Hondo Gravel

Niterider 500-1000 or whatever the best bike light on the market. Been that way for over a decade no BS this is the best light you can own for your bike. I take it hiking, camping, cruising to concerts in urban areas. Very reliable worth every penny of that 100 bucks. Yes whatever until you are in the dark and need a light that will glow over 3 overs or more.

Hondo Gravel

genec

I have a much older Niterider... And frankly I think it is quite good. Mine is old halogen, the new ones are likely LED. NR has been making great bike lights for quite some time.

Zinger

The sun is the best bike light on the market so long as you're home by dusk. Most of the drunks are out after that and your's is just another of the bright city lights to a drunk driver.

Seattle Forrest

I love my radar tail light.

I don't have a headlight I love. Have some good hiking flashlights for overnights.

coffeesnob

Lately around here it seems drunks are in vehicles at all times day or night

GhostRider62

Mine is better than yours.

Juan Foote

I agree. I have two NR lights that I have owned over a decade, and they still work as expected.

Zinger

They are at that. The later the drunker and the darker road though.

Everybody that I've known of that was killed on a bike was at night. Maybe not everybody but the ones that I've heard about.

RubeRad

Why is this in Foo?

I've posted probably on a dozen other threads, what you really want is, just go to amazon and search Cree XML-T6. Get something with a zoomable head that takes one 18650 battery. Preferably something that comes with 1 battery and 1 charger. Then throw that battery away, spend like $15-20 on two GOOD batteries, and use interlocking hose clamps to hold that light on your bars forever.

Hondo Gravel

So now l know what those black helicopters following me to the grocery then hovering over my house was all about! FOO Helicopters I went astray the spirit of FOO. . Living near AFBs I have seen some crazy night fighter jet flights especially on clear nights. I believe we have air superiority. Anyways having a light that will use a battery is good backup. I have a headlamp in my frame bag in case of night repairs in the middle of nowhere. I ride with a bike shop lol. Fix many womenfolk bikes and only got maced twice lol. Seriously have helped out many unprepared cyclists with mechanical issues.

RubeRad

I was once doing an organized/competitive MTB ride (ok I guess it was a 'race'). Going up this huge hill, I passed (extremely slowly) this other guy with a floor pump strapped to a backpack. I told him "I hope you get a flat, just to make it worth your while to haul that thing around!"

Hondo Gravel

Not that extreme I have two mini pumps in case one breaks lol. Sometimes CO2 charges. But a floor pump that is too overkill.

Seattle Forrest

This is the one I use.

https://www.rei.com/product/171387/f...ble-flashlight

Not on the bike, this is for night hiking.

RubeRad

That's kinda nice that the light itself is also the charger (no need to take the 18650 battery out to charge it), and also it looks like the battery would be easily replaceable.

Still, at $99... would you want to risk $10 on a spare light, see what you think of what it can do using that same battery?

I trust that a product from REI that claims 1600 lumens, will have some substance behind that claim. Those cheap lights from amazon claiming 1800 lumens, 2500 lumens, 3000 lumens, I am extremely skeptical of. BUT my light is really damn bright. I am very comfortable riding at night, rolling downhill up to 25mph.

If you try out one of those cheapies, I'd be very interested to see how you feel it stacks up.

Zinger

Pretty good looking selection of 18650s there. LG or Sanyo 3500mAh for $8 to $9 apiece are competitively priced with my no-name Amazon 3800mAh batteries and might be more accurately rated or just better quality. I'd invest $12 in a better smarter dual charger than the singles that come with the package deal though. I had to do that for my 14500s to connect and charge..

A 14500 inside a piece of PVC tubing can replace those 3 AAA cartridges. They look like AAs but the 14500s are 3.7 volt and the AAs are 1.2 volts . . . so don't try to replace a single AA with one.

mtnbud

Maybe a DIY water cooled headlamp:

Seattle Forrest

​​​​​​After a long night hike a few years ago I went overboard and have several very bright, very long lasting ones. I just gave a 600 lumen bike light away. So no need for a spare. But:

I bought a pair of lights that look identical to the ones you posted for a friend. They work well, very well for the price. All anybody needs for at home use.

What I like about the $100 one, besides having confidence, is it'll do 1,600 lumens for 3 hours on a charge, 800 for 6 hours, or 350 for an entire night. The last time I used it was in the fall to hike ~5 miles back to my car from Rainier after watching sunset and the stars come out. The temp dropped from mid 70s to high 20s. My glove liners weren't cutting it and full brightness puts out a lot of warmth! 🙂



∆ Got back to the car around 6 am.

Seattle Forrest

Maybe I just have expensive taste.

RubeRad

I've had good luck with the el cheapo single-18650 charger that originally came bundled with my first cree flashlight. At 2400mwh, I'm only recharging my headlight battery like once every 5-10 rides, and that only in the winter months. I might be trashing my good batteries, but it's taking years.

Zinger

Well I don't ride at night. Hell I don't even drive much at night anymore if i can avoid it.

I have a headband headlamp, flashlights in my vehicle, rollaway and on my desk, another folding portable worklight.and remote control for a USB Video player. I added up what I spend on batteries and went rechargeable. Only reason I got a $12 smart charger is my 14500s wouldn't seat or charge in the Li-ion charger that came with a flashlight that I'd given away already. Those are also lacking evidence of their capacity rating. I got another for AA & AAA charging because I use those in an engraver, a remote and the worklight.

I believe I'll do some business with your battery vendor so thanks for sharing the reference

genec

But what if it had a built in pressure gauge...

Hondo Gravel

One of the mini pumps has a gauge lol. Topeka Road Morph G. Sets in the frame bag good pump. Doesn’t kill your arms.

Seattle Forrest

You guys still get flats?

Hondo Gravel

Been about 2,000 miles flat free. Flats seems to happen a lot at once for some reason. Sometimes two in a week. When the tires get worn down more punctures happen. Too many bikes to set up tubeless and I don’t have the pump. One day I may become tubeless.