Let there be LIGHTS...

Flagster

Expedition Leader
Thinking about buying a new light to replace the old guy...
I have a NITERIDER from back in the day 2004 vintage HID with helmet mount that was used for some 24 hour races...still works great but the battery is heavy as all heck...
Wondering what the new bling is...I figure LEDs up front but are the batteries a lot lighter...that would be the main reason I get something new.
I am thinking a new bar mount system to start with and still use my HID system as needed...
Main use would be some bikepacking jaunts that involve 3-5 hours of evening and early morning riding...
What says yous guys
 

DaveInDenver

Middle Income Semi-Redneck
I still run my Niterider HIDs (I have two set, handlebar and helmet), they are sufficiently bright and the run time is decent enough. The jump to LED is nice but not quite the evolutionary step we saw going from lead-acid and halogen to NiMH and HID. The main difference is the lithium batteries are a lot smaller and lighter for a given capacity. The lights themselves are the same size and weight, although at the upper end 2x to 3x as bright. But to be honest the 500 lumens your HIDs put out is already overkill for recreational riding. Fact is unless you're trying to warp speed a trail during a race you want enough light to see but not blow out your night vision and even HIDs are too much really.

So the ability to dial new stuff down to low intensity (like 250ish lumen) and achieve 8 hour run times is the significant part. I rented a set of the Niterider 1200s at the Gallup race in June and I kind of had a hard time really telling they were /that/ much brighter than my Storm. The color was cooler, a definitely harder blue-white. But I couldn't see $500 going for them. I'll replace the batteries in my bricks again, money better spent. If a bulb or ballast goes, I won't fix them and would get something new.

As far as bike packing lights, I use my CR123 light. No need to worry about figuring out how to recharge all the time (any Wal-Mart has batteries in a pinch, although you can still use a solar cell and rechargeables, too) and the double cell tactical lights are dang bright, plenty to pick your way at touring speed. I carry a Fenix PD22 in a nifty generic bar mount with me all the time and it's gotten me down some gnarly stuff when we stayed out too long. That's 200 lumen in something barely larger than a Chapstick tube and runs about 60 minutes at that level. At walking speed brightness it'll run 8 or 10 hours I think.
 
Last edited:

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
I'm of the opinion that bikepacking is the domain of the tiny light. Speeds are lower, often just hike a bike speed to get up and over a hump. I like small lights with replaceable batteries, either CR123s or AA batts.

For training I use a Nite Rider DIY Pro 3600. Love it. BAM! Big light. Which reminds me...better maintain the charge on my batts. :(
 

Two-Wheeled Explorer

Proceeding on...
I use a CygoLite ExpiliOn 800. Before that I used a Cygolite DualCross, which now resides on my patrol bike at work. The ExpiliOn's low beam dwarfs the DualCross on high beam, and it is self contained and USB or wall-plug rechargeable. The DualCross has a frame-mount NiMH. I continue to be impressed with the ExpiliOn. BTW, I rarely use the 800 lumen high beam. The low beam (400, I think) is plenty of light for most situations.

Ride safe,
Hans
 

libarata

Expedition Leader
I use two Maglite XL50s up front, and a Princeton-tec QuadTactical MPLS headlamp for closer stuff. They all use the same batteries.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
By the way, Chris Collard just put together a huge piece in the recently released issue of Overland Journal testing the best LED flashlights on the market. Most of them are applicable to bikepacking.

Get yer copy.

www.overlandjournal.com
 

Flagster

Expedition Leader
Thanks for all the ideas/suggestions. I am planning on going with a small helmet mounted AA led light paired with a flashlight on the bars that can be used off the bike.
 

fortel

Adventurer
I still run my Cygolite Dualcross on the bars (and I guess I will till it dies) along with an older Niterider MiNewt (I believe the 110 lumen from the earlier models). Either one would be enough light for pavement rides. But I really like running a combination of bar and helmet lights - the two different beam directions helps with depth perception, especially on singletrack, and being able to turn your head and light up a tight turn with a helmet light before the bar light would catch up is handy. Good thing is that the options just keep getting better and in some cases the price points do too.
 

Flagster

Expedition Leader
Just charged up my NITERIDER Storm system and got a 4 hour burn time last night in the garage...not bad for a 10 year old battery...
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,538
Messages
2,875,656
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top