I have a Gemini Duo and love it. Very dependable and durable.
Lights 2017-2018
You need two lights so you have a backup for when one light dies on you. It will happen. Something can fail, you can forget to charge and when a Li ion battery looses the ability to hold a charge it is sudden. As in it holds for an hour ride one night and a couple rides later lasts 15 minutes. So you might as well have one good helmet light and one good bar light. I have a Gemini duo on my helmet. Excellent beam pattern. I'm on the second battery. The first. Died as described above. I also have a Light and Motion unit on the bar , brighter in theory but more diffuse so it seems dim in comparison. I prefer the Gemini.
Not to derail the thread... but what is everyone's strategy when you go for a night right with lights? I bought some Magicshine lights a while ago but have only used them a handful of times. I usually just do safe routes like laps of lower Fromme (Bobsled, Griffen, etc.) or a short XC loop on lower Seymour... so that I'm not too far away from civilization if the battery were to fail. Are you guys doing full bigger loops or similiar to what I am describing?
Last night ride was up NQ then down executioner and dreamweaver. So yes and no to staying lower down. The better the lights you have the longer the rides.
Always have some sort of xtra headlamp on you in case of light failure due to lights being shitty or a crash or what have you.
Last edited by: bux-bux on Oct. 3, 2017, 2:31 p.m., edited 2 times in total.
I bought a rechargeable LED flashlight online. It's small, and takes a 18650 battery. The battery lasts about 1 to 2 hours, depending on which of the three output levels is selected. Fairly good light output - bright enough on high to XC ride. The output beam is adjustable from wide to spot.
The package included the flashlight, a dual battery charger, a second battery, and a bicycle handlebar mount.
The cost was $15, including shipping.
It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.
- Josiah Stamp
Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race.
- H.G. Wells
Posted by: Bull_Dozer
Not to derail the thread... but what is everyone's strategy when you go for a night right with lights? I bought some Magicshine lights a while ago but have only used them a handful of times. I usually just do safe routes like laps of lower Fromme (Bobsled, Griffen, etc.) or a short XC loop on lower Seymour... so that I'm not too far away from civilization if the battery were to fail. Are you guys doing full bigger loops or similiar to what I am describing?
I usually ride with bar, helmet and a spare in my pack. Ride up at lowest setting on just one light, doing all that I'm pretty comfortable on 2-3 hours out.
Man with all the cougars out right now I'm afraid to go night riding. In my case it's usually an early morning ride before work. Light and Motion Urban 800 on the bars and an older Gemini (Titan?) on the helmet. Works pretty well but might upgrade with more lumens. Really like Gemini so will probably go with them again. Maybe more lumens will scare the cougars away. :)
Run two lights. One on the bars and one on the helmet.
If you only run a helmet light you lose some depth perception because there will be very few shadows and the ground appears flatter than what it is. Using a bar and helmet light, you get shadows that help highlight the terrain you are riding.
Posted by: Kevin26
I usually ride with bar, helmet and a spare in my pack. Ride up at lowest setting on just one light, doing all that I'm pretty comfortable on 2-3 hours out.
That's my MO as well and if I'm on my own then stick to the more frequented/lower level Fromme trails. It certainly gets more spooky when it's just you and your pool of light trundling up into the mountains.
Spare batteries are always worth getting. I usually carry a torch as well in case I need to deal with the batteries and lights because when they suddenly go out (think mid berm on Bobsled) that forest gets really dark really fast
Posted by: stinky_dan
Posted by: Kevin26
I usually ride with bar, helmet and a spare in my pack. Ride up at lowest setting on just one light, doing all that I'm pretty comfortable on 2-3 hours out.
That's my MO as well and if I'm on my own then stick to the more frequented/lower level Fromme trails. It certainly gets more spooky when it's just you and your pool of light trundling up into the mountains.
Spare batteries are always worth getting. I usually carry a torch as well in case I need to deal with the batteries and lights because when they suddenly go out (think mid berm on Bobsled) that forest gets really dark really fast
Ya if it's just me and the hound keep it closer to the bottom of the hill. Usually like to ride in a group on the longer night rides.
I really like it out there, all seems so calm at night in the pitch blackness....
It should be great tonight with the moon.
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