it baffles now me why most riders would even consider having much more than a single 500 lumen light for night riding and even more so if they mount the bloody thing on their bars (no matter how bright it is it’s not going to allow you to see round corners like a head mount can).
if you are riding technical DH or flat out fast DH I can see how folk can justify maybe 500-700 lumens on their head but come on? if you’re mainly riding your usual trails WTF is it you “think” you need to see?
be truthful, if you have over say 700 lumens what do you actually ride?

‘Need’ doesn’t come in to it, nowadays it seems to be a light race akin to the arms race of years gone by 😕

I am just about to buy a 1000 lumen light as I don’t ride the same trails regularly and the ay-ups actually hold back the speed a fair bit.

I use a L&M Seca 1400 on my commute and at 40+ mph down a 20% country road with the likelihood of deer, badgers and other assorted wildlife jumping out in front of me I can assure you 1400 lumens isn’t enough.

bored GW?

Magic shine “900” lumen on my helmat and bars. Wide gravel roads to forest single track.

Because lights are cheap and still not as bright as the midday sun.

Cool, you ride with your little single light and leave us to run our bar/helmet over-the-top combo’s.

Did 20 miles last night in the Chilterns – Bars (Exposure Toro) Helmet (Exposure Joystick)

you seem angry GW 😥

need a hug? 😀

Your mum 🙂

Perhaps in ideal conditions 500 lumens is reasonable. However in sideways rain down narrow tracks where there are many hidden roots and various nasties i want as much light as man can create.

i’m still using my 800 lupine wilmas which were state of the art 2 yrs ago, dont think i’ll ever change em unless they fail. Like all things there will always be sheep who fall for the ‘next best thing’ hype….its how the world works, actual need does not come into the equation.

anyway, i’m off to completely change my drive train to D12 cause cav uses it and the posters are great, and my 8months old SRAM is now out of flavour

its the added benefit of being able to roast rabbits by just looking at them 😈

in sideways rain down narrow tracks where there are many hidden roots and various nasties i want as much light as man can create.

so it can bounce straight back in your face? 😆

ton – yes, but honestly curious
phil – WTF would make you think that? were you scared by what you read? coz i’m not **** hugging you.
rich – no longer have one

i’m with you GW! my hope 2LED give me plenty of light. in fact, part of the fun about night riding for me is that it is dark – i don’t want to try and replicate daytime thanks!

I only ride at night because I can’t ride in the day. Ergo I am trying to simulate the sun. More light the better – if I could bottle a thermonuclear explosion and dangle it from my bars in a jam jar I would. Then i’d buy a second to attach to my head.

700 lumens of Exposure Toro with spot beam Ayups on my helmet is plenty bright enough for me although a bit more spread from the Toro would be nice. I only turn the helmet light on if there’s no-one in front of me as I find the reflected light from anything close is enough to dull my night vision.

Because I’m old and my eyesight isn’t as good as it once was. 😐

Perhaps in ideal conditions 500 lumens is reasonable. However in sideways rain down narrow tracks where there are many hidden roots and various nasties i want as much light as man can create.

I’m with yesiamtom on this one, quite often a bastid at medium setting on the bars is enough.
Last night, in the driving rain, an older bastid on the bars on full (say 600ish) and a newer one on the lid (say 900ish) just wasn’t enough to really let it go on the downhills. I found myself hanging back more than I would have in daylight. 🙁
This is not normally the case.
Wearing glasses doesn’t help either 🙁

your loss GW, i’m a good hugger.

its an arms race like cupra said

500 is fine for me on my lid when Im on my own – but when all your mates have 6 packs and Toros etc you cant see a thing in your shadow – which means you have to let them by – which is just not on

I go for the “brightest light I can get for 30 quid” approach.

Worked out quite well. Wear a torch on my head for looking at stuff

2800 lumens here 😀 (FullBeam Night Nemisis) on the bars. Hope Vision 1 on the helmet (not really required, but always good to have a back up!)
.
.
.
If I’m racing 24hrs I want every advantage I can get! THe Hope on it’s own is fine for comuting purposes.

know what you mean winterfold (partly why I started the thread)
group riding I’ll often just switch mine off completely and ride their light til I reach a section I know I’ll get away ahead easily. but I often night ride locally with no lights at all (I hate wearing a helmet, and bar mounts are pointless)

It’s a case of the blinding leading the blind (says he with an 800 lumen bar light…)

Dancake +1

I’ve just got an email saying my cheapie head torch has been despatched and my 1300 cree torch should be on it’s way too, all for £26 quid in total. 8)

I mustn’t have made it very clear 🙄 but my original question was…

what do you actually ride with more than 500 lumens?

I wasn’t really after a boring list of numbers, mounting positions or brand names (silly me, as I am fully aware that’s what the average semi-autistic STW dweller loves to collate and ponder over more than anything).
I genuinely wanted to know Where/what do you ride? ie. is it local well known routes? trail centre scalextrix tracks? far afield unknown trails? super technical or fast DH tracks? or what?
but oh, well.. 😕

Can’t stand helmet lights, so about 1800 lumens on the bars is about adequate. For now.

well done retard No 1 😛

My low power setup is 2500 lumens. That’s OK. My high power setup is 5000.

I use the high power setup unless it’s a dusk/dawn lap. More is simply better.

I only race at night (other than testing lights and the occasional snowy midwinter ride).

ride the same stuff I do the rest of the time (open downland and wooded singletrack) and, with a more powerful light, at the same speed.

As above I ride at night ‘cos otherwise I couldn’t ride midweek. It is different to day time even with lots of lumens but I’ve found it easier the more powerful my lamps have got.

thank you Wwaswas 😀

Well I was typing when you posted.
& riding fast fire roads to steep & tight single track now you ask.

I ride on the road with significantly more than 500, but I have pish night vision and wet roads soak up light big style.

To answer the exam question GW…. exactly the same stuff as I’d ride in daylight.
Local woods and cheeky, moorland singletrack, Calderdale tech, etc.

I often night ride locally with no lights at all

**swoon** 🙄

If you can night ride without lights maybe, just maybe, your eyesight is better than some/most/all. I call a really shit troll.

Not saying its right but my homebrew retina burners flashed to full power are the first lights I’ve had that manage to persuade the local merc/audi drivers that it may be worth dipping their lights to an on-coming cyclist.

same light output as you and whatever I want to ride
It is night time it should be night time it is part of the fun.
Never crashed due to not enough light but have done due to not enough skill
Cant imagine what 1500 lumens + does in fog just bouncing everywhere blinding you I assume

It’s a bit like having sex with the light on,more fun……………Don’t suppose you would know anything about that……… 8)

If you can night ride without lights maybe, just maybe, your eyesight is better than some/most/all. you just need to know your local trails very very well

it really is that simple.

I call a really shit troll.

call out whatever you want, in your campest foot stampiest squeal if you so wish. I’m not really interested in what you jump off your bike and run down in the daylight or at night. 8)

In my experience not all lumens are equal!

Apparently I have 900 lumens, it is indeed very bright but I have no way of telling if I really do have that many lumens. They are just too fast to count individually!

As to what I ride: everything I ride in the day, just at night! I like to be able to see well.

I rode out of Torver last night in Cumbria. It was rocky slippery steppy, sloppy technical terrain followed by a fast decent through the quarries back down to Torver.

Having a bar and head mounted torch offers benefits of being better able to perceive depth of field. Also if it gets foggy, misty, rain etc a headtorch can be useless as its light refracts off the water droplets and stops you seeing anything.

I also had two spare sets in my bag for me and my riding buddies in the event of failure or breakage.

The more you can see the greater your confidence and the more fun you can have – simples.