MTB Night Lighting - What are recommendations?

[Flowrider]

Coming up summertime here and we're keen to go full moon probably, for a mid night ride

What the best lighting options for night riding?

What are your experiences with various products and tips for ensuring safety and visibility on trails after dark?

[ReapThaWhirlwind]

For trails, you would want something crazy powerful.

I would question something like "Outbound Lighting Trail Evo Handlebar Light" being enough even.

[Flowrider]

(09-15-2024, 12:08 AM)ReapThaWhirlwind Wrote:  For trails, you would want something crazy powerful.

I would question something like "Outbound Lighting Trail Evo Handlebar Light" being enough even.

Thanks for that. Wil check it out. Somewhere to start looking!

[Nutribun]

I am currently using a Cateye Volt headlight. You might want to check their other products as well if you want a more powerful headlight.

[Flowrider]

(09-20-2024, 09:39 AM)Nutribun Wrote:  I am currently using a Cateye Volt headlight. You might want to check their other products as well if you want a more powerful headlight.

Excellent, Thanks for that. Checked it out. Got great specs will have to shop around for a good price

[GirishH]

I used to use my Foxelli headlamp during night rides in the woods in Boston área and while mountain biking in Ecuador and India. I prefer headlamps because they go on my forehead and light the path/trail better than handle bar mounted.

During that organized ride in Boston, other folks had some lights that were "flood lights" and probablly much safer. i just contacted them to see I can find the make.

One word of caution: Always always have a backup. Just this week, i was forced to ride in the dark while on a bikepacking tríp. My brand-new "BioLite 325" decided to die within minutes. Then I was forced to ride using my backup which does not mount as well as it just has a clip. That too dies after an hour or so. Finally, I was forced to use a second backup I was fortunate to have on my bike. None were comparable to my primary light source but they saved my life that day. I was fortunate to be on a main road which fortunately did not have many potholes. If on a trail, i probablly would just have pitched my tent there..

I did hit a pothole once and thought I broke my fingers..

Good luck and will update once I hear back from my MTB-aficionado friends..

[GirishH]

Response from my MTB-aficionado friend who enjoys riding in the dark.

"I use a bike front light mounted to the helmet. It came with an attachment strap. But the battery stopped working earlier than expected, so I don't recommend the Light & Motion Vis Pro 1000."

[meamoantonio]

(09-04-2024, 04:16 PM)Flowrider Wrote:  Coming up summertime here and we're keen to go full moon probably, for a mid night ride

What the best lighting options for night riding?

What are your experiences with various products and tips for ensuring safety and visibility on trails after dark?

I use a 1000 Lumen bike mounted Floodlight and a 500Lumen Spotlight mounted on my helmet to spot obstacles, I use GoPro helmet mounts that have that pronged to mount the light, works really great because I can spot obstacles far away and anywhere I look I get visibility

[Flowrider]

(09-29-2024, 04:06 AM)GirishH Wrote:  Response from my MTB-aficionado friend who enjoys riding in the dark.

"I use a bike front light mounted to the helmet. It came with an attachment strap. But the battery stopped working earlier than expected, so I don't recommend the Light & Motion Vis Pro 1000."

Cool. Thanks for that heads up! Appreciated

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(09-29-2024, 07:27 PM)meamoantonio Wrote:  

(09-04-2024, 04:16 PM)Flowrider Wrote:  Coming up summertime here and we're keen to go full moon probably, for a mid night ride

What the best lighting options for night riding?

What are your experiences with various products and tips for ensuring safety and visibility on trails after dark?

I use a 1000 Lumen bike mounted Floodlight and a 500Lumen Spotlight mounted on my helmet to spot obstacles, I use GoPro helmet mounts that have that pronged to mount the light, works really great because I can spot obstacles far away and anywhere I look I get visibility

Heya, thanks for the info. Less than $30 on Amazon AU so great price as well! Thanks mate

[GirishH]

Wow. Can you please share the link/model for this less than 30 AUD headlamp?

Like i mentioned my brandnew BioLite 325 isnt taking charge. So, i am forced to shop for a new one.

(09-29-2024, 11:17 PM)Flowrider Wrote:  

(09-29-2024, 04:06 AM)GirishH Wrote:  Response from my MTB-aficionado friend who enjoys riding in the dark.

"I use a bike front light mounted to the helmet. It came with an attachment strap. But the battery stopped working earlier than expected, so I don't recommend the Light & Motion Vis Pro 1000."

Cool. Thanks for that heads up! Appreciated

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(09-29-2024, 07:27 PM)meamoantonio Wrote:  

(09-04-2024, 04:16 PM)Flowrider Wrote:  Coming up summertime here and we're keen to go full moon probably, for a mid night ride

What the best lighting options for night riding?

What are your experiences with various products and tips for ensuring safety and visibility on trails after dark?

I use a 1000 Lumen bike mounted Floodlight and a 500Lumen Spotlight mounted on my helmet to spot obstacles, I use GoPro helmet mounts that have that pronged to mount the light, works really great because I can spot obstacles far away and anywhere I look I get visibility

Heya, thanks for the info. Less than $30 on Amazon AU so great price as well! Thanks mate

[Flowrider]

@GirishH
No problem. Here's a link to a 1000 Lumens

https://amzn.asia/d/31RJUk2

[froze]

For road riding you don't need more than 700 lumens, unless its a very dark night and raining then you could use 1,200 lumens.

But for MTB riding you need about 50% more power unless you're doing fast downhill stuff than you'll need twice the power that a road bike will need! And you need to know how long you will be out because that will dictate what run times you need to be looking for.

You should also consider, whether road or off road, using 2 headlights, one on the bar and one on the helmet.

If you are not doing the fast DH stuff then you need to look for lights with 1,000 lumens on the medium setting to 1,800 lumens on high. DH lights are horribly expensive, running at around the $450 price range.

Word of warning, not all lumens are the same, one company might say they put out 1,000 lumens but it could look like someone else's 500 lumen light! So now what do you do? Well, you can go to this website and compare side by side with a lot of various lights on the market, this site will show you just how dim a lot of lights are even though they say they put out huge lumens. In that light comparison play close attention to the NiteRider Lumina Max 2500, it pretty much beats out all the lights, but whatever light you decide you will have to go to the company's website and find the battery run times.

https://road.cc/content/feature/roadcc-front-bike-lights-beam-test-310999

[GirishH]

Thanks. I will have to order a pair next time my cousin is visiting me from Australia.

I love the auto-dimming features on this. I for into "trouble" during one of my recent rides when a taxi-driver thought that I was trying to blind him with my headlight. Mine doesn't auto-dim like this one..

(10-01-2024, 07:59 PM)Flowrider Wrote:  @GirishH
No problem. Here's a link to a 1000 Lumens

https://amzn.asia/d/31RJUk2

[Zviedrs]

Just received the Bontrager Ion 450 R front light as a present from Santa Claus himself. I will give an update once it's been tested on trails. 450 lumens, range up to 2km (1.25 miles).

I had one of the Magicshine front lights in the past, but it gave up after a season or two. Couldn't fix it ...