Bike Lights

[CCrew]

@Greenbelt 5346 wrote:

Slightly off the already weird topic, but I’d appreciate tips from night trail commuters on what lights to get, and any other tips (besides watch out for critters). Next winter, I want to start riding home after dark (can’t get off work early enough to get through the trails before full dark). Do you use both a helmet-mounted light and a big handlebar mounted light too?

In a word:
http://www.dinottelighting.com/

Not cheap. Work flawlessly. I’ve had the same set with the same batteries for 2+ years. I run either an 800 or 400 on the handlebars and a 400 on the helmet. Also run the taillight

zombies fear me . Police have stopped me and asked, because they’ve never seen a bike as visible. Seriously, as a commuter that rides at night regardless of the season this is the best $ ever spent. And I flinched when I did it but never regretted once I started using them. I spent this much in cheap lights easily before I got to this point

[DaveK]

@CCrew 5357 wrote:

In a word:
http://www.dinottelighting.com/

Not cheap. Work flawlessly. I’ve had the same set with the same batteries for 2+ years. I run either an 800 or 400 on the handlebars and a 400 on the helmet. Also run the taillight

zombies fear me . Police have stopped me and asked, because they’ve never seen a bike as visible. Seriously, as a commuter that rides at night regardless of the season this is the best $ ever spent. And I flinched when I did it but never regretted once I started using them. I spent this much in cheap lights easily before I got to this point

I was next to someone on the Conte’s ride who had one of these taillights and even during the day it was insane, bordering on blinding. Perfect.

If they ever send back my Magicshine battery from the recall I may buy the Magicshine taillight with Y-connector they are selling now. They’ve had the battery for two months though, I’m not expecting it back anytime soon. I still love that light though, especially now that it’s less likely to catch my house on fire.

[Greenbelt]

Thanks! Lots of great ideas for early Christmas presents here.

My biggest complaint about the cheap “see me” lights I’ve been using is the lack of weatherproofing in their design. It’s like they were engineered for dry conditions only. I finally found a set of good mid-price lights now that are much more waterproof, but probably not bright enough for full night on unlit trails. It’s nice to hear that these more expensive lights will actually last a long time — I’ll use that in my rationale anyways…

[CCrew]

If you go the Dinotte route I will say that the 800 on high is pure overkill. I bought it because after the second deer collision I wanted something that either A: would let me see them 100+ yards out, or B: freeze them in their tracks. It’s totally effective at both, but the 400 on the handlebars works also with the 400 on the helmet and allows you to spot them and if you track with your head you can keep them illuminated and it usually keeps them frozen in place. You understand how the Bubba’s spotlight deer when illegal hunting. If you don’t have that to contend with there are cheaper lights. Keep in mind that having two lights is pretty important if you depend on them to get to where you’re going. With just one, it dies and you’re in the dark. I always carry a 120lumen LED flashlight as a backup. If nothing else I can hold that in my teeth and use for a flat repair.

I went to Dinotte’s from twin halogen NiteRiders. Huge difference.

[eminva]

I am just trying to imagine what these would be like. Do any local bike shops sell them? Could they demo them one evening when it starts to get dark early?

I often wish the light I have were brighter, especially west of Gallows Road, but I am reluctant to increase the wattage since I have already gotten complaints. And if I added a helmet light, I’m not sure I’m coordinated enough to shut off the helmet light and redirect the handlebar light at once in the face of oncoming traffic. Also, the beginning part of my commute is on the streets of DC which has a different set of issues (visibility).

Thanks.

Liz

[CCrew]

@eminva 5375 wrote:

I am just trying to imagine what these would be like. Do any local bike shops sell them? Could they demo them one evening when it starts to get dark early?

I often wish the light I have were brighter, especially west of Gallows Road, but I am reluctant to increase the wattage since I have already gotten complaints. And if I added a helmet light, I’m not sure I’m coordinated enough to shut off the helmet light and redirect the handlebar light at once in the face of oncoming traffic. Also, the beginning part of my commute is on the streets of DC which has a different set of issues (visibility).

Thanks.

Liz

I’ve never seen them in a bike shop.. Not to say they’re not, just I haven’t seen them. Might be worth an email to them and ask if they know of any stocking DC dealers.

I’ll happily demo them for you one day depending on schedules. If you do the WABA class tomorrow are you riding? I’m debating doing it if only to realize I’m doing it all wrong

As to the helmet light, I’ve found that a tight beam pattern light is pretty much neutered by simply looking down and to the right of the trail.

[ronwalf]

@CCrew 5373 wrote:

You understand how the Bubba’s spotlight deer when illegal hunting.

Is this where you mount bayonets on the tips of your aero-bars?

[CCrew]

@ronwalf 5382 wrote:

Is this where you mount bayonets on the tips of your aero-bars?

Unless you’re in WV. Then you simply shoot the mechanical deer and they arrest you for both poaching AND destruction of government property.

And that’s actually true – they do that.

[eminva]

@CCrew 5376 wrote:

If you do the WABA class tomorrow are you riding? I’m debating doing it if only to realize I’m doing it all wrong

Oh dear — here I was thinking that I was a little beyond this class, and yet, you ride . . . what did you say, 1200 miles a month? This is triple my mileage. If you think you might be doing it wrong, what must it say about me and the rest of us?

In all seriousness, I have heard good things about the class, but I have had a hectic few days and though I will be on the bike tomorrow, thought I might head home and chill right after work. But I think you are downtown so maybe I could check them out sometime (not 2:30 a.m.).

Liz

[dbb]

I saw a rider yesterday with a skewer mounted rear light that was powered by magnets on the spokes. It was on when the bike was moving. A product called Reelight. Found it at Amazon in a couple of models. While I can’t see it as my primary light, it looks like it might make it up to the secondary or tertiary position.

[acc]

Thank you for this thread, I read through it yesterday and decided I needed to add some lights just to ride through twilight. I think I’m fairly safe without lights around eight o’clock in the evening but after reading about lights I added a Blinky Superflash on the back and a Cateye on the front. I just want to be seen by traffic as the sun is setting and the shadows are growing longer. So thanks for the discussion, I probably wouldn’t have thought of it on my own.

ann

[americancyclo]

@eminva 5375 wrote:

Do any local bike shops sell them? Could they demo them one evening when it starts to get dark early?

CycleLife in Georgetown sells the NiteRider MiNewt lights. I work on Capitol Hill and live in Falls Church, just off the trail. I’d be happy to meet up sometime if you want to see what the MiNewt 250 USB is like.

@eminva 5375 wrote:

I am reluctant to increase the wattage since I have already gotten complaints.

Ignore them. If you can see them and they can see you, then you’re both safer.

[Riley Casey]

Couple of observations based on my night riding and driving experiences – all on road, almost never on trail FFIW. I find that if I have any lights focused far enough ahead that they are blinding oncoming riders / runners then the light is not really illuminating the road well enough to be of much use in avoiding trouble. Bike lights that I have tried really only throw about 30 ft with any real power and after that its a marker light rather than a head light. I don’t care to spend money on marker lights because I have found that other bikes and runners will see just about any headlight against a dark background without difficulty. What I am most concerned about in the presence of cars however is how well the drivers see me and cars carry lights that are far more powerful than anything I could hope to carry on a bike so I prefer to add reflective stuff like tire strips and reflective vests to take best advantage of that disparity.

@eminva 5352 wrote:

snip … My only suggestion is to be careful about how you aim the thing — I have gotten occasional complaints from joggers and other cyclists that I was blinding them. I try not to do that and I have resorted to temporarily moving the aim of the light when there is oncoming traffic and restoring it when they have passed. For this reason (and others) I have avoided helmet lights.

Liz

[DCLiz]

I’m looking forward to when these become commercially available (to use in addition to a front and rear light, of course):
[video=vimeo;23544972]http://vimeo.com/23544972[/video]

Here’s the GGW write-up:
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/11200/project-aura-a-gorgeous-take-on-bicycle-lighting/

[Dirt]

I’ve tried most bike lights on the market and owned lights from 8 or 9 different manufacturers over the last 20 years. I have some very strong opinions on the matter. Please keep that in mind.

The Dinotte lights are very, very good. I’ve had good luck with their customer service too. Light In Motion lights have proven reliable, durable and a pretty good value. Their customer service is okay. I’ve had trouble with Night Rider… both in durability and customer service. The lights work very well when they’re working though. They lasted a year or so before they start having issues.

By far the best system I’ve used for commuting, mountain biking and endurance racing comes from Exposure. http://exposurelightsusa.com

I use a Diablo1 and a Flare for commuting. The Diablo is too powerful on most settings, so I use the middle setting on the road and the lowest setting on the trail and make sure to aim it down so I don’t blind people. It is small, light and super bright (900 lumen on high, 300 on medium, 150 on low). I like that there are NO CABLES or external batteries. The handlebar and helmet mount are PERFECT. If I were buying a light just for commuting, I’d look at the Joystick. It is smaller, lighter and has plenty of power for riding on the roads.

The Flare tail light is tiny, powerful and the rechargable batteries work fantastically. I get 15-20 hours out of a charge and they come with a very good smart charger. The mounting system is brilliant.

The durability is amazing. I have used the Diablo 200+ days per year for the last 3 years and it has NEVER shown a sign of weakness. It has NEVER stranded me. Never had a bad charge. Never given me a moment of worry. The Flare has been in use for a little over a year and it is perfect.

For off-road riding and endurance racing, I use a Toro on the handlebars and a Diablo2 on the helmet. That combination has proved the lightest, most effective system I can imagine. There are add-on batteries you can get that double or quadruple the battery life (depending on what you need). I can’t imagine a better system.

Here’s the best part…. Their customer service ROCKS! I cracked a plastic mount for the handlebars on my Diablo. It was my fault. I tried to remove the light when it was -10F. Plastic breaks instead of bending in those temps. I called exposure and they sent me out a bag of 3 replacement parts next-day mail and didn’t charge me at all. They just asked that I return the broken one.

To my knowledge, these lights are only available from the web site listed above. They seem like they are expensive when you first look at them, but when you look closely, they are an extremely good value.

My New Project: My next commuter will have a generator system built into the wheels and frame. The German company Schmidt makes amazing systems. Supernova makes great lights to go with the Schmidt hubs. Yes, they are expensive, but imagine never having to charge batteries again. You’d never have to worry about running out of lights. Seems perfect to me. The construction is dead sexy too. http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/lightingsystems.htm

Hugs and kisses,

Pete

[Author]

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