Night Riding. Does anyone else Like it ............ Dark?

off-one

Theres always plenty of threads about night riding and lights, and most people seem to be obsessed with lighting up the woods like a summers day.(Well not like a summers day here obviously). But I like my night rides to be, well a little bit dark, I enjoy having just enough light rather than too much. Does anybody else feel this way or do I need help,

BorisSpencer

Yes. I ride my regular trails at night and like it to be a different experience

Northwind

Absolutely, I like to drop my lights to low power sometimes, night riding with good lights is already different from daylight but night riding with very little light is totally different. Great if you're getting bored of a trail. If I had to choose one or the other I'd choose bright lights though!

jadamson

i cant afford powerful lights as they seem to be very expensive! so i just go out with dim lights and i really enjoy it! brings another technical element to your trails.

Northwind

Well... Depends on your definition of expensive of course, these £400 trail lights cost more than some folks bikes! I use a pair of the Dealextreme P7 torches and they're absolutely awesome, cost me about £50 the pair. Still not quite cheap but it opens winter up so much.

jadamson

where did you get them from? link? im willing to spend £50 if its worth it... saw a P7 cree 900 lumins on ebay for £39 is that much different?

Northwind

Well worth it... Though I think maybe it'll cost more with the exchange rate crash now Let's see:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.12325

is my torch, $36
Charger, $8, and $20 for 4 protected batteries Bang on $100 plus postage. Hmm, so not as cheap as it was for me, more like £70. Gah. Still, worth it but not as bargainous.

plasticflower

I'm not an experienced rider but since I started MTBing in September/October it was already getting dark early in the evenings.

I've only got a 30 quid set of Cat Eyes on my bike and a 10 quid Tesco torch on my helmet and that offers me enough light to see properly where I'm going without lighting up the whole forest!

I love it in the dark - as it were! I did a local trail in daylight after first doing it in the dark and it felt totally different! In fact I prefered the night time ride! I was more wary in daylight as I could see everything but in the dark I could see just enough of what's ahead and just rode the trails without worrying !

I'd recommend night riding to anybody!!

singlespeedexplosif

aye, I do. Night rides without any lights are great fun. The problem with lights is, it;s an arms war. If you're on your own, or nobody has lights, no problems. If someone has lights, you need them as it ruins your night vision. And then if someonehas bright lights and you have the equivalent of a couple of fireflies taped to your bars, again you're knacked

Surf-Matt

I love it but much prefer it when it's slightly drier. Which is never.
Total light costs including batteries and charger - about £110.

zero303

Depends. Sometimes I go night riding cause I want to go night riding, sometimes I go night riding because in the winter it's difficult to get out the 3/4 times a week I like to achieve.

Obviously the former, I like it to feel dark and a bit sketchy, the later as clear as day as possible.

I've got a 3hr 640 lumen home-brew headlamp which cost about £90 and I'm adding a hope visison single to the bars shortly...

moggy82

I love night riding, i rarely ride my local trails in the daylight. Im a bit of a flashoholic after getting into deal extreme having spent over $200 there over the last 6 months.

I would recommend

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.18857

one of these, and someting with a tight spot for your head. such as the tesco AA torch!

Zero303, i really would'nt recommend the Hope vision 1 for MTB use, the beam really isn't wide or spot enough, they have made it too inbetween to be any good at either. If you need more throw to compliment your light get a MTE 3-2 MCE or if you need more side vision go for the light linked above, looks similar to a halogen beam, big wide spot and loads of side spill!


And on the question, i like it to be dark when night riding so only use 2 lights with not much output for all but the fun bits, where i get my 1800 lumens burning a hole in the night!

Northwind

The vision one's not very bright, so it's ideal for this subject

One thing I do hate about dark riding (as opposed to bright night riding) is branches about the face... If you stick to open trails and there's a bit of moon you can get by with almost no lighting but if you hit the woods sooner or later you're going to get a stick up your nose. So, I tend to fit my commuter light as well, but pointing forwards and upwards to give me some tree-radar

Surf-Matt

Totally disagree. I have a Hope 1 and coupled with a helmet mounted Tesco torch, it's more than enough for night rides - I know because I've done plenty.

That added to Zero's home kit will be plenty.

antfly

Isn`t it a bit scary being in the woods on your own at night?I`ve never tried it myself.

Northwind

Surf-Matt wrote:

Totally disagree. I have a Hope 1 and coupled with a helmet mounted Tesco torch, it's more than enough for night rides - I know because I've done plenty.

Who said it isn't? It's just not very bright, doesn't mean it's not adequate for night riding. That's why I mentioned it- for people who want enough light to ride by, but not a portable sun, they're fine. Though the P7 torches have as good a spread and much more output on full (on low power, the P7 is about the same as a Vision One on rechargables, and has better burn), and cost less, of course.

mtbrambo

Sounds scary to me...

Northwind

antfly wrote:

Isn`t it a bit scary being in the woods on your own at night?I`ve never tried it myself.

Statistically, the dark woods where nobody goes at night are safer than the roads, since nobody goes there at night If you were a murderer, where would you hang around? Halfway up a hill in the middle of nowhere?

off-one

mtbrambo wrote:

Sounds scary to me...

Thats just it, its sounds scarier than it really is. It does get your blood pumping and you dont tend to hang about like you would in daylight, but really the darkness wraps round you like a warm quilt. It really is something youve got to try.

Northwind

One of the biggest pleasures I get from riding is to set off from the house at about 2pm, get up into the hills, ride on while the sun slowly sets (stopping to watch occasionally as it drops over the reservoirs) then turn on the lights and just keep on riding into the night, it's a very special feeling. I'll actually miss it when summer comes. Suppose I'll just have to start riding later in the day 8)

antfly

Northwind wrote:

antfly wrote:

Isn`t it a bit scary being in the woods on your own at night?I`ve never tried it myself.

Statistically, the dark woods where nobody goes at night are safer than the roads, since nobody goes there at night If you were a murderer, where would you hang around? Halfway up a hill in the middle of nowhere?

No but if you do see someone lurking in the darkness I bet you still sh#t yourselves.

Northwind

I bet I would

cougie

Scared of the dark ? Is this kiddies corner ?

Johnny Napalm

Love it, and it does give you a whole new riding experience. It's better when it's not so muddy, but it's still worth it.

Just don't watch 'Blair Witch' or 'Eden Lake' before you go out!

Tino4444

off-one wrote:

Theres always plenty of threads about night riding and lights, and most people seem to be obsessed with lighting up the woods like a summers day.(Well not like a summers day here obviously). But I like my night rides to be, well a little bit dark, I enjoy having just enough light rather than too much. Does anybody else feel this way or do I need help,

Suppose riding with just enough light is okay until you hit something with your front wheel and go flying over the handle bars.

BorisSpencer

Tino4444 wrote:

off-one wrote:

Theres always plenty of threads about night riding and lights, and most people seem to be obsessed with lighting up the woods like a summers day.(Well not like a summers day here obviously). But I like my night rides to be, well a little bit dark, I enjoy having just enough light rather than too much. Does anybody else feel this way or do I need help,

Suppose riding with just enough light is okay until you hit something with your front wheel and go flying over the handle bars.

Then it wasn't "just enough light", it was "not quite enough light".

Bromski

I've only ever been out once on my own. Went home with my tail between my legs (So to speak)

I'm not normally phased by the dark at all but for some reason (it might be that you can see well in front, but nothing in the other directions) I started to get spooked, and once the thought entered my mind I started seeing thigs that weren't there.

As I climbed up a steep bank, I realised that someone (or thing) could easily keep up with me or could just be walking 3 feet behind me and I wouldn't know!

Couple that with reflections from eyes looking at you from in the bushes. You know it's a deer or a badger, but there's some sort of innate fear that no amount of reasoning can overcome.

Go out with just one other person, though, and it's absolutely brilliant and beats training on a road bike/spin class/waiting till spring hands down!

S-Works-Rider

I love riding my bike in the dark, when i have my lupine Betty 7 8)

When you look back and its all dark you think oh Bo**ocks !
It's great fun i love my Light just like i love my bike