Helmet headlight recommendations?
 

I'm thinking about buying a new headlight for my helmet now that my Planet Bike Blaze 2-watt is wearing out.

I run a Serfas 500-lumen light on my handlebars, which I find is pretty good base light for my commuting conditions. I use the helmet light to supplement that light and also to warn drivers who may pull out in front of me or left hook me.

The Blaze has worked ok for me, but I would like the new light to have a wider-angle beam without being too floody (the Blaze has a super-narrow beam, so almost anything would be an improvement) and substantially more output than the Blaze's reported 140-ish lumens. It would be nice to have 350 - 400 actual lumens in case my primary light runs out of batteries, but I would like the new light to have an intermediate setting of 200-250 lumens, because I think that's where I would want to run it most of the time. I also don't like the Blaze's flashing mode, as it really bugs me. A basic on-off flash is fine.

I would like the light to have an internal battery and not be particularly heavy. The Blaze is 135 g, including helmet mount. A little heavier than that would be fine.

The Light and Motion Urban series lights look nice, especially due to the side-mounted LEDs. Lezyne is attractive because their lights will take a standard Li replacement cell in case the original goes south. I'm also considering Serfas, since I like my current handlebar light and many of their lights do have replaceable batteries (though they are proprietary).

Any thoughts on these? I would really like to hear about your experience with the helmet mounts on your lights. Which ones have been the most secure and durable, etc?

Ok, so I saw a photo where someone mounted a small light with a separate battery pack, both on the helmet. That might work if the battery pack is small and light enough (the light itself is typically quite small with these, of course). A bonus is that these lights tend to be cheaper. Anyone have something they would recommend?

Runtime?

I run a Cygolite Expilion 250 on my helmet. It supplements the MagicShine on the bar. Works well.

I have the Blue one..Run Time 3 hours. Just change the battery for more hours.

$8.89 UltraFire WF-501B Philips Luxeon K2 Blue LED Flashlight - 1*18650 / 2*123A / 460-475nm at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

Dinotte 400L Plus?
400L PLUS Headlight ? DiNotte Lighting USA Online Store

I just don't use a headlamp any more. For road the shaped beam lights cover everything I need to see. I've heard people say a headlamp is useful for getting the attention of drivers at intersections by shining it at them, but I found it's drawbacks to be accidentally shining people in the face when I didn't mean to. So if I was going to go to the extra hassle, I'd get a front blinky light.

For mountain biking, today's lights are so powerful I just don't find a need for a helmet light. The bar light covers everything anyways. (Though I do bring a backup light when mountain biking).

Are you using this mount? Amazon.com : CygoLite Helmet Mount for ExpiliOn : Bike Lighting Parts And Accessories : Sports & Outdoors

Is there any up/down adjustment for the mount? Do you think it works well?

Nothing special needed. 2 - 3 hours at a medium setting (say around 250 lumens) so I only need to charge every couple of days. Nothing wrong with longer run time than that, of course....

I run a Niterider Lumina 700 on my helmet and another on the bars. Just enough light for the darkest rainiest night to overcome oncoming car headlights. Includes nice helmet mount.

Yes, that's the mount.

You have to cinch it down fairly tight with the velcro so that the light doesn't move around when you roll over holes, concrete joints, rocks etc.

Once I get it cinched down, I don't remove it for the remainder of the winter. I'll just remove the light for strictly daylight rides.

The actual mount for the light pivots up and down relative to the plastic base. There's a small screw on which the assembly pivots. I keep the screw reasonably tight once I get it where I want it. I set the angle so that during my under-the-lights rides, the the light from the Expilion hits the pavement at about the same spot that the light from the MagicShine hits the pavement. I can make small adjustments to the pivot angle without having to loosen or tighten the screw. There's enough friction to hold it in place.

I'm starting my third winter season with the Expilion and my fourth or fifth with the MagicShine (can't remember exactly). I don't commute. All my rides are recreational rides. Once we lose daylight savings time, my entire after-work ride is under the lights. Typically, I run the MagicShine on low or medium and the Expilion on medium when it's completely dark. Before total darkness, I run the Expilion and maybe the MagicShine in flash mode in order to be seen.

I'm becoming more conscious of blinding people with my lights, as I've encountered other cyclists with lights as strong as mine. I'm experimenting with covering the MagicShine with my hand briefly as approaching vehicles get close. If they haven't seen me at this point, they're beyond legally blind and shouldn't be driving. Also, I'll look down or to the side ever so slightly to get the beam from the Expilion out of their eyes to the extent that I can do so without compromising my own line of sight. Also, I wear a hi-viz safety vest with silver reflective bars front and back.

I would suggest that you get a safety/highly reflective vest for late evening/night rides. I had a local cop tell me that the vest REALLY sticks out when illuminated by headlights.

Thanks - great information on the Expilion. I agree with your concern on blinding people. I aim the light on my bars down a bit, and as I said, I don't plan to run the helmet light really bright. I do think it's ok to give a driver a flash if they're about to do something dangerous. There aren't many other cyclists on my route, so no worries about bothering them.

I have an urban commute, which will be in full darkness after the time change (although there are street lights). I typically run two headlights and two taillights, plus reflective vest, extra reflective tape on the helmet, reflective tape on the bike, reflective side walls. Sometimes reflective bands on my ankles and wrists (the latter so drivers can see my signals). I'm lit up like a Christmas tree. :)

ShiningBeam S-mini XM-L T6 LED Flashlight 400 Lumens is 1.6 oz (without battery). There are a number of inexpensive flashlights with this form factor. 1" barrel, 4" length. I use Flashlight Universal Bracket Mount Holder with Velcro - Free Shipping - DealExtreme to attach to helmet. It's quite secure and weighs in at 0.7 oz.

I use a simple Eveready 7 LED flashlight on my helmet as a "supplimentary "be seen" light. I purposely picked something around 120 lumens so I don't blind drivers. I use an elastic hair band through the helmet's vent holes to hold it, and a rubber washer around the front of the flashlight to raise the front to aim higher. It is perfect for seeing my cyclocomputer at night also since its modest light doesn't make my eyes re-adjust. Three AAA lithium batteries last me 25-30 hours.

I have a Vis 360+, I run headlight on low setting for runtime purposes..

Loved the headlight, but had doubts about effectiveness for being seen from behind or at angles, until I loaned it to my daughter for a ride.

It is standout amazingly well, in dusk to low light conditions as well as dark.

I'm sold on L&M's designs effectiveness.

I have a Light & Motion VIS 360+ too, and I LOVE this light. I usually use in on low mode at night, combined with a handlebar mounted light. It is almost as effective as my much brighter headlight. Has a flash mode too, which I only use on very foggy days.

In my mind the 360's rear light on the helmet is very useful, particularly when you are close to a large SUV that can't see you bike mounted blinky.

It is a very light package and weight distributed well front and back with the two parts., good battery life too.

Concur.
Good for hostile dogs too. Caught one as it was approaching aggressively. Flash works better for this...

I also play the light off of reflective surfaces when car approaches from behind around corners. I figure the on off reflected light should give them an idea that something with lights is around the corner.

The VIS 360+ looks really nice, but also really spendy for me....

The Shiningbeam S-mini is making a move to take over the lead, but plenty of analysis paralysis still to come.

Must...go...research...18650 cells.... :twitchy:

+ 1.

Hey a1penguin,

Question about 18650 cells with regard to this light. Some are button top, and some are flat top. Does it matter which kind to get for the S-mini? And is there any problem with fitting protected cells?

I have both an Ultrafire 501B and a Vis360 on my helmet, and the Vis 360 will outshine the Ultrafire when the battery gets low. The Ultrafire works well with a good battery (like a Panasonic) but it's more of a thrower than a flood light and doesn't have the runtime the Vis360 does. A Convoy C8 will probably replace the Ultrafire this year if that's the answer to the annual "you're so hard to shop for" I hear at Christmas time.

Budgetlightforums is the place for that. You'll find some familiar people over there too.

Thanks everyone. I ordered an s-mini, 2 orbtronic cells, and a nitecore charger last night. I'll figure out how to mount it when it shows up....

Spelunkers, Miner's helmets ? some integrate the light in the helmet..


Dont dazzle the eyes of oncoming drivers when you look their way, Please.

I buy protected cells. I have some that are button top, but recently, many cells are mostly flat top. Different brands of batteries have different lengths, but I have never had problems with any of the flashlights I own. Home | BudgetLightForum.com is a good place to learn about latest technology, which of the thousands of cheap flashlights are worth buying, how to mod flashlights. People there are pretty friendly.

Thanks. I found that forum and I think I saw some of your posts, if you have the same user name over there.

I have found that it was hard to identify which flashlights are worth buying. As you know, there are so many of them, often with similar names, and many are knockoffs of other lights. I ended up buying the s-mini because you and a couple other people recommended it for biking, it appears to be well-made, reportedly works well out of the box, and it's only available from a US supplier with a good reputation (Shining Beam). It would be fun to immerse myself in this whole thing, get into DIY lights and all that, but I've already done that in a few other areas & there are only so many hours in a day. (Other current and past obsessions include woodworking, antique hand and power tools, loudspeaker building, bikes/bike repair, and enough about computers to build a handful for my self and fix/upgrade others, plus some shorter-term things). Can't go there with lights.... :)