[Closed] Helmet lights - Do i really need one?

you don't need a helmet light and i only got a helmet light last year, but i would say it helps, particularly if your riding woodland singletrack.

As for a recommendation, i like my Ayups purely because of the modular nature of them, three batteries lots of fittings, two lights etc.

Helmet light even a very bad one is needed for trailside repairs along side a bar mount .

Dx or spokeblokes for the helmet and enough left for a nice powerfull bar light 😉

Need?

I run a small helmet light with a very tight spot and a wider bar light - the helmet light is good on twisty trails but leave no visible shadows - the bar light the opposite. MIne are 180 lumen helmet and 500 bar

If I only had one light it would be helmet mounted.
with that much dosh you have the opportunity to buy several far eastern torches / bike lights with plenty of power and have a few quid left for bee

Or buy a luminous or trout light from forum regulars.

I've only used a tesco torch a couple of times as a helmet light with the Hope4 on the bars. I found the helmet light distracting. Haven't missed it since I went back to just the Hope4

they do help, but you don't need to go nuts.

having a bright light on your bars will mean rocks and root and things will cast shadows - these really help you see them.

a less bright helmet light will let you see what's in these shadows, without filling them in with light.

something about 100 lumens is fine for a helmet-light (if it's your secondary light).

with your budget i would buy a big bright light from trout/ luminous/ exposure/ hope. and a fenix L2D + some good 2700 Nimh rechargeable AA batteries.

modern Nimh rechargeable are much much better than even the very best disposable batteries.

A DX P7 torch for the head then spend the rest on something for the bars. I use two DX torches - one on head and one on bars - and that works just fine, so if you have something better on the bars you'll be in clover.

not essential, but with your budget i would get an exposure joystick or similar and then spend the rest on bar light.

I like having a helmet light for repairs etc and also when on the lookout for cheeky trails in the woods. i can recommend the Ay-Ups as well.

if you can afford a helmet light + bar lights do it, I reckon it's a much better set up than just bars lights alone.

+1 as above. I have for the past few yrs run helmet and bar lights. on Tue night I rode with just bar lights and had way more bar/tree encounters than normal and one comical over the bars, which I don't 'think' would have happened if I had been wearing a helmet light.

I would also agree that most of the illumination should come from the bar light - too much on your head in comparison and distance perception can get a bit distorted and you get glare of any riders in front, also not clever in rain or mist.

Hope 4 on bars and for past 2 winters Ayup's on helmet, new Joystick 5 arrives tomorrow though 😆

Just get one good light and use it as a helmet light as most come with both fittings anyway , then you'll only have one battery to charge , and with the light being higher than your eyes you'll get no shadows on the trail

no shadows on the trail means you can't see where the lumpy bits are. bad.
HID equivalent output on the bar, with a torch on the lid so you get light where you look. just the job.

Split the money evenly and by from www.four4th.co.uk really nice lights, good power and run time.

If I've only got one light, it's going on the helmet (if I can find the mount). Saying that, I think a lot depends on the terrain. I find berms and jumps almost impossible with just bar light, but more open terrain is fine on the bar light.

I really liked the Ayup V4's I tested last year. As mentioned above, the modular aspect of them is briliant.

I find bar lights pretty pointless for mountainbiking. Seriously, apart from heading straight ahead how can you actually see where you are going with a light fixed to your bars? the only time I'd want a bar mounted light to compliment my helmet mounted one is in the rain or fog where the light tends to bounce straight back at a helmet mounted light.

Never used anything but a bar light. hate having lights on my helmet. all that weight, smacks into things, blinds everybody you talk to. oh, and pretty much all my riding is woody singletrack.

I've had them on the bars for 14yrs, never struggled. Only tried the helmet light because I could. Wor lass prefers helmet mounted lights though

what he said bars is better in fog and cast less of a shadow [ride mainly knwon trails in winter so not a huge loss] and gives a longer view. Unfortunately it rarely points where you are going /looking.
Both for me but if I only have one it is on my head.

Liberator the only bar light that lights up sidways and down by the wheel too so you can see into switchbacks easier than other bar lights .
that would be my choice if I had to have only one light .

[IMG] [/IMG]

headlamps are good for backups/punctures/mechanicals/looking at something along side you in the dark and looking ahead of the corner.

If I had to choose one though it would be a bar. IMO the best is a combination of both with the headlight not used all the time.

Yes, unless you ride smooth easy wide open tracks.

Bar mounted lights are ok but its just not the same as having a good light on your head when riding tight twisty singletrack.

I'd turn it around - do you really need a bar light? Helmet lights point where you're looking. When you're looking forward, a bar light is cool. Wherever you're looking, a helmet light is cool. Ridden for years now with just a helmet light.

I'd sooner have a helmet light than a bar light as well, for all the same reasons... Though I'm very happy to have both. You have a huge budget, no reason to settle for less.

Most of my riding is done with just Ay-Ups on my helmet, some times use my old L&M HiD on the bars too. Find just a helmet light perfect for everything except heavy rain and fog when the light then reflects back at you.

Did another night ride last night with a luminous 601 and really don't need a lid light. I do pack a torch and lid mount just in case I have a breakdown - which I did last night.

An issue which people forget - land on your head with a very solid torch in the way and you'll do yourself some pretty major damage.

Surfmat - easily negated by using a velcro or breakaway mount

with a budget of £400 you can get one of the best common bar lights, whether Hope, Lumi, Trout etc and have £100 left for either a torch (Dx, Fenix type) or a 'proper' 😛 helmet light - 2010 Joystick or older single Ayup

Thanks to others here for the shouts
😉

I'd agree, lumens for £s, Model 601 or Troutlight should be strong contenders for a bar light that are easily enough to ride by, alone.

Let one get you through this winter, and then see if you feel that you need the helmet light, next year.

Ref the Budget. There are a few 2009, new 601s at discount at the moment.
A few have gone, but there are one or two left.
At the discounted price, that leaves more of your budget for a second light.

Up until now I'd only run (Lumi Halogen) bar lights. Bought some helmet lights a couple of weeks ago (Ay-ups), used them at the Ruthin night ride and again this week and I'm really impressed with the concept of helmet lights. I hadn't realised how much I twisted my bars back and forwards to see on narrow stuff with just bar lights.

Plus helmet lights seem to confuse car drivers coming the other way when you're on roads, so much so that many of them stop! Bonus!

An issue which people forget - land on your head with a very solid torch in the way and you'll do yourself some pretty major damage

doubtful, plus you are far less likely to land on your head when you wear a helmet mounted light anyway as you will still be able to see where you are headed during the crash. Also, I can ride DH or go Dirtjumping with just a helmet mounted light around a 3rd of the brightness of your bar mounted Luminous but I'd put money on it I'll be able to spot a landing way better, even with your AWESOME lights doing simple whips/scrubs or X-ups/tables would leave your landing spot completely blind.

The first time you go over something steep and notice your bar mount is illuminating the sky not where you're looking to drop into is when you'll wish you had a head mount - found this out at Sleepless in 2002 (I think) on that last descent - my 5W halo bar light was not really adequate. It wasn't anywhere really, but you get the idea.

Head mounts fill in the gaps nicely on real twisty stuff like Thetford too.

If I had 1 light it'd be head mounted.

I'd plump for a head ligt before bar mounted.

The old saying that you go where your looking holds true. So if you can't see round a corner, you can't ride round it at any speed.

Also, you can opnly ride as fast as you can see. So get something bright - try a P7 from deal extreme.

slight thread-jack...

i'm going to get myself a head torch for this winter to work alongside my light (Hope 2 LED). which one do people go for on deal extreme? there must be millions on there so links would be nice 😀

Next ride I go on, I'll take my new Fenix TK11 R5 and stick it on my lid then report my findings. If it's MUCH better, I'll use it every ride, if not I won't.

I needed a head mounted torch with my Hope 1 because it simply wasn't bright enough but last night (and the previous week) I didn't at any time think "I need a helmet light."

Helmet lights are good as they don't bump about as much over rocks and roots. (More apparent for small lights). They do have a funny dark match under you eyes though but I am getting a Troutie light so that should solve everything 🙂

Next ride I go on, I'll take my new Fenix TK11 R5 and stick it on my lid then report my findings.

I for one really don't care what you find 😛

Brassneck look at the beam pattern in the pic above

I have converted lumicycle's on the bars looking for a new helmet light this year, not heavy and preferably without battery pack.

I for one really don't care what you find

Thanks for that fascinating post there. Any point? No.

Trout - certainly not knocking your lights, I hear nothing but good things, and if I didn't already have a settled setup I'd be a customer 😉 - this is for my info.

If you're pitching over a 45 degree drop of say 20 feet, is there enough light going down the slope to see what you're dropping into? This is the weakness of every bar mounted light I've owned. The picture certainly looks promising.

If so, how much and where's your website, Santa might get generous:-)
Don't think it's touting if I ask is it?

close, its www.troutie.com

This shows the cut-away housing design to throw the light down.
[img] [/img]

Brassneck Thanks for that inspiration that maybe a good idea for a small helmet cam video to show how it does the biz .

I Just need to find that perfect location now as all other vids have been flowing stuff

Ta For the Pic Stevo210

Bright lights like the LL and 601, manage to throw down light right in front of the wheel.

[img] [/img]

They do indeed throw light down - the LL or 601 on full whack kick out a huge amount of widely spread light with no dark spots at all especially right in front of the bike. It's not like a long beam of a car headlight - it's much more natural than that. "Throw" is probably effective for about 50 metres (I would say a car headlight is more like 150) but the level of detail you can see is amazing.