Mountain Biking - Night Riding: Is 360 Lumens enough?

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McGuillicuddy
06-14-09, 09:52 PM
I need to put together some lighting ASAP for a 24hour race I'm doing next weekend. I have a local Fenix dealer so I was planning on running 2 Fenix LD20 lights (180 lumens each in turbo mode over 2 hrs) - one on helmet, one on bars. I know the trails reasonably well and they will likely be fairly busy with riders. Will this lighting be enough? Any suggestions for alternatives in the same price range (and that I can get my hands on inside a week)?

sscyco
06-14-09, 09:55 PM
more than enough - I just did a 24 race with half that and had no problems.
McGuillicuddy
06-16-09, 10:11 PM
I am now inclined to agree with you :).

Got the lights the other day and the 360 lumens thrown out by 2 Fenix LD20 lights (1 on helmet, 1 on bars) is excellent for nighttime singletrack riding. I went for a ride tonight (10:30pm) at a local singletrack loop that I know quite well and was able to ride it at full speed with no problems. Scared some raccoons in the process . I think even on an unfamiliar trail you could ride at a very nice clip, if not full speed. The only point I would mention is that the bright spot in the beam is fairly narrow, so in the twisty areas where you're throwing the handlebars back and forth you might find the bar light isn't throwing a lot of light in the direction you're looking (but you still have the helmet light to work with).

Overall I am very happy with the results. For the CAD$130 grand total that I spent on this setup I can't see a bike-specific lighting setup giving you this level of performance.