frymaster

okay, so some jackass boosted my handlebar-mounted light from right off my bike. yes, i did leave it unattended... but only for a scant minute. besides, is it reasonable to expect that some motor-bound doofus in a jeep yj is really going to be lusting so much for a bike light that s/he would deprive me of a valuable piece of safety equipment for nothing more than tiny thrill? should i go out and start a windshield wiper blade collection just to keep the karmic wheels turning? hrmph.

but i digress.

what i'm looking for now is a helmet mounted light. my old light did the job and all but, really, i was always secretly a little disappointed that my beautiful, stripped down machine had its graceful lines marred by a massive, blinking shoebox bolted on the front. my head has no such graceful lines -- so that's where i think my next light should go. what i am looking for is a light that....

a) fits onto the helmet in some manner
b) is easy to remove for daytime riding (i live waaaay north and it's summer, so there's a lot of daytime)
c) has a fastening mechanism that is also fairly easy to remove
d) accepts some sort of rechargeable power supply. my old light was a crank-up, but i'll accept something that can take rechargeable batteries

you guys know far more about lights that i, personally, think is conducive to a healthy social life... and now i would like to mine that wealth of knowledge.

suggestions?

flipped4bikes

Dinotte 200L. Light, compact, uses rechargeable AAs, very easy to mount/dismount. Very bright.

cooleric1234

I don't have personal experience with it buy my friend bought a Princeton Tec Corona Bike.

noteon 

I have no experience with helmet-mounted lights, but I've read that they can mess with your depth perception if you don't also have a handlebar-mounted light. FWIW...

Tabor

I have a head mounted NiteRider trail rat. I LOVE it. I have had the Trail Rat for over a decade, but I just got the head mount this year. It is AWESOME to have the light go where you are looking, all of the time!

EDIT- Next time my battery pack dies I will consider upgrading to the Mini USB Plus.

rnorris

I've taken a backpacking headlamp (one of the good LED ones) and zip tied its 3 straps to the helmet. Looks a bit dorky but works well, and can easily be removed if you want to use the headlamp on your head. The straps also give you a place to hang small blinky lights to face sideways or rearward. This idea works best for a be-seen light system, most backpacking-style headlamps aren't bright enough to illuminate the road.

daredevil

One of the Fenix 2 X AA. Attach with your choice of rubber bands. 180 lumens, beat that! That sucker can be deadly on the helmet.

Oh, and the best part, it's about as cost efficient as light comes.

JeffB502

+1 on Fenix. Click here for a video of how I attach/detach mine to/from my helmet with a Livestrong band and a rubber spacer. My method won't work for every helmet. A lockblock or bikeblock (available at fenix-store.com) would be another option for helmet mounting a Fenix light.

I agree with the earlier poster about depth perception with helmet light only. One night I tried helmet only, and hit a pothole I knew was coming since I pass it every night, but I could not see it with the helmet light only. I made sure to have at least one bar mounted light and one helmet mounted light after that. A bar mounted light will cast shadows on things like large holes/bottles in the roadway, but since a helmet light is pretty much in line with your eyes if it's the only light you have you won't see any of the shadows cast by obstructions. There are benefits and drawbacks for both helmet and bar mounted light. Having both gives you the benefits of both, and the drawbacks get cancelled out. Having 2 lights with some distance between them can help other road users better gauge your speed & distance.

Ankleweightman

One factor about helmet (Only) light. It irritates and confuses drivers. Best is to have a light on the handlebar. Or both?

jim6b

But it is as a strobe light that it reaches the 175 lumens, https://www.fenixlight.com/flashlight/fenixl2d.htm. Continuous is much less. The batteries do only last a few hours before needing replacement.

Great flashlight design.

djtrackie

Fenix L2D Q5. 180 lumens, 2.5 hours. 60 bucks. Seriously. What can beat that?

JeffB502

Incorrect. Turbo mode will give you a constant 180 lumens, and turbo strobe also runs at the 180 lumens.

Edit: And the light I was talking about isn't listed on the webpage you linked to. It can be seen here: Fenix Digital L2D Black Premium Q5

Cyclist0383

Jeff is correct.

Bekologist

the princeton tec bike helmet light is a 1W LED headlamp with velcro straps to attach it directly to the helmet. and inexpensive too but not rechargeable. (your own rechargeable AA's?) the Dinotte is 5 times the price and brighter but is rechargeable.

The new Niterider Minewt USB is going to be 100 bucks when it ships.

Jonahhobbes

never had any bother with irritating or confusing drivers with helmet lights. I reckon they appreciate it as the dip on approach.

Also see https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...35#post7077635

frymaster

okay, that's some info all right...

i followed those links and read up on some other review sites and am leaning, believe it or not, to the fenix solution. my rationale is:

a) it uses aa batteries, which are easy to recharge. i read up on the recharging of the niterider light and, man, that has to be the least convenient system i've heard of. that killed nightrider for me right there. besides, surplus aa's can be carried for backup. a surplus 9 hours of charging time can't.

b) it does not have an extra battery pack that you have to lug around like a rubik's cube of power. i did notice early on that all the stylish marketing photos of head lamps always had this wire leading from the light off the edge of the photo. hmm. to what, i wondered. to a wheelbarrow of batteries, apparently. yes, the fenix is bigger than the other lights, but it's all in one and doesn't have an extra battery box that connects by a breakable cable.

c) the livestrong mount system? simiple, elegant and appeals to my "ghetto sensibilities". it looks simple and leaves no mounting device on the helmet when the light's not on.

d) the fenix is a useful flashlight when not on the bike helmet.

nahh

I bought a Walmart (i know, gasp!) head lamp a while back for camping, with the intent of upgrading soon. i still haven't upgraded, and it's been through...camping, hiking, canoeing, caving, and other random outings. it's CHEAP($10-$15) and has lasted me. so, i'd look there before you fork out too much on one.

the specs of mine are...3 LEDs, high, low, and flashing settings, and it would fit on a helmet pretty well.

SlimAgainSoon

I've got two Fenix flashlights. Last winter, I put one on the bars, one on the helmet, held on with zip ties (aka plastic bailing wire!).

This winter, I'll probably put both on the helmet, one steady, one slow blink (the SOS blink - the fast blink can trigger seizures!).

daredevil

Yet another Fenix convert.

You won't be disappointed. For my mounting, I slipped the light through a small section of old inner tube to give it some tackiness on the helmet, then I just use a couple medium strength rubber bands. I've tried the Livestrong band but the rubber bands are much easier.

regulators

For all you guys using a Fenix flashlight:

Did you purchase a battery charger to go along with the light?

frymaster

okay, now i've been through the fenix site and looked at all their gear i have a few questions:

1. the PxD series... these require special batteries, no? this is a pain and an added expense. is it worth it at all to go this route?

2. the "bar mount" device... this thing... does anyone use it? is it easily removable? is it as massive and unweildly as it seems?

3. the gun imagery... i keep on running into gun stuff through bf. is there something i don't know about cycling?

crazybikerchick

I like the Planet Bike sport spot, it has several modes and attaches to your helmet with a velcro strap.
https://ecom1.planetbike.com/3028.html

I would still recommend a bike light too in case your head is turned. But this makes a good backup when you forget your bike light. And it is great for pointing your head at what you want to light up. Like pointing in psycho blink mode at the drivers eyes looking the other way from you about to pull out from a side street stop sign.

daredevil

I would go with their lock block as a holder for a bar mount. Its just a hunk of rubber to fit your bar with velcro, it works fine and is much cheaper.

Cyclist0383

Yes, you need to use rechargeable. I picked up a Maha C-9000 charger.