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Night-riding lights


mack_turtle

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I have a NiteRider Pro 1200 on my bars. How far ahead of the bike should the center beam land?
My bar lights are about 10 to 12 feet out and centered on my bar. I run the light on my helmet a slightly higher angle so as I look ahead that light is much further past.
I think the biggest adjustment is dealing and reading shadows.
Oh.. and deciding if the root ahead of you is a root or Cobra

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4 hours ago, Cafeend said:

My bar lights are about 10 to 12 feet out and centered on my bar. I run the light on my helmet a slightly higher angle so as I look ahead that light is much further past.
I think the biggest adjustment is dealing and reading shadows.
Oh.. and deciding if the root ahead of you is a root or Cobra

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 

Reminds me of 24 Hours of Rocky Hill years ago on a night lap.

I stopped for a massive snake slithering across the trail. Another guy came flying up and screamed,"WOOHOO!Snake!" as he bunnyhopped it.

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53 minutes ago, TheX said:

Woohoo!

 

Your Outbound Lighting order has been shipped!
 

Nice! After I purchased my gloworms, creepy ass Facebook started showing me ads for Outbound lighting. I never saw anything about them when researching different lights which is too bad as their product looks intriguing. 
 

Did you get both of their lights?

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The time change and all this talk of lights prompted me to dig out my old lights (NiteRider MiNewt and a first-gen MagicShine) and see what condition they were in. To be honest, I was fully expecting neither battery to hold a charge given that both of these lights are over 10 years old and haven't been used in at least 5 years. I was also a bit worried about even trying to charge the batteries, especially since those early MagicShine batteries had some, uh, let's say, issues.

So, I got my trusty metal bucket and put it on the back porch and started charging. Surprisingly, neither battery exploded or burst into flames. Both indicator lights turned green after a while so I hooked up the lights, turned on a fan to keep things from getting too toasty, and fired them up. The NR burned brightly (well, as bright as it can) for 90 minutes, then started to fade over the next 30 minutes. It was still technically on after 2 hours but I'm not sure how useful it would be on a trail at night at that brightness. The MagicShine was still going strong after 2 hours with no noticeable drop in brightness.

My setup certainly won't be as bright as some others mentioned on this thread, but hopefully it will allow me to keep doing at least one after-work ride during the week.

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I hadn't used my $20 ShenKey Amazon lights for probably 2 years. Just this last weekend I decided to go out for a night ride and cautiously put both lights on the charger (outside). I was quite surprised that they both took a full charge and had no noticeable decrease in luminosity.

Go figure

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  • 1 year later...

back to this. I think my Night Rider battery is finally staring to poop the bed. started CnD last night with a full change and rode with low- medium mode for about 90 minutes before it died. that left the Sofirn dive light on my handlebar which is bright AF, but it's kind of a "spot" light. the handlebar mount I am using is very rubbery and bounces all over the place, so it's like trying to read the terrain with strobe light. fortunately, I was following two other riders who helped tow me to the end so I would not get lost in the dark. it forced me a slow down a lot. I got out of the woods OK but it sucked. the worry that I might lose the handlebar light also left me feeling uneasy. YGWYPF.

Niterider wants $130 for a new battery and that would be me well on my way to a superior light, so that's a waste of time.

so I'm back in the market for something new, watching for Black Friday type deals. before I go on, I have one question: how do you deal with the weight of a self-contained helmet light? I weighed some of my lights —that flashlight I have is close to 200g, my old Niterider 550 baby light is 137g, and the Minewt light unit (without battery) is 122g with the plastic mount. I'm surprised by how much the Minewt weighs because that's the one with a battery pack on a cord that sits in my pocket. I've tried the two self-contained lights and each one results in a headache within a few minutes or wearing it because the weight of the light pulls my helmet down over my face if I don't cinch the helmet down so tight that it crushes my skull. (maybe because of MIPS?) then my neck hurts the next day from the helmet yanking my head around. I don't have a bull neck like some of you.

Am I doing something wrong? how do you deal with the extra weight on the helmet?

lights to consider:

  • Outbound Hangover — killer light for the price. my only concern is, being a self-contained light and battery, it's going to be uncomfortable enough that I won't want to ride it. it's actually pretty darn lightweight though.
  • Glowworm Alpha Plus — very light, dual beam, handlebar remote, external battery.
  • Gemini Duo 2200 —very similar to the Gloworm but brighter.
  • Lezyne Multi-drive 1000 — another similar light that allows for USB charging
  • Magic Shine MJ902S — ridiculously bright in theory, cheaper than the others. MS had a poor reputation for a bit there but they might have gotten better.
Edited by mack_turtle
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3 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

Am I doing something wrong? how do you deal with the extra weight on the helmet?

lights to consider:

  • Outbound Hangover — killer light for the price. my only concern is, being a self-contained light and battery, it's going to be uncomfortable enough that I won't want to ride it. it's actually pretty darn lightweight though.
  • Glowworm Alpha Plus — very light, dual beam, handlebar remote, external battery.
  • Gemini Duo 2200 —very similar to the Gloworm but brighter.
  • Lezyne Multi-drive 1000 — another similar light that allows for USB charging
  • Magic Shine MJ902S — ridiculously bright in theory, cheaper than the others. MS had a poor reputation for a bit there but they might have gotten better.

I have an older Gemini Duo 1500.  It's my only light and I wear on my helmet (as far front as I can), along with a replacement 4-cell battery pack (back of helmet). I find that this set up is pretty well balanced and I like that it's reasonably self-contained. 

However, I've had mixed results with Gemini. This is my 2nd light of theirs.  I had a Xera 950 and left it on top of the car one night. It fell off on 360 may have gotten run over.  It still worked but the lens popped out and housing was too dented to take the lens anymore.  They gave me a discount on the Duo 1500, which was cool.  But after the original stock 2-cell battery crapped out after 2 years or so, I've had overheating issues in the summer.  I've used a replacement Gemini 4-cell and a couple of different ~$30 amazon 4-cell batteries because the Gemini replacement 4-cell was very expensive, didn't last more than a couple of years at best, and still saw my light overheating.  I even made an aluminum heatsink for it, that was only marginally helpful.

I did just get the ~$15 handlebar remote for it, which makes it much easier to dim when stopped or going super slow, if necessary.  That may be my savior.  Otherwise, I love the light!  It's size is great, I can mount it under my visor so no shadow and doesn't hit branches.  Best thing is that the L, M, H settings are configurable.  Most lights on high only run for <2 hrs.  I have 'Medium' set at 75 or 80% so I get >1100 lumens and the 4-cell lasts about 3 hrs.  Most other lights have Medium at 50%, which I find much less useful (though as max lumens go up, this becomes more tenable).

So, I still think Gemini is worth it on balance because of the configurable settings and remote.

Otoh, there's the Oxbow Voyager https://www.oxbowgear.com/product/voyager-mountain-bike-helmet-light-kit/ that I saw on fb that looks identical to the Duo with 2100 lumens and I believe a 4-cell battery for $119!  Replacement battery is only $39.  Of course, not much 3rd party info on it...

Edited by ssorgs
Clarified that I used Gemini 4-cell.
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The best way the deal with the weight on the helmet is to have a separate mounted battery.  I tried the contained light on the helmet and it felt like someone was smacking me on the head each time I hit a bump.  Not good on a technical trail.  Save the contained lights for the handlebars.

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I might skip the Outbound Hangover in that case, although it seems like a great product. it might just not be for me. there are a lot of great options for under $200 and I have learned the hard way — way too many times — that saving a few bucks is not worth just getting the best tool for the job the first time.

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I wish I could ride with just one light, but the secondary angle of light has proven to be a necessity for me. with just a handlebar light, the beam casts a shadow in grassy areas. I can only see what is directly in front of me, never "around a corner" or looking down into a hole. maybe part of the problem is that the light I had is to focused and spot-y and something with a wider beam would be better.

Edited by mack_turtle
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4 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I wish I could ride with just one light, but the secondary angle of light has proven to be a necessity for me.

Agreed, my ideal setup is a moderately bright, self contained handlebar light with a super bright helmet light with a remote battery. With just a handlebar light I can make through the trail but I'm not comfortable enough to ride very aggressive. 

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