Off road lights - can anyone help ?

wigganjg

Never been pedalling off road by night before, so never owned lights.

Not sure where to start / what I should be looking for.

Unfortunately funds as they are may mean cant really afford much more than £50.

Can anyone advise or is anyone selling second hand please ?

cjw

I had same dilema.... so bullt my own http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=14616480#14616480

steelo

I realize this isn't going to be the answer you are looking for but from my experience -

£50 won't get you a set of lights that will inspire confident night-time, single-track riding.

£50 will buy you a decent commuting light for travelling to and from your ride meet, or the woods/XC trails you wish to ride.

I would say try and save up the cash for an Exposure Joystick, or a Light and Motion Solo. If you are going to be cycling off-road at night regularly, at least weekly, then I would seriously suggest investing in a light with some decent power. Check out this months MBUK and WMB. They have some excellent reviews. After reading them I finally decided for the Hope LED Vision, with Epic battery pack as my rides tend to last over 2 hours.

Can't wait to try the Afan singletrack in the dark!

timberjack

i was in the same situation as you last year and after some advice off this forum [wmb] i invested in a silva L1 head torch from the outdoor GB website. I use it without bar lights and i would reccomend it to anyone. I have it strapped to my helmet with cable ties, the battery pack which takes 4 c type batteries goes into my back pack and i have done 7 night rides so far this year[at least 2 hours each] and i have the same batteries in.

wigganjg

thanks for advice, are second person to advise head light

will look it up

Ulikely to go mad at night, more woods and XC

wigganjg

head torch eg Silva L1 (on its own) or something like Blackburn Voyager 4 on bars ?

Alastair McDonald

have a look at the Smart BL-201 twins headlights, cheap, cheerful and effective. The battery is a heavy affair, but hey, they're not £200... Look at CRC for prices, as well as elsewhere.

Got some myself as a friend has used them for a couple of years (on original battery) and thinks they're fine, he didn't want to spend big bucks. I have another riding chum who swears by Hope (well, he does swear a lot :oops: ).

Milkie

I got a Silva L1 headtorch too. I got mine from SailGB.

http://www.sailgb.com/p/silva_ultra_bright_headlamp_l1/

It's really bright, I prefer it to a light on the bars, as you can see where you are looking/wanting to go. As said above, the batteries last forever, which is great, cos I'm alwats forgetting to charge my cat eye battery.

I do also have the Cateye RC230, with both, imo its more than enough for off roading and overkill for what I need. Although my off roading atm is only riding across a couple of fields and a small wood to get home from work.

I want an Orange

I was in the same situation last year. I can recommend the smart bl201 and the electron 5w+10w.
You will need to supplement these lights with a helmet mounted light as they aren't bright enough for any speed at night and its always better to see where you looking rather than where the bike is pointing.

I have upgraded to a 13w hid helmet light and a 30w hid (1800 lumens) bar light from www.batteryspace.com , speed is no longer an issue. As the advert says turns night into day.

I just love night riding now.

nikobe

@ Timberjack,

you said that you but the battery packs for the Silva L1 in your back pack. Were the cables long enough or did you have to extend them?

El Capitano

For off road riding (and racing) I use a Lumicyle Li-on system, 12W + 20W. This is not a cheap system (approx £230), but would, in my opinion be the minimum lighting required for serious off-road use.

I suppliment this with a Petzel Headtorch, helmet mounted, that has a caving lumen bulb fitted - which is just about bright enough to see by in an emergency and will last for 16 hours on one set of Duracell batteries.

Steve_F

An interesting post, I went down the cheap set route - a 5w and 10w kit on sale around the £50 mark last year. Been on one ride this year and ended up latching on to the back of 3 other guys as they could see and I couldn't around Glentress (was considering turning my lights off and trying to follow their lines but thought that was too insane!).

It seems very hard to justify spending up to £200 to get a good set of lights but without them it kind of rules out off road trails at night while riding them safely.

I upped my budget to £100, maybe just adding to the existing set up but even at that I'm not sure I can get something that will inspire confidence to batter round the trails.

lordhelmet

you must have balls of steel, going off road at night

El Capitano

I've raced the Marin Dusk2Dawn twice - 12 hour relay race in the dark. You need some serious lighting for that. Similarly, I did 3 night laps at Sleepless in the Saddle, which was a lot more technical, so lighting choice was cruical.

Lumicycle systems start from approx £140 for a Nimh system with one lamp. I've also got a Nimh system, a little heavy, but excellent burn time and brightness.

I've also got a Cyglo Nightrider system, 5W and 10W, run off a 6V battery, cost about £70. (Lumicycle are 12V). This is used for commuting, okay for road use, but just not quite bright enough for serious off road riding, burn time approx 2 hours, but 8 hours charging time (3 hours for Lumicycle - which is important during an Enduro event).

El Capitano

lordhelmet wrote:

you must have balls of steel, going off road at night

Steel? No. Titanium, possibly....

Bromski

BLT Metrino's can be found for 40 - 50 quid and, while they won't handle singletrack, can help you work out whether you like night riding or not (on the fireroads!)

If you have a go, go with someone else first time, and don't wear an iPod is my advice.

Outdoorbunny

I tie-wrap my petzl tikka head torch to my helmet and have just invested in a Light and Motion Solo Logic light for the handlebars - this can also be fixed to your helmet if you prefer. Plenty of lighting for singletrack night rides!