Night riding light brand/model recommendations

Posted by: andy-eunson

Posted by: DemonMike

I,m looking to get the flash light models. Tired of having to strap a battery to my helmet , and frame. With the new LED,s and battery's you can get several hrs of quality light and burn time. Just undecided on model , brand and lumen's.

I wouldn’t want a heavier battery and light on a helmet. I find the weight hard on my neck.

I mount the battery to my visor. It,s not to noticeable, I wear a full face so a heavy helmet I,m used too.  As for the self contained units , not much heavier than a Gopro or similar.

Posted by: tashi

Posted by: xy9ine

Posted by: tashi

After years of faffing about with Chinese lights I finally gave up on them last year. I had to walk out in the dark once and am NOT interested in doing that again.

So I got a L&M Seca 2000 Race recently.

It’s awesome. Just under $400 @ MEC.

hey-zeus. i'm getting years out of my $25 china specials. the key is to have more than one. i pulled a wire out of my bar light this week (too tight routing), but was still good to go with my helmet light.

That’s what I’ve been doing for the last 7 years. You should see my graveyard. I don’t have time for that shit anymore, particularly as the quality of the $25 jobbies took a nose-dive a couple years ago.

Also: on the trail $400 lights are WAAAAAAY better than $25 lights. 

If you find yourself in Victoria send me a message. You can mess around with my old lights all you like.

Ya same here. All the batteries look the same but only certain ones work with certain lights. I carry a cheap set for a back up but with the bar and helmet lights it only comes in handy when someone's shit light in the group craps out and they need the spare.

The Geoman Gear lights I bought years ago worked well. I want to say under $300CDN for two lights and batteries. They were big and ran hot at times but threw light better than most HID and halogen of the time.

After not night riding for a lot of years I’m back out there and using the Chinese doohickies. They’re working ok - I have a bunch of spare batteries that I carry  so it gives me comfort and I have a helmet and Bar mount. 

That said, they’re ok not great light and I’m definitely riding a lot slower because I can’t see everything, which is leading to me going over the bars even more than normal - because I’m not carrying the momentum to clear things. 

It seems that the only reasonable thing is to get some kick ass lights. I’ll prob keep the Chinese helmets but I think that I’m going to pick up the Seca 2500 Race. Safety first!!!

https://www.outboundlighting.com/ is the new big player...  more discussion here: https://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/outbound-lighting-focal-series-discussion-1055278.html

Thanks! I hadn’t seen those. 

Seem like a good option and their DH kit is priced well considering it’s a bar and head lamp.

That new 'hangover' light looks perfect

A couple of riders in my group run gemini lights. My lights are pretty good but every time they ride behind me I'm a bit jealous.

This one is 2hrs at 4000lumens! Good quality lights. They have been running them for years and taken multiple crashes well.

https://gemini-lights.com/products/titan-4000-oled

Those outbound lights look sweet - I’d give a serious look at the DH package if I were starting from scratch.  

I’d consider adding the Hangover to my setup as well, I prefer two lights for better depth perception and battery management.

The Outbound Hangover + the Trail + a spare battery would be sweet. Total about $400US but youd have a great bar light, a probably great helmet light with an internal battery that lasts 2hrs on high, and when you want more, bring the spare and hook it up for killer duration (or bring it anyways as a backup).

Not sure if they are able to hook up their spare batteries via USB-C which is what the Hangover needs. Perhaps worth sacrificing some lumens up top versus the DH kit to have an ability to ride without your head be tethered to a battery? Pass through charging on the Hangover means that you can bring a powerbank to do the same thing if the spare doesnt work.

I have Gemini lights . Run the Duo with a 2 cell on my helmet . On the bars I have 2 Xera,s with a 4 cell . Dual lights lets me point one at the front wheel, and one down trail. Combined with my helmet light it works well.

I've just got a Lezyne 1800i.  1800 proper lumens for €150. I have it helmet mounted and my old lights on the bars.

Both Gemini and GloWorm have 25% off sales. 

I like the GloWorm attachment system “better” than the Gemini O-Ring. But I’m liking the higher Lumens on the Duo 2200 over the X2 and Titan 4000 over XSV. 

🤔

Was about to order the Gemini 4000 with a 2200 duo for 25% off (still not cheap at $450US) then I checked Outbound Lighting and saw that their Ultimate DH package is reduced from US$390 to US$335. Ordered that!

One thing to keep in mine is that the Gemini's will ship from Canada while the Outbounds from the US, so duty might decrease that difference.