Does anybody use HID lights offroad?

OK, there is an autumnal nip in the morning air and we are about to reach the point where those of us in the north have to pay for all the extra hours of daylight we’ve had all “summer”, so I’m starting to contemplate lights.

After many years of road riding I’m entering my first winter where I think I’ll probably still be doing a fair bit off road. I’ve got a Lumicycle HID with a nice LiIon battery that has done me proud for a few years. It’s only a 6 degree spot, but chucks out so much light that I dare say it will be more than enough for the gentle trail mincing that I do. But I’m just concerned about the fragility of it. If it’s going to smash at the fist biggish hit then I guess I’d be better off getting an LED lamp.

Cheers,

Andy

Buy a cheap XML ‘torch’ as a backup for your bag…

Used to use Lupine Edisons, they were fine.

You should be fine. The lamps are £35 and come in a load of different variations. You might want something a little wider that a 6 degree spot. Buy a more suitable one and keep your existing one in your pack as a spare.
Always ride with some form of backup torch on your pocket.

Used to use a NiteRider HID, it was brilliant. Still got it actually but the batteries haven’t been charged for ages, not sure if they’ll be much use any more. The light itself was fine, I had to replace the bulb once in about 10 years of use.

still use my old Hope HID regularly in winter.

I’ve been using the Lumicycle Halide system with the 13 degree bulb off road for the last 3 years with no problems. Brilliant bright beam just heavy compared to the LED and best not to switch on and off to often.

I use a XML torch as a helemt lamp to back up my HID light.

Had an LED bar mounted lamp but it went wrong very quickly. My 5 year old Levin HID is still going strong.

I’m not going to change it until it packs up.

Watch this, I’ll get it out for the winter and it’ll be as the dodo. 😐

Before the Lupines I had a Cateye Stadium, which was just awesome in terms of pure output.

Still rocking my old L&M Arc.
Got a Gemini LED to go on the helmet last year, but that ended up on the bar next to the Arc. I hate helmet lights.
The Gemini is adequate on it’s own for solo rides.

You should be able to get a Lumicycle led lamp that’ll plug in to your battery if you find that the HID fails.

Or you could see if Trout is still doing HID led conversions…

I’ve got a Lumicyle HID doing nowt. The battery is knacked, dont think i’m going to be night-riding anytime soon, so if anyone wants the light, they can have it for postage and the price of a pint.

Thanks for the advice. It sounds as though I might as well just ride with it until it dies. I always carry a little led head torch anyway, for punctures etc, which would get me home at a push.

One of the things I used to like about Lumicycle is that they didn’t keep changing things every year, so maybe I can get an LED lamp to fit my existing battery. If not I guess I just need to buy a new HID unit. Might be worth carrying one of those anyway.

Cheers,

Andy