Pre-dawn riding - a little nervous

[pinkbikes]

Thanks for the link - and I am also looking at the Ay-Up lighting system for my bike - I've been looking at that for quite some time as I will need a lighting solution for true night riding in the country.

Would you say that this helmet mounted light is bright enough for night in the country?

Catrin, I think the Ay-Up system is bright enough for anything! And it sure is pretty!

I am of course, both biased and lucky, because I have had a set since shortly after they started manufacturing them, and I live close enough to go to the shop where they make them to pick which colour I like. And the bonus is there is a really good bakery next door!

All that aside, I have used both the older Luxeon and the newer Cree Ay-Ups for night riding and have been very satisfied with both service and performance. It is great to see a local product do so well worldwide. They have developed a fair bit since they started, with different LEDs, different battery options and flashers etc. I have handed down my old Luxeons to DD and I use the Crees - lucky kid!

For mountain biking I use the medium beam on my handlebars and the narrow beam on my helmet. I find it really useful to be able to see both where I am pointing and where I am looking. This is also really good if you are riding on the road at night and you wish to be sure a driver has seen you - pinning them with your very bright helmet light is perhaps a little cruel but less cruel than them running you over!

I have also ridden at night with just one or the other. I have a night-riding helmet with the bracket on all the time and sometimes I ride the roadie at night with just a helmet light because I am too lazy to throw a bracket on the roadie's bars (that is really lazy since it is just 2 zipties) and I have found that it is still plenty of light.

In short, I figure if I can ride in a pitch black forest on single-track and feel comfortable clearing obstacles with these lights, and race 24hour MTB races with them (and I am a bit shortsighted so like a LOT of light) they will be easily bright enough for the country roads riding you are thinking of.

As a side thought, I have also bought some excellent red flashies that you may think of considering if you really want to be seen. They are a fibre tube about 8 inches long in red and they can either be constant or flash. They have a nifty rubber band system for attaching (I am fond of really easy and quick attach and remove options) and are mind-bogglingly bright. I use one on the traffic-side rear stay and I have a friend who wears two on his backpack. Here is a link.

http://fibreflare.com/index.php?page...emart&Itemid=4

Happy riding in the dark!