Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Light systems

After being forced to technical out a night lap due to my (borrowed) lights failing as a result of bad weather, I'm in the market for a light system to call my own. As far as I can tell the lights I was using failed as a result of water in the connectors, I was running a NiteRider system which had 2 connectors in the cable between the helmet mounted light and the battery pack in my jersey pocket.

I need a system that is good enough for technical mountain biking that can stand up to a bit of rain or other adverse weather conditions, though extreme cold/winter are out of the question.

Anyone have any recommendations? I'm not quite sure what my budget's going to be for this venture yet...

I would recommend you at least look at some Fenix lights. It's some of the most cost efficient light on the market that I'm aware of.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I guess I should've mentioned I want something that comes with a helmet mount.

The only thing I see for Fenix is an adapter to mount on handle bars, which doesn't do too much good in tight trails unfortunately :(

There is a two fish mount that will fit on a helmet. I use one on my helmet. Here it is... https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=92&products_id=274

Thanks for the suggestion, but I guess I should've mentioned I want something that comes with a helmet mount.

The only thing I see for Fenix is an adapter to mount on handle bars, which doesn't do too much good in tight trails unfortunately :(

A couple of rubber bands easily attaches one to the helmet. It's what many of us do. Takes less than 30 seconds. I did slide the light through an old section of tubing for a bit of tackiness but it isn't totally necessary. Great light for the money. In fact, they're cheap enough to run one on the bike and the helmet. I love my set up.

http://www.mechbgon.com/L2DQ5_2.jpg

^ large O-rings holding Fenix at each end. On Turbo, expect about 2 hours on a set of broken-in NiMH AA cells. For its weight, it makes a pretty good helmet light. If I could do it again, I'd opt for the smooth reflector for slightly more throw, or consider an Oilight T25, a similar high-quality 2AA light with a larger reflector = more throw (but a little less runtime).

On the bars, I like the DiNotte 600L, and it comes stock with two battery packs and a pretty fast charger.

Dude, check the sticky'd thread above and build your own lighting system! I'm really pleased with mine and think it's a far better bang for the buck.

Fenix lights are very easy to mount to a helmet. I used a large O-ring and a synthetic cork to adjust the angle.

Fenix is also coming out with a new light that produces 225 Lumens for 2.7 hours. It uses a 18650 Li-ion battery. https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?products_id=497

I'd also have a look at Gearreview:

http://gearreview.com/LEDs08_intro.php

The Zebra lights that the fenix store has also look pretty nice. Thinking about ordering one....

How much run time do you need without changing batteries?