Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)
  • A question about lights.
  • teenrat
    Full Member

    After my bar light failed last night I’m in the market for a new one.

    4000 to 5000 lumen lights seem to be £200 to £400. If I was to run 2 of the halfords 1600 lumen lights (total cost of £120) at the same time, how would it compare to a much more powerful single light? I’m guessing the light spread would be greater but how about brightness? Does running two lights create issues with shadows?

    gingerbllr
    Free Member

    It won’t be quite as powerful, but it will still be plenty. Shadows won’t be an issue so long as you get the mounting right. Sounds a bit faffy though, so depends on your tolerance.

    Splurging on nice lights gets you more lumens, but (imho more importantly) it also gets you less faff – for example my lights have a wireless bar remote, it controls the helmet light and bar light simultaneously, and it only has 2 modes – low and high. Customised to exactly how I like it. Less to charge, more reliability, better mounting, better weatherproofing, better batteries, more sensible controls.

    Lumens are nice, but not the be all and end all of mtb lights. They are spenny, but worth considering.

    grahamt1980
    Full Member

    Where are people riding to need 3000 lumens on the bars only?
    I use a 1500lm gloworm on the bars and a 900lm x1 on my helmet. And that is plenty bright enough to only need them on medium unless doing fast techy stuff in the woods

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    gingerbllr
    Free Member

    Where are people riding to need 3000 lumens on the bars only?

    Basically everywhere I’d ride a bike downhill. It’s not that I need it, it’s that I want the experience to be as close to daylight as possible.

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    Don’t obsess on lumens, it’s like buying a camera based on pixels

    grahamt1980
    Full Member

    Agree with that, been experimenting with changing over between a 1500lm gloworm x2 and a 950lm gloworm x1. And due to the beam pattern the x1 is far better to ride with on the helmet

    silasgreenback
    Full Member

    People need more than 3k lumen because the person behind you has 3.5k lumen and outshines you leaving allsorts of horrible shadows!

    I can wholeheartedly recommend the magicshine monteer. I run the 6500 one. Usually ride faster on downhill at night than daylight! Light spread is so good i dont really need a helmet light.

    Swapped from a Sixpack and Diablo. Never looked back. The chinese lumens are incredible. “If carlsberg did lights…..”

    MoreCashThanDash
    Full Member

    It’s not that I need it, it’s that I want the experience to be as close to daylight as possible.

    That’s interesting. I’m another 1500 lumen kind of guy, to me riding at night is a different “thing” to riding in daylight, it’s never occurred to me to light up the night so I can ride as I would in daylight.

    Good job we aren’t all the same.

    pembo6
    Free Member

    My limited understanding of how lights and lumesns work, is that 2 side by side 1600 lumen lights will give you the equivalent of 3200 lumens. It comes down to the output of each LED (and the lens quality, wiring etc etc…. but all things being equal, it is down to the output of each LED).

    Those Gloworms are GREAT. I was running an X2 (1700 lumens) on bars and helmet. But I got a great deal on an XSV (3400 lumens) so I grabbed that for the bars. A single wireless remote turns them both on and I’ve customized teh brightness settings. Very happy.

    I previously had a setup with 900 lumens on the helmet, but I found it nowhere near enough light. I like to ride the same pace at night as during the day and I find anything less than 1500 lumens (bar and helemt) is insufficient for me to do this as easily.

    silasgreenback
    Full Member

    2x side by side will double the output but dont necessarily give 2x the performance. Especially if mismatched as they compete & dont complement. Plus 2 crap lights can never beat 1 good one. Regardless of claimed lumens.

    One thing to note is the testing methods. Bigger lumens = more heat = drop off in performance = less lumens on the trail.

    A quality 1500 lumens light could well work better after 10mins. The official testing measures peak output over the first couple of minutes. Thats it. So a 6000 crap light could get so hot it drops back to 500 lumen after 5 mins and never really recovers. Still classed as 6k lumen. Its output is dead before you finished chatting!!

    BUT quality lights maintain 1500lumen over the majority of battery life so whilst 1/4 output in numbers, on the trail it’ll be far better.

    Cheap lights tend to have their LED’s amp’d to the max so generate loads of heat and dont always have the cooling to keep that performance.

    You want a decent brand with decent optics then anything of 1500 lumen up will be great for more than just canal or fire road pootling.

    z1ppy
    Full Member

    I’d suggest two lights, but one on the bar & the other on your helmet. The Halfords 1600 is good light for the money, but I’d want the lighter 500ln unit on your helmet, if sticking with Halfords. Not used the 500 unit myself though, but was happy using the 1600 last winter, with a helmet light.
    Mtb batteries has two fine lights, if you can live with a battery packs, but both would exceed your budget. Maybe a Halfords 1600 for the bars & a lumen800 on your helmet.

    For me optics & all-in one has lured me to exposures lights

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    If the trees are close then they can reflect quite severely when you have the power cranked up. I don’t think I ever use full power on my oldish Maxx-D.

    pdw
    Free Member

    Don’t obsess on lumens, it’s like buying a camera based on pixels

    … but with most of the quoted pixel counts multiplied by a random number.

    Don’t underestimate the how much effect beam pattern has on perceived brightness. If you double the beam width, your lumens are spread over four times the area, meaning the number of lumens hitting a given area is a quarter of the spot.

    Perception of light is also non-linear. Two lights will mean double the lumens, but it won’t appear twice as bright.

    StuF
    Full Member

    For simplicity, just get an exposure maxx d or six-pack. Not having a separate battery pack and their run time is great

    mattsccm
    Free Member

    I have one of those Halfords jobs for a couple of years. Almost all of the time I don’t even bother with a helmet light. They are bright enough. If you mate behind is blinding let him go ahead.

    johnnystorm
    Full Member

    MTB batteries lumenator on the bars (£120ish) and Lumen 800 on your head (£50ish) having a light on your head to illuminate turns before you start steering is worth more than simply sticking more power on the bars. Also helps if you start sawing at the bars when cranking up a steep hill.

Viewing 16 posts - 1 through 16 (of 16 total)

The topic ‘A question about lights.’ is closed to new replies.