LIGHTS MEGATHREAD - all questions on riding lights asked and answered here!!!

[Paulie_AU]

I am keen to get back into a bit of night MTB riding on trails I am very familiar with. I haven't been on a night MTB ride in years (14 years to be honest)

How many Lumens should I be chasing? I once raced on a borrowed 5W Nightstick on a track I knew well with a bit of guess work so I would like more than that. My reading up on stuff is a old 5W light was maybe 50 Lumens.

My roadie light is good for about 150 lumens and is ok on the road but not awesome so I was thinking of aiming closer to 400+ lumens.

Looking around on Pushys I have found some mega output cheapies for $60. 1800 Lumens and 3000 Lumens


Would these be total shit? Anyone tried them. For $60 I wouldn't care if they lasted 6 months. If I was riding heaps I would then just grab a decent light.

If this Hope Vision 4 was in stock I reckon I would just grab it (anyone used one?)

I won't be spending shitloads. Need to pickup my new bike soon (after dropping $3500 upgrading my wife's bike last month....) and my wife wants a roadie upgrade next year so a real nice set of lights would maybe be a year away.

 

[Juan Dinger]

I am keen to get back into a bit of night MTB riding on trails I am very familiar with. I haven't been on a night MTB ride in years (14 years to be honest)

How many Lumens should I be chasing? I once raced on a borrowed 5W Nightstick on a track I knew well with a bit of guess work so I would like more than that. My reading up on stuff is a old 5W light was maybe 50 Lumens.

My roadie light is good for about 150 lumens and is ok on the road but not awesome so I was thinking of aiming closer to 400+ lumens.

Looking around on Pushys I have found some mega output cheapies for $60. 1800 Lumens and 3000 Lumens


Would these be total shit? Anyone tried them. For $60 I wouldn't care if they lasted 6 months. If I was riding heaps I would then just grab a decent light.

If this Hope Vision 4 was in stock I reckon I would just grab it (anyone used one?)

I won't be spending shitloads. Need to pickup my new bike soon (after dropping $3500 upgrading my wife's bike last month....) and my wife wants a roadie upgrade next year so a real nice set of lights would maybe be a year away.

I did a bunch of reading on what makes for a good light and what doesn't just recently and was surprised at what I read. The vast range of lights on the market also makes it rather difficult to decide on what you need. It seems you really do get what you pay for. One thing that stood out when reading reviews was the lumen rating of a particular light was only a small piece of the puzzle when trying to decide whether a particular light was going to be up to the job of doing what you wanted it to. If you aren't too fussed about vision and just want some sort of light then the cheap ones will probably do the job. If you actually want a wide scope of vision that is useable and is running on a quality battery source, then you have to spend the bucks. I ended up going with the Ay Up MTB lighting system, which is an Australian product and had a lot of great reviews. Not exactly cheap but a long way from being the dearest on the market. Very well thought out system which has been continually developed over a number of years. I think more than worth the extra cash, especially considering what you get in the kit. If you have to go ultra budget, the 'NiteRider" brand stuff seemed to get the best reviews of the cheaper options.

 

[single-pivot]

Cheap lights work great only problem i have had is dodgy batt just bought axtra for spare.
also run helmet and bar combined . More than enough lite power

 

[Muznik]

I picked up a couple of the Bikemate 900 Lumens from Aldi for $40 a couple of months back and am very impressed with them.

Have done a few night rides at Nerang & the light itself is more than bright enough.
The only hassle has been with the helmet mounting system but a bit of time spent getting it right or even a simple cable tie are enough to secure it in place.

It remains to be seen how long the battery pack last & keep recharging but they were a cheap entry point to getting into night riding.

 

[Flow-Rider]

Cheap lights work great only problem i have had is dodgy batt just bought axtra for spare.
also run helmet and bar combined . More than enough lite power

I agree, I bought a set of solar storms for about $35 and they worked quite well but I will note that I don't use them a lot. I have done 1.30hr straight rides with them no worries. I run them on the lowest light setting and they produce enough light to descend a fire trail at good speed. Another bloke I know bought a light that looked identical to a solar storm but the battery didn't last too long. I always bring a small cateye light as a back up.

 

[tasty.dirt74]

It used to be that you had to spend quite a few hundred dollars to get a reliable set of lights. Now you can spend as little as $30-$40 on ebay and get a reasonable all round package.

I do quite a bit of night riding and have used early AU magicshine, then the "cheap chinese equivalent" versions and solarstorm pretty much exclusively, and am pretty confident in saying that you will have negligible issues with the actual light, but mostly battery issues. You can spend $50-$70 for a branded battery pack and then end up with a good light for $100ish.

The beam patterns are fine, full power can almost be too much from their advertised 2000 lumens..of which they surely do not put out the advertised light level. Lights with outputs in the multiple thousands can be too much, in my humble opinion..they just kill all the details of the trail..

I use a twin led solarstorm on the helmet, and the same on the bars. Different head units display different light patterns, so even buying what you think is the same can not guaranteed !

All in all, for under $50 a pop, you cant really go wrong.

Unless you want to spend a bit( quite a lot) more for programmable light levels and charging speeds and lots of other cool choices!:tape2:

 

[blacksp20]

stoo.....Grab yourself a $2 ebay mount and you can get a lower profile AND have adjustment

Sorry for the massive gravedig, but I've linked back to Chops original pics as there were others some time ago looking for what he had done.

I found the type of attachment he used in the pics to mount the light to a gopro base. It's a gopro bridge tripod mount.

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_...opro+bridge+.TRS0&_nkw=gopro+bridge+&_sacat=0

He has just removed the tripod bolt from the mount, the bar mount from the light unit and got a longer bolt to attach the two.

I bought the parts and they cost about $10 all up for all the mounting hardware. Very slick and compact.

 

[johnny]

Picture 1,2 and 4 have some kind of plate attached to it. What is that and how is fixed to the helmet?

 

[blacksp20]

Picture 1,2 and 4 have some kind of plate attached to it. What is that and how is fixed to the helmet?

That is just a GoPro quick release helmet mount. eBay has squillions of them in different package configs. They just attach with 3M double sided tape.

How do you find the light output of your solarstorm? I purchased mine as the output of my old magicshine seemed pretty poor compared to other lights out there. Sadly the MS shits on the SS as it's got more spread and it's brighter overall.

 

[single-pivot]

light

Straight velcro stuck to helmet then velcro on light works a treat .
These are light enough that they don't fall of

I run 2 led like above on helmet and 3 led round type on bars . Heaps bright enough for some serious night time speed

 

[Travis22]

How do you find the light output of your solarstorm? I purchased mine as the output of my old magicshine seemed pretty poor compared to other lights out there. Sadly the MS shits on the SS as it's got more spread and it's brighter overall.

I have 2 of the Solarstorm x2 lights (same as the above pics). One is about the same brightness on low as the other on high. The 'brighter' one on high is a lot lot brighter then the other on high. Lights were purchased from 2 different ebay sellers maybe 6months apart. The first one was the brighter one so naturally i was pretty dissapointed with the 'new' one when i recieved it.

I havent bothered to look into it any further but clearly the brighter one must be driving the emitters a fair bit harder. I use the 'brighter one' on low 99% of the time, and the other is just a spare.

Travis.

 

[blacksp20]

Straight velcro stuck to helmet then velcro on light works a treat .
These are light enough that they don't fall of

I run 2 led like above on helmet and 3 led round type on bars . Heaps bright enough for some serious night time speed

Only downside with Velcro straight on the light is a lack of adjustment. If you don't get the angles right you'll be spotting possums or your bars. For under $10 all up the GoPro style mounts look pretty functional.

 

[blacksp20]

Ten charrrrrrrr

 

[Boom King]

Sorry for the massive gravedig, but I've linked back to Chops original pics as there were others some time ago looking for what he had done.

I found the type of attachment he used in the pics to mount the light to a gopro base. It's a gopro bridge tripod mount.

http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_...opro+bridge+.TRS0&_nkw=gopro+bridge+&_sacat=0

He has just removed the tripod bolt from the mount, the bar mount from the light unit and got a longer bolt to attach the two.

I bought the parts and they cost about $10 all up for all the mounting hardware. Very slick and compact.

Thanks heaps. I've been looking for something like that for a while now.

 

[blacksp20]

So, I'm a little unimpressed with my Solarstorm X2 (XML LED's) that cost me all of $26. It is much dimmer and a way more focused spot light than my old school BikeRay 4 (XPG LED's).

I feel the need for more light than the old Bikeray 4 as it seemed very dim and I was definitely wanting more light on my last group night ride.

I want something decent, even if it does cost a bit of money. Ay-Ups have always seemed awesome to me, but I'm not sure they are going to offer me much more than the light I already have. They don't advertise what LED's they use and I can't find any info online of the later model lamps, only from several years ago. Glowowrm X2 also caught my eye, but the price compared to Ay-Ups is silly.

Has anyone purchased Ay-ups in the last year or two that can comment on the brightness?

Are there any other lights out there for around $200 that will give me a good flood with plenty of light?

For comparison, here are pics I took of the light output from my lights.

Old BikeRay 4


New Solarstorm X2

 

[MarioM]

So, I'm a little unimpressed with my Solarstorm X2 (XML LED's) that cost me all of $26. It is much dimmer and a way more focused spot light than my old school BikeRay 4 (XPG LED's).

I feel the need for more light than the old Bikeray 4 as it seemed very dim and I was definitely wanting more light on my last group night ride.

I want something decent, even if it does cost a bit of money. Ay-Ups have always seemed awesome to me, but I'm not sure they are going to offer me much more than the light I already have. They don't advertise what LED's they use and I can't find any info online of the later model lamps, only from several years ago. Glowowrm X2 also caught my eye, but the price compared to Ay-Ups is silly.

Has anyone purchased Ay-ups in the last year or two that can comment on the brightness?

Are there any other lights out there for around $200 that will give me a good flood with plenty of light?

For comparison, here are pics I took of the light output from my lights.

Old BikeRay 4
View attachment 335370

New Solarstorm X2
View attachment 335371

Talk to Dave at Nitelights . Sorted me out a pair of the best lights I have ridden with after talking to him about the type of trails I ride at night . I got mine with the bigger capacity batteries for 12 / 24 hour racing . I tried to talk to the Magicshine people who just went out of their way to not help in any way with what I wanted , also got that treatment from the xecon people .
I sent Dave my old lights , the original nitelights , which he tested in his sphere ( where they measure performance etc ) as I was looking to upgrade the emitters and he tried some things but the consensus was to upgrade the light unit itself and he did not charge me for swapping emitters and things in my old lights . Very impressed by his honesty and communication as well as his quick turnaround .

 

[Travis22]

Thats an impressively tight hot spot for an xml emitter with such a small reflector. If you have nothing to loose with it id pull it alpart and look if something is stopping the reflector seating slightly further over the emitter or is the mcpcb/ pcb already butted up against the reflector? Again that beam pattern isnt right for that size reflectors which makes me think something about its assembly is off.

Or you could take another gamble on a new Solarstorm X2 - try and get one with XML2 emitters.

Travis.

 

[blacksp20]

Thats an impressively tight hot spot for an xml emitter with such a small reflector. If you have nothing to loose with it id pull it alpart and look if something is stopping the reflector seating slightly further over the emitter or is the mcpcb/ pcb already butted up against the reflector? Again that beam pattern isnt right for that size reflectors which makes me think something about its assembly is off.

Or you could take another gamble on a new Solarstorm X2 - try and get one with XML2 emitters.

Travis.

The reflectors are sitting right up against the PCB. I pulled it apart and they sit right over the LED so the LED is inside the opening of the reflector with no visible gaps. Look I wasn't expecting a great deal from a $26 light but my Aldi torch/bike light I purchased several months ago would do a better job than the solarstorm I have.

I looked at the nitelights as suggested and they look to be slightly improved Chinese lights at a premium price. I might be completely wrong as I've only seen pictures and not the unit and light output in person.

Had a think and I might try and get out to the Jetblack 24hr race at Awaba next weekend and see if I can do a little research there.

If anyone can vouch for the current Ay Ups I'd still like to hear from you. They look like a great system and appear very reasonable in their pricing for 2 lights and batteries at just over $400.

 

[johnny]

Just posted this in the Aldi thread but realise that it's probably going to get better responses here:

I'm heading to Bunnings this afternoon to pick up the same or similar bolts to recreate the setup that Chops had in the lights megathread. Being a bolt-noob I have some dumb questions:

I have to get a bolt that holds the light onto the arm of the gopro mount - the one that comes with the light is way too short,
I have to get a bolt (and possibly a nut as well, however the mount I have seems to have a nut kind of built into however it is a capped nut of sorts, meaning that the bolt has to be a pretty exact length) that holds the gopro mount arm onto the gopro mount base/clip.

I figure I just take the setup into Bunnings and fiddle about. The problem is that most bolts and screws are in packets that can't be opened for testing sized and whatnot. Has anyone got any advise on quick and easier approaches than what I've laid out above?

 

[Boom King]

These worked for me. Took original bolt out of bracket and popped one of these straight in.