Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - How fast can I ride with the fenix 180lum x2?

any thoughts?

any thoughts?

Not very. It's been a while since I've ridden with that little illumination :innocent: but that's about equivalent to 2 10W halogens. It takes a lot of effort to see anything over about 15 mph. That may seem pretty fast but on even a little downhill it's easy to get over that speed. For cruising on the flats, they'd be adequate but watch out on the downhills.

This is about 180 lm

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r181/cyccommute/IMGP1111.jpg

Go look around at some of my recent posts here to see what I usually ride with:D

It also depends how much street lighting you have on your route.. 360 lumens by todays standards is pretty average.. Most high end systems put out around 500-600 lumens..

Adding a helmet light to your setup can be done easily and helps because you direct the lighting..

I ride with 500lm and start to get nervous around 55kph... but my light has a much better beam pattern than the fenix.
Depends on you, the light and the road(Wet? Straight? Smooth?).

The accepted formula is .5 mph per lumen. With 360 lumens (.5 x 360), you should be able to do 180 mph before reaching the I'm-starting-to-get-worried zone.

Or am I thinking of reimbursable mileage charges for out-of-town travel?

Go look around at some of my recent posts here to see what I usually ride with:D
Careful, this guys standards are pretty high. If I looked directly at him at night I'd lose my night vision for about a year.:thumb:

Careful, this guys standards are pretty high. If I looked directly at him at night I'd lose my night vision for about a year.:thumb:

I loose it for day just by looking at the monitor!:eek:

Speed depends on a lot of factors. Wet roads don't reflect much light, so you would need to slow down. You can see a long way on a completely dark country road, so you can go fast.

Putting one flashlight on your helmet would help a lot, so you can light up curves or turns, and see off the side of the road. The Fenix beam is pretty narrow, so it projects a long way, but has more limited coverage.

I have a Dinotte 200L on the bars (this has a wider beam with less projection) and a Fenix on the helmet. I don't like going much over 25 mph on downhills, although I've been up to 30mph with it. For typical conditions, with some streetlights and car headlights, it probably is good for 20-22 mph.

Careful, this guys standards are pretty high. If I looked directly at him at night I'd lose my night vision for about a year.:thumb:

Yea but 60mph downhills in the dark are soooooooooo much fun;)

Yea but 60mph downhills in the dark are soooooooooo much fun;)

Amen brother. Amen. :twitchy::love::love::love::thumb:

Amen brother. Amen. :twitchy::love::love::love::thumb:


When I am really hauling butt down this one steep long hill at night there is something about the way the high speed and the lights make everything feel almost slowed down and surreal. You think maybe I opened a wormhole or something lol?

***I ride with 500lm and start to get nervous around 55kph... ***

Wow, that's like 35 mph American. Then Cycco says he hits 60! I just can't get there, having no hills, much less Rocky Mountains, within a 500 mile radius. But I have 600 Lumens, and it's enough for me to putt around at 15 mph(24 kph in France).

360 lumens would not satisfy me. I would say 4 lights at 180 lumens each would be 'enough', if you can ever really have enough light. Don't forget the big tail light, and the blinkies.

The problem is where does the light go?

Here I'm happily zooming down the hill with both lanes lit up...
http://idisk.mac.com/timonz/Public//saddlerd1b.jpg

But just before that... here I can see where Im going(into the fence and over the cliff ) but not so well around the corner.
http://idisk.mac.com/timonz/Public//saddlerd2.jpg

Actually the camera doesn't do it justice, can see quite a bit better than that but you get the idea.
I have to slow down a bit on twisty roads that are unfamiliar(I have 250lm on the helmet which helps).
Flashlights are much worse, they have a good hotspot but its hard to see much outside it, the "spill" is quite limited.

Next light will be 300lm narrow beam which will be fine for most riding and 1100lm wide for descents, where every bit helps.

znomit, are there supposed to be pics in your post I don't see any? Sounds like you simply need a more powerful helmet light. Especially if your next bar light will be 1100lm then 300lm on the helmet will probably not be enough. Go for 600lm on the helmet instead and you will be able to see better on the corners. I do like a more powerful light on the bars, but not too much overpowering. My current helmet light is about 60% brightness of my bar light and it works out nicely.

The pics are showing now.:)