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night MTB rides - lights
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
i notice there are often night rides posted on this website.
i dont think my skills are up for that just yet . But i like the idea. More convenient for me.
What kind of lights are commonly used. Im on a budget, so suggestions at the cheaper end would be greatly appreciated. and approx prices.
thanks for any advice.
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just noticed the similar post by ahein.
i will keep track of that post but any further comments would be great.
Also, where do u typically h
ave the lights. Bar mounted or on the helmet?
Bar *and* helmet is preferred
Helmet if you just have the one.
Go onto eBay and check out Cree bike lights, under $40 bucks for a 1200 lumen light and that includes delivery, I've used them for over a year and my mates are all riding with them now. One for the head another on the bars and you'll be set.
Now that's the sort of price I wanted to hear.
Prior to your post I was looking at the Cree headlamps on eBay and wondering if they were any good.
Might try one and see.
Thanks.
Bear in mind CREE is just a type of led bulb, not the brand of light. A lot of chinese ebay sellers will claim CREE but it's often not the case. I'm a great fan of budget lights, I've been using a set of 900 lumen and 1200 lumen magiclight knockoffs from Cell Bikes that cost $200 for both. Still going strong after 3 years and plenty of power for 24 hr races etc
I didn't know that about the Cree bulb, still the mate that recommended them to me has had his for 3 years and they are still going strong, I've had no issues and no one I know who has used them has had an issue, famous last words perhaps.
Yeah. I did know Cree wAs not a brand. But always suspect about Chinese stuff on eBay. Been burned before. Still might give 1 a go. Then buy a second if its good.
If anyone knows an exact brand of Cree, please let me know. Would rather go with something someone has already used.
Thanks.
I was in Kathmandu today and they are knocking out some helmet lights (450 lumens) with charger, helmet only mount for $70 down from $259.
See http://www.kathmandu.com.au/viewcatalogue/?catal...
At that price be good if you need a spare or additional helmet
Have not used them, but good price
I use three sets of Ayups, one flood and one spot central on the bars, and one spot on the helmet. For what riding I do this is adequate. i would probably change the flood to a medium wide light in future. Though if you going for more than three hours then batteries lasting becomes a problem. The battery for the helmet light I put in a Camelbak back pack to reduce weight on the helmet.
Magicshine is a reluable brand of chinese cree light. A few mates had them on the weekend at the Mont and they seemed happy with performance. Theres a new small dual emittrr unit that has a black moulded casing and colour coded LED "fuelgauge"built into the on/off buttons that looked pretty good
Thought I'd add that today I read that Nite Lights are rebadged Magicshine lights. Not sure how true this is though. Seems like numerous people use them without issues. My mates and I have been using the 1000 lumen Nite Lights for a few years and they are very good. That makes me think its worthwhile trying out the Magicshine lights.
You read correctly. The difference (apparently) is the charging hardware is AS certified. Whether that means any more than having the mains plug swapped for an AU type I have no idea.
The main difference between most of these cheaper lights is the battery packs them selves. I've got friends who bought the Australian Nite Lights and they never had a problem, Then I went out and bought cheaper EBay ones and the batteries failed with a year.
So over the last 3yrs I've bought a couple of sets of these lights and while they are good bright light, the batteries just don't cut the mustard when it comes to run time.
So I've bitten the bullet and bought the Ay-up Lights and never looked back.
These Lights are better built, alot lighter, just as Bright If not brighter and have longer run times.
If i had just bought the Ay-ups in the beginning I would've saved money in the long run.
I don't suppose you pulled apart the battery pack and see exactly why they failed? Normally it's just one cell that fails. This should be easy enough to fix. My current Nitelights are starting to play up so I though I'd buy a cheap ebay set as backup. $40 for 1800 lumens and with 1 year warranty. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1800-Lumen-CREE-XML-X...
I figure if they last a year that will be fine. I'll then just buy a Nitelights battery pack and keep using the head unit.