I can't comfortably ride mtb properly at night, I can't really process what I'm seeing into useful information, timing is out, forward planning is out, balance is gone, I really struggle, I think its depth perception.
I have bright lights, 6000+ lumens between bar and helmet (exposure/lumicycle).
I can comfortably bimble, but that's no fun.
I can ride just fine in low light, when others are switching on their lights, when my lights go on, coordination goes.
Anyone else?
Are you looking far enough ahead?
I find that when i start night riding again at the start of the season i end up watching the floor just ahead of my front wheel. Doesn't matter how bright the lights are
i find it takes a few rides to get back into it. only done 3 night rides this year (lights got nicked and only just bought some new ones), and the first ride was horrific - like i'd never ridden a bike before, second ride was better and some semblance of remembering i've been mountain biking for 30+ years, third ride felt more natural and getting towards riding quicker.
i always find night riding a very different 'thing', and enjoy it for that and all the scary chaos that comes with it
I love it when I get to do it. My problem is leaving the house after work.
i always ride slower. it does get better the more regularly you do it. I used to ride fairly fast with crappy lights but i rode twice a week without fail. now i struggle to go as fast. but then thats half the fun - that tamer trails are more fun in the dark.
I also find teh pattern and colour of the lights are important to me - if the lights are too white and if they are too spotty on the helmet, my brain seems to struggle. Its really odd. I`ve got a heap of lights by my old crappy helmet light is still my fave. i dont use it any more as its a faff but its got a nice light and spread.
God no, I've sent it down things that I've returned to in daylight and had a refusal. take away all the extraneous information...like y'know; being able to see, and MTB is waaay easier.
That sounds far too bright so everything will be flared so won't make much use for seeing stuff. Can you dial the brightness down? I find anything over 1500 lumens is far too bright so never use full power.
I enjoy night riding but haven't done much this year as I seem to be struggling to actually get out - absolutely fine once out and riding but the thought of the cold and wet seems to have me staying inside...need to get that sorted.
Anyone enough of my boring life - reduce the light output and try that...
Not had any issue with it really. I struggle most going from bright daylight into gloomy forest - takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust.
I think lights that are too bright white / blue aren’t helpful - I had an 1800 lumen torchy light that wasn’t as good as a 1200 more yellowy light.
Not that it matters but I’m now on a maxx d / axis combi which is pretty good on terms of seeing what you’re doing. I actually have a couple of pbs in one local woods riding in the dark.
Is your helmet light too bright? If its brighter or very spotty it can wash out the very useful shadows cast by your bar light.
It's quite interesting... Take a light outside and hold it above your head. Then move it down to your chest and you'll be able to see the shadows of objects appear which give you the depth.
If you want to know more, have a listen to the nightriding episode of Downtime Podcast with Tom Place.
Having a spotlight on your helmet helps focus your attention ahead, with a flood on the bars to just confirm what you are riding over in your peripheral vision. Just one light messes up depth perception of obstacles.
I love a good night ride, Usually get out one evening a week. Exposure diablo on the lid and magicshine monteer on the bars. I like the 'tunnel vision' you get with lights so you concentrate on the trail and nothing else, especially in the woods..Feels fast even though its usually slower!
“I have bright lights, 6000+ lumens between bar and helmet (exposure/lumicycle).”
I have an old Maxx-D and more recent Diablo. I think they’re about 2500 and 1500 at full. If I’m on my own I rarely run them at max because the reflections back from nearby trees etc are really blinding. I turn them up more in a group but then the rest of the group is lighting the trail around me so there isn’t just a dark vs light contrast.
I’m not a super fast rider but I’m not that slow and I don’t think I ride slower in the dark - but I do more night riding than day riding.
Don't try to ride fast at night... Simple!
Your 6000+ lumen light is impressive in an otherwise total absence of light, but it's nothing compared to the light that the sun gives... Also, a hugely focussed beam with no peripheral vision causes issues with depth perception, refocussing etc...
Just back off 30% compared to your daytime pace, and enjoy the ride...
I love night riding as a rule! Sadly, its mostly quite impractical giving I live nowhere near any trails (and road riding at night is far less preferable), that and most of my riding mates just don't wanna ride when its dark or don't have decent lights... A decade or so ago, probably 50% of my riding was at night given time constraints and a local weekly group on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. I miss those days!
My biggest struggle woth night riding is leaving behind a lovely warm house with a fire burning in the stove to head out into a cold night.
Unless there's a pub with an open fire, pints of Guinness (local specialties allowed) and cheese and onion crisps then there is no justification for all the hassle of getting out lights and washing bike post spin.
Sounds like you've lost focus (riding somewhere without a post spin pint option) 🙂
I can comfortably bimble, but that’s no fun
On a less trivial note, this is probably exactly where the "fun" on a night spin is at. For me it's all about just getting out, I ride well below my capability to minimise crash \ injury potential. I think of a night spin more as exercise and fun being out rather that the adrenaline rush of daytime spins.
Yeah I don’t love night riding, especially on anything remotely techy. My pet peeve is ****ting my pedals on things I can’t see - so inelegant!
I know lots of people enjoy it though, and I definitely enjoy the feeling of doing something active when others are probably sat in front of the goggle box. It’s a slightly different sense of enjoyment.
Not sure how old you are but have you considered getting your eyes checked?
My riding confidence took a real dip this year not just at night but during the day as well (I'm 41, by the way). Went to get my eyes checked and it turns out there's been quite a reduction in my distance vision over the last year or two.
It was actually because I found I didn't want to drive at night anymore that made me bite the bullet and get myself checked out so maybe, if this is a recent thing, it could be an early sign of deteriorating eyesight?
I struggle with it, my eyes are not so good in the dark despite having correct glasses. An optician recommended yellow lenses for night driving so I assume that would help riding too.
I previously had bad vertigo and going round corners on night rides triggers this too.
What about just riding less technical gravel type stuff? I rode the old railways paths near us a lot last year, still got me out in the cold away from cars and saw heaps of wildlife!
Not sure how old you are but have you considered getting your eyes checked?
Absolutely this ^^^
Is it that you can't ride down stuff that you can in daylight, or just less confident?
FWIW I find I'm pretty much equal on (strava) timings whether day or night.
my only issue with night riding is the misery of the unload/clean up after. Dark, cold, probably damp..... uuuuugggh.
Otherwise, no worries actually riding at night. Always feels like you are going faster than you are. But i usually night ride on familiar trails. Not sure how the dynamic would change if i was riding blind.
Try a second light on the helmet. I find that as you're looking along the beam of a single light, you don't see much contrast and everything looks flat. It does take a bit of recalibration to get used to night riding but having two lights (one on the bars and one on the helmet) really helps.
Also following someone else can really help you see the trail ahead.
Maybe try to join a local night ride.
No clean up at the moment, it was minus 6 last night 🥶
Different story to last week's ride, I only had chance to clean it at the weekend once the sun had come up and the temperature was a heady 2 degrees.
Try less tilt on your helmet and bar lights, especially helmet. I find if its pointing further ahead, it encourages me to look further in front. Personally I try to get the most powerful lights as possible. Yours would be fine. The slightly green tint of my Four4th lights reduces the shadows on the trail which helps a little (but not worth changing lights for)
I have an Exposure Toro on the handlebars and a Joystick on the helmet, and never run them full blast when I'm out on the gravel bike at night. As others have mentioned I find it to be a different kind of riding. More enjoying just being outside and turning the pedals in my little puddle of light than trying to get down something as quickly as possible. This is the first winter I've done it and it's almost a different sport than daylight riding.
I've night ridden for almost as long as I've been mtbing and barely make a differentiation between it and daytime riding.
Maxx-D on the bars, Joystick on my helmet. Strava times are indistinguishable between day and night.
That said I'm a trail hacker. If you are sending it into the blackness of the void over massive lips, jumps and drops - that's a different kettle of fish.
It's a long time since I did a night ride - but the game of 'rock or shadow' never tired. Quite a few over the bar moments when I gambled on shadow! 🤣
Practice is what it's all about, I can ride almost as fast, certainly within 95% of lap times during a 24hr race at night as I can during the day, but there are people who noticeably struggle.
Standard set up of a Maxx-D and a Diablo, although I don't really use teh Diablo much and find that the Maxx-D on middle setting of program 6 is plenty, I think too much artificial light can just create weird shadows and that can throw you off.
I can comfortably bimble, but that’s no fun.
Out of interest, do you expect to ride as fast at night as you do in the daylight?
I probably take it more easy, or at least slow down more often, but riding in the dark always feels faster to me.
Possibly more due to a seaonal variation, as I'm far more likely to ride at night during winter than summer. I think I ride a little slower or more considerately in the cold.
I struggle with it, in the sense that I don’t enjoy it. I’ve tried to over the years, but it’s just not for me.
I’d rather go & sit on Zwift. And that’s saying something.
TBF, i should try wearing my glasses night riding some time.
In terms of dialling it back, i don't have that much fun riding at night in the first pace, spinning in a tunnel of light doesn't feel like being outdoors to me, i like a good view when i'm out and about, combine this with having to feel like I have to reign it back to a bimble doesn't leave that much reward. It just kind of feels like exercise for exercise sake.
I can do all the same stuff in dark as light, feels a whole lot less co-ordinated though.
I think there's a bit of an association that night riding only happens in poor conditions, but the reality for me is I run my lights nearly all year round in order that can do long rides in summer. Summer night rides are brilliant.
Theres about 6 weeks around the summer equinox where I don't run lights. Otherwise they're standard issue.
"TBF, i should try wearing my glasses night riding some time."
Is that glasses as in, things with a prescription to correct your vision? I can't imagine riding without near perfect vision - I prefer contacts on the bike because glasses bounce on the rough stuff blurring your vision and you can't just blink off any water that hits them.
I can do all the same stuff in dark as light, feels a whole lot less co-ordinated though.
well yes - because you have les peripheral input so your subconscious wont feel as comfortable without its usual reference points. go ride somewhere new at night and youll probably not feel so odd as you wont have the ususal references.
6000lm of bright white LEDs is probably part of the reason. Probably just seeing a depthless glare of white. When I think of the dull halogens we used to use. They never slowed us down. Tiny Light & Motion Stella on the helmet was the first LED I tried - long throw, but tiny spot, you had to concentrate! Relax and concentrate is the combo. Ultra bright LEDs ruin night riding 🙂
When I think of the dull halogens we used to use. They never slowed us down.
Yes, they really did. Back in the days of halogens, I'd not have been riding the properly tech stuff at night that I do now.
He's using Exposure and Lumicycle, two respected brands that really do make good lights. I know plenty of my riding group use that sort of combo, with similar outputs. I've got a MaxxD and a 1000lm helmet light, so not quite that much but I rarely think, 'Oh I probably need less light down this difficult drop!'. The problem isn't with the lights...
It's not just about the lights. One thing not mentioned yet is that it's so much better in a group, even a small one. There's just more light to go round. You get a feel for where the trail goes from anyone up ahead, and when you're in the front you still get a bit of impetus and usually a bit of light from folks behind.
It's a very different (worse) experience on your own, mainly because of the maniacs with hatchets that lurk round corners waiting for you.
I did some night nav a few weeks back, I really struggled with my eyesight adjusting.
But I also had an eye test a few days ago and I have now reached the age of.......glasses!
I pretty much gave up trying to be quick on night rides, I've just not got it when out in the dark. When I adjusted to easier rides and making them fun it worked a lot better for me. Things like seeing how long I could stay with a slower rider just using their lights (mine off) which really made me look ahead made it a lot more entertaining to me than trying to get down the steep stuff and hating it. Also enjoy just heading up the local steep hill, hard push for an hour to the top, less than 10 minutes down but on a clear night it was just amazing being up there.
I do ride with glasses on but really cheap prescription ones, wonder how much of a difference not having the anti-reflective coating makes.
Really need to get back out there, charged the lights but haven't headed near the bike at night.
Yes, I struggle in the following situations
1.When the person behind me has much brighter lights than me so the trail I'm trying to see is in shadow and the rest of the world is so bright my night vision is killed.
2. When the rider in front of me has a really bright rear light and I'm dazzled by it.
3. When its twilight and everyone puts their super bright lights on and I end up in situation one again.
4. When there is snow on the ground and some idiot puts their lights on, despite the full moon providing more than enough light to ride by.
5. When my lights are too bright and mounted too high, ground features e.g. routes don't cast any shadows, so its difficult to see obstacles.
6. When I put the flood instead of the spot on my helmet mount so look far enough ahead up the trail.
7. When my helmet mounted light is pointing too low so it washes out the shadows same as in situation 5.
Many years ago I would go on weekly night rides with the club and enjoy it (unless it was raining, which made things tricky in glasses). Then I had a decade or so of just riding in the daylight, until a couple of months ago when I tried night riding again. Absolutely hated it! Trails I could ride well during daylight hours suddenly became choppy, jarring horror shows and any technique I possess seemed to evaporate. A truly dispiriting experience! The next day I checked the specifications of my old lights (which I had always assumed were 'good')- maximum output 480 lumens. I then checked modern minimum output recommendations for night riding - 1500 lumens - and I finally saw the light (so to speak)!
turns out night riding with lights is different to riding in the daylight, who would have guessed??
How confident are you in daylight and what level of riding do you normally do?
Might be a general confidence thing?
I've no issue riding trails at night, I do go a bit slower in some bits and faster in others. Not having loads of walkers about at night helps as I'm generally holding back in the daylight a good bit (the pentlands can be really busy).
I gave up night riding before Covid. My eye sight is poor and in the cold evenings my riding glasses would steam up. It just became dangerous, so I’d slow down which also had direct impacts to my ability getting down stuff that was tech. Added to the fact I was getting fed up of having to get changed and then sorting out muddy kit when I got home. I just sacked it off. I used to ride 2/3 evenings a week. I miss going out with my night riding mates, but given I hadn’t enjoyed it for some time I’m glad I made the call to stop doing it.
