Mountain Biking - Light recommendation

I am thinking of buying a light this fall to extend my single track hours. I know HIDs are all the rage, but $350+ gives me pause. Any suggestions or thoughts on a sub-$200 light system? Or should I shell out the big bucks and go with the HID. I am probably someone that will use them to extend rides, I doubt I'll be going out at 10 PM, and I don't do 24 hour races. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not the smartest about lights, But I did some web searching. Hope this helps.

http://www.mtbr.com/spotlight/lightshootout/

I ended up buying an HID. I got the NiteRider Storm. Ended up buying it on ebay for $275 last year about this time. If you do some searching, you could get one for about $225.

L8R

CygoLite seems to offer a lot of value for the money:

http://www.cygolite.com/light/main/1products.htm

Also, check the "Total geekiness" thread for LOTS of ideas:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=42629

I have the cygolite night rover nicad extra. It works great and will run for 1.5 hrs with both lamps lit. I can go for nearly six with only the 6 Watt lit. I paid $69 on ebay. One thing i might tell you is that a light like mine is fine as long as you ride somewhere the road is wide. I wouldnn't want to take these lights on some single track with a lot of obstacles.

On the open road they are fine. In town around street lights i can get by with one lamp. That is nice as it provides over 6 hrs of run time.

I think that Nightrider is the only way to go, personally. I have sold a lot of them, used quite a few models, and always had good success and durability with them. Even if you don't get the Blowtorch HID model, the halogen models have still been more than bright enough for all my nightriding needs.

HID is worth the money. I like the Light and Motion Arc HID. You could get it from performance with a 20% off coupon for $279

I too was just looking at lights. It's starting to get dark earlier :(...

I talked to the guys at my lbs and they carried both Nightrider and Turbocat lights. After talking to the guys there I ended up going with the Turbocat Nightrider. I used it last night and I must say that it is great (and pretty cheep - $115)! I chose it because of a few reasons. #1 was that you could change the bulbs from floodlight to spotlight and with different wattages (5,10 or 15 watts). #2 was that it used a pretty standard battery connection and I nkow of a few guys that have taken battery packs from other utilities and use them with their lights.

I rode with a guy yesterday that has a $350 HID light and I must say that it was bright, but almost obnoxiously so, you could hardly look in the general direction of the guy. It was definately bright enough for just about anyone I'd say though.

Just my .02 about which light, the Turbocat is a great deal which can lead to more options than some other brands and it's definately bright enough for me, and it saved me a lot of money.

Yeah, my HID is obnoxiously bright. When we stop and gather at a trail head or fork, I put my hand over my light while I'm talking to someone.

But on the trail, I see EVERYTHING.

Sometimes too much.

On my first ride with it, I kept seeing these little dots reflecting back at me. Upon closer inspection, I realized they were the eyes of WOLF spiders reflecting. These spiders were EVERYWHERE. I mean like one every 5 or 10 feet.

YIKES!

L8R

I rode a season with (http://www.jetlites.com/) JET Starfire dual beam. They're a bar mounted, dual halogen beam system, NiMH battery with 5 way switch that provides 6W, 9W, 12W 20W and 32W of light. I do both fire road and singletrack and they're fine. You can easily get a few hours out of a charge. They cost about $250.

I've seen HID helmet mounts for $270 (Nightrider Storm) at www.pricepoint.com. In general, HIDs are more efficient than halogens. I've read claims of 10W HID = 40W halogen. HIDs are obnoxiously bright to oncoming riders, but ideal for the rider behind the light.

One company makes a dual beam light, one HID and one halogen bulb.

Also, consider the pros and cons of bar and helmet mounted lights.

Night riding is a real blast. Old trails become new again. Plus the imagination runs wild out there!

I absolutly love the blowtourch HID system. It actually is too bright for most street use which can be a problem at times (blinding pedestrians comes to mind). It is a great light for trail riding too, I could not recomend it more.

If you are deal hunting, by far the best deal going:

http://www.bicyclelights.com/index.html

14.4v/4000mah NiMH, 5/15w dual beam, aluminum housing, up to 6hrs runtime, $80

Kind of home made, but well done and I always like supporting someone who is trying to better a product, especially at such a reasonable price. Whats cool is being a small company he will customize your light at no extra cost with special wiring, or different bulbs, whatever. Includes extra bulbs at that price too.