Well, got my first night ride in last night. Started at 6PM and by 7PM is was dark. No moon last night and most of the ride was in unlit rural areas or the MUP (Balt. & Annap. trail).
I ran two MTE P7 8-modes mounted with LockBlocks hanging below my handlebars about 6 inches apart. I had my usual PlanetBike Superflash on the rear. I had to stop a few miles in as I didn't have the LockBlocks tight enough and the angle was slipping a little when I hit bumps. After that adjustment the rest of the ride they were fine.
Results and observations:
I started off with the one light on the medium frequency strobe. I've never run a front light before but I figured riding around sunset it would help oncoming traffic pick me up better.
As it got darker or on the darker sections of the MUP (B&A trail) I transitioned to a single medium steady light. The darker it got or the worse the trail was with Autumn debris made me crank up the power.
Not much to report the rest of the ride except that I got a total of 42 miles in (about 30 miles were in the dark). I was probably adjusting the lights through the various modes more than I needed to but I was like a kid at Xmas with new toys. I was also trying to get the most out of the batteries because I didn't have any backups to the two P7s and my ride was about 1.5hrs in the dark.
Maybe my opinions will change after a few rides but here is what I found:
<10mph - 1 light medium freq. strobe
10-14mph - 1 light medium steady
14-16mph - 2 lights medium steady
16-18mph - 1 medium/1 high
18+mph - 2 lights high
Two P7s on high was lighting the road plenty even on 25-30mph descents on twisty roads through the woods. I'm happy with them so far and would recommend them to anyone. Both lights still operated on high when I got home but I didn't check the voltages to see how much was left in them.