The nights are drawing in, going bloody dark under the tree’s at the end of our rides now, is there anything new and exciting that your eyeing up? Or has nothing new been developed in the LED market?

Personally  fancy a new helmet light, as small as is reasonable possible with a good output, not 20 million lumens from a 50 LED’s with a headunit the size & weight of a dustbin.

What’s your budget?

Mtbbatteries are great value, reliable and UK backup. Glowworm are a bit more expensive but also good quality.

I think there’s a new triple led on the way from mtb batteries soon too.

gloworm have a big sale on at the moment. i really liked my x1&x2 but the cables are a faff.

go for something self contained. i’ve got an exposure axis that I run on the helmet. plenty of light for a 2hr winter blast.

+1 for MTB batteries.

Although as a tunnel hill regular I have to recommend four4th lights, not cheap but incredibly bright and tiny head units.

On the subject of lights, can anyone recommend a decent bar clamp? The silicone band type on my bt71 isn’t really man enough to stop it shaking all over the place on really rough bits. Its attached with the usual little screw underneath but the go pro adapter snapped so I’m back at square 1.

I bought a Moon Vortex Pro for £45 at the end of last year for use as a helmet light, and I still really rate it.  Moon lights seem to be a good compromise between paying a premium for Exposure and playing the unbranded ebay lottery.  The road.cc beam comparison thing suggests it’s at least as powerful as a joystick.  It does come with a helmet mount, but I’ve switched to Sugru and velcro to get it mounted lowed.

I’m doing a 3 hour CX night race in a few weeks time so am busy prepping for that.  Have just ordered a couple more Torchy cells to make a 6 cell battery for my home made handlebar light 🙂

+1 on Moon lights. They seem to have crept under the radar but are really well made, come with decent mounting options & decent battery life.

 can anyone recommend a decent bar clamp?

Assuming it’s the same little screw, the lumicycle ones are good and can be bought separately although they’re not cheap.

Also worth looking at Cateye mounts if you can figure out which bits go together.

Is that a really small helmet or a really big light? 😉

Would much rather use something like a Lezyne Powerdrive on the lid, really small and powerful.

Is that a really small helmet or a really big light?

Neither, really.  The light is about the same size as any other 18650 based light

Would much rather use something like a Lezyne Powerdrive on the lid, really small and powerful.

? Looks to be heavier and more expensive than the Moon light.  Higher claimed max output, but for less time (1100lm for 1:15 vs 900lm for 1:45)

To get the rubber band type clamp to stay put on your bars you just need to make the bar a bit thicker. I use several layers of an old inner tube and gorilla tape and cable tie.

 can anyone recommend a decent bar clamp?

I bought this for my mtb batteries light after a recommendation on here.  Does the job nicely.

http://www.candb-seen.co.uk/product-quick-release-mt.html

+1 for nedrapier’s bar clamp recommendation.

I have the same bar clamp (Hope branded) and it works well with my MTB Batteries Lumenator.Much better than the o-rings.

I recall I had to change the little screw that attaches to the light’s body for one with the right diameter for the hole in the Lumenator – I used an M4x10mm (from Screwfix).

To get the rubber band type clamp to stay put on your bars you just need to make the bar a bit thicker. I use several layers of an old inner tube and gorilla tape and cable tie.

It’s not really wide enough either though so it rocks side to side.

The BT70 was a big old beast of a lamp, I tried 3D printing a bracket for it which was great but eventually it ripped the screw out through the plastic on a descent! Might try again and leave space for a washer.

Exposure Diablo is £139 at Cyclerepublic at the moment.

Joystick £109 but lots of other places are doing it for that. Current version is 1000lm.

I’m favouring the Joystick over the Diablo as a helmet and dog walking light, as it’s lighter but still kicks out a grand of lumens.

moon lights are often resold by aldi during their cycling events – I’ve got a couple of low-end visibility ones off there before (for approx 1/3 the price moon charge) – I think they did have a high output light on as well

Shame the pigging search function couldn’t find this thread…

Anyway even though I’m not the OP there’s some good suggestions on here. Just trying to find something cost effective to get mini g-d the elder geared up for some gentle night riding.

Maybe the “lights” thread ought to be stickied for a few weeks as the nights start to draw in.

Another vote for the moon vortex pro on the helmet. I bought their go pro mount for it and attached it to the helmet with a go pro sticky mount. It’s lretty light – certainly lighter than the other 18500 torchy light I had on there before.

Got a Ryder 1600 lumen light to go on the bars this year – looks outrageously bright in the garage but not used it on a trail yet. Both lights are self enclosed with no separate battery pack which is refreshing.

Both were half price in sales – think the vortex pro was around £30 and the Ryder £50. The latter has a lifetime warranty for what thats worth.

The Ryder looks interesting. What sort of run time does it give and can you pop in a spare battery?

Afraid I’ve not run it yet off-road – just played with t in the garage. The website is low on detail for run times but I’m hoping at least 2 hours on full. Probably find out in September as it’s still not dark enough let on my evening rides to need a light (normally ride 6.30pm-8.15pm ish).

To add I’ve used the Moon a bit towards the end of last winter and it was on my helmet on full beam for my night rides and was still going strong to use on the commuter for a few days after without running out of battery. I don’t use it at full power on the road though as it would be too blinding for drivers.

moon lights are often resold by aldi during their cycling events

They are not Moon lights. They are Moon light rip-offs. They work well – I’ve got one of the front lights, but they are not as good as the Moon equivalents.

For your light mounts 2mins fettling and this

https://www.jejamescycles.com/hope-qr-handlebar-mount-bracket-black-gvw4723.html?gclid=CjwKCAjw-8nbBRBnEiwAqWt1zeIw-YgyBkssPEQFd0NwhIWoiDaCmb-P2lm-5KQ86shrTEE8NZFu7BoCeZMQAvD_BwE

Jobs jobbed

If you don’t mind a separate battery the Four4th Exodus is a top notch helmet light. The head unit is only 65g, so you barely know its there, and the beam quality and burn times are excellent. Mine is over 9 years old now so worth the high purchase price imo.

https://four4th.co.uk/products/lights/exodus/

I have a moon vortex pro for helmet and a storm pro for bars. Used them last winter found them really good. got vortex for just over £40 and storm for £60 seemed to be a good price. Storm quite a bit heavier than vortex. Would not like Storm on my helmet.

+bazillion for whatever MTBBatteries is selling. First class products and post-sales service.

For a super lightweight, low profile (no snags), battery in your jersey pocket light I have a Lumen800  https://www.mtbbatteries.co.uk/mountain-bike-lights/lumen800/. Great this time of year for finishing a ride but better accompanied the remainder of the year with its bigger brother or something else super bright on the bars.

+1 for the Hope handlebar mount rather than the rubber band thingies for bar mounts. You might have to go into your man drawer to find the right sized fastener to mount your choice of light but worth it.

Whatever Exposure fits your needs, canny be arsed buggering about with battery packs and all that shit any more.

had moon gear and its been good, but moved onto exposure got the joystick, axis and D maxx and a traceR due in the post today..

get a joystick

I have a Fluxient U2 Mini torch from Torchy the battery boy on ebay.

Think it was about 40 quid and is excellent. It also fits in an exposure helmet mount which is far superior to the one supplied.

I’m not sure he still sells them though so it’s probably a non starter – Amazon I think also did them but again, can’t seem to find them for sale.

Fluxient U2 on ebay, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluxient-Torch-Bike-Light-U2-Mini/113197998342?hash=item1a5b206106:g:ru4AAOSwvmxbcIPW. Brilliant. I have 2 sets of cheap chinese ones from Aliexpress. Can’t fault them.

Surprised how dark it is tonight under the trees already. Might be time to get the lights out soon. Only August! I’m blaming the miserable over cast weather. Where’s the epic summer gone?