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Thread: Night Riding

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    somewhere between the Red & Rio Grande
    Posts
    5,297

    Night Riding

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    I went for a night ride last night borrowing a friend's light and totally loved it. Now I want my own lights, any suggestions? I love the Ay Up lights but they are pretty pricey. I want to do after work riding but have this crazy idea that one day a 24 hour might be on my radar!
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    2,698
    It's been a couple of years since I bought lights, so my comments are more general.

    I like NiteRider and have had good results with both their products and their customer service. I like LED lights for their durability, light output, and battery life. On the MTB, I like running two lights: one on the bars and one on the helmet. Consider the weight of any light that you're thinking about mounting on your helmet. My TriNewt rocks, but it's nearly a pound and uncomfortable to wear on my head. I have a lighter one for my helmet.

    Good lights cost money. I've probably got over $500 in my current set-up. For specific reviews and current product suggestions, I'd head over to forums.mtbr.com.

    Night riding is a blast- I wish that there were more places that allowed it here!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Denver
    Posts
    1,942
    NiteRider has also been strongly suggested to me. Repeatedly.

    I don't have good lights yet though...maybe Santa is thinking of me?

    "I never met a donut I didn't like" - Dave Wiens

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    AZ
    Posts
    17
    I run a TriNewt LED on the bars and a Light & Motion HID on the helmet. My night vision sucks and two lights gives my vision some depth. Plus you can't see around corners with a bar light!

    I've heard good things in the past about MagicShine lights, they're LED's, have great output and very affordable. Unfortunately they've had some problems with the battery packs and are on hold until they get replacement models.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    Perth, Western Australia
    Posts
    5,316

    a

    Ayups are awesome & worth the $!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Suburban MA and Western ME
    Posts
    1,815
    If you're just getting into it, the NiteRider MiNewts are a good investment. I have the double beam version (MiNewt 700 - these go for about $170-ish), and like them a lot.

    That said, if you are riding ANYTHING TECHNICAL, these lights are not enough (although I have used them for night time cross rides on fire roads and moderately rocky/rooty trails). For technical riding, I prefer my NiteRider HID. This thing will BLIND you, and provides A LOT of light. It is also pricey - around the $300-$400 mark.

    Night riding is fun, and the only way I can ride through the winter months...

    SheFly
    "Well behaved women rarely make history." including me!
    http://twoadventures.blogspot.com

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    7
    Another +1 for Ay Ups. They are small, light, bright and reliable. The batteries especially are the smallest, lightest and easiest to manage out of all the lights I have. If you have a 24 hour solo race on your radar Ay Ups will work nicely for that.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    somewhere between the Red & Rio Grande
    Posts
    5,297
    After pricing other options I really am wanting the Ay-Ups. They are insane how bright they are and the people I know that have them have used other brands. So now I need to save or hit the lottery, the pack I want is about $450.
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Posts
    80
    I have the niterider as well. For road riding it's great and friends who use it for trail riding also mention it works well for them. They prefer the helmet mounts. I purchased the 150 lumens bar mount. For trail riding I woul go with higher lumens. The Cateye also makes trail lights.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Melbourne Oz
    Posts
    174
    I rode a few hours a night through winter with AyUps. Awesome. Could you start with the smaller kit and add to it as funds permit? There's a sale on at the moment too. ;-)

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    6
    Led lights are the way to go. Just make sure you are serious about night riding because it is somewhat expensive and you can always ride in the day without lights =)

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Posts
    1,372
    Just a warning - inexpensive lights don't do it! I wasted a lot of money trying not to spend a lot of money. I ended up with Dinottes, which I really like. If I had it to do over, I'd probably get Ay-ups.
    My photoblog
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    Bacchetta Giro (recumbent commuter)
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    I will never buy another bike!

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Land of 1,000 Bicycles
    Posts
    581
    I'm a fan of the planet bike lights. I have one of these on the front: http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodPB_3029.html -I like it because it slides off easily so I don't always have to have a light on my bike. I have this on the back: http://www.teamestrogen.com/prodPB_2008.html. I've had people tell me they can see be from waaaaaay back at night with that. Woohoo!
    2001 Cannondale R500 <3
    2011 Specialized Ruby Elite Apex
    2021 Tangential Speedarama

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    10,889
    Quote Originally Posted by MyRubyE View Post
    I have the niterider as well. For road riding it's great and friends who use it for trail riding also mention it works well for them. They prefer the helmet mounts. I purchased the 150 lumens bar mount. For trail riding I would go with higher lumens. The Cateye also makes trail lights.
    I am debating this very thing - would a helmet light be better for my country roads - or a handlebar mount? Both? My primary concern is being able to see where I am going - though of course it helps to BE seen - but I know that a lot of bike lights being sold are to help you to be seen by others - not necessarily for riding unlit country roads. I need to see potholes far enough away to do something about it...

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Posts
    2,698
    Quote Originally Posted by Catrin View Post
    I am debating this very thing - would a helmet light be better for my country roads - or a handlebar mount? Both? My primary concern is being able to see where I am going - though of course it helps to BE seen - but I know that a lot of bike lights being sold are to help you to be seen by others - not necessarily for riding unlit country roads. I need to see potholes far enough away to do something about it...
    On-road, I find that a high-output bar-mount light is enough to see where I'm going. I don't fuss with a helmet-mount light unless I'm in singletrack.

    Right now, I'm still using my ~500 lumen light for commuting. I won't switch to the ~100 lumen light until it's at least twilight or lighter when I leave in the morning. One of the downsides to being underlit is that I have to slow down in order to see things in time to react, and I don't like that option when I'm trying to get to work on time

    Check out MTBR for lots of good light info: http://reviews.mtbr.com/blog/category/lights-shootout/

 

 

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