I do an absolute ton of night riding and much of it is shuttling on fast and steep trails (the only thing we have here in the interior worth shuttling). One trick to riding fast is to hit a chute line that is steep enough the minimum speed is 'fast'! My group, being almost entirely comprised of current and former Trek store employees, almost exclusively uses Bontrager Ion Pro RTs, a great light for the money but not with a particularly wide beam pattern. One on the bar and one on the helmet works well.
I've read the Outbound blurb on the site a few times over the last couple years and their bar system is on my 'eventually' list, but for now I'll make do with the double Bontrager. I imagine it's more important on the North Shore - most of our tech where that increased definition would help has gaps of flow, steeps, or corners in between and isn't repeated like your trails - so if you know the trails you can kind of just send it at night and you'll come out OK. But maybe this is just justifying being a bit cheap and not being ready to spend the capital on the outbound light - I am sure once I get one I'll say "oh what a fool I've been".
Nov. 19, 2024, 8:27 a.m. - Jotegir
I do an absolute ton of night riding and much of it is shuttling on fast and steep trails (the only thing we have here in the interior worth shuttling). One trick to riding fast is to hit a chute line that is steep enough the minimum speed is 'fast'! My group, being almost entirely comprised of current and former Trek store employees, almost exclusively uses Bontrager Ion Pro RTs, a great light for the money but not with a particularly wide beam pattern. One on the bar and one on the helmet works well. I've read the Outbound blurb on the site a few times over the last couple years and their bar system is on my 'eventually' list, but for now I'll make do with the double Bontrager. I imagine it's more important on the North Shore - most of our tech where that increased definition would help has gaps of flow, steeps, or corners in between and isn't repeated like your trails - so if you know the trails you can kind of just send it at night and you'll come out OK. But maybe this is just justifying being a bit cheap and not being ready to spend the capital on the outbound light - I am sure once I get one I'll say "oh what a fool I've been".