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Some new to 24hr racing team members in our Mayhem team this year. so a few of us are kitted out with lights, but some are asking about [b]economic[/b] ways to light up the night laps.
The Fenix 205 lumen LED torch unit looks reasonable - but is this enough light?
Pair them up, any other recommendations??
205 lumens ain't very much, but then you won't be going flat out will you(?). There are a lot of better value light to be had for the same money, I'd suggest a Deal extreme Magicshine unit but they will take 3 weeks to arrive from Hong Kong.
The DX lights, as z1ppy indicates are impossible to beat for decent light output (around 600 actual at a guess, vs 900 claimed on the box), decent life, and at around £50 imported virtually disposable. Only issue is the lead time, mine took about 6 weeks to show up.
Torches of the same ilk make good helmet lamps, gaffer taped on as necessary.. I prefer a decent helmet lamp as the light goes where you look... sounds obvious, but isn't to many not used to night riding on technical terrain - often your vbar lights illuminate the tress opposite a drop off rather than your descent into it.
Ta all - as I thought - pretty low on lumens, but prob about ok for a non flying night lap.
I run ayups on bars and lid, and at 2x 2x 240 (?) lumens they're ok with both units on, but on the low side with just the bar lights running.
I DIY'd some torches off DX to make some silly lightweight helmet lamps.
Find the Q5 ones that take either 2xAA or one of the small lithium batteries. Then dispose of the extension tube, screw the head and the base together, drill a hole in the side, unscrew again, solder wires to the head and base terminals, insulation tape as nececary, screw it back together, get soem cheep 50p 2xAA battery holders from maplins and you have a 240 lumen (claimed) light for about a tenner!
Will run for 2 hours off 2AA's from a decent source. Mine hold 2900mAh (supermarket oens only hold about 900mAh so only work for 40 min). But you can add as many battery packs as you like in parralel.
TBH though, the £50 light looks hard to beat, I'm just trying to figure out what the difference between the orange peal and smooth reflectors is before I buy.
You don’t just need lumens you need very short lead time now if it’s for MM!
I believe you’re required to have a backup light with you out on track aren’t you?
In reality with it being as close as it is to the shortest night of the year (only about 6 hours darkness in total isn’t it?) I’d be surprised if you needed much burn time, plus you can always move lights from one bike to another so a couple of decent bar mounted lights and a couple of backup helmet mounted torches between the team should do the job I reckon…
Our team seems to be having a bit of an arms race, I’m using a magicshine and a couple of torches, theres a Nukeproof generator, a Maxx-D, a Joystick or 2, some ancient HIDs and some others, all of these will go in the “lighting” kitty at the start though and we’ll just see how we get on…
Are Tesco still doing their cheapy LED torches? Could be enough for a basic backup light or two…
I've done laps on a lot worse than that (5W 6V lamps to conserve my only battery...) and just try and stick with someone about my speed (ideally a little faster) and a great big HID/LED 😉
If you just need a simple head torch backup for fixing punctures and limping home, try alpkit.com - their headtorch is cracking value and even the big light goes for 30 hours on a set of Duracells. My Dad's a sparky and uses his daily and is still amazed at how much light he gets, and how rarely he changes the batteries.
You can still get the Tesco 1w torch it will be about the same as the fenix and its a tenner. You wont want to go mad DH with it but it will get you around.
Those magicshine lights are available on eBay from a uk supplier, with next day delivery I believe, so you could have one in time for the weekend for sure.
Problem is you'll pay £20 more than from dealextreme for the privilege. That said nothing out there web remotely close on price comes close on power still.
Oh and 200ish Lumens is not really very good for night riding IMO. You'll not die I'm sure, but especially as those Fenix torches are VERY focussed beam that would light up the trail a fair way I'm sure, but only about an 18 inch wide path of it, they'd not be ideal on their own.
brassneck - yes, until last year I rode MM with a set of Cateye ABS30s...and to conserve battery power did most of each lap on the 10W bulb...
you can get the dx bikelite from a UK supplier for £80 now
http://www.magicshineuk.co.uk/magicshine-bike-light-set-mj-808-900-lumens.php?item=1&s=2
they also seem to carry spare batteries etc.
Alternativly sleep throught the night laps and just do the daylight ones. A team member can do the dark ones leaving you fresh to win in the day.
Nope rules for teams state you have to have a rider on track at all times, no power napping allowed…