Lighting suggestions for Hains Point, Rock Creek park?

[Kolohe]

Now that it’s getting dark earlier, I think we should see if they have a version for 2 wheeled vehicles and everyone should get one:

[hozn]

@creadinger 66298 wrote:

You could probably get away with a 300 for what you want to do (cheaper).

Yeah, I use a Niterider Lumina 350 light & love it. The new mounts are wonderful (the old ones were crap). And the light is light and I like the all-in-one-ness of it. I have a $20 Niterider Mako as a backup in case I forget to charge the main one (it fits to the same mount and uses AA batteries). I find 200-250 Lumens sufficient for up to 20-25mph on the W&OD. Sometimes if it’s really dark (e.g. out near Leesburg at 4am with a cloudy sky) or if I’m riding on mtb trails I’ll run the high power (350). If I was doing more off-road riding I would definitely helmet mount the light (and maybe go for a brighter model; the light is nice in the woods). Remember that the perceived brightness is not linearly related to lumens (logarithmic?) — so [other things being equal] a 600L light does not appear “twice as bright” as a 300L light.

Whatever you do, cover your light for oncoming cyclists. Probably the thing that is most annoying about winter cycling are the jackholes running 900L lights that don’t cover them / turn them down for oncoming cyclists. It’s blinding (and simply dangerous).

[ronwalf]

@Kolohe 66389 wrote:

Now that it’s getting dark earlier, I think we should see if they have a version for 2 wheeled vehicles and everyone should get one…

Isn’t that the Monkey Light?

[jhr]

@cyclingfool 66326 wrote:

This fall, as darkness approached, I got one of these Magic Shine knockoffs on Amazon. Less than $30 shipped. I still eventually want to build up a new wheel with dynohub and get a nice light again, but for now, I am quite pleased with the new light. It is much better than the flashlight I had been using, and should meet my needs nicely for riding in the dark this winter. I picked up a wide angle lens for it, too, but haven’t tried it out yet. The light pattern as is seems acceptable, though I probably will experiment with the lens at some point soon.

The old flashlight might go on my helmet for the really dark months of winter.

I have one of these from a different site and it’s worked great, but I’ve anecdotally heard about one case where the battery pack exploded while being charged, so I suggest some caution or at least common sense (at least don’t leave the battery plugged in for long periods) to people considering them. I’m not sure they’re all the same, so some of them might have more of a protection circuit in the battery pack. I’m actually hoping to adapt it for dynamo use (for the dynamo wheel I mentioned planning to build in the other thread) so I can sidestep the whole battery thing.

[consularrider]

If I remember right, there was a recall about three years ago on the Magic Shine battery pack because of a fire danger. There was a long gap before a new version was on the market. FYI, the links may be marketing placements.

[jhr]

@consularrider 66399 wrote:

If I remember right, there was a recall about three years ago on the Magic Shine battery pack because of a fire danger. There was a long gap before a new version was on the market. FYI, the links may be marketing placements.

The batteries on the ones currently sold under other names are possibly the same as those ones that were previously sold under the Magicshine brand (they look identical) and I think the case of one exploding I heard about was within the last year. There are a couple sites now selling the Magicshine branded lights with fancier battery packs which are probably safer. (The cheap battery packs are just four 18650 batteries wired together so you could probably get batteries with built in protection circuits or use a charger that’s more intelligent about knowing when to stop the current.)

[cyclingfool]

I had heard about the fire issue and recall on MagicShine stuff as well. So far, I find that the batteries charge in about three hours, even when completely discharged. So I tend to recharge them at work, and I can babysit them while I sit at my desk.

My end goal is to build up another dynamo hub-equipped front wheel and get a new Busch and Muller Cyo N headlight like the one I used to have. It sure was nice not having to worry about charging batteries!

[Tim Kelley]

@off2ride 66375 wrote:

Light & Motion Urban works for me. I have the 500. Easy on/off the hbars. Compact modular design. I also use it off the bike. Doubles as a flashlight. Fairly priced.

I love L&M! I’ve got an Urban 550, TAZ 1200 and, SECA 800. All wonderful products, and I’ve have good luck with customer service through the local bike shops.

[Greenbelt]

@Tim Kelley 66403 wrote:

I love L&M! I’ve got an Urban 550, TAZ 1200 and, SECA 800. All wonderful products, and I’ve have good luck with customer service through the local bike shops.

I have a Light and Motion Vis 360 on my helmet for general purpose and directed beam, and an Urban 200 (I think) on my handlebar for wide beam trail lightup. Works fine for paved trails (might want a bit more light for night MTB).

[A.C.]

just an update, I purchased the NR Minewt 650 and mounted it on my bars. For those of you that have this, do you use the flash mode on trails and roads? It seems really bright compared to the highest setting and im not sure if it is blindingly bright to oncoming traffic.

[rcannon100]

Please please please turn off strobes on the trail. You dont need them on trails; and you are blinding your oncoming cyclists. First all I can see is light; then all I can see is darkness. And my eyes dont adjust fast enough. Please – go to solid and point it down at the trail in front of you – not into oncoming cyclists eyes.

Thanks!

[JimF22003]

No strobes on the trail please

And even with the steady light, be sure to dim it with your hand, or redirect it for oncoming traffic, especially when it’s completely dark.

[cyclingfool]

@jhr 66398 wrote:

I’m actually hoping to adapt it for dynamo use (for the dynamo wheel I mentioned planning to build in the other thread) so I can sidestep the whole battery thing.

My knowledge of electrical circuitry is not what it should be, but this sounds like a cool project. Any ideas how you’d make it work? I think dynamo hub output is AC and battery powered lights run on DC. Voltages are all a little different, etc.

Keep me posted on how it goes if you do try to wire it up!

[mstone]

@cyclingfool 66679 wrote:

My knowledge of electrical circuitry is not what it should be, but this sounds like a cool project. Any ideas how you’d make it work? I think dynamo hub output is AC and battery powered lights run on DC. Voltages are all a little different, etc.

Keep me posted on how it goes if you do try to wire it up!

That’s a fairly trivial circuit; all LEDs run on DC, and the appropriate circuitry is in all modern dynamo lights (which have moved to LEDs).

[cyclingfool]

@mstone 66681 wrote:

That’s a fairly trivial circuit; all LEDs run on DC, and the appropriate circuitry is in all modern dynamo lights (which have moved to LEDs).

Like I said, my knowledge of circuitry and things electric is pretty piss-poor. I’m sure it’s not too complicated. Just curious to find out what gets done/has to be done to make it work.

I really should have paid more attention to what I was doing with my Radio Shack kit (like this one) I had when I was a kid. I need to (re)teach myself some stuff. I also wish I’d worked a little harder in my HS physics class so that I remembered more.

[Author]

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