Never thought this would be so hard…

Need a light for off-road group MTB rides at night.

– Can’t be too bright and must have a steady setting, no flash / pulse only

– Needs to be rechargeable, ideally USB-C but will compromise

– Needs to last 3 hours plus

– Needs to be waterproof and dust / muck proof

– Needs to mount under the saddle

—-

So many lights are too bright and / or a complete faff to run on a low brightness setting. Reality is that we ride off road so our lights really just allow us to follow each other through woods etc. Bright lights are a complete PITA.

When we do hit the road, there’s no street lights, so even a dim light is fine.

Saddle mounting required as dropper and mud guard precludes seat post mounts.

Most mates use cheap recharegables, but are post-mounted which just doesn’t work for me.

Splashed out on an Exposure tracer and saddle mount. It’s too bright. A complete faff to operate and the battery runs out (with no real warning) in no time at all. Complete waste of nearly £40.

Seems to me that cheaper is better, but my cheap purchases have failed through water and muck ingress. Riding year round they do get battered and in fairness the Tracer is robust. Just too bright!

Also, wading through Amazon’s Chinese offerings is painful as I know that the cheap ones (which all seem to offer brake lighting now) will be made of cheese and stop working on the first damp ride.

Surely someone makes a decent MTB light to go under a saddle?

What am I missing?

Just checking, but have you set the Tracer to it’s lowest power setting?

Need a light for off-road group MTB rides at night.

Serious question, why?

Moon nebula if you insist.

Just checking, but have you set the Tracer to it’s lowest power setting?

Well, sort of. I think.

Changing the brightness modes is a complete faff. What I think is the lowest setting is still a bit bright. But trying to set and retain the dimmest setting is really hard.

Moreover, even turning it on and off with gloves on is a pain. After a couple of ineffective presses the rubber around the switch rotates, so the nib on the rubber becomes misaligned with the switch underneath and no amount of pressing will get the thing to switch on or off.

I end up peeling the rubber back and pressing the switch directly. But to do that I have to take my gloves off and I’m usually ready to throw the thing away by then.

Plus, it may no longer be on the dim setting after all the wrestling with the switch and the rubber.

I may have a duffer, but I’m not enamoured with the switch design and battery life is poor. Albeit recent night rides have been cold, but the cheaper lights just plough on. Not the Tracer.

So…. many thanks for checking in. But I’m convinced that the answer, for me, is not a Tracer 🙂

Serious question, why?

Fair enough. As I say, allows us to regroup in dark and woody sections easily enough, and follow the tail of someone a bit in front on fast sections.

Also, we do hit the roads, and when stuff gets covered in mud, don’t trust the luminous bits on shoes, trousers and jackets to keep the traffic at bay.

Fair enough. As I say, allows us to regroup in dark and woody sections easily enough, and follow the tail of someone a bit in front on fast sections.

We find front lights are fine for that.

Also, we do hit the roads, and when stuff gets covered in mud, don’t trust the luminous bits on shoes, trousers and jackets to keep the traffic at bay.

Use a bright one and turn it off when off road?

Moon comet is perfectly fine for this. Cheap too.

My Mk1 TraceR lasts at least 8 hours even in the depths of winter (maybe longer, never tried) – it’s on PGM 3 (the lowest).

Agree the switch isn’t great with gloves – so just turn it on before you put your gloves. And some tape over the lens if it’s too bright?

We find front lights are fine for that.

Good for you Tom

My Mk1 TraceR lasts at least 8 hours

Yeah, I think mine is poorly. I bought it about 18 months ago so will ask Exposure if they can take a look.

I might them experiment with tape. Hadn’t thought of that!

Thanks

Owned a Moon Comet for about 4 years, been on since about October other than for charging and seems to be indestructible. Think I paid about 20 quid for it. Seat rail clamp is about 6 quid from memory

I use a cheap flashing non rechargeable job from planet X attached to helmet and then just turn on my usual post mounted light for road sections.

I bought a job lot of these and have them permanently attached to helmets. Not bright enough to annoy but useful for emergencies. Having it on helmet keeps them away from the crap.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LIPHSOFL/planet-x-led-bike-light

Edit…looks like they only have white in stock