Night riding?

[bumblebee]

I haven't done much riding lately. Between holiday activities and a really short day, it's been hard to fit in. Do you all just ride in the daytime or use lights to ride at night? I imagine riding at night would get pretty darn cold.
Any thoughts?

[Juha]

Up here it is the same as with weather: if you wait for ideal conditions to go for a ride, you will not ride much.

It is dark when I go to work, and it is dark when I return home. Riding in the dark (not necessarily "at night") is unavoidable, but with proper lights it's fun. It is not necessarily colder during dark hours.

--J

[bumblebee]

Up here it is the same as with weather: if you wait for ideal conditions to go for a ride, you will not ride much.

It is dark when I go to work, and it is dark when I return home. Riding in the dark (not necessarily "at night") is unavoidable, but with proper lights it's fun. It is not necessarily colder during dark hours.

--J

Thanks for your response. Any light recommendations?

[SS_MB-7]

I haven't done much riding lately. Between holiday activities and a really short day, it's been hard to fit in. Do you all just ride in the daytime or use lights to ride at night? I imagine riding at night would get pretty darn cold.
Any thoughts?

I love night riding! I've been night riding for nearly 10 yrs. It turns familiar, know-like-the-back-of-your-hand trails into new and new and exciting trails. Once the days become shorter, our weekly group ride turns into a weekly group night ride.

Night riding can be a bit spooky at first. It is amazing how many animals you see at night just sitting off to the sides of the trails. You only see 2 eyes reflecting back at you.

Like any other riding, make sure you are prepared for anything. I carry a small Petzl Tikka Plus 4-LED head-light in my jersey pocket, just in case. Flats, busted chains, etc. are typically easy fixes. However, when under the mask of darkness, it can make routine fixes more difficult...especially if your battery is dying. Along with a spare light, I always carry the essentials to get me out....spare tube, patch kit, tire levers, pump, chain breaker, spare links, multi-tool, etc.

Lighting recommendations will depend on where you are riding. That is, are you commuting to/from work on roads or are you MTB'ing on singletrack trails?

If you are the latter, I'd highly recommend a HID light. Yes, they are pricey compared to standard halogens lights, but they are so bright, have very long burntimes, and shortened chargetimes. Once you've ridden with HIDs, you'll never go back to halogens.

I've got about a year on my Lupine Edison (http://www.lupine.de) and it has been flawless. On low-setting (still much brighter than any halogen), I can get 8 hrs using a Li-Ion water bottle battery. FWIW, I do 24 hr solo MTB races, so having a bright, long-lasting, and quick-charging light that doesn't weigh much is a priority.

Your next consideration will be: bar-mounted or helmet-mounted, or both. Again, this will vary depending on your requirements. Some, but not all, lights can be interchanged between the bar and helmet, making them very versatile...my Lupine is interchangeable, but I use it as a helmet-light for 99% of my night riding.

Personally, I prefer a helmet light since it allows to see exactly were you are looking and is great for peeking around corners in tight singletrack. A bar-mounted light does not always point to were you are looking. But, a bar-mounted light is lower to the ground and casts larger shadows to create better trail definition. Helmet-mounted lights tend to wash-out the trail and you can loose depth perseption. Also, helmet-mounted lights are not the best in the rain, fog, dust, etc., because the light is essentially shining at eye level and will bounce-back off the dust, fog, rain particles...similar to using high-beams on your car in the fog.

Ride Hard,
Mike B.
http://www.one-speed.com

[Juha]

Mike B. pretty much nailed it. The amount of light you need depends on where you ride. You can search the Forum for threads on lights, these issues have been discussed every now and then.

In my case, I would not feel comfortable putting 300-400 euros or more in lights (Lupine is one of the best lights around and probably costs as much as my bike and biking gear combined) so I use a 5 watt halogen in combination with a bright LED in front and a red LED taillight. That setup gives me enough light to ride on streets, including sections with no ambient lights at all. If I rode singletrack, I would definitely get better halogen or a HID.

--J

[james Haury]

my night riding has been done on suburban streets so I use a front and rear flasher. The illumination of the streetlights is enough for me a solid beam headlight affects my night vision I am better off without it. James

[Mtn Mike]

Had a good night snow ride last night; Weather: 32F, with clear skies. check out the pic attached in my other thread.

[cyclezealot]

My day ride unexpectedly ran into a night ride last week.I luckily? had a light. A very weak light, however. A Cateye Opticube light. What maybe 5 w. I did ok...I really would feel much better with a stronger light... With a weak light objects unexpcetedly come up like grates. To ride at night, I would think cutting back on lights would cause me to feel far less secure.
Because I feared 'over riding' my light, I found me walking down steep grades . Better lights might have kept me on my bike.
Also, I was unprepared and was pretty darn cold..Ended up with a sore throat.

[naisme]

I too enjoy the thrills of riding at night, although on the trails around here it was possible to encounter a lot of wildlife. I ran over a racoon, and have bunny rabbits that like to dash in front of my wheel.

Had a small herd of deer that ran along side me while I rode a rails to trails, where there was still a railroad track next to the paved bike path, that was fun.

I ride with a Nightpro. I like it couse I can move it easily to other bikes if I decide to ride something different. I also carry a Cateye as a backup. Not to see, but to be seen. Doesn't seem to work during the day. I don't care how big you are or what you are wearing, sometimes folks in cars just don't see you.

Get a light, talk to folks that use them, like at the LBS, and see what you think, you can always upgrade.

[froze]

I also enjoy riding at night, but to be truthful with you, it's that time of the year when it's the only choice you have. I get off work at 6pm and it's been dark for an hour and that is the only time I have to ride.

I believe you should get the best light you can afford-but (talking road runners here) I don't believe you need the brightest light on the market if your running on surface streets or paved pitch dark bike paths. I use to commute on halgen Zefal 4AA battery job and it was bright enough (brighter than a 4 D mag light!) for lit city streets but I could over ride the light on pitch dark paths. I then bought a Cateye el300 led but even though it was brighter it had a small spot beam with no flood or scatter. So I traded it back in for a Cygo Metro with dual beams and a total of 13 watts. This light is a day and night difference between the others I had and is all the light I need. I cannot over ride it and it did not cost me a small fortune, only $49 (US). Only thing different about this light, which is why I like it, is that it runs on 5 D bats that last about 5 hours on flood and about 2 1/2 hours on both (flood and spot)-and I'm not tied to a wall, plus if the bats died on a ride I can go into any store and buy more. This thing is so bright that I usually only run on the flood, and on the pitch dark path I will use both for added safety.

By the way I get my D alky bats at Walmart in a 12 pack for only $8.

[bumblebee]

Thanks for the great feedback guys. I should have mentioned up front that I'm a road rider (too old for the trails). I'm psyched to go shopping and then, night riding.

[uciflylow]

I love riding at night. I have a Light and Motion solo logic, that does a great job out on the road, and allows me to see quite well. If you start riding at night you will find that you see things at night that you won't see in the day time. Here in Tennessee, I find night rides enjoyable because, fall, winter and spring the wind usually blows in the daytime, but goes quiet when the sun goes down. I also find I get more respect from drivers at night than in the day.