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OK, firstly, forgive the piss-poor effort to blitz Google and search the Forum.. with the latter I had no luck with 'lights' and 'nightriding' or 'offroad' so gave up quickly. I thought instead to listen to the wise words that bless the STW collective. Ahem..
I'm definitely a newbie to nightriding and don't want to spend a silly sum. The budget won't really allow for more than £100ish, but surely there must be something that works well enough below this. I do have a Fenix LD2, which I use on my road commute--it seems plenty bright to me but no doubt not enough to guide me through wooded singletrack trails. I'd prob stick it on my helmet, though, as an extra/back up.
So, can I get anything half-decent for my available readies or do I need to sell kit, beg-steal-and-borrow to raise more.. ?
Oh, did come across this:
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/tested-30-high-power-mountain-bike-lights-28195
Anyone use anything on the list? I guess I'm just after a little practical knowledge and guidance from you lot out there that have the experience.
Cheers guys 🙂
[blatant sales pitch]
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-hope-hid-niteflux-hid-hard-shell-hope-hid-battery-tomson-stem-holder ]http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-hope-hid-niteflux-hid-hard-shell-hope-hid-battery-tomson-stem-holder[/url]
both of these woudl be a good intro to off road riding. they're HID not LED technology but they've both been very reliable for me and the Hope in particular could be upgraded to LED's by a couple fo people on here for not a huge amount of dosh.
My personal view is that the cheap LED lights are just that and whilst they'll get you going they don't last and I've been night riding with people who've had random failures often enough to make me question the value of the savings made.
[/blatant sales pitch]
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bastid-light-which-one ]This thread[/url] should give you some ideas - the DX/Bastid light is flavour of the month for those who want plenty of bangs per buck.
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/hawking-lights-anybody-using-them ]short version[/url] or [url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/tags/magicshine ]the long version[/url]
If you can stretch to £139 and want a UK dealer I'd have a look at the [url= http://www.spokeshirts.co.uk/shop-2/#ecwid:category=612128&mode=product&product=2519336 ]Fireball at Spokeshirts[/url] too.
The STW Massiv will recommend this:
[url= http://troutie.com/Products/Detail/Liberator-MKIII ]Trout's Liberator Mk3[/url]
But as I've just seen your budget, I would suggest a 2nd hand light, Cateye Stadium 3 2nd hand is in your budget and chucks out 1600 Lumens, there was a 2nd hand Lupine on here the other week, going cheap too. Keep your eyes out in the classifieds is my tip.
For £50 the DX light is a bargain, you could order 4 and still have change from the money youd spend from a more known brand.
The medium setting is pretty good, the high setting is perfect for singletrack, downsides are weight, there are lighter lights out there, and weights more noticable on your helment than anywhere else.
And it's quite big so catches on branches, and the height gives it a pendulum effect which gave me a headache for the first few rides untill I got used to it.
For a lot of people the next upgrade seems to be another one for the bars, so they must be pretty good, I've not real complaints with mine apart from the battery charge indicator reads full untill about 15 minutes before it switches itself off, not really an issue as it lasts ~4 hours on high so just charge it up before you go out (about 6 hours from flat).
Double your budget and 4fourth are ace little lights, the light itself is about the size of a mini prit stick and comes in a fair chunk cheeper than the comparable lights from troute or luminous, £195 inc li-po battery, versus about £300, the big brands are even more again.
The last option is one of Trout's kits, about £100 to build your own light thats seriously bright, the downside is it does look like you made it in a shed, and it'll only be as reliable as you are with handtools! Smudge makes the batteries for about £65.
Thanks, people. much appreciated. Cheers for the directions to previous threads.. knew there had to be some!
Due to budget, something like the Fireball looks good. Does/Has anyone have/had one? How do/did you get on with it??
Does anyone else find they spend most of their time on group rides looking at where the person in front's going? The bit of trail between you and them is already too close to really react to?
I actualy forgot to turn my lights on and rode a few minutes of twisty singletrack with just the light from the next person. So by that logic you should ask the guy behind you what lights he wants! Althouggh maybe its a singlespeed thing as you need to know if they're going to slow down and drop back so you've got room to keep your momentum going.