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Right, did the Puffer at the weekend and was under the impression that my lights were fine for night riding, and they are, they are not fine for night racing!
I have a L&M helmet light which was great when bought back in 2010 and an ITUO Wiz20 whose battery did not enjoy the Contin weather one little bit. Was losing about 5 minutes a lap on folks around me.
Am considering the Kielder Chiller and don't want to repeat the weekend's half blind descending.
Any recommendations gratefully received for something reasonably lightweight for the handlebars and one for the helmet?
Exposure are great if you're willing to pay the price. Great light output and they will last years. Simple to use, no cables etc.
I've got a Diablo on my helmet and picked up a Six-Pack (few generations old) ex-demo at the Puffer :). Previous handlebar lights have been from Lumicycle and Hope - all have been good just technology moves on (light output, run times) and they've been moved on to duty as kids' lights and spares.
(Classic STW recommend that you have!).
buy exposure.
it took me years to get some in the same and i wont go back.
This from Planet X looks good.
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LIJOBULT2K/jobsworth-ultra-torch-2000-lumen
I nearly bought one when they were £100 but waited til Black Friday when they went up to £120 with 20% off. That p~ssed me off so I didn't bother. I have a Six Pack mk10 and 2 Gloworm XS's with a few spare batteries. I'll be running those at Kielder.
Torchy above has some good lights at decent prices. I bought from him a few years ago and service is good.
It really is very price dependent. Name your budget, then that will inform your choices
Next choice is whether you want an all in one or a separate light and battery pack
You could easily spend £500 if you want to go super high end
I had a two year old Torchy 1600 lumen bar light & a nearly new MTBbatteries lumen800 headtorch on for the puffer. I have one of torchy's 8 cell battery packs for the bar light & didn't need to charge it for my 3 dark laps. It was adequate, but very obvious when there was a Hope R4 or R8 behind me.
For next year, I'll probably stick with the head torch (as it is small) but look for a slightly brighter bar light. Brighter will mean more batteries though. Obviously mud on the lens also played a big part in everyone's illumination this year,
Interestingly, many of the brightest lights seemed to descend the slowest. Maybe I went faster because I couldn't see what was in-front of me...
I'm an occasional night rider and love my Exposure Joystick/Diablo combo for the no-faff integrated thing. A friend does 12 hour overnight racing and has an Exposure Six Pack, not a huge amount heavier on the bars and manages a race on a single charge...
@kt1100t that would be my choice if buying new today. Probably best described as adequate and would be very dim compared to many other people's lights at the puffer though (which IMO are total overkill).
I prefer external battery packs as you can carry a spare, or leave one on charge while riding.
Thanks all for the advice, will look into them all. Exposure lights did look good and the integration seemed sensible.
Will have to sort before the next Puffer!!