vja4Him

I need to replace my head lamp that I wear under my helmet. What would you recommend ? I'm hoping that I can find a very strong light that will actually let me see the road ahead of me to avoid obstacles. I have three other headlights for the cars to see me. I just need to be able to see the road in front of me.

10 Wheels

How do you get it ( under my helmet) ?

rogerm3d

under your helmet? I recently got a gloworm alpha. It is bright, lightweight, has good battery life, and comes with a gopro mount for helmet use. It's bright for on or off road, and has an external battery that can be strapped to your bike or tossed in a backpack.
https://www.action-led-lights.com/co...men-bike-light

CycleCommuter

Just to clarify, you are mounting this light to top of your helmet, yes?

Pratt

Never used one for bike riding, but, when hiking, I have found a bill cap with the light worn above the bill, preserves night vision and makes the light more effective

Milton Keynes

When I use a head lamp on my helmet, I use one designed to clip onto the bill of a ball cap. It easily clips onto the otherwise useless visor of my helmet.

CycleCommuter

I have used a helmet mounted headlamp for over 25 years to supplement my handlebar mounted lights.

I use my current headlight not in terms of safety in being seen by cars but for myself to avoid road debris, pot holes and other obstacles that you might miss at night while on the road.

Originally I used my headlamp for off road and trail riding and for this type of riding my current set up -
Light & Motion Vis Pro Helmet Bike Light - which I find incredible on the road would not be bright enough as you really need to illuminate a dirt/off road bike path/trail so much more than a road. I used NightRider Lights for over 15 years, and while the pro versions are very expensive $300-500, they will certainly light up a trail and are extremely durable. When my last set died on me I downgraded to the Light & Motion model I am currently using.

NightRider does produce commuting lights but I haven't been as impressed by these versions as with their Pro models (or the original light I purchased from them in 1993). However the Pro models can easily blind car drivers or other commuting cyclists on the road or heavily used paths.

vja4Him

When cars are approaching, I turn my head away slightly, so as not to blind the drivers.

Leisesturm

Interesting. I've been dealing with Action LED for a long, long time. I've bought several MagicShine lights from them. Dropped one on a tile floor but still have three 808 lightheads going. Gemini battery packs. I just went to their site and they have no MagicShine lights in stock. If I were buying again maybe I'd try Gemini lights too. Hope you enjoy your light. It's more than I would want to spend, but I just thought the double endorsement of Action LED might give the o.p. a double incentive to go look at what they have available. I have both helmet mounts and headstraps and the MagicShines are real handy around the house for finding things under furniture or doing repairs in the garage. Good stuff.

CycleCommuter

I do the same and this is a distinct advantage over handlebar or other frame mounted light systems. While I like to make sure that I can drop the angle of my handlebar mounted light if possible when passing another cyclist, nothing is easier than turning your head slightly with a helmet mounted light.

rekmeyata

I'm not into headlamps, I do wear a light on top of my helmet but not under it, runners and hikers usually wear headlamps which I don't do either of those two things. While there probably other choices the ones I saw was the Lupine Neo X2 SmartCore that puts out 900 lumens but is rather pricey; or for less money the Silva Trail Speed 4XT; or the Light & Motion Vis Pro Adventure; or the lightest option is the Princeton Tec Axis but it puts out 450 lumens which is less than the above ones, but it weighs only 76 grams.

rekmeyata

All the mountain bikers I've seen in Calif and here in Indiana all wear their lights on their helmet, not on the head, like the below pictures.





Even if you google mountain bike lights they either show bar mounted or helmeted mounted lights, not one headlamp comes up.

Of course, I live in America, maybe in some other countries, they wear headlamps.

jack1234567

Magicshine lights

MattMoon

I always go for the cheapest ones x2

rekmeyata

Except for the cheapest one's times, 2 do not put out light to a distance, sure that would be great if you want close coverage with a more of wide beam pattern, but you could override your lights. Even if you aim one of the cheap ones higher up the road the dimmest just won't cut it. If you're thinking you meant those cheap Amazon lights that promise 2,000 lumens, well their lumen output is nowhere near 2,000, maybe 500 lumens, plus the quality of the construction is poor, they've even had a few catch fire when charging; also Chinese made batteries don't hold a charge as long nor last as long before needing to replace the entire light.

So I would stay away from cheap lights, however, you can find extremely good lights in the middle of the price range which is around the $100 range, I don't see a need for a $400 light.

UniChris

I've been using 18650 (and for backup 14500) flashlights on my helmet for years. What's nice is you can zoom them in fairly close to inspect surface condition, or in a really isolated area with good surface zoom them out a bit more. And yes, simply looking to the side so the limit of your light hits about where you own wheels will go accomplishes courtesy to oncoming traffic. Also nice to be bright enough that a few head flicks at distance can get oncomming drivers to stop blinding you with their brights.

Latest one is a "GearLight" - pair for $14; the one downside with that one is it only has one brightness, which thoroughly drained a cell in just over an hour (but I carry more). Brands vary though, and of course a brand is just what some importer is slapping on a particular manufacturing run.

The little 14500's shouldn't be underestimated, either. I prefer not to depend on one as a primary for a long after dark ride in rural settings, but they're not that much weaker; great as a backup, or for evening walks, and while brighter with a 14500 lithium they'll still put out a fair amount of light with a disposable AA.

Because flashlights are a round pattern, they're only usable when aimed downwards to hit the road a reaction distance ahead; they don't belong in a bar mount. Though of course when no one is around you can tilt your head up to scan the distance.

rekmeyata

There are only a handful of lights that do not have the round beam pattern, by handful I mean maybe 3 that I know of in the battery line up light, the exception being the dyno hub powered lights I think all of them are using aimed optics. This is why a lot of people simply buy hight quality flashlights that offer more lumens and cost less than bike specific lights, then they either make a bracket or they buy one of the several generic plastic mount designs to except most flashlights. The only problem with using a quality flashlight is that they tend to be heavier than bike specific lights.

UniChris

I have considered that, in terms of taking one of the ones that's cheap enough and sawing off most of the housing and customizing a mount. Though it may play some heatsink role. And having something self contained and waterproof isn't bad.

If I were to ride enough after-dark hours that the weight really annoyed me that would probably not be the most pressing of my concerns.