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| *Vultures Knob>>>Bike Lights |
I need your recommendation on the best lighting for a bicycle.? |
Basically, what I am seeking is a "flamethrower" instead of the wimpy "night light" that I got from a retail outlet. Your knowledge of lighting systems would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance. If you're riding fast, you need a bright light so that you don't "out-ride" the beam and lose reaction time for bumps and holes. Bike lights are fantastically overpriced, so expect to pay from $150 to $500 for one. If you ride slower or on smooth surfaces then some of the cheaper halogen and LED lights might make you happy....$90 to $200. For the road, most lights are fine. If you're mountain biking, a bright light is really, really (REALLY) helpful and will allow you to ride about as fast as you do in the daytime if you know the trail well. It's also appreciably safer than a dim light that won't highlight what you need to see and avoid. I prefer helmet mount on the trail and bar mount for the road. Some people use two lights, one helmet, one bar. HID lighting is the way to go if you can afford it. I rode with a 15w halogen for years and when I finally bought an HID last year.....wow! If you look online, you can find some HIDs for about $280 right now. They normally run from $350 to $600. It's a lot of money, but you'll never regret it. After using Niterider products for years, I got sick of their poor customer service and problems with warranty/defects.....tried out Light and Motion and I'll never look back. For the HID lights, the only disadvantage with LM is that you have to send the light in to them if the bulb dies.....it's a safety and quality issue, but they have a superfast turnaround time. Another small quirk is that you have to switch the light head from bar to helmet mount and vice versa by removing a screw.....small price to pay, though. Niterider has good products, improved from years past, but their service attitude still sucks. Cateye also has some good superlights on the market. I haven't been too impressed with the "ultrabright" LED lights. They're bright, but not bright enough for technical/dangerous trails and riding fast. My HID is so bright I feel comfortable hitting jumps in the dark! The Niterider Minewt double system is pretty decent, and a lot cheaper than HID. There are several others hitting the market now as the technology becomes cheaper and more available. Personally, I'd choose HID or a strong halogen over the LED lights, but some people love them. It depends on your needs, I guess. Halogen lights are the old standby. Once you compare them to newer lighting, they look yellow and dim, but they're totally usable. Don't go any less than 15w if you ride fast. As far as batteries go, choose a lithium ion or nickel-metal-hydride. Some lights still come with Ni-cd batteries but the extra few bucks for one of the newer materials is worth it. They're lighter, smaller, more consistent, and last longer over the life of the battery. If you find a light with a lead-acid battery, look elsewhere. They're cheap, that's about their only positive quality. You'll want a relatively fast charger if you think you'll use it often or to commute with. Overnight chargers sometimes leave you in the dark unless you're good about planning ahead. Most chargers have trickle-charge modes and over-charge protection, but not all. I'd strongly recommend that you choose a light with this......all companies charge WAY too much for replacement parts and batteries, so anything to make them foolproof is well worth it. This is a great time of year to score 15% and 20% discounts at the online stores, and lights are discounted while people aren't riding the dark as much or new model year lights are coming out. If you can see or borrow other people's lights, that's absolutely the best way to find out what you need. Also, always be sure to carry some sort of small backup light just in case you have a problem. it might be hard to find but there are lights for your bike that run on 12V battery's I do not know where to get them but they are real look hard and you will find one I'm not an expert in this area. I have borrowed my buddy's light for night trail riding WOW, if you never did this you need to. It's better than a Disney World ride! Anyhoo, I can advise on helmet or handlebar mount. I MUCH prefer helmet mount on trails, either way on the road. The light shines where you look when on the helmet. Minor downside, you have a cable running up to your noggin. I only used one but imagine 1 on the mellon and 1 on the bar would be the thing to do, If your trail riding a lot. Road 1 is plenty. Expect to spend $100 for sale items to $400. If you never used high powered lights you will be amazed at the output. Stay away from the under $100 group you won't get the Flame thrower you want. Since they are so expensive and so many lighting element and battery variations have emerged over the years plus computer control outputs etc. I'm, for once, at a loss for words. Here are a few places to look at 'em on-line: nashbar.com, performancebike.com, pricepoint.com I'm sure there's plenty more but these are popular and I've bought from all over many years. Now, someone please help this guy out with the technicals??? The sun.... It's a star in our solar system. Signed dayrider only. Nite Rider makes some good systems. Check out their entire line at www.niterider.com. They are a bit expensive, but if you do a lot of riding at night, don't go cheap. Another good place to check out different systems is www.universalcycles.com. They carry the Nite Rider line and several others. LED's are the way to go. You can pack enough of them to provide enough lumens to surpass halogens, with less battery use. Depending on the type of riding, you may want a optics for a long beam (so others see you), and another one for a short beam (to see the road). Another thing is to search for the equipment ultracyclists use. As another poster mentioned, a helmet mounted light offers quite a few advantages; you may want to research the laws of your jurisdiction if you are traveling on public roads with your light setup meets the law. A quick bit of googling leads to : http://solidlights.stumpie.com/products/... |
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