Rock71

I get completely bored with a trainer, so I'm going to ride outdoors as long as the weather is 32 degrees or more. For me that means a lot of after dark riding here within the next month. What are you guys/gals using for lights? How many lumens? One or two lights?

jsigone

for the roadie, one lumia 1100 on the bars, nite rider solas 100 is running day or night. For the MTB, I'll have two lumina on the bars and older lumina 600 on the helmet for turns n switch backs.

https://www.niterider.com/product/67...na-1200-boost/ this is the latest model they just release, you can maybe find the 1100 on sale for $65ish. I got one from REI last month at that price.

If you want to ride longer then say 2 hours, I'd recommend one with a battery pack. The lumina will not work on a pack or external battery while ON. Or run 2 lumina

GuessWhoCycling

I use a Cygolite Metro 300 I got about 3 years ago. Didn't pay attention to the lumens when I bought it but it works fine though I know there are higher lumens out there. I'm happy with it, cars flash their brights at me so I know it's bright. I ride on semi lit roads and it works fine. Pitch dark roads it light enough to see my way.

But I do love the usb rechargeable feature.

rumrunn6

cpl times my lite died several miles from home. so, I now carry a backup light or even just a strong headlamp, sometimes both. watch out for potholes & road debris! had a cpl surprises even with lights. glad I didn't go down. take those hilly descents slower at night!

MattTheHat 

I purchased one of these a few months ago, and it's worked quite well:

https://www.amazon.com/BrightRoad-or...rightroad&th=1

I run it on the lowest setting, probably about 250-300 lumens. I ride before light in the morning and after dark in the evenings. A full charge will last for an hour to an hour and a half in the morning (when it gets light enough I switch it to flash mode) and I can ride for another hour and a half in the evening. I can often get another hour of light out of it the following morning. It charges via USB in a few hours. I'll replace it with something I can hang off an out-front computer mount when I find something better.

I'd also highly recommend a flashing tail light if you aren't already using one. I use the Bontrager Flare RT. The charge on it will last abut twice as long as the headlight, possibly three times as long. And it charges very quickly via USB.

-Matt

pdlamb

Always use two rear lights, preferably different models. You don't know when a rear light runs out, and if you have different models (or at least different intensities), you'll have one to keep you lit when the first one goes out.

My night-time commuter has dyno lights, but that's a pricy entry point. (Even so, I'll run a battery-powered blinky on the back in case a connector comes loose -- it has happened!)

You might want to go with one light on your bars, and a smaller blinking helmet light. The blinker will catch the attention of oncoming traffic, and get you home that night when the primary battery runs out.

You'll not I keep saying "when" not "if." That's intentional. If you ride enough at night, at least one light's battery will run out eventually.

Synack42

I'm in the same boat, trying to get in as much time in before sunset.

If I still have some daylight left I end up using both lights from a "Schwinn 30 Lumen Quick Wrap LED Bike Light Set" -- found it locally at Walmart.
If it's already dark out I use the rear light from the above and a Bontrager Ion 120.

Probably not the best setup, but the Schwinn set is really nice for the USB charging and the Bontrager is sufficient when it's completely dark. I'm lucky enough to be in a subdivision with sidewalks connecting to neighboring areas so I can completely avoid the main roads (though the route is pretty dull, still beats an exercise bike in the basement.)

rgconner

Dark does not bother me much, good lights fix that.

It that it is COLD when it is dark! (Great in summertime, not so great fall/winter)

1nterceptor

2(or more!) is best; in case one malfunctions or runs out of juice.
If a rear light comes off after a bump; you may not even notice it.

indyfabz

Here is a recent lumens thread in the Road forum:

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycl...-darkness.html

Khb

Personally, I have a whole ensemble. I usually only activate a few.

1 Stromer factory light
2 niteriders. One on my handlebars, one on my helmet. These are bright (1100 lumens and 900 (I may misremember the latter)
1 orp (combo horn, light. Not overly bright, but the blinky mode is noticable, and not totally annoying at night).
1 lumos helmet. Blinky front and back, turn signals.
Light bar with 3 cheap chinese lights. Totally annoying if all three on ... but handy to have ... sometimes focused on near ground ... or focused at different distances. Light bar is attached to front rack.
3 rear lights, one on the rack, two on panners
flexible band lights for arm or leg.
rim lights

KraneXL

I purchased the Niterider Pro 1800 since I began as a night rider so I figured I need to get the best light I could afford. I don't disappoint when it comes to lumens but I wish it had a longer run time or at least the ability to replace the power-pack which is built in. When its dead its dead with no way around the 4 hour wait to recharge it.

They made an even brighter 3600 dual lamp version, but I honestly did see the need (more for off-road) since I live in the city and honestly have never needed even the brightest setting on my single lamp in the 3+ years since I bought it. Hmm, now that I think about it I should have taken a before photo of this path which was completely black.

squirtdad

I have gravitated to Cygolite over the years.

I also want redundancy.....ie two up front and 2 in back

I am using 2 cygolite hotrod in the back.....partially be cause the cygolite hotshot gets obscured by my saddlebag
And I have 2 metros up front one some place from 900 to 1100 lumen and one 750

cyccommute 

My go to answer, especially for some one just want to try out night riding is something similar to this. It's cheap enough that you can buy one or two or three of them...one or two on the bike and one on the helmet...without breaking the bank. If you don't like riding at night, you won't be out a bunch of money and if you do like riding at night, you'll have a pretty durable light without spending a lot of money.

There are a couple of caveats. The mounting system isn't the best and, if you find that you like riding at night, I would suggest putting together a better mount but the original mount works well enough to get the feel of night riding. The light also isn't putting out 1200 lumens. It puts out 600 to 800 lumens on high. That's still very bright for such an inexpensive light. Run time on high is about 2 hours.

As to how to use them, I find that the lights have to be run at full power in urban environments. Out in the country, a low level light is all that is needed because you aren't competing with other light sources. In town, there are 1000 light sources per block and if you have lights that are dim, you won't be seen. You are just noise. Running the lights at full power and having a mobile light on your head allows you to be seen and to see. Both are important but the being seen part of the equation is much more important in my opinion.

KraneXL

This is the opposite actually.

cyccommute 

tunavic

Actually, it's quite true

jsigone

meh light output is dependent on how fast you ride your bike downhill. More lumens and light shape will give you confidence to bomb hills at 30-40mph, where weaker lights feel sketch at 20mph. I usually run the Lumina1100 in medium for most riding and turn up to max for downhill. I also run max at the transistion phase just after sunset. Once completely dark I change modes after my eyes adjust.

Either way you will out ride your light or your skillset/reflex at said amount of light at said amount if MPH.

indyfabz

+1. I ride in the dark Philly this time of year. My 500 lumen light is to be seen, not to see. Even if I keep it on steady instead of flash it doesn't add any seeing advantage over the street lighting unless I am in a park area with less lighting.

And here is the light on a trail in complete darkness. 500 lumens was plenty bright to be able to see the (not pictured) pretty far off, shadowy figure of a large porcupine heading straight for me.

DrIsotope

Buy the most lumens your budget will allow. You can always run a bright light on a lower setting, but you can't make a dim light any brighter.

My usual is a Light & Motion Urban 700, which I've had long enough that now an Urban 900 is the same price. Gets a solid 2 hours on high, but mine is on medium most of the time.

Good light pattern, doesn't care if it's right side up or upside down, the side markers actually work, flexible mounting, charges quickly, decent mid-level pricepoint. Does everything I need.

If you're venturing off-road, a second light on the helmet helps-- a lot.

At night, I just run my HotShot PRO on slow pulse.

rumrunn6

get something yet? don't sweat the decision, get something & get out there! ;-)