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Bike lights.

kazlx

Patches O'Houlihan
Aug 7, 2006
6,985
1,957
Tustin, CA
I need some. Anyone have suggestions? I really need something so I can start riding during the week after work.

I saw these on CRC:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=73904

Any other suggestions. Only need about 2-3 hour run time max. I remember reading something about Light and Motions being pretty good. I'd like something reliable, but hopefully don't plan on dropping $500 either.
 

buildyourown

Turbo Monkey
Feb 9, 2004
4,832
0
South Seattle
If you're going to trail ride, you need a helmet light. It's nice to have the big firepower and heavy battery on the bike, but you HAVE to have something pointing where you're looking of else turning is just scary. I have a head mounted HID, and while heavy it works great for hours and throws a ton of light.
 

Arkayne

I come bearing GIFs
May 10, 2005
3,738
15
SoCal
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Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,021
Sleazattle
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=70831

Minewt 600...I priced matched w/ Jenson and got it for $110 or so. Comes with a helmet and bar mount.

I'd rather carry a kerosene lamp than use another Niterider product. I have been dumb enough purchase 3 different Niterider products over the years and every single one has failed with very little use. My minewts like to spontaneously turn themselves off with full batteries or go into flashing mode, usually just as I am rolling into steep rocky sections.
 

AngryMetalsmith

Business is good, thanks for asking
Jun 4, 2006
21,081
9,791
I have no idea where I am
I have a Light and Motion Stella 300 on my helmet and it is by far the best helmet mount light I've used. It's so lite you won't know it's there.

I currently run a Niterider Trinewt on the bar.

The idea is to have a bright flood light on your bar and a spot on your helmet. This gives you better depth perception and allows you to see where you are turning.



Just keep in mind night riding requires a whole new skill set so it takes a few rides to get the hang of it.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
One of the few times you'd be better off at MTBR, visit here: http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/

Right now there lots of good options.

A couple that stick out:

Dinotte XML-3 if you want high quality with high value.

Magicshine MJ-872 if you want cheap and lots of light.

Scar from mtbr has been around forever and makes some nice powerful mini light systems called Amoeba, custom configurations are no problem: http://amoebalight.blogspot.com/
 
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kazlx

Patches O'Houlihan
Aug 7, 2006
6,985
1,957
Tustin, CA
I've ridden at night before with some borrowed lights, so that's not an issue, just looking to get my own to be able to ride.
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,145
16,539
Riding the baggage carousel.
I'd rather carry a kerosene lamp than use another Niterider product. I have been dumb enough purchase 3 different Niterider products over the years and every single one has failed with very little use. My minewts like to spontaneously turn themselves off with full batteries or go into flashing mode, usually just as I am rolling into steep rocky sections.
:stupid:

Super unimpressed with mine. Back @ niterider for repair. Second time in as many years and its been treated gently. Only used on my commuter, never wrecked once. I will say their customer service is pretty good, but it doesn't mean much when I have to have them on speed dial because I'm dealing with a product that regularly doesn't work.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Niterider has always sucked. My review from 11 years ago:

Strengths: Strong casing, QR Mount, Weight
Weaknesses: Misaligned plug jack, dumb "smart" charger, lasted only one season. Terrible customer support
Similar Products Used: Homemade, Performance, Digital Headtrip, Vista lights
Bottom Line: I have one of the early production Digital NightOwl units (it does not have the chip with the walk mode) I bought last fall. This fall the unit has been malfunctioning. I charge it the full 14 hrs, until the charger blinks green, and yet it only runs for 20-30 minutes until going into the 6W emergency (red blinking mode). This has happened every time I’ve gone out this year, 6-7 times so far. Luckily for me, I had a Performance NiMH Headlamp that I could still ride with, but not very well with it alone - its a flood, 12W.

Nightrider was not very understanding of my problem. I've been without the unit now for about three weeks. Basically, it was worthless this season. I even offered to pay extra to ship me a new unit instead of repairing my old one. They said they couldn't do it, I guess they don't know what customer service is. My next light won't be a Nightrider.

If you are looking for a good light from a company that cares, check out Jet Designs, Light & Motion, or Performance.
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
Now you guys are making me paranoid...30 or so hours on the Minewt so far...so far so good. Just commuting on it so far, as there is a lack of night time singletrack around here. But after next year I will have some tracks through the wald...stand by for further...
 

Arkayne

I come bearing GIFs
May 10, 2005
3,738
15
SoCal
I have a Light and Motion Stella 300 on my helmet and it is by far the best helmet mount light I've used. It's so lite you won't know it's there.

I currently run a Niterider Trinewt on the bar.

The idea is to have a bright flood light on your bar and a spot on your helmet. This gives you better depth perception and allows you to see where you are turning.
^^

I run the old Light and Motion HID on my helmet because it's a great spot and a Trinewt on my bars for the flood. Your logic is on, I'll give you a massage the next time I see you.

 

rohleder644

Chimp
Sep 23, 2011
6
0
Check out geomangear.com he sells magicshine lights with his own battery pack. The magicshine's were having serious battery/charger issues, like, **** catching on fire kind of problems. So dude builds his own kick ass battery packs and sends out the 900 lumen (I think) headlamp. I'm pretty sure I only paid 90 bones for mine. I use one on my helmet for my bicycle rides and its more than enough. I bought 2 more and run two on my dirtbike handlebars and one on my helmet for offroad dirtbiking at night. I've gone down pretty hard with them on the dirtbike and they've held up perfect for a little over a year now. And at 90 bucks I really don't mind if I need to replace them every now and again.
 

golgiaparatus

Out of my element
Aug 30, 2002
7,340
41
Deep in the Jungles of Oklahoma

clarkenstein

Monkey
Nov 28, 2008
244
0
i have all my stuff off dealextreme too. shipping takes forever but you can find tons of stuff on the cheap. i have two flashlights, one on the head, one on the bars as my set up. the weight isn't too much of an issue on the head if you get a light enough light. lately i have been running bars only. sucks on the twisty stuff a little but i get by with it.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,800
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I have a CygoLite MityCross 380 for my Helmet light. It may not be the fanciest light out there, but for my needs it works fine. I run a minewt on the bars because the flood is so good on it.
 

moff_quigley

Why don't you have a seat over there?
Jan 27, 2005
4,402
2
Poseurville
Check out geomangear.com he sells magicshine lights with his own battery pack. The magicshine's were having serious battery/charger issues, like, **** catching on fire kind of problems. So dude builds his own kick ass battery packs and sends out the 900 lumen (I think) headlamp. I'm pretty sure I only paid 90 bones for mine. I use one on my helmet for my bicycle rides and its more than enough. I bought 2 more and run two on my dirtbike handlebars and one on my helmet for offroad dirtbiking at night. I've gone down pretty hard with them on the dirtbike and they've held up perfect for a little over a year now. And at 90 bucks I really don't mind if I need to replace them every now and again.
This. Magicshines from Geoman is the most bang for the buck option. Outside of the battery recall mine (I have 2) have been stellar. Real world lumen is 500ish not 900 like the manufacturer advertises.
 

splat

Nam I am
Get your $50 MagicShine knockoffs http://www.dealextreme.com/p/p7-water-resistant-ssc-p7-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-900182734?r=88054654

Legit site, I buy from DealExtreme all the time. This particular product is stocked in their US Warehouse so no waiting 3 weeks for this one.

One for the bars and one for the helmet.

I bought one to test and it works pretty good!

I have to agree here .those lights are awesome for the price. . the only issue , is sometimes they don't do a good job of heat sinking. so get some heat sink greeze and open it up and make sure contact to the everything is good so the heat can be transferred to the head. if the light head doesn't get warm to hot during a long use it not transferring the heat and it will burn out.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,029
Ottawa, Canada
One of the few times you'd be better off at MTBR, visit here: http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/

Right now there lots of good options.

A couple that stick out:

Dinotte XML-3 if you want high quality with high value.

Magicshine MJ-872 if you want cheap and lots of light.

Scar from mtbr has been around forever and makes some nice powerful mini light systems called Amoeba, custom configurations are no problem: http://amoebalight.blogspot.com/
agree on the good info on empty beer.

for the money, I think that Dinotte XML-3 on the bars, and a Gemini Xera on the head would be hard to beat.

I'm running a Xera on my helmet now, and a Magic Shine MJ-872 that I bought from GeoManGear on my bar. Though the magic shine puts out an insane amount of light, it's actually too much, too close. That's why I think the DiNotte would be better. You could get the DiNotte and Xera for a little over $300 I think. Though you could also wait for Gemini to release it's Olympia, which is their XML-3 equivalent. It should be coming soon. You can order straight from Gemini, or through http://www.action-led-lights.com/ (I have no affiliation, but he seems to get good feedback on MTBR)

There's someone on these boards (do a search) that really likes the Baja Designs lights. I think it's Bullcrew or Rufus... they look like a super well built light as well.
 

kazlx

Patches O'Houlihan
Aug 7, 2006
6,985
1,957
Tustin, CA
Damn...just as many opinions as there are lights out there. Seems like everyone is using something different. I might try those ones off deal extreme for now, and if I start riding a lot more, buy something nicer.
 

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
I have to agree here .those lights are awesome for the price. . the only issue , is sometimes they don't do a good job of heat sinking. so get some heat sink greeze and open it up and make sure contact to the everything is good so the heat can be transferred to the head. if the light head doesn't get warm to hot during a long use it not transferring the heat and it will burn out.
Thanks for the heads-up, grabbed a set to see how they work and will definitely keep an eye on the heat issues. I figure that for $45 for a Li-Ion battery and a 900-1200 (tested around 850?) Lumen light set it's worth the gamble. I'll just be using them for commuting, so it's not *that* imperative that they're top of the line.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,800
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I lost my handle bar mount for my Cygolite. I was unsure which one I needed so I called them. They sent me one for free.
 

CrabJoe StretchPants

Reincarnated Crab Walking Head Spinning Bruce Dick
Nov 30, 2003
14,163
2,484
Groton, MA
Now you guys are making me paranoid...30 or so hours on the Minewt so far...so far so good. Just commuting on it so far, as there is a lack of night time singletrack around here. But after next year I will have some tracks through the wald...stand by for further...
I have 2 sets of MiNewt Duals......one about 5-6 years old, the other about 3-4. Haven't had an issue with either, both charge fine, burn time is as advertised, all modes work, etc. Even crashed on both at least a couple times. What's nice is the metal housing...a lot of the ones in this thread appear to be plastic.

I blame user error for the above mentioned failures.

http://www.niterider.com/products/rechargeable-lights/minewt700dua/
 
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syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Damn...just as many opinions as there are lights out there. Seems like everyone is using something different. I might try those ones off deal extreme for now, and if I start riding a lot more, buy something nicer.
Francis has been doing shootouts for years:

http://reviews.mtbr.com/category/lights-shootout

You can start with one Magicshine MJ-872 and then go from there if you want to keep your budget down. I'd go with geomangear so you get a better battery/charger - its worth the small premium over the stock setup.

http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=22


XML-3 for comparison

 
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