Night riding

[prospector]

Guys,
All this talk of night riding, which sounds a blast, has got me search the net on lights to pick up.

Which is prefered, bar mounted or helmet? I know both would be preferred but at the time looking at only purchasing one. Any particular brands to stay away from, had problems with?

Also, talked to someone at the last group ride on Tuesday about any light needed in the back. Responce was none needed.
Riding solo is one thing, but group night rides i'd like to see how close the rider ahead of me is.

[Sully]

Night riding puts the trail in a new perspective. I'd have to say go for the helmet light first. The light moves with your head rather then your bike. Some lights have both helmet brackets and bar bracket in the box when you buy them.:cool:

[gopherhockey]

If you really want to do night riding up right - eventually go for the bar mount AND helmet mount. Start with the helmet mount though and see how that goes first.

I like having both just in case one goes out, and it fills in the shadows nicely giving more depth to my view. I usually point the bar mount out farther in front.

I went with the NiteRider Storm HID. The HID light is whiter than others and very bright. The only bad part is that you get into your car and wonder how you were ever able to drive with the dull yellow lights. ;)

The light you want in the back is a flashing red light. (I assume thats what you meant). A regular light facing backwards can be bad for riders behind you. These lights get really bright as well - it is good to remember when you have a helmet light on to not look right at another rider - you may blind them :shocked:

Night riding is the best. I can almost guarantee I'll be out there alone - often times I have the entire Lebanon to myself depending on how late in the yar it is and how cold it is out. Many people start giving up on riding in October it seems. Riding with lights in a group is even more fun.

Be careful at night though. Guys have been known to ride trails backwards at night due to the lack of people out there. Also beware of walkers on the trails at night - often they have little or no lights and they poach the mtb trails to walk their dogs etc. I have been chased more than once at night by dogs not on a leash.

[Tetreves]

John, I wanted to ask you how you liked the Storm HID.

Is it worth the money (assuming you had little of it)? And have you compared it to any of the other HID units out there, such as Light & Motion? I'm looking at getting a better light for night riding, and I want to make an educated decision on this...

I really enjoy riding at night, and would love to do more of it, I also think I would do more of it, had I a better light.

Thanks,
-ed

[gopherhockey]

I love the Storm HID. I didn't really try or test others, but I'd imagine any other comparable HID light would be just as good. The battery lasts a long long time, it is light enough and give me more visibility than I probably get in the daytime... I know you cannot go wrong with this model. You can probably get by with just one of these on the helmet, but I went with two so my wife has one and so that I have two when I'm riding alone.

[mtnbykr]

"I usually point the bar mount out farther in front"

i am just the opposite, i like the bar light to be a wider beam and focused more in front of the bike's front tire. i run a spot beam on my helmet for looking around corners and further down the trail.

"The HID light is whiter than others and very bright."

and if you ride w/ a group, the others will find your light very annoying, as it kills all the shadow/depth perception for the rider[or 2] directly in front of you. it's been descrbed as "riding in an arc welder" type of light. it's waaay worse in the winter when snow is on the ground.

"Riding with lights in a group is even more fun."

it's the only way to ride in dulluth in the winter. we have a group ride every wed, and most of us ride year-round.

you all are invited to join us.....

also, the most fun we have is wait for a full moon night after all the leaves are gone or after a nice dusting of snow and ride using" the force". turn off your lights and ride using the moon. let your eyes adjust to the darkness and just follow the trail. truly a blast

k

[mtnbykr]

"...can probably get by with just one of these on the helmet, but I went with two"

at my lbs the price for the storm/blow torch is $399.99 so 2 will cost you big bank....

marwi makes really good light w/ many battery and lamp choices. your bike shop can order these from qbp also. i've been using them for 5+ years and other than stupid sheet like ripping the helmet light off on a low tree branch, i've never had any problems.

k

[gopherhockey]

Originally posted by mtnbykr

"The HID light is whiter than others and very bright."

and if you ride w/ a group, the others will find your light very annoying, as it kills all the shadow/depth perception for the rider[or 2] directly in front of you. it's been descrbed as "riding in an arc welder" type of light. it's waaay worse in the winter when snow is on the ground.

Other riders will also be annoyed at how much better your light is... seriously when you use an HID light next to someone with the regular (yellow) kind it really puts them to shame. Not saying they aren't good - but you can really tell a huge difference. Also the newer blue-white bulbs are much improved over the white-white ones.

Just because the guy in front of you doesn't have an HID doesn't mean its a bad thing necessarily. You can resolve any brightness issues in a group by just not following so closely. If you follow right behind a rider and you have an HID, you will drown his light out. However, I have run into a situation where the rider in front of me had his light fail.. so I rode right behind him and there was enough light for both of us. Or, simply ride in front. Don't pass up on the better lighting systems just because your buddies didn't...

I still say you can't go wrong with HID... but if you have two make sure you have two of the same kind. I did have a non-HID on my bars for a while, but it played tricks with my eyes.

HID lights flat out produce more light, last longer, and use less energy. They do, however, come with a price penalty... you get what you pay for.

[jjrsds]

Having a ten dollar or less rear light is helpful but not needed. I would get the helmet light first and add on a bar mount when you can. Niterider has a few different options and seem to work well. My bar mount is a 10 year old vista light, with new battery packs and works great. Helmet is a Jetlite and I like it a lot. http://www.jetlites.com/

Good luck.

[prospector]

Thanks for the input.
Order a Niterider Evolution. As I understand and reading several reviews, these come with a "dumb" charger and will kill the battery if left connected too long. Any suggestions as to where I can pick up a "smart" charger, one that will switch to trickle charge. These should be standard charges available at any electronic store, has anyone found one that works correctly with these batteries?
Also, they appear to have a few short cable, other than our LBS has anyone seen the extension cables on any web sites, the standard sites I normally check do not appear to carry them.
Nashbar,Performance,Price Point,etc.

When's the next group nite ride?

[jitterjepp]

Ya I hear you about those brighter lights. I have an old nightrider that I used at afton and everytime someone came up from behind I had to pull off and let them pass because it messed up my point of view with the change in shadows from the brighter light. All the sudden i would get a shadow in front of me from a tree that was behind me. I kept thinking I was about crash. I would get the brighter lights now.

[jaybird]

I have to support John in the approval and support for the Niterider HID. It is THE BEST light out there. I balked at getting one for a while due to the price and I wish I hadn't made that mistake. The light is one of those pieces of equipment that will make or break a night ride.

BTW - make sure you have a one of the inexpensive (~$6-$10) AA headlamps available. You never know when you want to go out on that extra lap but you headlamp didn't.

[Trevize1138]

I got my first "real" headlights last year with a simple $80 investment in a two lamp CatEye bar-mounted system. I was actually surprised at how well it worked when I had it mounted on the bars and took in a couple Lebanon laps!

There's a wide beam and a spotlight. I'd usually point the wide beam immediately in front of my front tire and then the spot light further ahead. It would be nice to get a proper helmet light in addition, but if the light's bright enough, a helmet-mount certainly does work surprisingly well.

I also tried rigging up having one of the two lights on my helmet (used a lot of black electrical tape to get it to work) for the river bottoms night ride last week. That worked OK, but I think I might switch back to the bar mount and look into buying a 2nd, helmet-mount system. :)

[GearDaddy]

I've got an older Vista-lite bar/head lamp combination. I can get a good 2 1/2 hours using both lights, and more like 4 hours using only one light. If I had to use only one light, it would be the helmet mounted one, as being able to see "around corners" rather than where your bike is pointed seems to work best.

I would also strongly recommend having a backup light (e.g. cheaper bar mount light like a Cateye that runs on 4 AA's) for those times when you run out on the main lights. Been there - done that before.

[Trevize1138]

I think we're all overlooking one obvious solution:

Install lights every 100 yards at Lebanon! You know, just like the big stadium lights at ballparks. That way you don't have to buy expensive systems and debate back and forth about helmet vs. handlebar mounts.

Jeez ... the answer's so obvious, people.