Bike lights

[Blinginpse]

Wasn't sure where to put this so if needs to be moved feel free.

I've ordered a new mtn bike to use for hunting travel through the mtns. What good bike lights y'all boys using. Thought about just using my head lamp but I'm thinking I may want a little more. Input?

 

[Dromsky]

I ride at night pretty regularly, mostly single track for fun not hunting. I like a bike mounted light and a helmet mounted light (headlight) the headlight shines where you're looking, the bike light shines where you're going. I have a Lezyne Power Drive XL (600 Lumens) headlight and a Lumina Flare (650 Lumens) bike mount. They both have 3 levels of power settings, going uphill I am running on low setting, going downhill I switch to high cause shit happens. If you're gonna ride fire roads at night 1 light is fine. Lezyne also has spare batteries available.
Keep the rubber side down!

 

[Blinginpse]

Thank you sir I'll look them
Up

 

[jaredlef]

Check out Cygolight, they make some very bright (950+ lumens) lights.

 

[5MilesBack]

My wife has a Cygolite Night Explorer new in the box that she never used. $50 TYD.

 

[Bubblehide]

I use a MityCross (helmet mounted), and a bike mounted light. There are lots of good lights available. However, if your going to be riding at night, you will want plenty of lumens. As Dromsky stated, shit happens. When I first started riding at night, all I had was a handlebar mounted light. it worked great until I was speeding along down hill and one of the bumps was just right that the light rotated down. I was in the middle of a turn, in what was now pitch black, except for the glow below my bike. Needless to say, I couldn't stop fast enough. Since that point in time, I never ride the down hill with just one light. My advice is to look for lights that have the dual mode of a wide spread with slightly focused forward beam, so you get the best of both worlds.

As was said, when your going slow, you don't really need much light/lumens, but once you start adding speed the need goes up exponentially. You will also want something that has a very good firm mounting system. Most of the bike lights are designed for pavement riding. Our fire road and trail riding will jar those crap mounting systems, and they will tend to spin on the handlebar; a helmet mounted light doesn't do that, and it's really nice to be able to see where your looking, as a bike mounted light doesn't always light up the area you want to see. An example is that you may want to light up a turn before you get into it, so you can see how sharp it might be, the ruts in it... a handlebar mounted light will NOT light it up until you turn the handlebars, i.e., when your already in the turn, and it happens to be to late.

 

[Jason Snyder]

I use a Night Rider, can't remember the model off the top of my head. I has three brightness settings, the highest of which is like the sun coming up. It can either mount to the bars or your helmet and has a rechargeable battery pack.

One bit of advice, if you are riding a very technical trail you may want two lights. If you mount one on your helmet and one on your handlebars it will give you much better depth perception. That said, I only have one light and I use if for our local 24 hour mountain bike race with the helmet mount.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

nite rider 750.

I used to do a 24 hours mountain bike race and it's awesome having a good light that's purpose built.

 

[Blinginpse]

I'm just using the bike for hunting purposes of going in and out in the dark.

I do want a light that has a solid mount and won't rotate and also good battery longevity

 

[Mike Mongelli]

I have one that used to be marketed as Magic Shine. There is an updated version of the same thing on Amazon now. I believe it's called Bright Eyes. Plenty bright and light enough to mount on a helmet.