Head and Handlebar lamps?

[marcski]

I'm trying to figure out which ones to get. I'm told, if you're going to do any real riding at night, its best to get both the helmet light as well as a handlebar one. Anybody have any thoughts about types, brands and models?

 

[Marc]

I have done quite a bit of night riding and it kicks ass.


Ride a trail you know well first becuase it will look very different at night. You'll see things you never saw before.

In terms of brands I can't help. We made our own. We don't use head lamps so I can safely say you don't need them. They can help, and they're nice if you want to deal with extra batteries, or a shortened pack life if you just use one.


nlmasopust and his brother found us some 10W halogen lights. Just the bulb and reflector and we used hoseclamps to attach them to the handlebars.

Go halogen over LED for the bar light. Helmet light you could probably get away with LED's since they're cheaper and not very important. Then we got some NiMH C cells of eBay and soldered together battery packs. The soldering arrangement worked best in two rows of five batteries each, standing upright, and then inserted into a cut open gatorade bottle. You can just use duct tape to tape it back up. With access to a peak charger you can charge them yourself and voila-

For about $30 (not including the peak charger) you have a $200 light system.

 

[marcski]

Interesting. You find a 10W bulb is all you need? Are you riding techy trails at night?

 

[Marc]

Interesting. You find a 10W bulb is all you need? Are you riding techy trails at night?

Yeah, real technical. Obviously the more light the better, but battery life becomes a concern.

We raced the 24 hour race with just the one light. The cells were 4300 mAh. Probably figure around two hours run time with the one light.

I'd have to calculate that again to be sure, but it was around that.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

Headlamp is the way to go,,,,i had bar mount, no good....put a light up on the 'ole brain bucket!! I love night riding and putting at night!!

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

What kind of light do you have skiquattro? You Helmet mount, yes?

i have the Night Rider mounted to my helmet ($250) and 2 lights (5v and 10v) mounted to my handle bars as back up..my night rider will last about 1.5hrs at full power (its a step down from the HID)

 

[marcski]

I hear good things about niterider. I really want to try nightriding.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

dont skimp on the lighting..its a whole new world at nite, so fun.....

 

[cbcbd]

A friend of mine found a good site comparing some lights - pretty good resource. Now it's just picking what I want to pay - the good ones aren't cheap.

http://eddys.com/page.cfm?PageID=493

 

[marcski]

Quattro, do you need both the bar and the helmet? I mean, of course, it depends on the terrain, but I've heard running both makes a big difference? Do you run both at the same time? Where on the island do you ride at night? (so i have an idea on the terrain vs. brightness).

 

[cbcbd]

Also, the latest NEMBA newsletter had a good article on lights. According to the article, at least, they said that usually one will suffice, and helmet is the most common.

 

[SKIQUATTRO]

my primary light is the helmet as it allows you to scope out the trail where you want to go before you get there..the handle bar mount lights only light up in the direction of the handle bars (think car lights...if you are stopped at a light and want to see to the left, you cant, the lights are pointed straight ahead) i use the handle bars lights as backup..i've been deep in the woods when my light has gone dead ... dont skimp on the helmet light, i did at first and it was a mistake....

 

[Charlie Schuessler]

Until just recently, I've used handlebar mounted lights. I purchased a NightRider HeadTrip 3.0 helmet mount unit which is a 6-volt, 10-Watt Halogen lamp that is fantastic. It takes a few minutes to adjust the beam to your sightline preference. The lamp assembly mounts to the helmet and a cable runs down to a battery kept in a pocket or pack. The manufacturer claims a total system weight of 17-oz. The complete set up consists of the headlamp, cables, battery, charger and a nice zippered pouch to store everything.