Zaskar

I'm researching headlights. I'm surprised how many companies make high-end lights that are intended for the top of the bar only. Magicshine is the only one I've found that has an option (two actually) for mounting under an out-front mount. The majority of lights I see on rides, mine included, are mounted under the bar or under an out-front mount.

Most lights on the market have the option of a rubber strap or a GoPro mount. But still, they show the lights on top of the bar. Up 'til now, I've just run the headlights upside down. But many of the lights have beam pattens, functions, buttons, screens... that are clearly intended to run right-side-up.

Anyone found a good - 1,400-2,000 lumen - headlight that works under an out-front mount?

Thanks!

Iride01 

It's not the amount of Lumens you want, but Garmin makes the Varia™ UT800 Smart Headlight

When my son is behind me with it on the 800 lumen flash, I can see my shadow cast ever so briefly on the trees and brush on the side of the road or trail... during the daytime!

He has his mounted underneath the out front mount.

zaje

Check Towild lights on Aliexpress (cheaper) or Amazon (more expensive); they have up to 1800 lumen lights, most if not all can be mounted under Garmin mount. I have BR800 which can be mounted both ways and has removable battery which is great, you can carry spare and change if lights go out.

Troul 

you have to get creative with mounts. Most of the time it's a few trials & errors before getting something cleanly mounted.... It isn't always going to be inexpensive either.

John Valuk

Fenix has their ALD-10 mount that fits their headlights, and has a GoPro interface that could be used to put the light underneath an out-front setup.

The light would be "upside down" with respect to where the buttons are, but I think that the beam pattern might work OK on their BC26R and BC21R V3.0.

The BC30 V2.0, in contrast, has a beam pattern that is not symmetrical up/down (plus, it's a fairly heavy light).

John Valuk

When you were looking at Magicshine, did you also see their MJ-6500 ALLTY/RN Underneath Mount?

veganbikes

In the end I want a light with a good beam pattern with a proper cut off so I don't blind people. A lot of light manufacturers are focused more on bringing us a bicycle specific flashlight that is just brighter and brighter when we really need to work on good bright enough lights that are more visible and allow us to see but also crucially not just be an annoyance that really doesn't help.

I get people love a clean mounting but honestly meh, would rather have a better light then cleaner mounting function of aesthetics in this case because the function is safety.

Troul 

compact, long battery life, usb-c passive charging & bright is what I'd settle for. I dont need all the functions of flashes, adjustable brightness, or hundreds of leds, just one maybe two leds will do.

gkamieneski

Although only 850 lumens, I run my Niterider underneath and they make a quick release mount that helps with charging. I’m sure the same could be accomplished with their brighter headlights.

guidodg

Specialized Flux 1250

John Valuk

On the page for the Outbound Lighting Detour, they have a link to their Action Camera Quick Release Mount.

I can't personally vouch for the product, but I have seen some very positive comments about their lights.

I currently use a relatively large, relatively heavy headlight that mounts on the bars. If I wanted to go underneath an "out front" mount, I think the Outbound lighting is the slickest setup I've seen.

Zaskar

Oooh. I did not. Thanks!!

canklecat

A few years ago another BF member, Timothy H, posted photos of his Light & Motion headlight (one of the Urban series, I think) mounted upside down and under his bike computer. Search his name and the topic and you'll probably find the photo.

Technically Light and Motion recommend against mounting their lights upside down, but I suspect this is over concern that the user might forget to replace the soft plastic/hard rubber cap over the USB charging port. I've mounted my L&M Urban 500 and Rando 500 upside down and sideways, ridden in rain, no problem -- the USB cap seals out rain.

There are also generic velcro strap mounts with rubber blocks in various configurations that enable versatile mounting. They aren't pretty or slim but functional and inexpensive. I've had one for years and it's really handy for improvised mounting, such as when I needed to get around or over a handlebar bag that blocked the supplied rubber band type mounts.

If I ever get a 3D printer, first thing I'll do is make my own mounts for lights and cameras. Mounts are often the weak point even in the better bike headlights and action/traffic documentary cameras. Taillight mounts are usually okay.

Troul 

I thought this to be the case until i've ran into another weak point being cable leads having used the cheapest of cheap materials. Insulation cracking leading to the thin copper wire snapping. I'm calling you out Magicshine!

unterhausen

All the Cygolyte headlights I have seen have a Fresnel lens. So it's shaped, but the shape is symmetric vertically. It actually works fairly well, I keep forgetting there is a cutoff until I turn it on and am disappointed that the beam isn't taller than the beam on my dyno lights. I'm a little surprised that more companies haven't come up with good shaped headlight optics, but if you look at Supernova's trials coming up with good optics, it's apparently not that easy.

roadfix

Bicycle specific lights are pricey. There are tons of premium, USB-C flashlights out there that use 3000mah 18650 batteries that are very practical for cycling. You just have to be a bit creative with mounting them. GoPro type flashlight mounts can be used with many of these flashlights, including bottom mounting. There are many mounting options out there.

Here’s a pic of my tiny USB-C, 18350 battery flashlight on my helmet, using a GoPro style mount.
It’s a 1,300 lumen flashlight but I use it at the 500 lumen setting which gives me close to 2 hours.

tcs

The CatEye GVolt 100 StVZO (has a beam cutoff) and is designed to be mounted above or below. 100 lux.

t2p

do you know of any mounts that can be used to mount a light like this to a handlebar ?

roadfix

I have an Olight handlebar flashlight mount which is pretty good. You can get it on Amazon.
Two Fish also makes a solid handlebar flashlight mount, also on Amazon.

50PlusCycling

I use a Lezyne 1600 XXL light. It’s a bit on the chunky side, but the battery lasts forever. This has come in handy on mountain roads in the middle of nowhere, and allowed me to ride all night. Lezyne has a lot of different mounts and accessories available, the light can be controlled by a remote switch, and with a smart phone app.

I prefer to mount a light at bar height, this is enough to see how deep are ruts and potholes, and to angle the light enough downward so as not to blind riders and vehicles on coming up the from the opposite way.

Reddleman

The Knog Blinder 600, 800 and 1300 front lights have the option of a GoPro mount which can be used to support the light from above without turning it upside down. I run one that way underneath a Quad Lock cellphone mount.

Troul 

just in case anyone uses the Magicshine battery that has a jumper/lead cable going to the light, if you use it as intended within it's designed functions, & you start to notice it flickering or shutting off randomly, it probably needs a new jumper/lead cable.

So far i've gone thru three & they all failed at the battery connection area. The plastic insulation around the red & black wires splits & shorts the circuit. Had one break the soldier joint & touch over to the other part of the PCB. Poor materials for a design that could go far, especially for the price.

Koyote

I recently bought the Ravemen CR1000, which has a shaped (cutoff) beam pattern. It's not StVZO compliant, but the same idea that you describe. It's a nice light at a very low price. The lens, at the very front of the light, is held in place by a retaining ring -- which, when loosened, allows the lens to be rotated 180 degrees in order to use the light under the handlebar (and still have the cutoff where it belongs). The standard mount allows the light to be run in this orientation, or it can be purchased with this mount in order to run it under a computer that has a go pro mount on the underside. I've done it both ways (with my own go pro mount on different bikes) and it works well.

It's 1,000 lumens which is less than the OP desires -- but when all of the lumens are focused where you're actually riding (versus having some of the light go up into the sky), that's more than sufficient. And after testing it out, I found that the light's battery life is significantly longer than claimed -- mine gets almost three hours on the highest setting.

noglider 

That Ravemen looks nice! Price is decent.

Koyote

Yep. If I did more night riding, I would spring for the Outbound Lighting Detour, as it looks pretty much perfect. But for my occasional use, the Raveman seems pretty great.