Bailer

Posted here rather than the Electronic section because I want road specific answers.

I need to start night riding to get some more miles in, too much life getting in the way during the day. I have to cover 1.5 miles of road to reach a paved canal trail that I can ride to, largely, avoid traffic at night.

I've got access to a few different lighting options that I can carry over from my dirt bike. On the dirt bike I run twin halogen: one 55W one 35W on the bike. Then I mount a dual 800 lumen LED's on my helmet. I also have an extra single 800 LED as a backup/loaner unit. Having a bike mount and a helmet mount is nice, for off road if I had to choose one or the other I'd choose helmet mount. The halogens aren't an option on the road bike, but I've got handlebar and extra helmet mounts for both sets of LED's.

For road bike use is it better to have handlebar mount or helmet mount? How much is enough, do I need the dual 800's, or is the single good enough? At a modest weight penalty, I could mount the dual on the bars and the single on the helmet. Overkill?

I've also got a red flasher I'll clip onto something, probably the tool pack under my saddle.

Elvo

Brightest one on your head, other on your bars, a bright rear light on your seatpost bag, and an annoying rear-facing blinker on your helmet works best.

NRZ

I don't like the helmet mounted headlights because if you look towards a driver you could blind them and cause an accident. For dirtbiking/offroad/mountain I agree that helmet is the best choice. In terms of lumens, and I've had a few lights, that 1000 is the best/ideal lumen. Anything over that is nice and while I ride with a 600 now, I yern for more. 3 people on our ride have the Light in Motion 1400 and that is the cat's meow in my mind.

StanSeven

Bar mounted for road. I have a Magicshine which is 800 lumens but they are overated - probably more like 500-600. I agree 1000 would be good for all around road use

Liist

Bar mounted aimed slightly down for road.

PhotoJoe 

My wife and I are in the same boat. Life is too busy after work, so we ride in the mornings. I bought her a MagicShine MJ-808E from with the Cree XM-L led rated at 1,000 lumens. I have no idea if the rating is accurate or not. All I know is it's bright enough for us. I put the wide-angle lens in hers. We've been riding un-lit MUPs for a couple of weeks now with it and it's great. I liked it enough that I bought one for me and rode with it this morning for the first time. I did NOT put the wide-angle in mine. Side-by-side comparison showed that I don't like the wide-angle. I like the middle hotspot with a wide drop-off. It's perfect for the trails. It's also brighter than my wife's, so I think there is too much waste with the WA lens. We actually run ours on medium because the high setting is too bright and we were getting complaints of runners and other cyclists coming toward us.

I bought the name brand because I read too many reviews of the ebay/amazon knockoffs having very short battery lifespans.

Both are bar-mounted.

Cookiemonsta

I only ever went bar mounted. I dont like the helmet light either. Depending on the surroundings of course. I do not like the idea of blinding everything I look at.

TrojanHorse

I went the klunky chinese flashlight route. Retesting my config tonight, but each one theoretically puts out 1600 lumens or so (one is a broader beam than the other, which makes them a nice complement to each other). Bar mounted.

I think there are a lot of ways to skin this particular cat but I have trouble imagining TOO much light.

PainTrain

MJ-808e bar mounted, PDW Danger Zone rear blinky, and a lot of reflective tape on the frame. I ride primarily at night on suburban/exurban roads.

tagaproject6

Not sure if serious

Do you know of any first hand account that an an incident like this ever happened? It may be very annoying, but a real accident due to overly bright lights and causing "blindness" (temporarily as it may be)?

hhnngg1

THe Magicshine is more than good enough for road riding. While more is almost always better in terms of helping you see, having more lumens that a Magicshine is actually really annoying for motorists - like having high beams aimed at them since bike lights aren't coned downwards like car headlamps. I'd only use max 500-600 lumens (Magicshine intensity) on the roads - it's annoying enough to see them, having seen others on the roads using them.

Off-road, use as many lumen as you can pack in there - just make sure you don't see anyone else coming in the opposite direction or you'll totally blind them.

On the minimalist front, the $45 Fenix L2d torch will run 2 x AA batteries for 1 hour at 180 lumens, which if aimed correctly, is sufficient to ride at moderately fast speeds on roads. Super small as well.

pallen

I have the bright Magicshine on the handlebars and a small light on the helmet for extra visibility. If I look at the driver on the side, they'll see the light, but its not blinding.

Psimet2001 

Wow....you guys either have poor eyesight, or maybe misunderstand the ratings.

Been riding at night on mixed roads, completely dark mups and black single track on my cross bike for years. I personally have found that around 350-400 lumen is about threshold for finally being able to see well and ride effectively.

I currently ride with a Cygolite Mitycross 480. It seems like the sun when riding. Bar mount.

Bar mount for road. Bar mount.

Bar mount.

datlas 

You think maybe bar mount is best for road??

I concur. Magicshine 900 user here.

Bar mount.

jamesdak 

Magicshine for me also, on the bar. Bright enough for me to go just as fast as I can without any worries on my rural unlit route. I aim mine fairly far ahead but then block the light pattern with a hand when a car in oncoming. Anyone that thinks the magicshine is not blinding to a driver should maybe look at one, LOL!!

TrojanHorse

Maybe some people just enjoy light.

I took one of my cheap chinese flashlights out tonight (this would hold true for any of the better lights we're discussing here) and had it on flash mode... It was nearing dusk, so still light, and I rode through an intersection. A car that started in front of me actually STOPPED HER RIGHT TURN into a gas station to let me by. That's effective lighting right there. I almost fell off my bike I was so shocked.

Bumer

I recently bought this light LuminTrek TrailBlazer 1600 lumens. I am ashamed to admit that I've had this light for a week now, but have not had a chance to ride with it.

I did test it inside the house, and the light is very bright. And I mean VERY! So, I will try to make an extra effort and try to ride with it.
The light came with handlebar ring mounts and helmet mount.

Psimet2001 

1600 lumen? How did you deal with cleaning the scorching marks left inside your house after testing it?

Black wallnut 

If a corner post on an SUV or a west coast mirror on a big truck can obscure a car entering an intersection from the right then you had better believe that if you shine your hi output light into the eyes of an on-coming motorist that may have cataracts that you blind them enough to be come invisible to them, or worse the next cyclist is invisible because you caused them temporary spot blindness. Bar mount only and aim it to the ground, the cyclist you save may be you.

Lexi01

I tend to agree with this.

I have a 500 lumen light & motion and its plenty o light for the road.

pdxtex

lesse. dual halogen lights in college, hey this is neat. various cat eye pieces of crap...hey i can kind of see. 1st gen planet bike strobe, hey cars can see me!! 75 lumens, whoo, i can really see (not really) 250 lumens?? ok, i can mostly see for real.....presently riding with a 600 lumen night rider cordless, finally i can REALLY see.

stevesurf

I like a light that forces drivers to follow at a safe distance; check out the Dinotte 300R and 400R rear lights. Their front lights are equally amazing and are now Cree based. Don't forget side visibility; Nite Ize now has spoke mounted LED lights that will work with blade, oval and round spokes here

Bumer

Ahhh. What the heck... Will just paint the room, get two birds with one stone - cleaning and renovations.

Bailer

Thanks for the feedback. Based on what I've read, I think tonight I'll mount my dual Trail tech LED's. They're 800 lumen each, but if that is too much they've got medium and low settings. Even on a lower setting it will let me throw a wider pattern than my single 800. I'm a little nervous not having a helmet mount to look through the turns. Just need to get it through my head that this is less critical than when riding single track on a motorcycle.

RadioFlyer66

^ so how long is your battery lifespan on medium - is it actually 7 hrs as claimed?