That was fun! First night ride

fishyweb

Went for my first full-fledged night ride on unlit roads last night. Used my Fenix L2D and a flashing backup LED on the front, flashing red LED facing backwards on my skid lid, and a Cateye LD1100 on the rear. Also wrapped some reflective strips around my ankles for good measure.

I found that the Fenix easily gave sufficient light to be able to maintain a decent speed - averaged 17.5 mph which was maybe a little foolish seeing as I'm not used to night riding. Also, it seems I was amply visible to cars approaching from front (dipped their lights) and rear (they slowed down).

Rode a 12.25 familiar route, but it seemed so different in the dark. E.g. I knew roughly where the climbs were, but it was odd not being able to see them or to be able to see where the top was! It was also weird not being able to constantly check my HR and speed on my Garmin.

One thing I did notice was that I tended to stray away from the side of the road - not sure why, though could have been exacerbated by a side wind. I also noticed how unstable my riding seems to be, shown up by the front beam swinging all over the road! :oops:

Anyway, really enjoyed the experience, and I didn't once feel vulnerable by being out in the dark. Looking forward to the next chance to get out after dark.

Sirius631

I had a Cateye Twinshot and a relatively poor battery light. In order to see my bike computer whilst remaining legal, I mounted the Twinshot on my helmet and kept the poor light on my bike. I could see the computer with the Twinshot which also lit the road. The light on the bike was almost unnoticable, but it is a legal requirement.

I now have a Cateye R3 for offroad riding, which will be suported by the Twinshot on the helmet.

mattward1979

When working weekends, I often ride home in the pitch black... as long as the roads are fairly quiet, I find it Incredible peaceful and a great wind down from the day!

I really should get some better lights though as the bog standard cack that gets lobbed in with bikes isnt really cutting it in deep night.

iain_j

I'm itching to get a night-time ride in since I bought an L2D a couple of weeks ago. Went for a ride round the local park the evening I got home and found my parcel had arrived, for testing purposes of course, but I can't wait to get out on the open roads with it

edit: woohoo 1000 :P

Flasheart

My L2D is great for night riding I've found. So much so that I want another either as a flasher or on a helmet mount.
My cycling buddy on the other hand has a piece-of cr@p Catseye front light. Last night we took a tight RH corner on a descent ..I say we but I wasn't the one that almost wound up in the hedge/barbed wire fence cos my lights are CR@P. I was on his rear wheel at at 20mph. I was one of those OH FAAARRRRR moments :shock:

FeynmanC

I'd recommend getting a decent set of rechargeable batteries for the L2D. Mine went thru a set of duracells in less than 2 hrs for several nights, not even on full power all the time. The 2900mha's i've got now last 3hrs on full power

mrchrispy

just got my 50 quid dealextreme uber light....cant wait to get out with it, its a little bright for the road but it'll be ace on these dark lanes.

cant understand why you cant check the Garmin, it has a back lights you know!

iain_j

FeynmanC wrote:

I'd recommend getting a decent set of rechargeable batteries for the L2D. Mine went thru a set of duracells in less than 2 hrs for several nights, not even on full power all the time. The 2900mha's i've got now last 3hrs on full power

Is that full power as in turbo mode?

Flasheart

Yep Tubo mode sucks normal batteries dry in no time.
I took Headhunter's advice and bought an intelligent charger and some 2700mAH batteries form this place http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/default.asp
Much more enivoronmentally friendly , they last longer and will save me money in the long run

It's amazing how dark it really is around my way at night. I can imagine it would be even darker on an overcast cloudy night. The only light I could see (apart form the occasional car) was light pollution reflected from the clouds way off Southampton way and Bournemouth the other direction.

fishyweb

mrchrispy wrote:

cant understand why you cant check the Garmin, it has a back lights you know!

I have mine configured to just light briefly when it autolaps, so was just doing a spot check every mile.

cougie

I didnt find that the turbo brightness was massively different from the normal full power on the fenix. OK a tad brighter - but burns the batteries hugely. I've got quality rechargeables and an intelligent charger now - makes a world of difference.

Was very happy with my fenix - until I tried that cheap P7 torch off dealextreme.

Makes the Fenix look like a glow-worm.

So now its p7 on bars and fenix on helmet - perfect combo.

keef66

I too have been using the fenix L2D front / cateye 1100 rear for a year now. Perfect for the lanes round here. I can't imagine needing more front light; i'd be worried about blinding people coming the other way.
Also just put a Smart 1/2 watt rear on my son's bike to see him through the next 4-5 months, but then I'll be having it back cos he's off to uni.

Hoping for a smart charger and some 2900 mAh batteries from santa.

iain_j

What's all this about intelligent chargers? I've got a Uniross one for my 2500mAh NiMH batteries, only use them for my digi camera at the moment. It'll charge 4 batteries in 2 hours then keep them on trickle charge when they're full.

keef66

the better ones monitor individual cells and will charge each according to it's state. They can also recondition batteries by going through a repeated charge / discharge cycle. Also useful is the ability to charge 1, 2, 3 or 4 cells at a time, and using the led display to determine the status of a battery you're not sure about.

Apparently.

Back to the Xmas list.....

jfwall

fishyweb wrote:

It was also weird not being able to constantly check my HR and speed on my Garmin.

There is a button on the side of your Garmin (or there is on my 305) that lights a backlight. It's the on/off button if you touch if once it will switch the backlight on or off. It doesn't seem to harm the battery too much as I get a couple of hours out of it with the backlight on. If you check the settings you can choose to have it one for a choice of period or on permanently which I've got it set for.

Jonathan

strodey

Best thing i find is cars actually pass with a sensible amount of room between you and their wing mirror!

nanox

I've been looking into getting the Fenix L2D, because from what I read around here, it's the best value..

But I've found that it's been discontinued at many stores, does this mean there's a newer/better version out now? And which one would that be then? :roll:

iain_j

They're still available here:

http://www.fenixtorch.co.uk/led_torches ... 2d_q5.html

nanox

I figured out that the new model is called LD20. Does anyone know if this is actually better than the L2D?

cougie

I have one of each ! Biggest difference that I can see is that the LD20 has a hexagonal collar that stops it rolling when put down on a flat surface. Can't tell which torch is which in practice ?

giantsasquatch

Check out the T7 LED Lenser.

keef66

I bought the L2D just after the LD20 came out, mainly cos it was a bit cheaper. I think the power options are slightly different and the runtime of the L2D on High was claimed to be slightly longer if I recall.

The Photon Shop still list them both.