Brightest Light Helmet or Frame

giblets
giblets Posts: 37
edited January 2013 in MTB beginners
Hi,
just wondering if there is a guide to where to put your lights, for example, if I have two front lights, should the more powerful be on the frame or the helmet?
There is a bit of logic for each. Helmet is where you are looking, or looking to go, whilst frame is where you are actually going, and maybe a little more stable.
Giant Trance X4 (2010)

Comments

  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Depends on beam pattern too - only way is to experiment and see what suits you.
  • Personally, I use the brightest light on my handlebars, pointing about 15ft in front of me. My helmet light is pointed about 6ft in front so I can see any detail directly in front of me.
    2007 Felt Q720 (the ratbike)
    2012 Cube Ltd SL (the hardtail XC 26er)
    2014 Lapierre Zesty TR 329 (the full-sus 29er)
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    +1....bars for poitning ahead, helmet for close to, no point using the 'long range' one for looking round corners!
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • YeehaaMcgee
    YeehaaMcgee Posts: 5,740
    I also stick the most powerful one on the bars. The closer a light gets to your eye level, the less pronounced the perceived depth of any shadows will be, such that, if you could actually fire light from your eyes, like some kind of useless superhero, you wouldn't get any sense of depth (from lighting) at all.

    Of course, beam patterns can vary though, so experimentation is always a good idea.
  • Northwind
    Northwind Posts: 14,675
    As above, depends on your lights. With older lights, bright tended to also mean bulky (or incredibly expensive) so helmet lights tended to be a bit limited in what they could do. These days, almost all my light comes from the helmet light, one small light can be more than powerful enough. I've still got a bar light, to provide a little infill, and to be a backup in case of crashes/failures.

    The days of putting a spotlight on your head and a floodlight on your bars are more or less gone, though, that was just something people did because of the limitations of the hardware. These days my floodlight has more range than my old spotlight, and adding a spot just adds a distracting, unuseful bright spot.

    Yeehaa's point about shadow casting is spot on, but the question is whether it bothers you, I'd expected it to be an issue but in practice it's never mattered to me. But, it might to you.
    Uncompromising extremist