2manybikes

My guess is that the more miles in the dark you have under your belt the more powerful your lights are.
That includes headlights and taillights.

How many miles in the dark do you typically ride in a week?

How long have you been doing this?

What do use for lights? front, back ,side, helmet, anything, what you ride with now, not what you own..

Are you looking to upgrade?

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me....

60 miles or more when the ground is clean. Much less in the snow.

5 or 6 years at this rate, much less for 5 years before.

Lupine Edison 16watt HID. Performance flare white also on the front, mounted but usually not turned on.

Performance flare taillight, and Cateye TL-LD 1000 at the same time.

Considering investing in the new model Nightrider taillight. Undecided.

Jarery

180 miles a week (dark when i get to work, dark when i leave work.)
6 months
Planet bike Alias Light set on the low 8 watt setting in front
Cateye 1000 on back

Would love a Hid so i can actually see, but ..it costs more than my bike.

Gojohnnygo.

This what I ride with now.

Headlights: 3 Cygo Lite Rover NiMH Xtra ( 6Hr Runtime ) 16 watts dual beam. Two are mounted on the bars, as far apart as possible. The other is a helmet mount. I run just the 10-watt spot beam on all three.I’ve been running this Headlight set up for year and a half.

Taillights 2 Cateye TLD-1000 on seat post with 2 vista on the back pack.

How many dark miles per week 78 to 100 winter 78. In the summer up to 100.

How long for about 5 years.

I started out 5 years ago with some cheap bell light from Wal-Mart, I decide it was crap. I moved up to 1 Cygo Lite Rover Nicad 12 watt dual beam. I used that light for almost 3 and half years. So Yes I'm always looking upgrades.

I started out with a cheap bell taillight that came with bell headlight. I change to 3 Trek disco. They fell apart with in the first 8 months. I then upgraded to 3 Cateye TL-500.So Yes I'm always looking upgrades.

PaulH

Lumotec headlight with Shimano hub dynamo. Taillight is a B&M Toplight.

25 miles per week winter; occaisional use summer.

8 years

I started out with a RoadToad AA battery light and blinkie. Got a bike with built-in lighting with sydewall dynamo in 2001. Upgraded to hub dunamo in 2004.

I've been following the development of LED headlights. I might get one if it can produce as well-focussed a beam as my Lumotec halogen.

Paul

Paul L.

Occassionally ride in dark depending how early I get out in the morning. Do a couple of post midnight rides a year due to long brevet rides. I recently acquired a HID system from Batteryspace.com. Before that I used dual Cateye EL- 500s. My taillight is two ld-1000s

squeegy200

I do a Wednesday evening road ride once per week. Usually by myself.
30-40 miles

Light in Motion ARC Li-ion headlight
Cateye tailight

geeklpc1985

Miles: 30-40miles school year, 50-100miles Summer

Time: Almost 2 years


Upgrades:
Bike Front:
Planet Bike BRT-3F (Soon) So I don't have to use the LED on my HID at dusk. ~$13
More HID Power (When it comes out) In a year or so. ~$600

Trailer:
Planet Bike BRT-7 (Soon) ~$15
OR
(4x) NiteRider Taillights + (1x or 2x) NiteRider Battery (Maybe) This would cost $240 (taillights), $100-$200 for the battery (each). ~$340-$440

Super Geek

*Edit* Note: Car-free, street lights by my school sucks also by my house.

stapfam

Have just started (Last september) offroading at night. Problems are not enough Good light and it is completely different at speed. Riding every wednesday night for 3 hours- around 30 miles.

Big Lights are the way to go but Big lights with Lion batteries are expensive- Have a cheap 10watt/5watt rechargable unit that lasts for 2 hours at full power==3 hour rides??? Supplement this with 2 powerful cateye LEDs The EL500 and the EL300. They can be used for all of the ride and only use the 10/5w on the trickier bits. Tail is covered by 2 cheap LED's taht will cover us fot the bit of road to get to the hills (2? just in case one packs up or falls off) Then the Star of our riding-- Headlamps. I have a puny 1w spot headlamp that is marvellous. Can see where you point and the 1w is deceptive so must be down to the lens because this is good. Co-rider has a similar headlamp-1w but not as effective. Co-rider? We do it on an offroad Dale MT2000 Tandem. Saves me getting lost alone in the dark.

Walkafire

They call me "Dark Man" at work...

my Commute is 20 miles round trip.
I leave the house at 4:45am (Pitch Dark)
I leave from work at 7:20pm (Pitch Dark)
Course Summers allow me to ride home in the LIGHT!

Headlights = ViewPoint EVO Dual Headlight System (20w+10w)
(*note: bought an extra Charger for work, nice to have FULL power both ways)

Tail Lights:
Blackburn® Mars 3.0 Tail light on my Helmet Strap (Bell Metro)
Cateye TL-LD120 Tail light on the back of my Jannd Expediton Rack.
Vista Light on my seat post...not sure what model, tis older then dirt.

Not looking to change a thing! It is a great set-up for me. I can go as fast as I want with 30w of light out front!

2manybikes

How does the "Mars" light compare to the others? I have seen them, but only in bright daylight inside a shop.

chipcom 

The Mars 3's are on the panniers. Not the brightest things. The sides of the lenses are amber.

slvoid

Chip... this is ground control.. you are cleared for landing.

slvoid

Lemme guess Steve, bragging about your 16 watt HID again?

Roughly half my commuter miles are at night.
L&M 13 watt HID up front.
Cateye EL400 front blinker on the helmet.
Planet bike rear 3-LED blinker on helmet.
Niterider 19-LED tail light on the back.

chipcom 

I added another Vista on the saddlebag since that pic - but when it comes to front lights you are the king.

I guess I should respond to the OP:

This time of year 3/4 of my commute is in the dark...unless I stay late, then I never see daylight.
Been commuting in the dark for as long as I can remember. Used to tape flashlights to my handlebars and rear rack, using a red marker on the lens of the rear way back when I was young and poor.

Front: L&M Vega and Cateye EL500 on the swing grip and a Nashbar amber blinkie on the handlebar bag.
Rear: Vista or 4D Toplight on rack (depending on the bike), Cateye TLD1000 and Vista on the saddlebag, Mars 3 on each pannier.

Portis

I am an early morning rider, so this time of year that means some dark. I usually head out around 6:30 AM this time of year. That puts me in the dark for about 1 hour as of now. I really don't like it. I ride on backroads mainly and sometimes it can be a bit spooky.

By backroads, i mean unpaved gravel and dirt country roads. After about 20 minutes I am pretty far out of civilization and there are a lot of scary noises out in the dark. Also some of the roads have a lot of holes, ruts and such. It gets to be very taxing on the eyes after 45 minutes or so of concentrating intensly on the road ahead. I am always very happy to turn the lights off and greet the sun.

2manybikes

who ME ? ......... never happen.................

If we were all neighbors could you imagine what the Christmas lights would be like on our street ???


chipcom !!! Your landing gear is not down !! pull up !! PULL UP !!

2manybikes

Are you sure that's not a Harley or maybe a Goldwing?

TrekDen

Handlebars HL-EL300

Helmet HL-EL400

Rear Seatpost TL-LD120

I don't often ride in the dark, but this setup works decent enough for an all battery group.

Juha

In winter I ride about 30-50 kms per week in the dark. My winter bike has a B&M Dymotec sidewall dynamo, Lumotec headlight and a 3-led Smart in front as a backup. For tail light I use either a Basta Rugby or a Vistalite (I forget the model). The Rugby is small and handy, whereas the Vistalite is more powerful and relatively bulky.

My next upgrade will most probably be a Shimano hyb dynamo.

--J

Walkafire

The Mars light is by far brighter then the rest of the Tail Lights I own... if the others die, which would take an act of God, I would buy another Mars.