MTB night lighting - Recommendations

[MichaelB]

Per the Wanted ad I just posted, after either some wide beam Ay-ups or other alternatives to provide some better lighting for night dirt riding.

viewtopic.php?f=83&t=103248

Recommend something that doesn't break the bank or let me know if you have something to offload.

Ta

[mikgit]

Don't know if this helps at all, I have a few Niterider Luminia lights, find them pretty good, use them on the road and the odd mtb night race, not too exxy, can mount bars or helmet, small, and contained in 1 unit (no cables etc), easy to charge, give a good light (good enough fo me I guess). I've had a few brands over the years, but find these the easiest.

[eldavo]

I've wanted to check out Outbound Lighting from USA, an auto lights guy a bit like our local Adelaide DesignBrains wbo made the Ding light.
Outbound started with MTB and have responded to road and commuter demand. On instagram Outbound Lighting.

[MichaelB]

Cheers, had a look. Probably a damn good light, but somewhat bulky, and due to the exchange rate, bloody expensive. The Trail version is US$185 (so about A$290) +US$23 for shipping (which actually isn't to bad for the US) makes it pretty pricey and out of my budget.

The other issue for me is the mounting. My strong preference is to mount it under the bars, and the design of this is such that it's a helmet mount or above the bars. But then again, that's how the optics work.

Good option though. The Hangover version is pretty good for the helmet option, but again, still over US$200 + shipping

Cheers

[Cardy George]

Cheers, had a look. Probably a damn good light, but somewhat bulky, and due to the exchange rate, bloody expensive. The Trail version is US$185 (so about A$290) +US$23 for shipping (which actually isn't to bad for the US) makes it pretty pricey and out of my budget.

The other issue for me is the mounting. My strong preference is to mount it under the bars, and the design of this is such that it's a helmet mount or above the bars. But then again, that's how the optics work.

Good option though. The Hangover version is pretty good for the helmet option, but again, still over US$200 + shipping

Cheers

I had a good look too, and super impressed with the amount of design work they've put in. Deal breaker for me is the off centre mounting. You can buy a Go-pro mount to put it under the bars and in the centre, but you lose the air scoop which is part of the cooling which helps with run time and longevity. I'm considering options for 24hr racing so I'm looking for as much run time as I can get.

All of that is probably tempered by how little difference it would actually make, but completely countered by how much more product per dollar I can get from closer to home.

[MichaelB]

Don't know if this helps at all, I have a few Niterider Luminia lights, find them pretty good, use them on the road and the odd mtb night race, not too exxy, can mount bars or helmet, small, and contained in 1 unit (no cables etc), easy to charge, give a good light (good enough fo me I guess). I've had a few brands over the years, but find these the easiest.

I do like the all in one lights, but that seems to be a non-available option for the bigger/brighter lights.

Even the Ay-ups with their small battery is awkward to mount

This Pro 2200 Race looks nice, but $360

[RonK]

I bought a set of these, initially to ride the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail at night and the occasional night ride in the city. Excellent output and have worked reliably for the past year with intermittent use.

For the price of some of these other lights you could by two setS - one for the bars and one for your helmet, and turn night into day.

https://www.mtbdirect.com.au/cleanskin- ... prene-case

[MichaelB]

I bought a set of these, initially to ride the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail at night and the occasional night ride in the city. Excellent output and have worked reliably for the past year with intermittent use.

For the price of some of these other lights you could by two setS - one for the bars and one for your helmet, and turn night into day.

https://www.mtbdirect.com.au/cleanskin- ... prene-case

Yep, had a look at those too. Very much a twin lamp version of the good 'ol Magic Shine (which I had good luck with.

My concerns with that are whether the optics are OK for the mix of trails I'd ride at night, and the bulkiness of the batteries. The Ay-up ones are a bit smaller.

Still haven't made a decision yet, but the other Ay-up set I mentioned is still looking like the best allround solution for my scenario
.

Thanks for the input so far, been illuminating

[MichaelB]

And so it goes ....

Decided to purchase the Ay-ups mentioned before, and ......
SOLD

Plan B and revisit the recommendations. The MTB Direct Cleanskins are the most likely option, as I'll be using a GoPro mount.

Lesson learned !!

[MichaelB]

There is also this option from Azur via MTB Direct that is within $10 of the Cleanskin branded light

https://www.mtbdirect.com.au/azur-delux ... -led-light

May have a closer look at that one too

[RonK]

There is also this option from Azur via MTB Direct that is within $10 of the Cleanskin branded light

https://www.mtbdirect.com.au/azur-delux ... -led-light

May have a closer look at that one too

That’s new. Looks pretty good.

[MichaelB]

So, after a bit of digging, it seems that the Ay-Ups that I have are the Intermediate versions, and not the narrow as I thought .

So, for the riding and trails I'm tackling at night, may rethink what I need and look at something like the cleanskin or Glowworm ones. Whilst the cleanskin are cheaper, the Glowworm ones have the different lenses, which I think is probably what I'm after.

Can use the Ay-up's as helmet lights, as I only have the Half epic battery, so pretty light.


So any other recommendations/user feedback on the Glow worms ?

Some nice lights here, but the prices of the Lupine lights

[Cardy George]

Have a good think about how much run time you need. With both the Ay-Ups and the Gloworms, I should've sprung for the big battery to get me through a whole week of commuting with out having to recharge.

Other than that I can highly recommend the Ay-Ups on your helmet, either with the battery on the back of the helmet for no cords, or with the extension cord for barely noticeable extra weight. I haven't tried the Gloworms on my helmet yet, but the Ay-Ups tuck in nice and low and you'll smack the top of your helmet before you'll smack the lights.

[MichaelB]

Have a good think about how much run time you need. ....

That's been one of the key factors.

At MTB Direct, they have the Gloworm Alpha Plus set ($229) which comes with the bigger battery and hence 4hrs on Max settting. That's about as long as most, and way cheaper than those. More than I really want to spend, but it seems to be p[retty neat and compact, so may go down that route.

There sin't much else out there that has that run-time, features (lense options) and price range. The Cleanskin is the other option that I'm weighing up ...

[Cardy George]

Here's my Alpha set-up, the Cleanskin and Azur look about the same size

[MichaelB]

Cheers Cardy.

Have you used the other lenses at all that come with the light ?

Length of ownership of the Gloworm ? Any issues ?

Do you get the 4hrs runtime on Max as advertised ?

[Cardy George]

Have you used the other lenses at all that come with the light ?

Yes, but not for 18 months or so, from memory there wasn't an obvious difference. Lately I've been using an old Lezyne 1100xl on my head to get an idea of how much light I need for 24hr racing. The Alphas on my head and an XS on my bars would be the go, I think.

Length of ownership of the Gloworm ? Any issues ?

2 years of daily use. I ham-fistedly stripped the thread out of the side of the light unit, but being soft-ish alloy I just cut a new thread with a coarse screw.

Do you get the 4hrs runtime on Max as advertised ?

I only have the 2 cell battery, and I don't usually run in a continuous block, but 2 hrs is pretty close to the mark.

[MichaelB]

Cheers Cardy. Looks like I gotta flip a coin !!

BUGGER !! Wouldn't ya know it, the Cleanskin is out of stock !!! Mind you, noted that Amazon has it available (From the Aus site via the US though ...)

2nd time I got done by procrastinating ....

https://www.amazon.com.au/Cleanskin-220 ... B07CPQPJLZ

[MichaelB]

So, did some more browsing, and either I went for the Gloworm Alpha Plus (AT) $229 or took the cheap route. Couldn't find anything that remotely met my needs at a price I was comfortable with, so went the Cleanskin route via Amazon. I can always get a larger battery capacity for longer runtime if the lights are good, or get something better.

Not doing 24hr ravces or 4 hours over single track, so should be OK.

We'll find out soon !!

[yehuwdiy]

I lashed out and bought the Cygolite TridenX about 10 years ago. Seemed horrendously expensive at the time. Best damn purchase I ever made. The battery is still going strong, which floors me ever time I use it.

https://cygolite.com/product/tridenx-led-li-ion/

The thing that really got me was a) the beautiful even light spread - all the way to the sides, and b) the quality of the light. Road or trail signs light up hundreds of meters down the road like Rudolf plugged in a nuclear reactor. Have had friends riding with me with lights that technically have twice the output that just paled in comparison to the TridenX.

[ColinOldnCranky]

I looked at a Ledlenser a year ago.

In my experience of Ledlenser their stated lumins seem to be reasonably honest. The 2000lumin rating may, however, be a "burst" rate. But even a legitimate half of that should be able to bathe a wide area in intense light.

[MichaelB]

I got my Cleanskin Duo earlier in the week. Haven’t yet had the chance it our at night yet, been too farkin cold !!!

[foo on patrol]

I have not paid more than $45 for some head lights and get up to 4hrs riding with them, with multiple beam settings. So what is the so called "advantage" of paying mega $$$$ for lights? The light spread that I have from these cheapies, is brilliant.

Foo

[MichaelB]

I have not paid more than $45 for some head lights and get up to 4hrs riding with them, with multiple beam settings. So what is the so called "advantage" of paying mega $$$$ for lights? The light spread that I have from these cheapies, is brilliant.

Foo

Probably the same argument between $50 and $400 helmets.

There is a difference, but to some there isn't anywhere near enough to justify the price ...

[find_bruce]

I could put my nerd hat on explain quite a few differences - they come down to the

• the output of the led - how much light is put out for a given current varies - the more light the higher the bragging rights & the higher the price - for the most part your eyes will not detect the difference
• tint of the led - they get tested as they come off the line & ones that are "cool" (towards the blue end of the spectrum) or have a green or pink tint to them are less desirable & hence much cheaper. I much prefer a "warm light" & so pay more for the led.
• efficiency of the driver - a linear driver is cheap & functional as long as you can dissipate the heat. The lack of efficiency shows up in the run-time. I won't bore you with the complexity of the efficiency calculations as it depends on issues involving number of leds, current & voltage requirements and the power supply. Unless you are pushing the limits of battery life, it probably doesn't make much difference to the end purchaser. A high quality driver costs around US$35, while a linear driver is more like $3.
• reliability of battery & light. When magicshine lights first came out, more than 10 years ago, there were plenty of battery failures, a few of them involved flames, the US retailer went under & magicshine ceased to be a budget light. Since then lithium batteries have become more reliable, but on inspecting the internals of a light, el cheapos invariably take shortcuts - things like thermal connections, use thin wires & poor quality control on their soldering.

Whether any of these things are important to you is a personal choice on which minds may differ.

Optics are a whole nother matter - it is easy to build a light that floods everything, including into the eyes of anyone coming the other way - it is much harder & more expensive to put the light exactly where you want it - not just a spot light, because you want less intense light close to you