, businesses – so I’m not interested in cheap-as-chips Chinese eBay things.
I’ll have to have a think and a look around. I’ll still be shit at the actual riding though, obviously!

What I liked about MTB Batteries was that Smudge upgraded the batteries on both lights so that I get over 5 hours on max settings from both lights. With another set of batteries as standby a 24 Solo is not an issue. Customer service is fantastic too.

I like my exposure diablo mk5

Paul

Hi I have my mates Lumicycle Explorer 2014 3x XML for sale with the big 5.2ah battery cost £315 just before Xmas it’s just not getting used 5/6 times so it’s like new £210 posted email in profile

Well, I ended up ordering from mtb baterries and going for the Lumenator & Lumen800 Combo. Thanks for pointing them out to me.
Ordered on Monday, arrived yesterday, charge up yesterday afternoon and used the Lumenator on my 5 mile commute home. Certainly seems bright! Am going to try the Lumen800 on the way home tonight.

Shame. Could have bought lumicycle!

I’ve got a gloworm x2 and it’s a really nice piece of kit. There’s a 10pc off stw code too, something like stprem or prem10 or stprem10. Basically I can’t remember! But I’d get another. Really nice finish on them

I happily re-bought Lumicycle light set – LED variant – a couple of years ago; had a creaking set of halogens that still function but to be honest were a bit past it; I got them (the halogens) as a whip-round birthday present from my work team mates on my 40th birthday, which was nice..

The LEDs are great, not cheap but all works very well and I know from previous experience the Lumicycle (like Hope) customer service (it’s not even service, it’s just liaison isn’t it) is great.