Might need headlight, recommendations.
 

Buying local would be nice, easier to return if fails/don't like/doesn't suite me afterall. e.g. REI.

I've got front/rear blinkies, hate having it on my front bar, it's rarely there. And doesn't really give me the visibility to see road hazards.

http://www.rei.com/search?cat=4500120&cat=4500819&hist=cat%2C4500120%3ABike+Lights^cat%2C4500819%3ARechargeable+Light+S ystems

Light & Motion Vis 360 Front and Rear Helmet Bike Light System
Looks like it might provide good visibility, and non obtrusive.

CygoLite MityCross 320
Looks good, rated way brighter, supports helmet mounting.

How many lumens is really necessary?
Pros/Cons of helmet mounting?

Magicshine P7. I'm sure ten other people will recommend it. You get something like 600 lumens (on the highest setting) for around $100.

I'm not sure if you can mount it on your helmet though. I'm sure there's ways you could do it using zip ties.

How many lumens depends on what you need. If you live in the city, you probably don't need 500 lumens because you would only need lights to be seen instead of lights to see the road.

Pros of helmet mounting
- aim light where you want it
- less vibration
- you don't have to worry about your light being stolen when your bike is locked up
Cons
- extra weight on helmet
- dealing with cables
- it'd be easier to damage your light if you land on your head

The light's beam (spot/flood/halo) also makes a difference, but it also depends on how fast you plan on riding. Mine goes up to about 225 and that makes me comfortable up to about 30 mph in almost complete darkness. I use my bright light on my handlebar, and wear a dimmer spot (Princeton Tec Eos) on my helmet to look at things to my sides or to get the attention of drivers.

ok i am checking your links now

http://i54.tinypic.com/2q2rf9j.jpg

helmet mounting provides the best visibility.

i think for something like a headlight, buying from REI would be a huge plus, their no hassle return policy is second to none. if you dont need gobs of light, any of the L&M lights are great.

I use a CygoLite Rover II that has 255 lumens in the high setting which is almost too much light. I run it in the medium setting which is still probably well over 200 lumens, but gives significantly more battery time. This is the exact model I have. The good is that this particular model has a rapid charger (about 2 hours). The bad is that the battery is packaged to fit in a water bottle cage. My preference would be to have a battery pack that is simply strapped to the frame, or better yet, to have an all-in-one unit. I think there are some of those that actually charge on a USB connection so you can charge it on any computer.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...uL._AA300_.jpg

I've been commuting with it for about a year, no complaints. I recently got a wheelset that has a front hub dynamo, so I'm in the process of upgrading to a dynamo light set, but not because of any problems with the CygoLite (other than the hassle of recharging).

eff that waterbottle cage battery thing, my commuter only has one bottle cage, and that gets....a bottle.

i'm heavily looking into this model from REI, its a claimed 180 lumens, just over $100, and USB rechargeable. best part is that it's self contained, no external battery pack.

http://www.rei.com/pix/common/pixel.gif

http://www.rei.com/pix/common/pixel.gif

I just thought of another thing to consider: battery life. One thing I love about mine is that it runs off an 18650 battery, which is commonly available and light, so I can carry multiple batteries with me. Full power lasts about 1.5 hours, and over 4 hours on medium, which is plenty for my commute.

Get the Nightrider MiNewt 200. For about $140, you get 200 lumens of good light.
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...0.aspx?sc=FRGL

You can also get the 400 lumens version for a bit more $.

Didn't we just have this discussion a week ago ?

How is that better than Magicshine for $80 and 900 lumens ? (Even if it's not really 900)

geomangear.com

Look at the magicshine 900 lumen light there. Best $90 light on the market IMHO.

I have a MiNewt set sitting on the shelf. I can't recommend them because of their relatively low light output and poor battery life, especially in the cold. I was having trouble getting even 45 minutes of runtime out of them on their highest setting, which is the only one I find particularly useful.

Yes we did. It's that time of year.

He said he preferred to buy local. I agree with the Cygolite recommendation. I'm a believer in redundancy and erring on the side of too much light, so here's my dual CygoLite setup. You can get the lights for a good price at Performance Bike (especially when they are on sale and have a coupon to layer on top). I've had them for two years now -- great runtime and excellent light output.

Attachment 175352

Buying local is nice, but I would put value over convenience to get the performance of the magic shine for $90. And Geoman stands behind their products. Go to the electronics fourm here or to candlepowerforums, etc. to check the light out.

Helmet mounting is nice as it allows you to look into corners, direct the beam where you need it, but it has it's draw backs. The higer you mount the light, the shorter the shadow that is thrown by objects in your riding path, like rocks or debris in the street. Bar mounting gets the light lower and makes objects throw a longer shadow. Also, on some lights, like the magicshine, they on off switch is on the light body, making it harder to change modes if the light is on your helmet. Bar mounting makes it easy to change modes, reaim the light etc.

Also, you have to put the light on and off your helmet if you do not want it on there for day light rides. Not too bad with the magicshine if you leave the mount on the helmet and just remove the light head.

I would say get a high powered light for your bars and a lower powered LED flashlight for your helmet and mount it with a two fish lock block.

Just my opinion, which is free, so take it for what it is worth.

BTW, over the years I have had Cateye bar mount 2 x c cell lights, a Marwi Night Pro Torch 15W halogen bar mount with a water bottle battery, an SSC P7 flashlight on the bars with a lock block and a Magicshine 900.

Right now, i will usually mount the P7 on the bars and the magicshine on the helmet and get well over 1000 lumens from the pair with a total cost of around $150 if bought new. I bought both of my current lights used for well under list price from bikeforums members.

I just got a Ninewt 250 cordless from REI for $96.69 delivered to the nearest REI store (where they were trying to get $129).
It is great. Lots of light at night, an attention getting strobe for day trips, and quick charging.

Wow good discussion!

I do live in the city, if/when I do night riding it will likely be within metro/city area. Yea... there are streetlights, but not everywhere, and lots of rough roads.
I avg 17ish on a lot of my rides, get up into the low 20's on the flats, try and keep it under 30 on downhills while in the city. So that's a good reference, thanks =)
Thx =)
I've got two cages, evening rides are of the shorter variety, usually only tote one bottle on these anyway. A bottle cage battery wouldn't particularly bother me.
Thx!
I buy some things online, completely understand value of that, but something like this that I'm personally unsure of... I prefer to have a no hassle return.

After all this, leaning toward Cygolite 400 to start with.
http://www.rei.com/product/808635
Can get for $192+tax from performance.
Based on responses, sounds like it's got plenty of lumens... saves me money from going all out on their TridenX 600. =)
Can mount to helmet or bars so I can experiment.
Looks like kit comes with extension cable for battery, so could put battery in jersey pocket? would help with weight on head...but would cable anchoring helmet to jersey pocket be annoying... run inside jersey, out bottom and up into pocket, run cable through rear vent hold so it's sure to stay back there and not flop to face/or tape... trying to visualize setup.

If I like it on Bars, maybe it stays there, and I like the look of this LM Vis 360, down the road with the red blinky on rear of helmet as well *shrug*
http://www.rei.com/product/808602

ms900. not local, but stupid bright and they've made some improvements to the battery. It's also <$100

Dinotte.

Seriously. Dont wast time with anything else. You get the brightest tail light ever, and can get up to 1200 lumen headlight last time I checked. Tail light is so bright, its trouble for group rides. Plus the connectors are great, no troubles there. And they are all the same. That means all your pieces are interchangeable with all your batteries. Yes, they have helmet lights. And they don't **** you to replace a battery, or get extra chargers. And you will want extra chargers, since you will be so thrilled you will have headlight, tail light, and helmet light and want to keep them all ready to go. Great package deals on the internet fairly regularly, lets say you get a 800 lumen headlight, 400 helmet, and 300 lumen rear - yuo can get all that for around $600 on sale. Why go 800 lumens up front? Because its there when you need it, and the battery lasts twice as long when you don't. I wasted a bunch of money on niterider products before finding Dinotte.

FYI GeoManGear has suspended sales of MagicShine due to battery quality issues.

http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?...dex&cPath=4_41

This is why I'm leery of prices that are so low that no one can touch them -- there are always tradeoffs being made to get that rock bottom cost. I hope they get it sorted out.

In the meantime you can get MagicShine MJ-808s from DealExtreme: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44459

The battery pack is different from the GeoManGear one. It's got a nice case with what looks like a good strap (rather than the nylon bag that the GeoManGear and older DealExtreme versions had) and a battery voltage display.

GeoMan ships faster and has better service, and supposedly tested each light before shipping. But a light this bright for $77 is hard to beat.

But the light alone is still worth the coast and a 30 second google search will find you loads of sources for reliable replacement batteries at under $40. I just got mine in last night and that puppy is really bright. Of course my old light is an old Cateye 2 C cell halogen light that can't even compare to the magicshine.

I just ordered this new version of the Magic Shine from the same web site....$20 more expensive

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.44676

..hopefully battery issues cleared up...wanted to order from GeoManGear, but they still have not OK'd the new battery

How do you know the batteries are reliable?

so if/when my battery craps out........what do I do?

I use the Cygolite ExpiliOn 250 mounted on my bars. It gives off plenty of light, but then again I don't ride fast at night. I like it because the battery is contained in the light (no cables).

http://www.cygolite.com/products/new...pilion250.html