[Closed] Lights how much is enough

If you ride with others, you need the same as them, otherwise your eyes (or theirs) will not cope with the contrasts.

If you're on your own you'd be surprised how little you can get away with.

why do you want to ride at night? two reasons i see, to train, ie go fast in which case more light is good. Or to ride at night in which case you can get away with a little less light, but as has been mentioned those around you may be an issue.

For what it is worth i have a set of Ayups they work, they aren't the brightest but as a system i don't think you will find much better.

I have 2x 180 lumens units. Just about OK but could do with more.

I have an Exposure Enduro Turbo, bright enough for me!

remember most manufacturers ( but not all) quote theoretical max output not actual measured output - so make sure you are comparing like with like.

I run a 180ish ( estimated real) helmet light with a very tight spot and a 500ish lumen handlebar light with a slightly wider beam - I find that plenty

p7 torch mounted on bars, spare battery in pocket, plenty for my needs in the dark (mainly singletrack), no fuss, does the job well for £50 imo.

I'll second the fact that what your mates are on makes all the difference.
I was fine on original BLT units, then I was fine on Lumicycles, then I was fine on dealextreme specials.
The only time I wasn't fine was when other people went HID then Maxx-D etc.
You find yourself riding in your own shadow which sucks.
If a couple of people in my group got the Trout lights, then I'd be very upset indeed 🙂

What Bigjohn said.

[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/best-budget-helmet-light ]Magicshine[/url] cause all the magazine are living in a dream.. £50, a decent amount of light, what more can a boy (or girl) want?

Thing to think about most hi power lights have dimming so can become a low power light .
the reverse is not possible for a low power light .

to try and answer the question as a few posters have said on a dark night and alone very little is needed ( apart from the secure feeling of scaring the axe wielding maniac a bright light gives) and can be a lot of fun . But so can hooning down a favourite trail at daylight speeds that a bright light can achieve. 😉

Magicshine on the bars and a MXDL SA-28 torch on the bonce. It works so well I can't justify spending anymore on lights.

check out the p7 torches on dealextreme.com im over the moon with mine its the best 30 odd quid ive ever spent

I had lumicycle halogens - 12/20w combo IIRC.
I liked them but they had a weird habit of the light being 'soaked up' when it hit wet, peaty ground which there is plenty of around here in winter. My mates were/are running big HID units & i found i could turn my lumi's off & hardly notice the difference when riding alongside them.

They were great when riding alone however (apart from the aforementioned problem). Now own a L&M HID Arc light & love it!

i have a Exposure Joystick Maxx for my helmet and a Enduro Maxx for the bars which is more than enough for normal night riding.

A few of the guys I regularly ride with have Ayups and For4ths. Del from Four4th has been out with us occasionally too - top guy. The Four4ths are brighter than the Ayups but not massively (we've published comparative night photo tests on our blog). Personally I'd buy the Four4ths myself since if you have a problem they are UK based support, rather than Aussie and they are really well made/good beam spread. Plus I try to by British if I can.

Actually the biggest lighting problem we find is usually the discrepancy between riders. Hence if someone behind you is riding with a significantly brighter light you can be in "shadow" (if you know what I mean) and that can be disconcerting.

I have two four led ones from the local pound shop on my bars, they work. When they break or I lose them, I go berserk and spend a couple of quid on new ones. They are bright enough that I have to point them down to prevent me blinding oncoming drivers anyway.

However, I only ride at night on my own, so the advice about matching y' lights to other riders if you ride in a group makes perpect sense.

It just depends what you want them to do. I used to night ride with 3 of the Tesco 3W LED torches. It was good fun, had to be very slow and careful as I could basically see ****-all but that was part of the charm.

Now I use a pair of DX P7 torches which I guess are around 500-600 lumens each (claimed 900, pff), they have plenty of kick and decent range and enable me to ride not so far off my daytime pace. Sometimes, you want a night ride, other times you want a ride and it happens to be at night. Just occasionally I wish for a bit more "throw", a mate has a Seca and it's not drastically brighter but it has a reach than mine lack (mine have flood that it lacks) which I'm sure would be nice on faster trails.

It's also helpfully quite a typical amount of light these days since the P7s are so common

Anyway, I have had an Exposure Maxx Daddy since they came out 2 years ago. Fabulous light, you can do everything on medium, stick it on full for the really fast bits and on low to save power or road stuff. During the day, stick it on flashing mode and watch the traffic part. It's 960 lumens at full power.

Before that I had a variety of lights - halogens, p7s, other cheap stuff. Got bored of them not being good enough. Bought the Maxx Daddy and never wished for anything more.

I figured a 300 quid light would last a while, in terms of usability and it has. There's nothing I can't ride now with this light - tight singletrack at night is no problem, not had a helmet light for years.

about 350 lumens will do for more or less everything. 900 is brilliant. Any more and you loose the feeling that it is night time which is part of the fun, The people I ride with have Hope 4 and exposure joysticks
I have Budget CREE on head and Trout [old style] on bars. I could ride with just one of them but do like bar and helmet combo with more on the bars.
Run times matter and I use a sperate battery for each just in case. Would not want to be out on the trails with no lights ..I have tesco torch in bag for limping home emergency.
You also need less for local /known trails.

I have a joystick maxx - plenty enough by itself unless you need to go really quick. Used it at a couple of 24 hour races. I then bought a p7 for £50 including battery charger and spare battery (they don't use normal sized batteries so need a charger). That is seriously bright, but does get dimmer with time.

The combination of the two works well, but I have been pleased to have the joystick as the other gets dimmer (also when changing batteries on the p7 as unsurprisingly when it's dark you can't see what you're doing).

For pure night riding thrills I'd just use the joystick by itself though. If you have too much light you might as well just ride in the day.

Hi all,
same for me too, looking for some decent lights, as the Spanish nights come in much earlier- SWMBO would not be too happy with me buggering off every weekend, so invest in something to allow harmony at home.
the Ayups seems a polished product- and also UK made [if only by ancestry!]
the 4ths, seem powerful enough [on papel and with review on here] but look a little rough round the edges as they say -like most lights did a few years ago IMHO
p7 et al - I dunno, the idea of dozens of AAA batteries kicking around in various states of [dis]charge seems like a right old faff and for me riding in the deserts round here leaves you a little vunerable...
Troutlight - no idea- everyone raves about them, - I would prefer 2 seperate beams [one flood one spot] and I don't know if they are configured to be like that, - I dont have the time spare [or the tools] to start building froma kit, so would need it sending fitted and working as it were,

Right then random ramblings over and I still have no idea what to buy!, but just wanted to open it to the forum.

I can't quite see the point of having lights so bright you think you might set fire to the air. It's night riding, surely you want it to be quite dark?

My light is not so bright that I scare away all the wildlife, so I come round corners sometimes and see deer and badgers and things. I like that. No, it's not bright enough that I can go at daylight speeds, but because I can't see like I can in daylight, things feel faster anyway and that's really fun. I'm sure big lights are fun too, don't get me wrong, but they must also be quite a different experience.

I can't quite see the point of having lights so bright you think you might set fire to the air. It's night riding, surely you want it to be quite dark?

I used to say the same, but at nearly 50 my eyes seem to need a bit more light to see where I'm going than they used to. I also ride more, and for longer, at night these days, so value longer burn time - and it seems that lower power lights won't provide the runtime at full power that I need. Plus, you can turn a bright light down, but you can't turn a dim light up

Well I've pushed the boat out and got myself a set of these this morning to go with my hope vision 2 MK1 lights..
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44459

That's fair enough vinnyeh. I use an Exposure Enduro and I've found the burn time to be fine as I put it on low power for climbs and things, but I definitely appreciate your points there.

I had the original 2led Hope, ~ 200lumens i think. These were fine for most riding, but were lacking when giving the 575 some stick across open moorland, not enough beam up the track. I've now got the Hope4 which spends most of its time on medium, unless the speed gets up and i use high.
Hope that makes sense 😉

I can't quite see the point of having lights so bright you think you might set fire to the air. It's night riding, surely you want it to be quite dark?

Not to me, I ride at night as I can't ride during the day & in winter its surprisingly dark. I want to see whats ahead and go as fast as I can, so as much as I'd prefer the sun to be out, I've have to live with as much light as I can economically afford (magicshine is hopefully being supplemented with a Troutie soon [or should that be the other way round]).
If that's not for you, fair enuff stick with the candle light, but don't come on here whining we (others) have too much light.

I was hardly whining. Just stating an opinion in a fairly chilled out way I thought.

well then I apologize for call you a whiner, but surely you must understand not everyone has your view point on night riding?
I don't ride DH but I wouldn't suggest an 8" travel (or whatever) bike shouldn't be available..

I think I did, I was merely offering an alternative to the lumen race, and suggesting that for many people, a more basic and less bright option may be just as appropriate and applicable to the way they will night ride.

EDIT: and be cheaper 🙂

I've accepted that I'll never get back to my fitness of youth...

Will there be a max lumen rating for night/24hr races - or can i use my '80000lm superTrout' to blow the competition aside wacky races stylee?

stuey - the photon pressure will be enough to slow you down.

Funnily when I lent a couple of lights to some guys at last years D2D they did comment that it was a great tactical weapon for overtaking slower riders .

when approaching with it on medium or low then hit hi as you want to pass and it shocked the rider into a WTF is that behind moment 😈

stuey - the photon pressure will be enough to slow you down.

I see a light sail in my future..

lol

"What Crooke's radiometer for hub gears?"

rockhopperbike - Member

"p7 et al - I dunno, the idea of dozens of AAA batteries kicking around in various states of [dis]charge seems like a right old faff and for me riding in the deserts round here leaves you a little vunerable..."

Don't think I've seen a P7 that runs on AAAs, it'd be a pretty awful idea really. Mostly they run off lipo cells, 18650s are the most common for the torches and self contained single packs for the bike lights.

this is too much any more would be a waste

[IMG] [/IMG]

this is enough

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and this is not enough

[IMG] [/IMG]

Very nice Troutie is that the 7up hope you have copyright on the beam shot

Keith

let's face it, we live 55ish degrees north of the equator, it's too dark to ride after work for about 7 months of the year. A set of riding lights* will more than double the number of evening rides you can do in a year.

Riding in the dark means you can ride on footpaths without getting lynched**

and it's awesome fun!

even the expensive ones are a bargain; £300*** to get (more than) double the fun out of your bike.

Get something bright to go on the handlebars, and something less bright to go on your helmet.

going on quoted outputs, i'd suggest that 500lumens is enough for your main 'bar-light, and 100 lumens is enough for your helmet spot-light.

more is better, but you really don't need to go nuts, 1000 lumens doesn't look twice as much as 500lumens, cos your senses are logarythmic.

and really, please, don't make your own lights. it sounds like fun way of saving money, but you'll still be dicking around with heatsinks and silicone sealant next june.

(* as opposed to 'being seen' lights)

(** assuming you don't live in scotland)

(*** you don't need to spend this much)

Why Scotland is the dark like fog there, too thick to see through it 😆

No Keith
its the stupid bright light in this thread
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bit-of-a-crackers-light-i-know#post-1758371

:evil:no need to copyright them as they must be the best know bit of woodland in the cycling world by now like last year when the Magicshine bloke tried to borrow them for his website

when I were a lad we used to do night rides with d cell 2.4w cateye lights... I'm still alive.

seems to me the maxx d with a diablo seems to hit the sweet spot