Street night riding

[leaftye]

I don't see much about night riding on the street. Not as much as I'd like anyway.

I'm looking to finally get another bike tomorrow. The last bike I had was two years ago until it got stolen while I was out hiking 300 miles.

Anyhow, that was a full suspension mountain bike. I didn't like doing a lot of miles on it because it'd sap my power. It was demotivating. Now I'm getting a road bike. I'm leaning towards a hybrid to start with. If I get serious enough, I'll convert it to drop bars or sell it and get a touring bike that came with drop bars. Since my schedule right now allows for night riding, I want lights. The flat bar of a hybrid bike might make mounting lights easier too.

Since I'm on a budget, I'll use budget lights.

Here's what I'll ride with tomorrow night if I buy a bike.
Ultrafire HD2010 on a Fenix AF02 for the bars
Trustfire Z2 on the helmet
Magicshine MJ-818 brake light

The Fenix AF02 doesn't really fit the HD2010, so I'll secure it with bands until I get longer thumbscrews on Tuesday. This combo should put out approximately 1000 lumens. Unfortunately the bar light will far out throw the helmet light.

I'm going after a throwy light pattern as I don't need a wide pattern to pick a route. I might just need to see if the stripe is clear of debris.



I have two more lights on the way. One of them will replace the Z2.
Dongrui DR-18 for the helmet
Sky Ray S6 "King" for the bar

These, along with the HD2010 should put out over 2500 lumens. If only it was the 4900 advertised lumens, but alas, are but chinese lumens. Since these lights are new, I'm not really sure what the light pattern will be.

This is an excessive amount of light to have, but it doesn't mean I'll use all of it. Part of the reason I want very bright lights is because they have very big batteries, so they should last a long while on low modes that are still quite bright. High modes are there if I somehow need them.

Eventually I'll post some pictures to compare these lights. Video is unlikely as I don't have a good way to mount a camera, and I don't believe my cameras have a manual mode while shooting video, which makes video comparisons worthless imho.

I'll add reflective tape to my bike and helmet too. Black 3M Scotchlite for the helmet for sure since I already have some. I'm looking for a good deal on red narrow Reflexite tape to put on the rear of the bike. I have lots of yellow, but I don't think that's appropriate. I'm not sure what I'll do about side visibility, but I have some reflective arm bands...although they're old and not nearly reflective as what's available now.

Any ideas on improving side visibility? I was thinking a reflective shirt might be a good idea, aside from the need to wash it frequently. Woodrowstar has a shirt that looks good, although I'd prefer reflective tape on my forearms too. Maybe this shirt?

[leaftye]

Tonight I rode with the following configuration:
Ultrafire HD2010 and Trustfire Z2 on the helmet
Xeno e03 with 14550 lithium ion battery on a Fenix AF02 for the handle bar
Magicshine MJ-818 brake light

The HD2010 was usually off except at higher speeds >30 mph, and the other two forward facing lights were on their low or medium modes. This combination worked well. I think my top speed was little over 40 mph, and I didn't come close to out riding my HD2010. The Z2 was completely washed out when the HD2010 was on.

I would have liked more light immediately in front of the bike though to help identify debris. I think the tint of my lights would have benefited from a warmer tint. The Sky Ray S6 should help immensely with that. If the Dongrui DR-18 is floody, then it'll go on the handle bar too, and I'll keep the HD2010 on my helmet.

I can't say much about the tail light other than it worked and I didn't get run over.

Oh, and g damn, but butt hurts. Only a 9.4 mile ride, but I'm nearly twice my high school weight. I don't remember any pain when I was a feathery 126 lbs.

[woodrowstar]

I am using a Pelican Products "HeadsUp Lite" #2620 mounted on the helmet and a CatEye "OptiCube" #TL-LD1100 and Joggers running lamp - Both mounted on the rear. The Cateye is mounted at a correct height and the jogging lamp is mounted high. People say I look like a scooter going down the rode.

This thing is bright! http://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/TL-LD1100/

http://www.pelicanproducts.us/p.Peli...Lite.2620.HTML
I love riding at night! Rode 11 miles last night. As I was riding, I thought I had seen a deer- turned out to be a guy walking wear no reflector and all black. I almost hit the fool.

[J-Tim]

Get a set of Ay-Ups

Expensive but well worth it. Mountain bikers swear by them.

http://www.ayup-lights.com/

[leaftye]

SOLAS and Reflexite tape is amazing. They greatly outshine the reflectors that come on bikes. I didn't want to put it directly on my bike, so I got some translucent shelf paper (plastic) on the bike, and then applied the reflective tape. It's working well so far. If I change my mind, the shelf paper is easily removable and doesn't leave behind a residue.

I finally got my last light, and will ride with it tomorrow night if the weather is good. It'll definitely be enough light since the HD2010 is almost enough light all by itself. I'm not 100% satisfied with these lights though. The Dongrui could be a little brighter and benefit from some shielding on its battery tube. The SkyRay has a different plug than the Magicshine plug that almost everybody else uses. The HD2010 has enough room in the tube that it changes modes on bumpy roads. I'll make an adapter for the SkyRay, probably solder in thicker cables in the Dongrui to get a little more juice out of it, and solder in thicker springs with the HD2010 or just keep it mounted on my helmet.

[leaftye]

I am using a Pelican Products "HeadsUp Lite" #2620 mounted on the helmet and a CatEye "OptiCube" #TL-LD1100 and Joggers running lamp - Both mounted on the rear. The Cateye is mounted at a correct height and the jogging lamp is mounted high. People say I look like a scooter going down the rode.

This thing is bright! http://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/TL-LD1100/

http://www.pelicanproducts.us/p.Peli...Lite.2620.HTML
I love riding at night! Rode 11 miles last night. As I was riding, I thought I had seen a deer- turned out to be a guy walking wear no reflector and all black. I almost hit the fool.

I like that tail light. For now I ordered a bunch of cheap keychain lights that I'll velcro to my helmet. If those are too dim or the battery life is too short, I'll probably order that TL-LD1100.

I prefer a brighter light for a few reasons. I'm not familiar with the roads yet. There are occasional homeless and critters on my routes. High speed on declines.

Lastnight I worked up to a 14 mile ride and felt great. I'm hoping to do a 20 mile ride by the end of the week.

[BsickPassat]

www.mtbr.com

just about every year, they do a "light shootout"

[woodrowstar]

Woodrowstar has a shirt that looks good, although I'd prefer reflective tape on my forearms too.

Guess I should have told you that I wear reflective sleeves at night. I prefer short sleeve shirts over vest as I wear mine all day each time I ride. These: http://nathansports.com/our-products...ective-sleeves and this is the other lamp I use on the rear mounted high: http://nathansports.com/our-products...-safety-strobe

[leaftye]

I'm glad you told me about your class 3 shirt. I ended up with a Radian class 3 shirt.

http://www.amazon.com/Radians-ST21-3.../dp/B004C9JIBM



Sleeves are a good idea. I'm thinking about making my own. The site below has windproof fleece, but I'm thinking of using a windproof nylon for the windward side, and a stretchy fleece or polyester fabric for the other side to give it elasticity. It'll be easy enough to add reflective strips and extra insulation if I need it.

http://www.owfinc.com

[woodrowstar]

I'm not sure if you will have the same experiences as me, since everyone's body temp is different, the wind-proof fleece just left me wet underneath.

*thanks for the link.

[leaftye]

I've added some reflective strips. They're not attached directly to the bike. I used plastic shelf 'paper' directly on the bike, and the put the reflective tape over it. The shelf paper comes off easily without residue.

This is how it looks to my eye using a Fenix HP10 on the lowest mode (8 lumens) with a diffuser. I used the lowest mode to show that this lights up well even with minimal lighting. The tape on the bike lights up like a beacon when the diffuser on the headlamp isn't used, and even more so on higher settings...it should show up very well with the spill off of car headlights.

Red reflexite on the seat stays, but they point rearward.
Yellow reflexite or SOLAS on the sides.
Class 3 shirt described in previous post.



Visibility is increased quite a bit when I turn on my lights.

[woodrowstar]

Nice. Are you going to do something with your helmet too?

[leaftye]

I'm not sure if you will have the same experiences as me, since everyone's body temp is different, the wind-proof fleece just left me wet underneath.

*thanks for the link.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet, but I have some ideas. I know I need to cut the wind or I'll get really cold. While hiking I can stay warm in low 40°s with the same hiking clothes I wear in the summer unless the wind is really blowing, a lot like it would coming down a mountain.

If my butt can handle sitting on a bike all day, I want to do a 500 mile trip this December going past Mount San Jacinto and turning around at Big Bear Lake. (elevation in the links are in meters)

It'll be tough for me to test my apparel around here for the weather conditions on that ride, even if I ride at night.

[leaftye]

Nice. Are you going to do something with your helmet too?

I have some black reflective strips on it, but those are practically invisible compared to the reflective tape on the bike. I have a headlamp on it, and I have rearward facing lights in the mail. I don't know if the rear lights on the helmet will be all that effective, so I'll probably end up covering the rear of the helmet with red reflexite tape. There's only so much that can be done with a helmet though. A bunch of lights makes it really heavy. A bunch of tape won't work nearly as well if it's above the cutoff of headlights or if my head is too high for a driver to see when I'm alongside them.

[woodrowstar]

Your head is sometimes the first signal to drivers that you are there when going up or down hills. The headlamps will pick you up as you ascend or descend. I'm not a fan of the rearward lamp mounted on the head if I have a forward facing one already, because of weight.

[climbingcue]

This is the light I use on my bikes, it is super bright



http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-Bl.../dp/B003RZ94MU

[leaftye]

I have a rack on the way, which will allow me to take my pack off and expose the back of my reflective shirt.

I'm not liking how small my rear light is. It's very intense, and lights up my tire and the road, but I feel like the small size may cause it to go unnoticed. I'm not really sure how I'll address this. I might try some angled reflective tape above and below the light to capture some of the spill and create a bigger lighted area.

I've stopped using the Fenix AF02. It wobbles too much. The Dongrui headlamp battery pack has a loose connector, and movement of the plug can shut off the light. This would be really bad if I didn't have 2-3 other lights on too.

[TW@]

That is indeed a lot of lumens that you are packing there.

My setup is based on 24-hour mountain bike racing, and my last 24-hour race was in 2009. I ran a Light and Motion Stella 200 on my helmet and a Stella 100/120 on my bars. That was setup was fine for me on all the downhills upwards of 40 mph. My day/night lap differential was about 3 minutes.

The current crop of bike specific lights, even the commuter variety, start at 200 lumens.

On the road, unless I'm checking checking out remote, un-lit back-roads, I typically don't need anything more than my 100/120 combo on the bars only and a blinky tail-light.

Been riding on the road at night since '94 and besides the light setup, I just put reflective tape on the side of my bike, and wear shorts/jerseys/tights/gloves with reflective strips built-in; no accidents or mishaps (knock on wood).

[leaftye]

Most of my ride is unlit. I'm also concerned that since I'm a clyde, I'm more likely to cause damage when I hit a hard edge. I could also call it training weight since almost all of it will stay at home if I tour.

I'm installing a rack and fenders this evening, and I'm excited about how much more reflective tape I can put on the fenders. I'm even installing a bigger bottle cage, which allows a bigger bottle, and I already put reflective tape on my bottles. My bike is going to look like something out of Tron.

The tape on the bottle was actually to make it easier to find the bottle if it falls out, but I don't mind that it's visible while on the bike too.

[impact]

Consider a Cateye TL-LD570-R as a second rear light.

http://youtu.be/jZ45gMmekI8

http://youtu.be/ycXfFdHnsDY


It has an integrated reflector and "auto" mode (turns on and off automatically when it gets dark and the bike is moving).

[BsickPassat]

This is the light I use on my bikes, it is super bright



http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-Bl.../dp/B003RZ94MU

the Superflash turbo is supposed to be insanely bright

[VR6ix]

Serfas True 1500

I didn't pay anywhere close to retail ($230 vs $400); it's a damn good light! Similar to comparing an old halogen car light to a newer HID light. Longevity/battery is still to be tested but the shear light output is fantastic!

http://reviews.mtbr.com/serfas-true-...ights-shootout

[leaftye]

I taped a couple of these to my helmet and they've been working surprisingly well.


So far I have about 5-6 hours on the first pair. It's much brighter than I expected too. At less than 50 cents a pair, with low weight and very slim profile, I'm going to stick with these.




I'm not sure if it was the lights or all the reflective tape, but some guy was freaking out this morning and wanted to take a picture of my bike.

[leaftye]

^^ Those keychain lights are working very well. I finally replaced one after about 12 hours. The other one is getting replaced after another 16 hours. They look like they have many more hours of light in them, but I'd rather replace them with newer brighter lights.

The Superflash was a good idea, but being budget-minded, I got clones and mounted them to either side of the Magicshine tail light. They aren't nearly as bright, so I have them on blinky mode while the Magicshine is on solid mode.

I'm also getting cold enough that I'm going to need to start wearing a wind shirt, so I got a class 3 vest to wear over it.

I also ordered a big replacement battery for the Sky Ray S6. The S6 battery doesn't perform well, and I've been using the light sparingly. No more. I want to use the light all the time, even if it's on low. The Xeccon 6600 mah battery should last 2-3 times longer.

[Andy P]

I always wear black and have no lights

[leaftye]

I also ordered a big replacement battery for the Sky Ray S6. The S6 battery doesn't perform well, and I've been using the light sparingly. No more. I want to use the light all the time, even if it's on low. The Xeccon 6600 mah battery should last 2-3 times longer.

It's so nice to be able to ride with my brightest light on full tilt for a couple hours. I love being about to use enough light to see nails and screws on the asphalt, as well as having more than enough throw for my fastest speeds. And that's just with the one light on max. I always had that much light available, but I was previously trying to conserve battery life.